Argos Pro-action 1 man tent

[Tumper]

Anyone know if these are any good?

I've read a few reviews on other sites, and the overall opinion seems pretty good. There's a general consensus that the vestibule is too small, but I was thinking of using a tarp to provide etra workspace anyway. The only other big worry is the pu rating (500???) Is it possible to increase this with a light coat of PU waterproofing, like it is possible with other tents.

any help most welcome.

 

[Pathos]

Hi
its meant to be very good for the price, I know a lot of people on the news group, rec.uk.walking (or the samilar) have one and swear by it for lpackpacking.

Paul

 

[maddave]

Just bought one of these today with some vouchers I got from work.

Nice forest green colour, Ally poles, very well made pegs and a decent tray groundsheet. The inner has adequate ventilation with mozzy netting and for £29.99 is a right good bit of kit. It's small enough to bung in your pack, weighs in at 2Kg and is well shaped. Comes in it's own compression sack too.

And a 3rd the price of a hennessy for those of us on a tight budget (or when the missus catches us buying expensive kit) :biggthump

 

[Lithril]

If its not waterproof enough just buy some Ronseal sealant (type used on bricks etc) and put it on with a roller, works a treat.

I've got some friends that make canvas work for boats etc and thats pretty much all they use, also the other half uses it for waterproofing her horses rugs.

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

:shock:

be very carefull!

pu rating 500? this is the amount of water pressure that the material will stad without leaking!

500 = 50cm = 0.5 meters

average cheep £10 "pack a maks" have a rating of 1m!

thats a tube full of water 1meter in length

mountain tents and some goretex jackets can have ratings up to 10 meters!

ok to put this in laymans terms.

immagine you sit on wet grass with cheep waterproofs on, sometimes the water gets pushed through by your body weight thats 1 meter pressure!

so if your tent has 50cm pressure on the groundsheet basically unless the ground is bone dry water is going to seep though especially if you are lying on it!

the only way of getting around the problem is to put a groundsheet under the tent or better advice would be spend a little more and get a better tent!

remeber a £30 tent is not suitable for winter or mountain conditions!

if in doubt try it out! (hey that's a kind-a catchy phrase!!!)

honest, i'm not trying to patronise you, just be aware of its capabilities! :uu:

 

[Martyn]

Yeah, but ya gotta balance that against a 6' x 4' sheet of poly and 20m of paracord. It's all relative. The poly sheet doesnt have a groundsheet at all, so that's 0.0mm head of water before it breaks through.

 

[Adi007]

Do a search for "hydrostatic head" and words like "gore tex" and you'll find a lot more on this topic.

It's like science day here at BCUK today!

:shock:

be very carefull!

pu rating 500? this is the amount of water pressure that the material will stad without leaking!

500 = 50cm = 0.5 meters

 

[Martyn]

Do a search for "hydrostatic head" and words like "gore tex" and you'll find a lot more on this topic.

It's like science day here at BCUK today!

That's what I mean, it's too easy to get bogged down with all the NASA stuff. How relevant is hydrostatic head if you're using an Aussie hootchie? I dont know much about this stuff and dont have any experience really, but it seems to me, that if a hootchie is OK, then even a cheapo Argos tent, with a less than stellar waterproof head would be fine too. Or am I missing something?

 

[Adi007]

It's just blinding people with science ... what's it mean to most people? nothing. I've seen some stuff sold with a ridiculously high quote for hydrostatic head (which I don't believe).

Isn't "waterproof" just good enough!

Do a search for "hydrostatic head" and words like "gore tex" and you'll find a lot more on this topic.

It's like science day here at BCUK today!

That's what I mean, it's too easy to get bogged down with all the NASA stuff. How relevant is hydrostatic head if you're using an Aussie hootchie? I dont know much about this stuff and dont have any experience really, but it seems to me, that if a hootchie is OK, then even a cheapo Argos tent, with a less than stellar waterproof head would be fine too. Or am I missing something?

 

[mojofilter]

ive had one for a few years and think its fine and is really small and light.
you cant really go wrong for 30 quid

 

[the naughty boy]

recently i started using a tarp and bivvy bag to camp. a tent is usefull when your staying in a family site with amenities etc but nowadays i prefer to go a bit rougher.i bought a large [ too large ] tarp for 12 quid and a gortex bivvy bag on ebay for 35. great kit and relativly light too. the camping section in argos is pretty cool though,i was impressed by the increased number of items. its as though they are trying to start a camping boom. as for the technical jargon...waterproof can sometimes be misleading.i bought a quality tent [apparently] to bring to weston park game fair.as i was shooting in the european airrifle championship i had to stay both days and it poured non stop .eventually the tent started to let in a bit and it all became a bit miserable after that.i know the tarp wont let in no matter how much rain hammers it.

 

[SquirrelBoy]

I`ve got one of these and for the money I reckon they`re great.

I have only camped out in summer in it and the only thing I noticed was my sleeping bag had got a bit damp where it had touched the inner fly to the outer, this was at the foot end.

As has been mentioned they have a kind of following on uk.rec.walking - lots of them have it and some have even taken to the hills with it.

One more thing that clinched it for me is that id rather leave a £30 tent at my campsite and go walkies, than leave something like a £240 Akto and have that go walkies on its own :shock:

 

[Adi007]

One more thing that clinched it for me is that id rather leave a £30 tent at my campsite and go walkies, than leave something like a £240 Akto and have that go walkies on its own :shock:

Excellent point ... add to that the fact that for most campsites an Akto would be overkill!

 

[Andy]

you also have to remember that though the fabric of these coats with 10,000HH may taje that much pressure. it wont apply to the seams. i suspect that any half decent coat or tent will use pritty much the same sem tape so why bother

 

[Roving Rich]

Buy it, it will get you out and about and thats what counts. If it leaks then spray it with waterproofing stuff. At £30 you can't wrong. You won't even get a week in a youth hostel for that nowadays. And this tent sounds half decent from the reviews.
Cheers
Rich

 

[Tumper]

Well, I bought the tent a couple of weeks ago. Used it last weekend at my sisters on the edge of the New Forest.

Its small. Not much more in length than a SASS hooped bivi. I'm 6'3" ' and it will be a little cramped, but I do fit it...Just!!!

The vestibule is large enough for my pack, or solo cooking (with great care!)

It took a couple of practice pitches before I got the tension right, the fly can be fiddly to tension, as it comes very close to the inner.

I will always use a sheet underneath, the tent's bottom fabric seems very flimsy (not much better than the fly)

Overall I think it was a good buy. It's waterproof, light, easy to pitch, and suprisingly well made.

I originaly purchased the tent to use on my hiking trips. I want to extend my 'long weekend's' into a few weeks this year, and that will mean the occasional stay at a managed site. I think this will do just the job :-D

 

[maddave]

Here's a piccy for those who are interested

 

[Doc]

Well, I read the reviews on here and uk.walking and it all sounds pretty good for £29.99 - so I popped in to Argos and find that they're currently knocking 20% of all of their tents....so its now just £24...! So I bought one.

It does look remarkably well put together for the money, only 2kg and pack size is VERY small.

 

[JFW]

Just seen the argos spring bargains flyer and the 1 man pro action tent is now £19.99. Can't go wrong at that price for a summer tent.
Price to hold until 19/05
Cheers

JFW

 

[Ed]

Well spotted JFW

Ed