Kathmandu Tent Advice

[Hikaholic]

Hi all,

I’m a newbie!

I’ve read all the latest posts on the forum regarding 2 man Tents and the wealth of information is extremely useful to someone like me who is looking at upgrading to a reasonable quality Tent. I had to walk off mount Baw Baw last year when 30mm of rain flooded me out in almost freezing conditions. Not sure if i should start a new thread.

Could someone please offer me some advice on a Tent purchase?

I came across the Kathmandu North Star 2 man - 3 to 4 Season Tent - Usually retails for $649.90 but at the moment it is $324.95. It is 2.9 kg in weight. See link below.

http://www.kathmandu.com.au/Tents/Mount ... nt_v3.html

Has anyone used this particular Tent? I understand the older Kathmandu quality isn’t the best but these are the new Tents. Thoughts on quality? is it really good value for money? Would it stand up to a light snow fall. Could you use it in driving West Tasmanian rain?

My requirements are for a 2 man Tent, be able to sleep 2 adults of about 180cm in height, 3 - 4 Season, good weight to hike with, 2.9kg seems a little heavy, able to use year round - including light wet Aussie Snow fall BUT and its a BIG BUT i have a budget of about $350. Would this Kathmandu tent stack up or could someone offer me another suggestion?????

Any help would be so much appreciated!!!

[Singe]

Hi Hikaholic, welcome to the site

My tent is an older North Star tent (V2; current model is V3 from memory), which I've had for ~7 years and used on all my walks in that time (including solo overnighters). It's heavy (especially for solo walks ), but that's probably a function of its price more so than anything. Kathmandu have 50% off sales regularly, so it's best to regard the sale price as RRP - by that measure I think the North Star is reasonably good value. AFAICT the main differences with the new version are that the guy attachment points and arrangement of the door zips.

The geodesic design is very strong IME and stands up to windy conditions well. It's also convenient to be able to pick it up and shake out any debris, or relocate it if you need to. I haven't used it in the snow, but according to the marketing the steep walled design will shed snow well. There is a mesh panel in the inner at the foot end that can't be closed, but I've spent some pretty cold nights (ie, heavy frost in the morning) in the tent and been warm enough. I've mostly used it without a footprint and don't bother too much with clearing sticks etc and haven't sprung any leaks so far - so I'd say the tub floor is decent enough

OTOH, the inner tends to sag a little if it's not pitched perfectly, which can lead to condensation on sleeping bags etc. Ventilation isn't brilliant either, due to the very small gap between inner and fly at the foot end. My biggest problem with the tent is that it only has one small vestibule - two packs need to be stacked to fit, and end up pressing on the inner and fly and leaving no room for comfortable entry/egress from the tent. Not a problem most of the time, but awkward if you need to cook in the vestibule due to rain etc. The foot end is quite narrow; I find it on the small side to share with my wife (who is only 160cm or so); so two 180cm people may be a squeeze. But then I like my space

I don't have any complaints regarding quality; the tent seems well-made. YMMV of course...

I guess I'd say that there are better tents out there, but probably not many at the price point. I'd recommend spending more and getting a lighter tent for multi-day walks if possible, but if the budget is fixed I think it's a decent enough choice.

[Hikaholic]

Thanks heaps for the response Singe. Its always great to get field knowledge before making the purchase. As you say, the quality sounds okay but weight could be an issue for solo walks for me. If I were to continue down the road of tents in this bracket I think I will struggle to find better quality. Has anyone seen or used the new Anaconda Denali tents? I cant recall the name but its about 2.5kg and classed as a 3+ season tent. Any idea on quality? If it retails for 260 it might no
t be any good.

[Area54]

I bought a Denali Zephyr II as a cheapy 2 person tent to take out with my 3yo daughter, on our bike riding tours. Kids don't follow rules that well (ie taking shoes off inside and being careful with zips etc) so this tent is perfect (for the price) and I've got better/lighter tents for my solo trips and when wifey and I go away together. and dare I say it - a Jayco Dove outback

At 2.3kg, alloy poles (they're gold too ) seam sealed fly and sleeve/clips for the inner, 3 season. $144 on special at the local Anaconda store.

Only had it up for 5 minutes in the back yard, next planned trip is cycle qld in September so no feedback yet for you

[corvus]

With all due respect when a request for Tent performance is requested IMHO I believe it should only be replied to by those who have actually used the Tent in adverse conditions (not in the back yard) On a walk the other weekend in the Walls I saw a 3 season Tent totally collapse after only 2 hours of heavy snow whereas the 3/4 season was still standing in the morning after several more hours of snow .
By all means extol the quality of your tent but only after you have tested it in the most adverse conditions you can and please remember we have many new walkers seeking information on this forum
c

[Area54]

Cheers for that corvus, didn't realise I had to have a high post count or be ex-SAS to enjoy discussion about a product.


I'll remember my status next time I post on this forum, as a newbie.

[walkinTas]

Cheers for that corvus, didn't realise I had to have a high post count or be ex-SAS to enjoy discussion about a product.

