What tent

[iainj837]

I am looking to buy a tent ready for next year, I am looking for it to be as light as possible.  I will have around £50 to spend, any ideas cheers

[Canardly]

For fifty quid option will be limited. Coleman Bedrock a starter for ten.

[Dibdib]

If you can stretch a little, £60 will get you a little Vango:

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/gamma-200-p183861

I have a Gamma 200 (or something similar) and I've been pretty happy with it so far. You might have better luck posting in the Camping It Up board.

[iainj837]

For fifty quid option will be limited. Coleman Bedrock a starter for ten.

I could push my budget to say £75

[plum]

Decathlon has a couple of 1-2 man tents, Lightent 1 [1.5kg] 80 quid, which I have no experience of [I think it's new in their range], T2 Ultralight Pro [2kg] 100 quid, which I own, several others here do too.

The T2 is great value for the money, a small 2 man tent which is perfect for one really, I've spent a lot of time in that with no issues, no reason to suspect that the other would be any different.

Decathlon cycle all of their tents into sales. I think my T2 was maybe 70 quid, so the 80 quid one would presumably come down to 50 or 60.

So if you have plenty of time to sit and wait for them to get into the sales cycle it's worth having a look at either of those ready to buy when the time is right.

[Jon P]

I've got one to give away - it's single skin with a hoop but you'd be sleeping crosswise to this so a bivvy bag is needed.  It's home made - a theatre costume lady did it for me, it started out with 2 upright poles but I changed it to a hoop, the fabric is very cheap but just about waterproof.  Weight 1kg.  I don't know if it would work with fibreglass poles but I can send these with it too if you want them as I bought a load dirt cheap.  You'd have to rig it up with guylines yourself but plenty of pegging points.  You could get a Gelert bivvy bag for £25 / 350g to go with it.  There actually used to be a design sold like this called the Bivvybug Niche, a small outlet made by a group of walkers on Dartmoor.  Let me know if you can use it.

[iainj837]

I've got one to give away - it's single skin with a hoop but you'd be sleeping crosswise to this so a bivvy bag is needed.  It's home made - a theatre costume lady did it for me, it started out with 2 upright poles but I changed it to a hoop, the fabric is very cheap but just about waterproof.  Weight 1kg.  I don't know if it would work with fibreglass poles but I can send these with it too if you want them as I bought a load dirt cheap.  You'd have to rig it up with guylines yourself but plenty of pegging points.  You could get a Gelert bivvy bag for £25 / 350g to go with it.  There actually used to be a design sold like this called the Bivvybug Niche, a small outlet made by a group of walkers on Dartmoor.  Let me know if you can use it.

Thanis Jonny, I will keep it in mind

[iainj837]

Decathlon has a couple of 1-2 man tents, Lightent 1 [1.5kg] 80 quid, which I have no experience of [I think it's new in their range], T2 Ultralight Pro [2kg] 100 quid, which I own, several others here do too.

The T2 is great value for the money, a small 2 man tent which is perfect for one really, I've spent a lot of time in that with no issues, no reason to suspect that the other would be any different.

Decathlon cycle all of their tents into sales. I think my T2 was maybe 70 quid, so the 80 quid one would presumably come down to 50 or 60.

So if you have plenty of time to sit and wait for them to get into the sales cycle it's worth having a look at either of those ready to buy when the time is right.

Thanks Plum, as I am in no major rush K think I may wait and see what I can get in the sales and  and bag myself a bargin cheers for your replies

[Butterfly]

Watch ebay. I got a Blacks octane one for £30 for the lad last week. They are also called Apex I think. I'd wait and see what turns up in September. Blacks, vango and Vaude can turn up. The less well known the make, the better the price they go for. Watch out for very cheap ones though. If you see something, post on here and someone will probably have come across it and have an idea how good it is.

[Julian]

This is the right time to look - the outdoor shops do tent sales after the festivals are over.  I got mine for £30 reduced from £90.    It's a Karrimor so not a posh brand but it's perfectly serviceable.

