N +1

[Canardly]

Seems to me that rather like bikes, you need a range of tents to meet differing needs. Having lugged my very nice Zenon 2+ and footprint over the lumpy bits of East Anglia for a week (yes Suffolk is lumpy) I need to consider a smaller lighter tent offering for bike touring. Cash as always is a limiting factor. Looking at the sale at Alpkit atm. Mmm.

[Wowbagger]

You saw my Jaran 2 in action. That's the first proper outing it's had and I think it did OK. I've said in the past that I have an objection to meshy inner-first tents but I didn't get wet even on that awful day in Norwich. I didn't put any of my stuff in the tent until the rain stopped because I was concerned that rain would find its way in, but it didn't.

[andrew_s]

Take a look at the Planet-X Akto-alike.
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TEVA1P/zastrugi-vaquita-lightweight-one-person-backpacking-and-bikepacking-tent

[mmmmartin]

On my return from Spain I'll be selling my al shan tent, uses a hiking pole to hold it up, weighs 700 grams, I've used it once in four weeks, can supply a proper lightweight tent pole to go with it. Can't get lighter than this. Ideal for lightweight cycle camping. DM if interested, i shan't need it in future

[Polar Bear]

I was very fortunate to adopt at a very very reasonable price the classic Hilleberg Akto with less than 10 days use.  The former owner is a tall man and he was just too long for it.

I'm ruminating on a little solo backpacking from time to time which of course opens up the opportunity to buy kit such as a Jetboil and a coffin-shaped sleeping mat.

[Lightning Phil]

What is the weight of your current tent? So we have an idea of what you are trying to get down from.

[Canardly]

With the footprint and bag getting on for 3 kilos. Two ish kilos would be more comfortable I think, as would a smaller pack size (and I should take less stuff). The Alpkit Jaran seems to fit the bill as I do not winter camp, and still has some room to move in ( is on sale atm.) I suffer from debilitating cramp from time to time, exacerbated in very restricted spaces, so much so, as to consider if I should be doing this any longer, although I always enjoy the overall camping experience with friends and would be loathe to give it up just yet. 

[Kim]

You saw my Jaran 2 in action. That's the first proper outing it's had and I think it did OK. I've said in the past that I have an objection to meshy inner-first tents but I didn't get wet even on that awful day in Norwich. I didn't put any of my stuff in the tent until the rain stopped because I was concerned that rain would find its way in, but it didn't.

That looks quite good, in a meshy sort of way.  Certainly a decent weight.

[Wowbagger]

You saw my Jaran 2 in action. That's the first proper outing it's had and I think it did OK. I've said in the past that I have an objection to meshy inner-first tents but I didn't get wet even on that awful day in Norwich. I didn't put any of my stuff in the tent until the rain stopped because I was concerned that rain would find its way in, but it didn't.

That looks quite good, in a meshy sort of way.  Certainly a decent weight.

I was pleased with it, but it has a puzzling design idiosyncrasy.

The footprint is a hexagon -  a regular one I think. But the inner and flysheet are colour coded so that they will only fit together one way. I got it wrong in Norwich - couldn't tell the blue end from the black end - and couldn't work out why the flysheet wouldn't lie properly. I've no idea why they decided to make the tent fit just one way. I haven't noticed inside which end is wider. But there must be some difference.

[lissotriton]

Alpkit Soloist is also in the sale right now. Its a decent price for a pretty light tent. Not exactly spacious, but tall enough to sit up in, makes it a lot more comfortable. Also an XL version, a bit longer.

Or the Aeronaut inflatable one looks interesting, if your carrying a pump. Though seems to be some mixed reviews.

[Paul H]

Seems to me that rather like bikes, you need a range of tents to meet differing needs.

I have a now obsolete TN tent of a similar shape and weight to the Alpkit Jaran, it is my N, it's the only tent I've had for sixteen years (Though a pole needed replacing and it's on a second flysheet) It suits me, plenty of room for one, two at a push.  When I'm just doing an overnight I sometimes whish I had something lighter, then look at the weight savings compared to the cost and decide not, likewise when I occasionally go car camping I think it'd be nice to have something a bit bigger, then look at the cost... It is a compromise at the extremes of my usage (Which isn't very extreme) but not enough of one to warrant another expensive tent and a cheap additional one wouldn't offer much advantage.

