Lightweight 2 person tent, dedicated porch and head room?

[hughtrimble]

Evening Bushcrafters,

I've been hammocking for several years now, but am planning a three day walking trip in the lake district where the flexibility of a tent will be needed. I have a tarp+bivi bag and a Carinthia Observer, but realistically, I think I'll be miserable in any of those when on the move for a few days (at a dedicated camp would be different...I'd also be in a hammock!).

I've been reading on here, watching YouTube videos and checking reviews, and it seems the things I'm after are:

1. Up to 2.5kg total weight
2. Silnylon (or better) Materials requirement removed as I now realise it's not as simple as silnylon being better than poly, there are benefits/negatives to both
3. Fully covered full size porch section to get wet gear off in, store gear and cook (i.e. not the tiny triangular porches you get on so many tents)
4. Genuine 2 person tent (because the mandatory porch area is for all the gear)
5. Interior section peak height of 100cm or greater (so as to not be constantly rubbing the inner onto the inevitably wet outer when sitting)
6. 3 season (whilst this trip is likely in the summer, I'd like to be able to use it at other times of year too)
7. Outer pitch first (or all at once)
8. Budget up to £400

Any suggestions that come to mind? Your advice would be very much appreciated.

Hugh

 

[SaraR]

Right up until your last point (cause this one costs a lot more than that new!) I thought the Hilleberg Rogen tent fitted your description quite well, but perhaps you could find one second hand. It looks a bit weird in the photos but it’s a genuine 2 person tent, with two entrances (and two options for each porch, depending on how you open it).

 

[BigMonster]

Only one option, MSR Hubba Hubba NX. 1.6kg with all pegs and accessories. Cavernous even for 6'4" person and actually very usable for 2 people. Best tent I ever had.

 

[nigelp]

not quite all your wishes

Hoolie Compact 2

The Hoolie Compact 2 is a two-person tent offering a huge amount of space, yet a compact packed length of only 30cm, making it ideal for DofE

www.terra-nova.co.uk

 

[Van-Wild]

MSR Elixr2. Fits all your needs I think. I've got one. Used it hard for over a year. Works a treat. (And you can pitch it outer first if you need to).


Packed Weight: (2.24kg)
Floor Area: 29 sq.ft (2.69m²)
Vestibule Area: 24 sq.ft (2.22m²)
Tent Volume: 45 cu.ft (1274L)
Interior Peak Height: 40" (102cm)
Packed Size: 20" x 7"

Price: approx £250 (but can be found cheaper)


Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk

 

[Suffolkrafter]

Other options to look at: check out Big Agnes copper spur tents. At the cheaper end check out the naturehike tents.

 

[Madriverrob]

Lanshan 2 seem popular and cost effective at the moment , can be configured with 3 or 4 season inners .......

 

[hughtrimble]

Only one option, MSR Hubba Hubba NX. 1.6kg with all pegs and accessories. Cavernous even for 6'4" person and actually very usable for 2 people. Best tent I ever had.

Thank you for the suggestion BigMonster - isn't it inner pitch first though? I'm very wary of not being able to get rain cover up first to protect the gear, whether it's tarp first for hammock, or fly first for tents. Did you manage to come up with a way to pitch as one?

 

[hughtrimble]

Right up until your last point (cause this one costs a lot more than that new!) I thought the Hilleberg Rogen tent fitted your description quite well, but perhaps you could find one second hand. It looks a bit weird in the photos but it’s a genuine 2 person tent, with two entrances (and two options for each porch, depending on how you open it).

Thank you for the curveball! I must admit, I've disregarded all of their tents due to the price! I'm usually one for 'buy right, buy once', but I think that as most of my tenting is likely to be three season, their bombproofness and 4 season designs may cause heat and condensation issues in e.g. summer? Is the Rogen well ventilated?

 

[hughtrimble]

not quite all your wishes

Hoolie Compact 2

The Hoolie Compact 2 is a two-person tent offering a huge amount of space, yet a compact packed length of only 30cm, making it ideal for DofE

www.terra-nova.co.uk

Now the extended version of this is what I meant when I had the need for a decent usable atrium/porch in mind. I'll have a look around for other, lighter weight options.

Maybe I need to search more for 'tunnel tents'? It seems to be only those that get the spacious porch sorted.

 

[hughtrimble]

MSR Elixr2. Fits all your needs I think. I've got one. Used it hard for over a year. Works a treat. (And you can pitch it outer first if you need to).


Packed Weight: (2.24kg)
Floor Area: 29 sq.ft (2.69m²)
Vestibule Area: 24 sq.ft (2.22m²)
Tent Volume: 45 cu.ft (1274L)
Interior Peak Height: 40" (102cm)
Packed Size: 20" x 7"

Price: approx £250 (but can be found cheaper)


Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk

Another MSR to check out, thank you. I don't know why, but I've ignored all of their products before this point; I guess I thought they were just a name tagged on to camping gear because of their stove burners! I'll check the Elixr and Hubba lines out, thank you.

