2 Person tent and gear recommendations

[Warezy91]

Hi, Ive decided to make the move from day hikes and car camping to doing a few more multiday hikes, which means my 7 kg tent probably inst going to cut it. So im looking for some 2p lightweight tent recommendations along with some other gear.

Ill mostly start off with overnighters in summer conditions in NSW, blue mountains, royal national park, kosciuszko. Eventually intending to do some winter trips and longer trips like the overlands.

Budget is about $350 for the tent. So far ive been looking at the blackwolf grasshopper 2 and the zempire Zeus. Anyone have experience with these tents or any other recommendations? Im leaning towards the Zeus as it has a higher waterproof rating and is a bit more spacious although i do like the warranty with the black wolf.

As for the rest Im tossing up between a cheap 360 hiking cooking set for about $40, or a jetboil zip. A sea to summit ultralight insulated inflatable sleeping mat I've seen for about 130, open to cheaper suggestions.

[warnabrother]

Hello

Is it just going to you in the tent or will you be splitting the load between two ?? Both those tents are on the heavier side.. If be looking at something a little lighter personally.. perhaps something that is used and in good condition. This would get you a far better quality tent for a similar price and nearly half the weight.

Forget the 360 cookset.. grab a couple of titanium pots of ebay of wherever and a BRS stove off ebay too.. Jetboils while nice, are FAR too heavy in my opinion and if you are only going to be doing "boiling water" meals, a 600ml or similar titanium pot and small stove is ample and easily half the weight. If you can stretch the budget on the stove, I HIGHLY recommend the Soto windmaster or MSR pocket rocket.

The STS ultralight insulated mat is perfect - I use one myself and love it.. I'm a heavier bloke and a side sleeper and do not touch the ground.. I love mine..

Make sure to shop the sales at Wildearth or similar too.. sometimes there are some great deals on there.

[Neo]

I'm very happy with this gear, mix of prices compared to other options:

Companion solo cook set ~$42, they make a duo set if you think you need more pots. I eat out of a pot

Soto Windmaster burner, paid about $100 on spesh and they have a smaller version for $80. Piezo is handy. Just added a Campmaster adaptor to use a cheap normal butane canister

Had a Nemo Tensor short pad, a recent leak I'm not in a position to sort out just now so got an Exped Summat. Very comfy, for me the near STS pads were a touch thin although lighter. Paid $176 with a bit of spesh. Do me for summer, can get another or add ccf under next winter.

If you are buff or sharing the weight your 2p tent options increase. Sometimes too many choices!

[Neo]

That should read Exped Synmat, their UL 168cm which comes with a Schnozzle inflator. I also use an STS regular pillow and don't mind at all that my heels hanging over the end

[Warezy91]

To clarify it will be a mix of two people and one person in the tent although not sure how much of the load would really be split even when there is a second person. Thanks for the advice, I'll check out some second hand tents and some of the sales that are on now. Any suggestions on the fly/floor waterproof ratings.

Cheers

[ChrisJHC]

For a cheaper and lighter stove option, consider a DIY alcohol stove. Tuna cans are free and easy to turn into an adequate stove. Metho is also cheap, although slightly heavier for long trips.


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[Gadgetgeek]

Overall, waterproof rating is not the full story, its a great marketing number, but doesn't relate to reality very well. Any decent quality tent will do for you, look more at the materials and fabric weight/denier than the waterproof number.

as far as cooking stuff goes, lots of good options have been given so far. How you cook, and the temps you cook in will make more of a difference for fuel type. In cooler weather straight butane isn't very good, but it will suffice during summer easily, and its cheap enough you can get some practice in. Metho is cheap overall and liquid fuel stoves can be fiddly and are expensive. As long as your stove is reliable and fits your pots, you should be pretty good with anything. Just take the time to try it before you go walking.

[warnabrother]

agree with gadgetgeek.. don't take the waterproof head ratings too seriously..

I'd be looking for a tent sub 2kg if you're carrying it yourself for any extended time.. Big Agnes, MSR are a couple of off the shelf brands that make good tents sub 2kg and are quite often available lightly used.

