WE Second Arrow UL - Similar Tents?

[Aussie_Camper]

Howdy guys,

I just came back from an Alpine trip with a couple of friends where there were severe weather warnings, we were well prepared but the fact that we were mostly confined to our tents gave me pause for thought on upgrading my Companion Pro Hiker 2 tent

Don't get me wrong, I've had it 4 years and its been through snow, heavy rain, wind etc. It's been flawless and kept me dry but the weight is 'weighing' on me and I do enough camping to justify buying another, but it needs to be able to cope for all seasons.

I got my eye on the Second Arrow, it looks perfect, especially like the vestibule/cooking/living area and lower weight of course, curious if there are other similar rated tents for less $$?

I see Novasports have one, but looking at it I can already tell it's not on the same level.

Any guidance, much appreciated

Cheers Jack

tldr; after a tent similar to WE second arrow for less dollars, possible or am I dreaming?

[Moondog55]

Nothing wrong with dreaming. When I was last looking all the tents with the features I wanted and needed were of similar prices.
The unit I finally bought cost a lot more than the WE
https://www.helsport.com/en/tents-and-s ... =170-095-V
Only you can decide what is most important to you

[crollsurf]

Don't think there are too many tents that would survive a blizzard under 2kg. Sounds like your tent is a bargain.

I was lucky enough to pick up a new second hand WE First Arrow UL for $699 a few years back, so you might get lucky and find one on ebay. Thing to be aware of, unless they have changed, at 185cm tall, the WE Arrows are a bit short. Doable but laying straight out, my head and feet touch the ends which isn't great. With the First Arrow, I can lie on an angle and happy days, plus I can use as a 2 person if needed. At 2.28kg, your not saving a whole lot of weight. If you're average height, the Second UL at 1.86kg will make a big difference. Both are pretty much bomb proof.

The compromise is to camp below the treeline in a sheltered spot and go for a lighter/cheaper 4 season tent.

EDIT: I might have actually been over reading what you're after. Maybe check out something like the Tarptent Scarp at 1.4kg https://www.tarptent.com/product/scarp-1/

[Aussie_Camper]

Nothing wrong with dreaming. When I was last looking all the tents with the features I wanted and needed were of similar prices.
The unit I finally bought cost a lot more than the WE
https://www.helsport.com/en/tents-and-s ... =170-095-V
Only you can decide what is most important to you

Thanks for the reply, it would be for hiking so over 4kg would be out of my weight range, my current tent is 2.7kg.

Don't think there are too many tents that would survive a blizzard under 2kg. Sounds like your tent is a bargain.

I was lucky enough to pick up a new second hand WE First Arrow UL for $699 a few years back, so you might get lucky and find one on ebay. Thing to be aware of, unless they have changed, at 185cm tall, the WE Arrows are a bit short. Doable but laying straight out, my head and feet touch the ends which isn't great. With the First Arrow, I can lie on an angle and happy days, plus I can use as a 2 person if needed. At 2.28kg, your not saving a whole lot of weight. If you're average height, the Second UL at 1.86kg will make a big difference. Both are pretty much bomb proof.

The compromise is to camp below the treeline in a sheltered spot and go for a lighter/cheaper 4 season tent.

EDIT: I might have actually been over reading what you're after. Maybe check out something like the Tarptent Scarp at 1.4kg https://www.tarptent.com/product/scarp-1/

My current tent has served me well, 2.7kg is a little too heavy though, especially considering I've upgraded all my other gear to be lightweight.

Ideally I'd like to be around the 1.5kg but happy to take the hit on weight for the flexibility the Second Arrow provides.

I'll check out ebay and FB marketplace and perhaps I can snag myself a bargain.

Cheers,

[Moondog55]

My replacement now that I'm giving up skiing is a BD Megalite tarp, which I managed to get on sale through a mate in the USA but before the Helsport my Alpine tent was a FairyDown Plateau which weighed a good bit more than the Helsport. When weather really sets in above the snowline it's hard to have too much tent. My own solo tent has been the Macpac Minaret but I feel the older models are a much better design than the new ones.
Any of the small tents can be improved by taking along a small tarp and an extra tent pole for non-alpine use and this is one area where even I would go Cuben and a carbon fibre pole set