 

[hughtrimble]

Other options to look at: check out Big Agnes copper spur tents. At the cheaper end check out the naturehike tents.

Ah, Big Agnes - a brand I thought, for some reason, was only in America. I'll check out what products they make that fit the bill.

I have seen quite a few Naturehikes in reviews, and I must say their Hiby does look good given the proper porch. As does the Opalus, but that looks like it's really quite low so inner+outer head rubbage seems inevitable. What are your thoughts on the quality of Naturehikes?

 

[hughtrimble]

Lanshan 2 seem popular and cost effective at the moment , can be configured with 3 or 4 season inners .......

Yes indeed, Lanshans have popped up several times. Isn't the porch not really big enough to get all your wet gear off in before getting into the inner tent though? It's hard to tell from the overhead floor plans exactly how useful porch areas are with the outer slants. Have you had any experience with the Lanshan 2's porch?

 

[Broch]

It may be worth looking at the Robens range (such as the Buck Creek 2, or the Boulder 2). They are reasonably priced. But, to be clear, I only have personal experience of their canvas tipi style tents.

One of my 'musts', when choosing a tent for two people, was to have separate entrances (my old Spacepacker was great for that) but few tents provide that.

Tents - buy your tent from Robens here

www.robens.de

 

[Suffolkrafter]

What are your thoughts on the quality of Naturehikes?

I've not owned a naturehike so it's hard for me to give a useful answer. I suspect that, like many tents in that price range, they will be of perfectly adequate quality, but as weather conditions worsen they will likely fail before the more expensive tents do. But as I say, I don't own one so take my answer with a healthy pinch of salt.

 

[hughtrimble]

It may be worth looking at the Robens range (such as the Buck Creek 2, or the Boulder 2). They are reasonably priced. But, to be clear, I only have personal experience of their canvas tipi style tents.

One of my 'musts', when choosing a tent for two people, was to have separate entrances (my old Spacepacker was great for that) but few tents provide that.

Tents - buy your tent from Robens here

www.robens.de

The Buck Creek 2 looked like a top contender when you mentioned it - I really like the porch set-up and overall design of it, and for the price it was looking great.

However, whilst there are not many reviews on it, I've just watched this one from a German chap on YouTube and it appears it has quite a serious design flaw in that the inner and outer touch together, even without wind. This is the case with the two examples he tried, the second provided precisely because of this issue of the inner and outer not being sufficiently separated on the first.

Thank you kindly for the recommendation though! It was looking so, so good until that. I know that that's a very small sample size, but if that's without wind, I can't imagine what it would get like inside the tent with our rain and winds if there's that little space between the fly and inner.

 

[dwardo]

MSR Elixr2. Fits all your needs I think. I've got one. Used it hard for over a year. Works a treat. (And you can pitch it outer first if you need to).


Packed Weight: (2.24kg)
Floor Area: 29 sq.ft (2.69m²)
Vestibule Area: 24 sq.ft (2.22m²)
Tent Volume: 45 cu.ft (1274L)
Interior Peak Height: 40" (102cm)
Packed Size: 20" x 7"

Price: approx £250 (but can be found cheaper)


Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk

Love mine. crackin bit of kit.

 

[JB101]

A mini peak would be worth looking at

Minipeak XL - backpackinglight.co.uk

Welcome to backpackinglight.co.uk a web shop specifically aimed to help the 'lightweight backpacker' , 'hiker' and any 'lightweight' traveler get more from their trip. Hopefully this site will introduce you to the exciting world of having much more fun, because you are carrying considerably...

www.backpackinglight.co.uk

 

[hughtrimble]

I've not owned a naturehike so it's hard for me to give a useful answer. I suspect that, like many tents in that price range, they will be of perfectly adequate quality, but as weather conditions worsen they will likely fail before the more expensive tents do. But as I say, I don't own one so take my answer with a healthy pinch of salt.

Thank you - I've now read and watched quite a few reviews on some of their tents; it appears to be quite a mixed bag and heavily model dependent in terms of quality and robustness.

The Cloud Peak 2 and Cloud Up 2 seem to be highly regarded for the price; it's the Hiby 2 (also called the 2/3 and 4 in some places!) that really appeals, but it appears the internal measurements they provide actually relate to the outer, so the inner 'bedroom' area is too short for 6ft+ folks unless lying diagonally, which rather defeats the 2 person idea.

 

[hughtrimble]

A mini peak would be worth looking at

Minipeak XL - backpackinglight.co.uk

Welcome to backpackinglight.co.uk a web shop specifically aimed to help the 'lightweight backpacker' , 'hiker' and any 'lightweight' traveler get more from their trip. Hopefully this site will introduce you to the exciting world of having much more fun, because you are carrying considerably...

www.backpackinglight.co.uk

That is an interesting, rather traditional design, and not one I've heard of before - thank you.