[jane]

you can have my old Vango Spirit 200+ for fifty quid.  It's old and well used, but sound, no holes or leaks that I have noticed and the last trip it did was in a week of mad Scottish storms in April. Kept me warm and dry.  I seem to have lost the stuff sack though, but may be able to find a substitute. 
It's this tent
http://www.vango.co.uk/expedition/spirit-200+.html

but an older model, so only has a door on one side like in the picture- the new ones have two doors.  However, mine is lighter- it comes in at just under 3kg.
I have no groundsheet for it. 

I am going to put it in classifieds too.

[mcshroom]

I've got a Coleman Cobra 2 tent which you can get for £60 new at the moment, and surprisingly large inside.

Review here - http://www.livefortheoutdoors.com/Gear-Reviews/Search-Results/Tents/Coleman-Cobra-2-2011/

I'd prefer it to be green, and it's a little fiddly getting it fully taught on lumpy terrain (that's open fell side rather than uneven camp site) but the size and double porch storage is very nice.

[rogerzilla]

Look at the weight.  You want to be under 3kg, 2kg if possible.  Weight is not inversely related to price, at least not linearly.  Most tents do the job, but avoid "festival" tents with a single skin (these only seem weatherproof if you're stoned) and keep an eye on the hydrostatic head of the flysheet, which varies a lot.  In heavy rain, anything less than 3000 is probably going to seep a little, which may or may not be important depending on whether it's likely to drip onto the inner tent or just run down to ground.  The inside of any nylon tent is wet after a night's sleep anyway because of condensation.

Secondhand (nylon) tents suffer from the disadvantage that they have a very finite life.  Places with outdoor tent displays reckon on replacing the tents after about 3 months' constant exposure to the weather; UV degrades them badly.  Call it 90 days' camping, which is 5-10 years for most people.

Now is the time to buy, or maybe in another week or two when it's really autumn.

[iainj837]

you can have my old Vango Spirit 200+ for fifty quid.  It's old and well used, but sound, no holes or leaks that I have noticed and the last trip it did was in a week of mad Scottish storms in April. Kept me warm and dry.  I seem to have lost the stuff sack though, but may be able to find a substitute. 
It's this tent
http://www.vango.co.uk/expedition/spirit-200+.html

but an older model, so only has a door on one side like in the picture- the new ones have two doors.  However, mine is lighter- it comes in at just under 3kg.
I have no groundsheet for it. 

I am going to put it in classifieds too.

Will pm you

[iainj837]

just seen this on ebay
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GELERT-MISTRAL-2-MAN-PERSON-TENT-WITH-RADIO-TORCH-GREAT-WEEKEND-FESTIVAL-TENT-/251143686665?pt=
Any one had /got one

[mcshroom]

Is it this one - http://www.gelert.com/products/mistral_2_tent ? At 5kg it looks a bit heavy if so

[iainj837]

oh yeah it is a bit heavy back to the drawingboard

[iainj837]

found this 1
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gelert-Vertigo-2-Man-Double-Skin-Tent-/290562841172?pt=UK_SportsLeisure_HikingCamping_Tents_JN&hash=item43a6e51a54#ht_2265wt_825

[plum]

Heavy and massively overpriced

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gelert-Vertigo-2-Tent/dp/B004SL0ZTS

[Wowbagger]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170904882666&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNARL:GB:1123#ht_500wt_1189

I saw this tent last week when it had a £129.99 starting price. It's been relisted, but of course since then I've bought a cheaper alternative - for the same price!

Someone on here might like it.

[jogler]

If you don't buy Jane's Vango for £50 you'll be missing a steal-deal.
just saying.

[iainj837]

Seen a vango alpha 250 any thoughts

[clarion]

If you don't buy Jane's Vango for £50 you'll be missing a steal-deal.
just saying.

^^THIS!^^

[Wowbagger]

The Vango Spirit 200+ is excellent value for money at its normal price. I had one and sold it because it was a litle too small for Jan and me. We went for the really up-market Hilleberg Nallo 3GT, which is three times the price of the Vango.

For £50 you can't go wrong.

[iainj837]

If you don't buy Jane's Vango for £50 you'll be missing a steal-deal.
just saying.

I agree that I am missing a good deal but as I said to Jane, I don't get paid till the end of this month and I can't expect her to wait till then