REVIEW: Pro Action Hike Lite Tent

[ms51ves3]

After looking around for a tent that had a small pack size and was light, I came across the Pro Action Hike Lite tent from Argos (bear with me).

Reviews of it were good and for the small price of £22 delivered, I had to buy one. Compare this to the other tent I was looking at, the Vango Banshee 200, which has a similar weight and pack size, but was priced at £70. Now yes, with the Vango Banshee you do get 3000mm of hydrostatic head (rather than the 2000mm with Hike Lite) and the tent is fire retardant, but I don't think it justifies spending another £48.

I ordered the tent on Wednesday with the free option of next day delivery. It arrived Thursday and I started weighing and measuring.

The stated weight is 2100g, yet when weighed on my scales, it came to 1989g. Excellent.

https://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a376/ms51ves3/DSCF1483.jpg

I then measured the tent's packed dimensions.

https://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a376/ms51ves3/DSCF1468.jpg

https://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a376/ms51ves3/DSCF1471.jpg

The tent comes with alloy spiked tent pegs and alloy poles which help keep the weight down. It also comes with a spares bag which includes a guy line and tent peg.

https://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a376/ms51ves3/DSCF1484.jpg

https://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a376/ms51ves3/DSCF1486.jpg

https://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a376/ms51ves3/DSCF1485.jpg

I pitched the inner first, which is a little disadvantage in the event of rain, but it took me only 3 minutes and 41 seconds from unpacking to being pitched.

https://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a376/ms51ves3/DSCF1487.jpg

Pitching is very easy as the fly sheet clips to the poles rather than you having to feed the poles through the sheet. The poles are very easy to slot together due to the elastic cord that runs down the middle.

I put the outer, waterproof sheet over the top. This ties to the poles and then clips to the pegging points of the fly sheet. These can then be tightened up to keep the inner and outer sheet separated. It has pre-attached guy lines to make pitching quicker.

All together it took me 10 minutes and 53 seconds from start to finish.

https://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a376/ms51ves3/DSCF1491.jpg

Once pitched and everything tightened up, the inner sheet stays well away from from the outer. There is also a hook for my lantern which I was a little worried there wouldn't be as it's not mentioned anywhere.

https://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a376/ms51ves3/DSCF1493.jpg

Inside there's plenty of room for my midget 5'7" and I have no worries about having enough room to keep my riding gear and bag in there with me. If you are taller, I don't think you would have any issues. The tent is quite long and there was lots of room at the end of my feet for more man.

https://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a376/ms51ves3/DSCF1489.jpg

It also has a little porch that you could cook in, but bear in mind that it isn't fireproof so it may not be the best of ideas.

https://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a376/ms51ves3/DSCF1490.jpg

I got my hose pipe out and gave it a good soaking. When I opened the door though, some water fell in off the outer sheet. I'm sure I could have avoided this if I was more careful.

https://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a376/ms51ves3/DSCF1494.jpg

Apart from that, it was fine and it didn't leak anywhere.

Pros:

Lightweight
Small pack size
Very roomy (for a one man tent)
Alloy tent pegs and poles
Bargain price

Cons:

It's bright orange
Pitch inner first
The tab on the zip sticks to the velcro on the outside
The guy line tensioner slips on the line, but this could be because it's new

Summary:

Overall it's a great little tent that can't be beaten on price. If you need a small tent I highly recommend it. The quality of the product is very good and I have no complaints. I look forward to summer.

Click me to buy one.

[The Artist]

Your garden is unusually tide

[ms51ves3]

How do you know how tidy my garden usually is?

I've just packed it away and that was easy too. Back in its bag and down to its tiny size.

[CRF_Rider]

looks alright for the price. I have an Aztec Esquina https://www.aztecoutdoor.co.uk/tents/performance/2person/esquina.htm but more expensive @ £100, but packs up very small (has compression straps).

Its 5000mm waterproof (best i could find in the price range £70-£100), Pitch is flysheet first too which i wanted. Its stated at 3.2kg but i weighed it and its 3kg. Poles + pegs are 7001 T6 alloy so nice and light. Very good design the wind an rain kinda blows over it.

Advantages of orange are: when ya pissed and stumbling back at rally very easy to find at night

Disadvantages: looks odd when ya wake up an the sun is shining on it.

People think your a bit of a pose-whore for KTM branding
____________________
Why is it everything i race, seems to be going backwards?
Current: Honda CRF 450 R Supermotard
Previous: Yam TY250 x2, Gas Gas TXT 200, Sherco 290, Suzuki TS 50,Honda CG 125, Yam SR250, Suzuki DR-Z400E, Yamaha YZF R6 112rwbhp

[ms51ves3]

[CRF_Rider]

Thats similar to mine, in that the tent is now smaller than the sleeping bag. So i bought a compression harness type thing for that too.