If you are just starting out, you want your pack to be as light as possible so that you actually enjoy your walk !! Not slogging away with 20kg on your back..

Look here and on the few facebook gear pages.. often good deals come up

[Drew]

A couple of good second hand options here:

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=26761
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=26760

A bit more than the $350 you've budgeted but lighter and they're more reputable brands.

Fire Maple stoves are worth a look for a cheap option.

A good, bargain mat on Massdrop at the moment:
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-k ... tralight-v

[Echidna not]

Snowys is another very good website for gear, fast delivery and accurate delivery of everything I’ve ordered from them .
(No affiliation with the company)

Last edited by Echidna not on Sun 19 Nov, 2017 12:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[phueck]

There's a great deal on Thermarest NeoAir Xtherm MAX Large for $250 at webtogs: https://www.webtogs.com/en-AU/Thermares ... our=Silver
They only seem to have the one configuration - I stumbled across them a couple of weeks ago while looking for online stores that didn't charge the Earth for a Thermarest mat. (everywhere around Sydney seems to charge around $500)
PS. im not affiliated with weblogs in anyway, just randomly found a good deal.

[Warezy91]

Thanks for all the advice, I went with the ultralight insulated mat from S2S and managed to convince me friend to cover the cooking gear (given ill be covering the tent). Im trying to decide if i can stretch my tent budget a bit, any thoughts on a second hand moondance 2 in new condition for around $500 or a MSR hubba hubba for about 580 (thats starting to stretch a bit too much though). Or any other new/used tents between the 400-500 mark.

I havent been able to find too many second hand tents for sale in the places i normally look. Any one have any other forum or facebook pages they recommend checking out

Cheers

[johnrs]

Hi W01
Cant go wrong with a Moondance.
John

[redrock]

Warezy91, there's a new Mont Moondance 2 on eBay bidding for $450 starting balance at the moment.

I've been very happy with the 1p and know a few hikers who use the 2p for themselves who rate it also.

Good luck!

[JoeyJibJabber]

Hey, check out the Kelty Salida 2 (about 2kg) on amazon, you can get them delivered for about $150 and they're a great tent. As for the sleeping pad, you can get refurbished Klymit V's on ebay for a decent price or you can look around amazon for other lesser known sleeping pads

[Gadgetgeek]

We've got a moondance 1 at work that is probably 10 years old, only now showing wear, and its been run hard by a lot of folks. Same design as the MSR, and the new ones are supposed to be better at handling UV, a concern that north americans don't have as much.

[crollsurf]

Bumped into a couple of couples on the track with Blackwolf Grasshopper 2 and they loved it, so not UL but I'm sure +1 will find it suitable. Maybe go for that to start and look for a UL Tarptent, Big Agnes or Nemo down the track. Re Blackwolf Grasshopper 2 though, is +1 keen or just playing along. If not really keen a Tarptent Motrail might be a better option. Good 2 person or Lux 1 person and still under a kilo.

[Warezy91]

Has any one had any experience with macpac tents?

Im currently tossing up between the
Macpac Duo light to save a bit of money (although it is still just over 2 kg) https://www.macpac.com.au/equipment/ten ... -tent.html

BIG AGNES COPPER SPUR HV UL 2 (normal or mtglow) although 550 - 600 is pushing my budget and im not sure about the durability of the really light fabric. I would have liked the rattlesnake but i cant find the two person in stock any where in Aus.

[Nerdtrails]

I know you are now looking at a different range of tents but you may also want to look at the Black Wolf Mantis 2 UL which is lighter than the Grasshopper and can be regularly picked up for a good price.
I have used the Non-UL version (heavier) for years without issues although if you are over 6.4' consider something else if you want to use it for 2 people.
As others have mentioned have a look online for the cheap BRS-3000 stove instead of the 360 degrees one (which does work well but is heavy) but check the canister seal and be aware some have had issues with the arms deforming if you run it at full strength for longer periods of time, in other words just run it at a lower setting.