Does anyone have any experience of the Exped Venus III?
- Thread starter AJB
- Start date
-
Come along to the amazing Summer Moot (21st July - 2nd August), a festival of bushcrafting and camping in a beautiful woodland PLEASE CLICK HERE for more information.
Andy,
No practical experience, but I have recently been searching the web for info on this tent. It looks very good and also popular in Europe and Australia/New Zealand.
I found a fair number of forums where people asked the same sort of question as you have just done and came across only positive responses. There was also one photograph where the tent had been buried in snow and still kept its shape.
I would have bought one, but in the end decided it was too heavy (it seems although Exped quote a "minimum weight" of 4kg, in practice a working weight is nearer 4.5 to 5kg, and a price of near £500.
I ended up buying a Golite Shrangri-la 5, which even with a tarp extension and extra guys/pegs should end up just over 3kg and was only £300 (with nest). I don't think its nearly as good a tent as the Exped, but its more versatile.
I was looking for a lightweight tent that didn't require me (and better my half) to crawl into, had noseeum netting and allowed a decent view of the tent with the netting in place, and the only two I could find were the Venus 111 and the Go-Lite.
I assume you have found the Exped USA you tube videos of it being erected.
Graham
No practical experience, but I have recently been searching the web for info on this tent. It looks very good and also popular in Europe and Australia/New Zealand.
I found a fair number of forums where people asked the same sort of question as you have just done and came across only positive responses. There was also one photograph where the tent had been buried in snow and still kept its shape.
I would have bought one, but in the end decided it was too heavy (it seems although Exped quote a "minimum weight" of 4kg, in practice a working weight is nearer 4.5 to 5kg, and a price of near £500.
I ended up buying a Golite Shrangri-la 5, which even with a tarp extension and extra guys/pegs should end up just over 3kg and was only £300 (with nest). I don't think its nearly as good a tent as the Exped, but its more versatile.
I was looking for a lightweight tent that didn't require me (and better my half) to crawl into, had noseeum netting and allowed a decent view of the tent with the netting in place, and the only two I could find were the Venus 111 and the Go-Lite.
I assume you have found the Exped USA you tube videos of it being erected.
Graham
Thanks Myotis,
HaHa, I’m in exactly the same position with a choice between the two, and only because there seems to be less information available on the Shangri-La 5 am I steering towards the Venus III. I had a lie down in a Shangri-La 3 and found the closeness of the fly to my face and shoulders a bit claustrophobic and the pole a bit in the way – I’m, er, bulky shall we say and 6’4” so I just thought I’d end up cutting arm holes in it and wearing the thing. How do you find the 5?
For anyone who has the Venus III I’m trying to find out the door height – the one measurement they don’t give.
Said videos and links...
http://www.exped.com/exped/web/expe...2629B4D7E4FB51F8C12572A0004FE0F1?Opendocument
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pifZH4cwCt8&feature=related (crap sound)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoQIFTlx9PY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90zwTAbww6I
http://www.exped.com/exped/web/exped_homepage_int.nsf
HaHa, I’m in exactly the same position with a choice between the two, and only because there seems to be less information available on the Shangri-La 5 am I steering towards the Venus III. I had a lie down in a Shangri-La 3 and found the closeness of the fly to my face and shoulders a bit claustrophobic and the pole a bit in the way – I’m, er, bulky shall we say and 6’4” so I just thought I’d end up cutting arm holes in it and wearing the thing. How do you find the 5?
For anyone who has the Venus III I’m trying to find out the door height – the one measurement they don’t give.
Said videos and links...
http://www.exped.com/exped/web/expe...2629B4D7E4FB51F8C12572A0004FE0F1?Opendocument
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pifZH4cwCt8&feature=related (crap sound)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoQIFTlx9PY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90zwTAbww6I
http://www.exped.com/exped/web/exped_homepage_int.nsf
Well, while your guess is as good as mine, the inner is 1.5m and the outer is 1.6m, but the ridge pole extends beyond the inner and curves down to the top of the door so I reckoned that at the highest point the door would be between 1.4 and 1.5m.
I haven't got the SL5 pitched at the moment, but given the door seems to come about 3/4 of the way up a 1.8m tall tent, I reckoned the door heights would be similar.
