bike tour - Tarptent Scarp 1 vs Hilleberg Unna

[dmas]

Hello from Switzerland! As I written in my presentation, I'm planning a long bike tour and it will probably start from your Australia. The last difficulty is to choose a new tent.
I discarded hundreds of tents/bivy/tarps and restricted my choice on these two tents:

- Tarptent Scarp 1

- Hilleberg Unna

For year round use 3.5 season, starting from Australia and then 4 season in the future.

SCARP 1
there are a lot of thread about Tarptent models on the forum, I like the general concept and the two doors but...
the mesh inner has... too mesh
the solid inner has... too solid
My idea is to bring both inners and switch between the two with huge versatility, this solution will pair the weight with the Hilleberg Unna, but the final price is dangerously close to the Hilleberg, just 120$ of difference, so it's worth the deal?

HILLEBERG UNNA
I like the all mesh door that could be zipped with the solid, I think is a good balance. The only downside compared with the Scarp is the single door and the extra 120$.

Thanks for any suggestions!

[GPSGuided]

2 doors any day for me.

[Giddy_up]

Hi dmas, this sounds like it's going to be a long trip and your tent is going to be your home for a protracted period of time. You seem weight conscious with respect to your tent choices but I think other elements of your trip will be huge factors in choosing. Liveability of your tent is going to be very important, tents with head room that you can actually lounge in when foul weather is about could be very useful. Dual vestibules will help as you can keep gear dry outside your tent and be able to gain access to your tent away from the prevailing weather which makes a huge difference. Both the tents you have chosen are very good but if I was on a bike trip for months not weeks then I would be looking at other options. If you really like Hilleberg then look at the Allak, I recently read a review where the person using this tent held it in high regard because it had dual doors and vestibules and they could open both and drag their pack raft into the tent and do repairs on it in the pouring rain. Features like that may make your trip so much more enjoyable but please understand that this is just a suggestion.

Perhaps if you posted a little more detail about your planned trip you might get more response as their are a lot of bike riders on here who have done extended touring and they would really know what works and what doesn't.

Hope you keep us all updated with a progress report and a full trip report on completion

Best
G_U


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[stry]

The Unna is very roomy and well made, BUT the lack of any vestibule could be a nuisance on an extended trip.

Unclipping and pulling back the corner of the Unna floor makes enough "vestibule" space for boots, but not much else.

[Franco]

Hi dmas,
Our solid inner is made from a weather resistant (drip proof..) but very breathable fabric so not a bad choice even in hot weather particularly with the Scarp given that you can get cross ventilation with the two doors open.

The top 3rd of the shelter, probably about 20% of each side, is in mesh so that you can look out sitting up as well of course letting some of your perspiration get out.
Some would like a zippable panel but apart from adding bulk and weight you have another zip to worry about.
Anyway, this is how the "solid" inner looks like :


BTW, according to the specs by OutdoorGearlab, the Scarp packs smaller at 46x10cm vs the Unna at 51x15cm.
(not if you take both inners of course...)
franco@tarptent

[RonK]

For questions about cycle touring, perhaps the best place to ask would be a cycle touring forum...

This tent is made for camping...

[dmas]

thank you for all your quick replies !

Hi dmas,
Our solid inner is made from a weather resistant (drip proof..) but very breathable fabric so not a bad choice even in hot weather particularly with the Scarp given that you can get cross ventilation with the two doors open.
The top 3rd of the shelter, probably about 20% of each side, is in mesh so that you can look out sitting up as well of course letting some of your perspiration get out.
Some would like a zippable panel but apart from adding bulk and weight you have another zip to worry about.
Anyway, this is how the "solid" inner looks like :

BTW, according to the specs by OutdoorGearlab, the Scarp packs smaller at 46x10cm vs the Unna at 51x15cm.
(not if you take both inners of course...)
franco@tarptent

Hi Franco, I noticed the outer fly touch the ground, so maybe the all mesh inner could be not so bad on a windy dry ground ? (desert with solid inner all the way)
I'm planning 6 months in Australia, then I will probably move to India - Nepal - China

I have no experience with a full mesh tent, actually I have a 2.5kg, 3 season tent with a close inner and a small mesh door, so switch from a coffin to something like this is very tempting:


Here is why I think the Hilleberg Unna is more appropriate with the all mesh side door and a stronger ground (70d vs 30d of the Scarp right?).

[Franco]

The Scarp fly does not touch the ground.
It is close to it but not enough to prevent sand being blown in but just high enough to have some air flow.

(the first two versions of the Scarp had the fly a bit higher than that...)
Ventilation,(air flow) I think, is a key difference between our shelters and say something like the Hilleberg or Terra Nova.
Oddly when Hilleberg designed the Rogen (first version) to give it more "3 season" performance , people complained that the fly was too high, somehow they prefer a low fly and then complain about condensation.
BTW, note that Hilleberg also now offers full mesh inners.
(those are Henry's shoes, I'm guessing size 11 or 12 )