Upgrading tent/sleeping bag for tall person

[cakie]

We went camping without the car for the first time last weekend My SO is a tall-ish guy (6'1") with broad shoulders - turns out he doesn't fit into his sleeping bag! We usually have it unzipped with an additional thick car camping style sleeping bag quilt over us, so we didn't realise.

We probably needed to get him another one anyway, as this one was a cheap summer bag, but it is hard to find wide sleeping bags - most are 75cm which is definitely too narrow. Is our best bet a large Kathmandu bag? Looking for a comfort rating between 0 and 5. He has a recently purchased an insulated mat (s2s ultralight) which we are very impressed with.

I'm having a hard time working out the best choice for a tent. Right now we have an "escape outdoors" tent which gets big ticks for price (~$20, 5yrs ago) and weight (1.8kg incl poles). However, it is no good in rain (fly is too close to mesh inner) and it is too short, SO gets wet feet and/or head.

I was kind of shocked when I started researching tents - I didn't know decent ones were so expensive! The Naturehike tent that has been suggested in other threads looks good, but I'm worried it's not long enough.
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/DHL-free-shipping-NatureHike-2-Person-Tent-210T-Plaid-Fabric-Tents-Double-layer-Camping-Tent-Outdoor/32560627462.html

I'm short, so we don't need vestibule space - I can generally fit stuff below my feet. Any suggestions for us?

[taipan821]

I'm 6'8" and have similar problems. for ground camping I've gone to tarps just because they give me more room then a tent. I also find difficulty with sleeping bag sizes and often use a suitable sleeping bag as a quilt.

failing that I've been told that tunnel tents are suitable for long people, no personal experience though

[Franco]

You can have a tent that will fit a tall person in pretty much any design you like , the converse is also true .
The trick here is to look at the usable floor space not the floor dimensions.
By that I mean you need to know your head/footroom requirement (both sitting on top of your mat and, for laying down , inside your sleeping mat.
Measure a "box" that fits you in and then work out if you can fit that box inside the tent.
As a somewhat extreme example, but to illustrate the point (sorry about the pun...) this particular tent (long since discontinued) :


is 10' long , yet too small for a 6" person on top of a thick (7cm) mat.

[GPSGuided]

What's your budget? Bags can also be quite expensive if you want them compact and light.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Dynamic_knight]

Hi
Being in the same basket (6.1 and broad) i have found my happiness in tent length to be 230cm, any closer and usually one part of my body ends up touching the tent especially when you have a slippery s2s matt.The tent youve posted the link to could potentially be very narrow for two people depending on sleep style. Our current tent a big sky chinook 2 person is 135 at the head end, 120 at the foot and 230 in length. Im lucky my girlfriend is petite and does not move around alot or id be selling it on due to being a little to tight. I also have a marmot tungsten 3p which is a good solid tent with good dimensions but a bit bulky to pack for solo trips.
As for sleeping bags s2s bags in the larger sizes fit me quite well. Quilts are a great option for people who find being in a bag restrictive.
These are two pieces of gear which can make or break a trip and Often are controlled by your budget. Research and trying before you buy is a must.
Hope this helps
Tom.

[kangawoo]

There are some really nice deal at torpedo at the moment.
https://www.torpedo7.com.au/brand/mount ... changepage
Extra long bags, and descriptive information.

[cakie]

Thanks everyone! Some really good advice and tips here. I'm definitely going to measure a box like Franco suggests.

I'll come back with updates when we work out what to pick. We are camping with a mozzie net / tarp setup in NT next week, it'll be interesting to see how it goes