Have you found this thread on the SL5?
http://forums.bowsite.com/TF/bgforums/thread.cfm?threadid=381173&messages=22&forum=2
This gives a link to:
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/3369836/1
Not all on the SL5 but some useful information. espcially on using a wood burning stove with the SL5.
The SL3s are incredibly well thought of in the backpacking community as roomy (one person tents) but big enough to get five people in for a cuppa.
I have only had the SL5 for a week so only pitched in the garden.
Its worth saying that I currently have a Hilleberg Nallo (from my proper backpacking days) and a Nomad Masai (our car tent) which replaced a Mad Bear 4.5m tipi.
I plan to replace the Nomad with an OzTent one day, but was looking for a tent to replace the Nallo that a) would erect in less than 5 minutes by one person for one night away car camping, and b) would be light enough to let us backpack it into a hill loch or maybe along sections of a Long Distance walk.
As we are getting older the prospect of crawling in and out of the Nallo is no longer very attractive and we wanted a tent that we could "live in" rather than one that you just slept in between days of walking. Good midge protection was high up on the list of desired features, and lightness was also important.
Height and space in the SL5, for lightweight tent, is great for two. The height gives a great sense of space.
Like all tipi designs the steep walls means that the usable floor space is much smaller than the measurements suggest, and for two people I wouldn't go any smaller than the SL5. The small bell end is useful for storage, but the steep sides means the outer is always pretty close, so I wouldn't like to light my Primus in the bell.
However, its easy to unclip the nest and roll it back to give you a massive area of temporary bare ground to cook on or indeed deal with getting wet jackets off. You can also do the same trick to give you a shaded seating area.
You can also unpeg the front panels and pull them out of the way to give a really good view out of the tent while still sat inside the nest. Very important if you have one of those warm sunny (but calm) Scottish evenings where midgies keep you locked in the tent.
The nest can be pitched on its own, and we plan to use it like this in for longer camps in Scotland where we will primarily be using the Nomad, but can take advantage of the midge proofed airy nest to sit in.
The outer can easily be used on its own to give a roomy but light (1.33kg) tarp/tent. It is also a very small bundle like this.The nest is a lot bulkier and heavier than the outer.
The loop to hang the outer from tree and the two side guy loops give convenient points to clip a tarp to, and this can extend over the door to give a good area of protection as well as stopping rain getting into the tent when opening the door (see below)
So all told I am pleased with my garden trials of it.
However, as with all tipi styles when you open the door you expose the inner tent area to rain, and this is something you need to learn to live with. Without a floor/nest this isn't a problem but with a floor it means it gets wet (but see above on adding a tarp)
What you shouldn't have to live with is that the hood for the air vents is too small, only just covering the vent, and rain blew through the vent, onto the nest and dripped through the mesh and puddled slightly on the groundsheet.
If this turns out to be more than a "one off" I intend adding a bit of material to either extend the hood or reduce the size of the vent. I am not at all impressed with this, especially as this was a complaint made about the older models and was meant to have been improved.
Getting the tent pitched is quick and easy. I have left the nest connected to the outer and 4 pegs plus inserting the pole gets the tent plus nest pitched.
Getting it pitched "properly" however is a bit of a fiddle, ie nylon taught all the way round, groundsheet without any folds and an equal space all the way round between inner and outer, is a faff. I am hoping I improve, and to be fair I a have only pitched it twice.
The sleeves and pole arrangement of the Exped, while probably taking a bit longer to pitch will need less fiddling to get properly pitched than the SL5 does.
I still yearn for the Venus as I thought it looked a brilliant tent, but so far I think the SL5 better fits what I wanted from this particular tent purchase.
Hope some of that is of interest, and get back to me with specific questions.
Good luck,
Graham
I haven't got the SL5 pitched at the moment, but given the door seems to come about 3/4 of the way up a 1.8m tall tent, I reckoned the door heights would be similar.
Have you found this thread on the SL5?
http://forums.bowsite.com/TF/bgforums/thread.cfm?threadid=381173&messages=22&forum=2
This gives a link to:
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/3369836/1
Not all on the SL5 but some useful information. espcially on using a wood burning stove with the SL5.