[Cudzoziemiec]

You saw my Jaran 2 in action. That's the first proper outing it's had and I think it did OK. I've said in the past that I have an objection to meshy inner-first tents but I didn't get wet even on that awful day in Norwich. I didn't put any of my stuff in the tent until the rain stopped because I was concerned that rain would find its way in, but it didn't.

That looks quite good, in a meshy sort of way.  Certainly a decent weight.

I was pleased with it, but it has a puzzling design idiosyncrasy.

The footprint is a hexagon -  a regular one I think. But the inner and flysheet are colour coded so that they will only fit together one way. I got it wrong in Norwich - couldn't tell the blue end from the black end - and couldn't work out why the flysheet wouldn't lie properly. I've no idea why they decided to make the tent fit just one way. I haven't noticed inside which end is wider. But there must be some difference.

It looks a decent liveable space, good for fixed point camping. But the mesh inner, combined with inner-first pitching, make its claim to be 3-season rather dubious IMO. And the weight might be fine for cycling but I wouldn't like to carry it in a rucksack. But with all tents you really only learn whether it suits you by using it. A bit like houses.

[andrewc]

Take a look at the MSR Elixir 2.   It looks like a reduced cost version of my Hubba Hubba.  Still pricier than the Jaran mind. 

[Canardly]

Will do.

[andrewc]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255160285821      There's a used current spec Hubba Hubba on Ebay at the moment.  Lighter than my HP version & in a brighter colour scheme......

[mzjo]

Thread reawakening.

For the purposes of reposing during a certain control I had meant to sleep in the control. Then the thought came into my mind that this was a very anti-social act due to snoring and possibly not the wisest move for keeping all risk of c-type lurgy away. So I decided to pull out my very old one man (one skinny dwarf, more like) tent. It just needed airing and fixing the poles (the original plastic three-way sockets had broken long ago). The last time it was used was 2006, one night bivvy at 2600m in the Italian Alps with the pole sockets bodged from copper pipe fittings (not very successful).
Then madame spoke. "Why waste your time fixing it? Go up to Decathlon and get a new one!" So I did, but Decathlon didn't have what I wanted in stock, except at a price that I didn't want to pay or at a weight I didn't want to carry. I already have a 2-3 person tent that only weighs a bit over 3kg which I can reduce by leaving the groundsheet for the porch at home. It's too big to go on the seat tube of the folder though, which is why I wanted the one-man. She was content that I didn't splash out 250€ on a flash italian job and the following morning I looked a bit further on the web. Tomorrow I should receive a new relatively cheap (90€ with the accelerated delivery) one-man tent (a tiny bit heavier because it is double skin whereas the old one is single skin). The big advantage is it is side-opening which does increase my chances of getting into it. The plastic hooks on it are very similar to my old tent, which makes it probably out of the same chinese factory (but without the plastic sockets that failed before).
In case it doesn't get here on time I made up some new sockets for the old tent, finished this afternoon with a slight redesign and elimination of the ridge pole. If I don't need it it will be there for the grandsons as a play tent. 150FF in 1996, I reckon it doesn't owe me anything. The fabric is still like new! It is however discutable whether I will be able to make a dignified entrance or exit a quarter of a century on.

[chopstick]

The tent I've been using for the last few years is a Vango Mirage Pro 200 - I really like it: it's a free standing semi-geodesic 2 man tent and imho very durable.  It does weigh about 3.3kg without pegs.

After my last two trips, I started to think that I really ought to try to get lighter (even I was feeling a little embarrassed at taking 30kg of gear for a weekend away) and I fancied that a lighter (but still 2 man) tent would make a nice start.  This was mostly dreaming whilst browsing online but a cheap tent from China caught my eye - the 3F UI Lanshan 2.  It's a trekking pole x2 transverse ridge style tent with inner and fly.  There's quite a few youtube videos about it and similar (they do a single skin "pro" version and also a 1 man single pole tent).  I've tweaked things a bit (guylines, elastic, etc) and I bought a couple of 11mm 3 section poles (cut down to about 112cm - shorter than recommended but this gets the fly closer to the ground) to use in place of the trekking poles.  After pitching it with the 11mm poles, I've decided that they're not rigid enough - they bow when vertical force is applied down and I am dubious as to how they would perform when the wind gets up.  I've ordered some 16mm poles in the hope that they will offer a lot more rigidity.

The weight of the Lanshan with 11mm poles but no pegs is 1.4 kg.  I reckon the new poles, when cut down to size, will add another 120g.  I use a cheap woven pvc tarp as a footprint that falls short of the top and bottom of the bathtub by about 6" each end but it weighs in at 187g