On the other hand I think that anyone should feel free to express and opinion, just so long as it is clear what you tested and where you tested it. I'm certainly not going to rush out and pitch my tent in four foot of snow just so I'm entitled to comment on above the snow-line camping - well, not unless I get four foot of snow in the backyard some time soon. Mind you on Corvus's criteria I'm not entitled to comment about tents at all - so feel free to ignore this post and we'll treat this as a Clayton's comment. I was here (not)!

[corvus]

Cheers for that corvus, didn't realise I had to have a high post count or be ex-SAS to enjoy discussion about a product.

On the other hand I think that anyone should feel free to express and opinion, just so long as it is clear what you tested and where you tested it. I'm certainly not going to rush out and pitch my tent in four foot of snow just so I'm entitled to comment on above the snow-line camping - well, not unless I get four foot of snow in the backyard some time soon. Mind you on Corvus's criteria I'm not entitled to comment about tents at all - so feel free to ignore this post and we'll treat this as a Clayton's comment. I was here (not)!

Nice to have feedback,
Lets hope some comments will be taken on board I am no expert just somewhat experienceced and love the outdoors ,I am not ex SAS(cheeky bugger) but do have PARA wings and take fools lightly so unless you really have experienced your gear in the worst conditions don't try to to extract the urine out of those who have .
All said with a smile on my face and a glint in my eye .
corvus

[walkinTas]

All said with a smile on my face and a glint in my eye . corvus

Ditto.

...And I agree Corvus that folk should probably refrain from giving advice about using gear in adverse conditions unless they've been there and done that - least someone should act on the advice and get themselves into trouble. But I think everyone should feel free to comment within their own experience - "just so long as it is clear what you tested and where you tested it" - And I'm pretty sure that's all that Area54 did. Anyway, that's my 2cents worth.

[Area54]

Hehe, you've not seen my backyard - and have you seen the weather reports from up here lately...

Everyones experience will vary and the value of gear will vary amongst owners. One person might be comfortable at 0c, another might be comfortable at -20c. Opinion on the internet is very hard to judge for oneself as there are too many variables that may not be shown, unless there are clear, uniform,qualitative testing criteria used throughout the world.

Caveat emptor, YMMV etc are the best guides we have...

Best thing I reckon you can do is learn about the materials, the technology behind the materials and their strengths and weaknesses. Learn about manufacturing techniques and the correct way to use the products for their intended use. Armed with this information you can deconstruct products to help find their weaknesses and strengths before purchase, there are many good quality, affordable items on shelves without a name brand stamped on them.

Now, lets talk tents and stop picking at the bones of each others posts

[blacksheep]

G'day Area54, I remember you from MTBdirt, it's Campbell here (cam).. the advise you give about buyers making themselves informed is good, but sometimes the customers doesn't see all the aspects of a product design that assure performance by looking at a spec sheet..
yes, you should be able to get major details of a tent spec(is the fly nylon or polyester, what is the denier, sil or PU coating or both, what is waterhead of floor etc, what poles used-are they ferrulous extrusions or cheaper inserts..) and from that you can start making quality decisons (assume thecategrisation of summer/to alpine tent is easy enough)...but then the newbie needs exeprince advice to understand the merits of various pole configerations (weight-stability-internal volume trade offs), understanding good design (how is the floor made, what seams are used, will the inner sag if wet and form drip points? does the bath tub sit higher that the splash area from fly run-off? what is that door opening like to use if it is wet- will if allow ventilation or will it fall it muddy ground when opened? how easy is this tent to pitch in difficult conditions?) Much of this stuff comes from friends, forums and clubs (and hopefully from informed sales people) But the details like seam tear strength, the abrasion resistance, the testing of adhesion of seam tape to substrate etc...these won't show up in any spec chart. These are the differences that some companies pay attention to and others don't. So while your advice is good, the equity of brand is often built up from trust gained from thousands of user days experience...personally i'd find it much easier to list tent brands that I would not trust to use more than a one or two day walk from shelter than the list of brands than I trust to have a well resolved and tested product out that is built to last in challenging weather.... skimp on somethings, but tents, packs, sleeping bags and rainwear are safety items

[Area54]

Hey Cam, long time mate, pm sent.

[Ent]

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Last edited by Ent on Thu 11 Nov, 2010 12:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Tony]

The relatively new Tarptent 4 season Scarp 1 is a tent on my short list, http://www.tarptent.com/scarp1.html they also make a two person version.

It has been getting some good reviews from experience walkers, this BPL thread has some photos of the Scarp 1 under some quite heavy snow.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=21155&skip_to_post=170971#170971

Tony

[johnw]

The biggest safety issue is the 3 to 4 season rating. No "standards" exist on these rating scales that I can find. It is the wild west out there with my favourite rating for confusion being the 3/4 tent.

I have an issue with my WE Second Arrow in that regard. WE sometimes describes it as "5 season", whatever that means. I realise that it's a marketing claim as to its robustness, but how helpful that is to a potential buyer making comparisons I'm not sure.

[Ent]

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