The SL3s are incredibly well thought of in the backpacking community as roomy (one person tents) but big enough to get five people in for a cuppa.
I have only had the SL5 for a week so only pitched in the garden.
Its worth saying that I currently have a Hilleberg Nallo (from my proper backpacking days) and a Nomad Masai (our car tent) which replaced a Mad Bear 4.5m tipi.
I plan to replace the Nomad with an OzTent one day, but was looking for a tent to replace the Nallo that a) would erect in less than 5 minutes by one person for one night away car camping, and b) would be light enough to let us backpack it into a hill loch or maybe along sections of a Long Distance walk.
As we are getting older the prospect of crawling in and out of the Nallo is no longer very attractive and we wanted a tent that we could "live in" rather than one that you just slept in between days of walking. Good midge protection was high up on the list of desired features, and lightness was also important.
Height and space in the SL5, for lightweight tent, is great for two. The height gives a great sense of space.
Like all tipi designs the steep walls means that the usable floor space is much smaller than the measurements suggest, and for two people I wouldn't go any smaller than the SL5. The small bell end is useful for storage, but the steep sides means the outer is always pretty close, so I wouldn't like to light my Primus in the bell.
However, its easy to unclip the nest and roll it back to give you a massive area of temporary bare ground to cook on or indeed deal with getting wet jackets off. You can also do the same trick to give you a shaded seating area.
You can also unpeg the front panels and pull them out of the way to give a really good view out of the tent while still sat inside the nest. Very important if you have one of those warm sunny (but calm) Scottish evenings where midgies keep you locked in the tent.
The nest can be pitched on its own, and we plan to use it like this in for longer camps in Scotland where we will primarily be using the Nomad, but can take advantage of the midge proofed airy nest to sit in.
The outer can easily be used on its own to give a roomy but light (1.33kg) tarp/tent. It is also a very small bundle like this.The nest is a lot bulkier and heavier than the outer.
The loop to hang the outer from tree and the two side guy loops give convenient points to clip a tarp to, and this can extend over the door to give a good area of protection as well as stopping rain getting into the tent when opening the door (see below)
So all told I am pleased with my garden trials of it.
However, as with all tipi styles when you open the door you expose the inner tent area to rain, and this is something you need to learn to live with. Without a floor/nest this isn't a problem but with a floor it means it gets wet (but see above on adding a tarp)
What you shouldn't have to live with is that the hood for the air vents is too small, only just covering the vent, and rain blew through the vent, onto the nest and dripped through the mesh and puddled slightly on the groundsheet.
If this turns out to be more than a "one off" I intend adding a bit of material to either extend the hood or reduce the size of the vent. I am not at all impressed with this, especially as this was a complaint made about the older models and was meant to have been improved.
Getting the tent pitched is quick and easy. I have left the nest connected to the outer and 4 pegs plus inserting the pole gets the tent plus nest pitched.
Getting it pitched "properly" however is a bit of a fiddle, ie nylon taught all the way round, groundsheet without any folds and an equal space all the way round between inner and outer, is a faff. I am hoping I improve, and to be fair I a have only pitched it twice.
The sleeves and pole arrangement of the Exped, while probably taking a bit longer to pitch will need less fiddling to get properly pitched than the SL5 does.
I still yearn for the Venus as I thought it looked a brilliant tent, but so far I think the SL5 better fits what I wanted from this particular tent purchase.
Hope some of that is of interest, and get back to me with specific questions.
Good luck,
Graham
Cheers Graham,
I've been thinking about this for so long, I love the idea of the SL3 and 5 but I think the usable room, for me, would be an issue with the rake of the walls and pole in the middle, and I think the near vertical walls and pole free space of the V3 seals the deal for me.
I cant imagine having a wood burner in there though too scary
Interesting to read your thoughts though, thank you very much.
I've been thinking about this for so long, I love the idea of the SL3 and 5 but I think the usable room, for me, would be an issue with the rake of the walls and pole in the middle, and I think the near vertical walls and pole free space of the V3 seals the deal for me.
I cant imagine having a wood burner in there though too scary
Interesting to read your thoughts though, thank you very much.
