Bushwalk Australia

Hi all,

My girlfriend and I are doing the Routeburn Track in NZ in early January, and are camping at the Routeburn Flats and Lake Mackenzie campsites. I've been into a couple camping stores here in Sydney (Kathmandu and Paddy Pallin) and spoken to the sales people about tents, but neither store had much of a range. They also seem pretty expensive and so I imagine I can get something cheaper online. Alternatively, I'll be in Vancouver, Canada beforehand so could get something from there if there were cheaper/better brands only available there etc. Can anyone recommend a 2 person tent that is suitable for the Routeburn track? I'm new to hiking and camping but I understand it can get pretty wet on the Routeburn and down to 0 degrees in January. Obviously the lighter, smaller packed size, bigger set up size the better. Something that is easy to put together and not reliant on pegs would also be great. In the future I might be doing other tracks like the West Coast Trail (7 days) on Vancouver Island as well as camping in Australia. Any recommendations of which tents to look at or websites would be fantastic.

Thanks!
Nick

Nick5a1 wrote: and not reliant on pegs would also be great.

What is this mythical beast you speak of..... a tent without pegs..

It can blow a gale in NZ and BC, but I imagine that the camp sites on the routeburn would have some sort of shelter.
But light weight is usually a trade off in stability. So I guess you need to make the call whether you want to go lightweight and risk having
things go 'south' in the middle of a storm with the girlfriend.

I know which is the safer option..

Picking a tent - well there are hundreds of choices and opinions..

Personally - I wouldn't go near Kathmandu.
I had a kathmandu tent from about ten years ago, it was a great tent. But I think their gear is massively over priced for what it is.
But good tents aren't cheap.

If I had to pick a brand I'd say Hilleberg is worth doing some further investigation.

Yes, the problem with freestanding tents is that you still need to peg them down and having more poles, they become heavier.
When you see a "light" freestanding tent you are bound to see either a small tent or one without vestibule.
Given that it often rains in NZ , well down there anyway, you may consider a tunnel design that does not need too many pegs.
Tunnel tents are not that good for snow loading but if set up correctly (yes there is a correct and many wrong ways of doing it...) in strong winds they may flex but not fail as easily as some more rigid structures.
If I were going in a rain and wind prone area the last thing I would want is a small shelter.
Franco

Maybe a tent designed in that environment..for that environment..

Some high quality 2 man tents on the market that will handle wind and rain well are (listed in no particular order):

Aarn Pacer 2
Wilderness Equipment Second Arrow
Macpac Mineret.

How do you feel about those tents. Give some feedback on them and people on here can help narrow down your search

Thanks for the recommendations, I'll look into:

Hilleberg
Aarn Pacer 2
Wilderness Equipment Second Arrow
Macpac Mineret.

Can anyone recommend some cheap places to buy tents online?

What do people think about the:

Marmot Earlyight 2
Salewa Denali II

?

Thanks.
Nick

I'm going to be that annoying guy who throws another option on the table...

Have you considered the Exped Auriga? They are great in wind and rain, and two large vestibules (and two doors) makes for happy cohabitation. I had mine on a ridge top above the tree-line, as exposed as exposed can get, in 75 km/h winds gusting to over 95 km/h, and the Auriga shrugged it all off with ease.

Macpac has a sale on at the moment - in their shops or online. The Macpac Minaret is worth looking at - we have just purchased one.

I agree any of the exped tents would be good. Auriga and Southern Cross are both freestanding. Previously on this forum the Black Wolf Grasshopper was mentioned as a more economical tent. I have seen all of these tents in the flesh so to speak and all would be good options. All freestanding and with vestibules.

mountain designs have a sale as well
if you want to buy from overseas look at gearbuyer.com for reviews and pricing.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

So many recommendations and options is making this a difficult decision!

I'm leaning towards the Exped Auriga which I can get from a US website for $360 including footprint and free international shipping. It seems fairly well sized/lightweight, is fairly freestanding/easy to put up, has 2 door access, 2 vestibule areas easily within reach, accoridng to oyster_07 is great in wind and rain, and seems like it would have good air flow for camping in summer. What does everyone think about this tent? It seems quite versatile and would be suitable to camping in Australia in summer also?

exped make good gear, i've got one of their sleeping bags, well made, good features, they thought about things like hiding the stitching to avoid it being damaged.
their gear usually reviews well.
um you're not buying from campsaver are you? more than a few people on here have had bad experiences with them....

How early in January is your trip? The last couple of things I bought from the US took over 3 weeks to get here. Even a postcard from my daughter posted in NY on 15 November only got to Canberra on Thursday. It would be a pity to have to buy a tent locally because the one you bought from the US hasn't turned up yet.

Hi all.

Yes I was looking at the campsaver website. It's cheap and has free shipping to Australia for orders over $400, with an estimated delivery time of 5-10 days. What kind of bad experiences are we talking about? We're leaving on January 4th..

Mate I still think you should visit our store.. but I guess you know and expect that..

Nick5a1 wrote:Hi all.

Yes I was looking at the campsaver website. It's cheap and has free shipping to Australia for orders over $400, with an estimated delivery time of 5-10 days. What kind of bad experiences are we talking about? We're leaving on January 4th..

Never used Campsaver but some forum members have had issues with them delaying orders or representing goods in stock that weren't.

I think you're cutting it fine ordering from the States so close to Xmas. I'd buy local and Macpac is a great option.

Hard to beat a Minaret on sale.
Utterly bombproof and good for all seasons including West Coast downpours.
Want cheap and cheerful on the internet?
Try a Luxe Outdoors Lightwave from Ebay Hong Kong.
Just 1250 gms and reasonably well made
John

yeah could be false economy buying from overseas now... tents not much use if it doesnt arrive in time..... then you might have to book the hut and share the sleeping space with 50 other snorers he he he