New tent advice please.

[greencardigan]

Hi all,

I'm looking to purchase a new 3 person tent. It will be used mainly as a 2 person tent but I need to be able to fit 3 when necessary.

Requirements:
- Must fit 3 persons + gear
- < 3Kg
- 3 season
- long enough to fit a lanky 6' 4"
- not too worried about the $

I've done a bit of research and found the following tents (listed in order of my current preference).

- Mountain Hardware Skyledge 3 (2.18kg, but smallish interior?)
- Mountain Hardware Lightpath 3 (2.41kg, bigger interior but smaller vestibule than skyledge)
- MSR Mutha Hubba (2.79kg)
- Sierra Designs Velox 3 (2.25kg)
- Sierra Designs Asp 3 (2.55kg)
- Big Agnes Emerald Mountain SL 3 (2.7kg)
- The North Face Roadrunner 33 (2.91 kg)

Can anyone comment on these tents? Which one would you choose? Are any brands bad/extra good? I talked to a girl at Paddy Pallin who said the Sierra Designs tents were more flimsy/not as strong as the MSR's and Mountain Hardware's.



All help appreciated.

[sarge]

We purchased macpac olympus last year and have been very happy with it:

http://www.macpac.co.nz/public_catalogu ... de,OLYMU08

It is a tunnel tent that has 1 large vestible at one end and a very small on at the other. We put all the gear in the large vestible and enter/exit through the smaller one so it works quite well as you dont have to climb over gear to get in and out of the tent. The large vesibule would easily fit 3 packs (two next to each other and one on top).

Would be a bit squishy with 3 people but is certainly wide enough in a pinch. We have found the length to be quite good also - we are both 175 cm but there would be close to a foot of extra room at the end. you can also adjust the vestibule length at either end to allow more/less room inside the tent.

Only downside is the price (approx $950 - although we got ours at the once a year 20% off Paddy Pallin sale so saved heaps!). I feel the high cost is worth it because the tent is essentially bomb-proof and can be used in alpine conditions. We have used the tent in torrential rain and wind without any leaks or problems.

When shopping around for a tent we found the Bogong tent buying guide very helpful as it has a good comparison of close to 50 hiking tents. It can be found at this website:

http://www.bogong.com.au/html/tents.html

[sarge]

just realised you are after a tent under 3kg - Olympus might be too heavy for you then...

[greencardigan]

I've stumbled across this new 3 person tent.

Big Agnes Copper Spur UL3

With a trail weight of only 1.89kg (4lb 3oz) it almost defies Newton's law of universal gravitation!

It's internal and vestibule areas still similar to other lightweight 3 person tents.

The downside is it has a $500 USD price tag.

What do you think??

[norts]

I dont like internal setup tents, much prefer a integral or fly first. Only because I have set up tents in very heavy wind and rain. Also pulling the tent down, you can pack up alll your gear except your fly and poles and pack your pack under the cover of the fly. Does make a difference in very heavy rain.

Roger

[DonQx]

Have a look at the Nallo 3 or Nallo 4 http://www.hilleberg.com.

Very light (Nallo 3 = 2.4 kg), 4 seasons, integral pitch, heaps of space, top quality, not cheap.

No distributor in Oz.

a.

My Hilleberg Nallo 3 tent, one cool evening on the Central Plateau beyond Lake Ada

[the_camera_poser]

I look the look of that Hilleberg Don- thanks for sharing!

[Ent]

Content removed by poster

[greencardigan]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

I ended up getting the Big Agnes Copper Spur UL3.

It's long enough for me and I'm 6' 4". the floor seems a bit light weight but I got the footprint as well.

I've only set it up indoors at the moment but will comment again when I've spent a night or two in it.

[teddesampa]

hey green cardigan,

hows yr Big Agnes Copper Spur UL3 held up 2 years down the track?

is it proven itself?

tedd

[greencardigan]

Hi tedd,

2 years! Doesn't time fly.

I've only used it for maybe 20 nights since I've had it.

On it's latest use (December just gone) we camped in some very heavy rain. The rain was hitting the fly and spraying through a bit! Not sure why this is happening?? I has been in rain before and i hadn't noticed it. Which reminds me, I was going to contact Big Agnes re this.

Also the floor got a slit through it once when camping on some messy ground. It was patched easily wth some high quality patches.

Apart from the fly I am very happy with it.

It is easliy long enough for me (6' 4"ish) and can squeeze 3 people in ok.
Setup is quick and easy and the weight is almost unbeliveable.

[Franco]

[b]The rain was hitting the fly and spraying through a bit! Not sure why this is happening??[/b
]From BA :
Fly is ultralight silicone treated nylon rip-stop with a 1200mm waterproof polyurethane coating
That is the standard waterhead siliconised nylon. (same for Tarptent, however we do not apply a PU undercoat...)
You can have hours of strong rain on it and nothing happens, however when the rain drops are large enough they will be able to penetrate the fabric causing what is usually described as "misting".
if your inner is mesh , it will than partially fall on you.
Franco