So out of everything the tent and sleeping bag are now the smallest items and my clothes are the largest.
____________________
Why is it everything i race, seems to be going backwards?
Current: Honda CRF 450 R Supermotard
Previous: Yam TY250 x2, Gas Gas TXT 200, Sherco 290, Suzuki TS 50,Honda CG 125, Yam SR250, Suzuki DR-Z400E, Yamaha YZF R6 112rwbhp

[The Artist]

[1234]

just got myself a small lightweight backpacking tent as well to hopefully go backpacking this spring
i went for a gelert solo at £25 (mine packed is 35x15x15 cm and weighs 1.4kg), its not got a lot of head room though, i wanted a low tent for some stealth type wild camping, pitch up at dusk pack up by dawn, because wild camping is illegal in england except dartmoor

on your post you haven't put anything about seam sealing the fly sheet, the fabric might be waterproof but when its stitched your breaking the water proofing, the solo is already weather checked and has taped seams but its still recommended that you seam seal it. I've got a pot of seam sealer to go on my flysheet, just got to wait for a nice clear day
https://camping.about.com/od/tentfaq/f/tentseams.htm
also it looks like you haven't got a ground sheet, its just for a little bit more protection so you don't pierce the tents floor, and also its keeps the bottom of the tent clean, ill fold the 2 dirty sides together horizontally and roll it up and fasten it to the outside of my rucksack
just my 2p worth

[The Shaggy D.A.]

[ms51ves3]

[1234]

ok thats up to you fella it was a suggestion

a light weight ground sheet weighs nothing, my polythene footprint weight 150g max
when your putting it in a rucksack you dont want mud to be over everything else do you, that my personal preference though, you might want mud over the rest of your gear

i took a pic to show you its under 35cm , its all down to how you pack it, i know its smaller ive only got to fit a 30l rucksack in mine, i was thinking about a bivvy bag for some time but i thought the solo would have more ventilation and i could fit my rucksack in the porch, it has fiberglass poles which i dont see as a problem (ive used fibre glass poles for years in my fishing bivvy and have never had a problem), they can be replaced at a later date if needs be. and even with steel pegs and a ground sheet mine still weighs less

its all personal preference though

[ms51ves3]

[1234]

fair enough, i have to pack mine

its not how big it is its how you use it

[The Shaggy D.A.]

[ms51ves3]

Excellent

I see where you are coming from with the pitch inner issue. I might have to try pitching it your way next time just to see how long it takes.

I would have slept out in mine at the weekend, but my sleeping bag is rated for a temperature of 10°c so I would have been freezing.

[fatsamurai]

I had one of these. It was about the same price when I got it five or six years ago

It used it three or four times a year for about 5 years. Survived some torrential downpours and stayed dry.

One of the zips gave up the ghost last year, forcing me to get rid. It was an excellent tent & well worth the money.
____________________
Hyosung GT125 [SOLD] -> Suzuki GSX 750W [SOLD] -> SV650S [Crashed] -> FZ6

[Sparks!]

Awww seems its up to £48.00 now on Argos??
____________________
Current Toys: 06 Yamaha WR250F | Nissan 350Z GT | Tech 4 Homes

[ms51ves3]

[Sparks!]

[The Shaggy D.A.]

[ms51ves3]

Damn. Next winter I'm stocking up

[The Shaggy D.A.]

I'll be buying another, especially if they rerelease the green ones.
____________________
Chances are quite high you are not in my Monkeysphere, and I don't care about you. Don't take it personally.
Currently : Royal Enfield 350 Meteor
Previously : CB100N > CB250RS > XJ900F > GT550 > GPZ750R/1000RX > AJS M16 > R100RT > Bullet 500 > CB500 > LS650P > Bullet Electra X & YBR125 > Bullet 350 "Superstar" & YBR125 Custom > Royal Enfield Classic 500 Despatch Limited Edition (28 of 200) & CB Two-Fifty Nighthawk > ER5

[ms51ves3]

It seems Argos have stopped selling this tent altogether now

Going to have to really look after this one.

[CarlosCBR]

Thats a damn shame! I saw Tesco are selling a couple of tents at the moment and i need one for the BMF weekend next month where it usually rains!!

Might work out a way to hitch a caravan to the CBR125!

[The Shaggy D.A.]

I thought the colour wouldn't bother me, but when I pitched it last week it was smothered by insects within 10 seconds of me getting the flysheet out.

What confuses me is that when the little sods realise that (a) they can't eat it, (b) they can't mate with it and (c) they can't fight it, why don't they just fuck off?
____________________
Chances are quite high you are not in my Monkeysphere, and I don't care about you. Don't take it personally.
Currently : Royal Enfield 350 Meteor
Previously : CB100N > CB250RS > XJ900F > GT550 > GPZ750R/1000RX > AJS M16 > R100RT > Bullet 500 > CB500 > LS650P > Bullet Electra X & YBR125 > Bullet 350 "Superstar" & YBR125 Custom > Royal Enfield Classic 500 Despatch Limited Edition (28 of 200) & CB Two-Fifty Nighthawk > ER5