Yes, I think there will be much more usable room in the Venus, both in terms of living space and those massive bell ends. You are also a good deal taller than I am which will make even less of the tipi floor space available to you.
In many ways, even though it seems we both ended up with these two tents in our final choice list, they are very different tents.
I am very keen to hear how you get on with the Venus.
Graham
In many ways, even though it seems we both ended up with these two tents in our final choice list, they are very different tents.
I am very keen to hear how you get on with the Venus.
Graham
I'm just waiting to get a definitive measurement on the height of the door to make sure I could get in (from anyone who has one or if Exped ever get back to me) and then I think Ill be buying Ill let you know I just love the detail on the tent and the way everything has been thought through.
However, its weird, it just doesnt excite me that much, unlike all sorts of much cheaper tents do its great, just a bit dull!
However, its weird, it just doesnt excite me that much, unlike all sorts of much cheaper tents do its great, just a bit dull!
That is exactly the way I feel !!!
In my mind, the Venus is a "better" tent than the SL5, but one of the things that swung it for me is that there is something that just feels right about the SL5.
The exact same thing applies to the Nomad Masai. This is the best thought out two person car touring tent I have seen, and I spent two years of research and visiting tent displays before buying it. But, some how its "just a tent".
Maybe the problem is that they are just too well thought it and leave us no scope for dreaming about how we could improve them
Graham
It's not just me then!
I think I'll still have it as a guy in Exeter has actually put one up in his shop this afternoon and measured the height of the doors - 1.2m!
I think I'll still have it as a guy in Exeter has actually put one up in his shop this afternoon and measured the height of the doors - 1.2m!
It's not just me then!
I think I'll still have it as a guy in Exeter has actually put one up in his shop this afternoon and measured the height of the doors - 1.2m!
Was that at Travel-Dri Plus by any chance?
I am amazed that the door can be as low as 1.2m, but looking at the pitching video again, I can see that there is a constant curve downwards from the highest point (1.6m) on the ridge, and I guess the guy doing the pitching isn't that tall.
That is useful to know, thanks.
Graham
Spot on...
http://www.traveldriplus.com/produc...id=31&osCsid=57a15ce60ce34caf0b114c96acc91874
I came across links to him all over the place with everyone saying what great service they gave. I rang today (Sunday of a bank holiday weekend) and he said he'd put one up for me, for which I thanked him but declined - you can't ask someone to do that - but he must have 1471ed me, rining me back about an hour later with the measurement! What a nice guy.
I'd love to buy it from him, but I've found it a lot cheaper somewhere else.
http://www.traveldriplus.com/produc...id=31&osCsid=57a15ce60ce34caf0b114c96acc91874
I came across links to him all over the place with everyone saying what great service they gave. I rang today (Sunday of a bank holiday weekend) and he said he'd put one up for me, for which I thanked him but declined - you can't ask someone to do that - but he must have 1471ed me, rining me back about an hour later with the measurement! What a nice guy.
I'd love to buy it from him, but I've found it a lot cheaper somewhere else.
Could be!
So far the cheapest is...
http://www.venussports.co.uk/Hike-Camp/Tents/Venus-III
...at £440 with a possible (but doubtful) further 10% off with free delivery.
So far the cheapest is...
http://www.venussports.co.uk/Hike-Camp/Tents/Venus-III
...at £440 with a possible (but doubtful) further 10% off with free delivery.
Although I think it's discontinued, I think if I could find it in the Terracotta colour I would be more excited about it.
If it wasn't for the pack size just being a bit too big I'd go for the Venus III DLX Plus which I would like much more.
If it wasn't for the pack size just being a bit too big I'd go for the Venus III DLX Plus which I would like much more.
Yeah, there is a huge advantage to this version, but if you check this out...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTzZ-tko_Bg&feature=related
...that stuff sack is pretty big, where as the sack for the basic model is smaller than the vango I can't sleep in at the moment!
I love that zip up ground sheet though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTzZ-tko_Bg&feature=related
...that stuff sack is pretty big, where as the sack for the basic model is smaller than the vango I can't sleep in at the moment!
I love that zip up ground sheet though.
Similar threads
