Bushwalk Australia

Hello, first time on the forum. I am confused by so many tent options. I want 2 tents to use for hiking for myself, wife and two kids (8 & 12). 1 child would sleep with 1 adult . I would like the tents for backpacking type overnight hiking, and also for car camping. Both adults are tall 6 foot. Can't afford top range stuff, so somewhere sub $300 per tent if possible. Any help to filter some of the choices down would be great. Thanks, Tim.

The Tarptent range sounds like they'd suit your needs and possibly budget (maybe stretch it a little bit for 2p models)

I recently bought a Eureka Taron 3 tent mainly for car camping but would use it for hikes as well if I had to. So far I am very happy with it. Rated to 3 season use, very roomy and seems very well made.

It is on sale at the moment at Mountain Designs for under $190 so would be well within your budget.

I spent 5 nights in it with my wife during some wet and cold weather and stayed nice and dry from rain and condensation. We were both on Exped Down mats in Long/wide version and there was still room between us, between the mats and either end of the tent and also either side of the mats and the outside of the tent so plenty of room especially if you use regular width mats.

Have you considered something like this for the wife and 2 kids to share and then perhaps get yourself a really good quality light weight tent which you could also use solo and carry solo if you need to down the track... Could end up being similar money or cheaper and you could end up with at least one top quality light weight tent.

They also do a Taron 2 version as well which was cheaper again so that may be worth looking at if you did want to have 1 adult/1 child per tent....

Anyway might be worth a look as you can see them in store set up and as I said I think they are a good value tent for the money....

Thanks for the replies. Will check out the tarptent and Eureka. The more you research you do the more you start to think you should spend a bit more to get a bit better quality- but where do you stop!!!

Tarptent aren't at the top of the pile in the quality stakes, but still very very good for the money you are paying. I absolutely love my Scarp 1 though if I needed something to sleep two people I would get a One Planet Goondie 2.

Our family tent is a Golite Shangri-La 5 http://www.golite.com/Shangri-La-5-Tent-2014-P46714.aspx. I bought it off a forum member. I really like it, on my last trip I carried it even though it was just for 2 of us - plenty of room.

They also have a Shangri-La 3.

Another option to look into anyway.

We also use a Shangra-La 5 as our family tent. 2 adults, 2 kids.

Quick, easy set up, spacious, and light enough to carry for only 2 if needed.

Also bought 2nd hand in your price range. 2nd hand is the way to go.

Maybe a Ferrino, this ones is light and below $300.00 - http://adventurefriends.com.au/ferrino-lightent-2#

neilmny wrote:Maybe a Ferrino, this ones is light and below $300.00 - http://adventurefriends.com.au/ferrino-lightent-2#

They must have something mixed up... a 2p tent with only one cubic metre of volume? 

icefest wrote:

neilmny wrote:Maybe a Ferrino, this ones is light and below $300.00 - http://adventurefriends.com.au/ferrino-lightent-2#

They must have something mixed up... a 2p tent with only one cubic metre of volume? 

It doesn't take a mathematician to see thats got to be a typo. Just look at the dimensions.

neilmny wrote:

icefest wrote:

neilmny wrote:Maybe a Ferrino, this ones is light and below $300.00 - http://adventurefriends.com.au/ferrino-lightent-2#

They must have something mixed up... a 2p tent with only one cubic metre of volume? 

It doesn't take a mathematician to see thats got to be a typo. Just look at the dimensions.

That typo originates in Italy, according to the Ferrino website..

http://www.ferrino.it/en/catalog/tents/ ... ent-2-tent

Try this site: http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Backpacking-Tent-Reviews

It might give you some ideas.

Thanks again for the replies- food for thought