UK Winter one man tent & bedding

[Nai]

Hey gang, looking for a 1 man tent, sleeping bag, and ground matt to be used on lots of 3-4 day trips (about 20 trips total) across September - January this year.

Im fecking clueless to camping but will be travelling extremely lightly and would like to know if there’s any decent brands and brands to avoid. Never had a tent in my life

Budget...

Looking on Ebay and Amazon I am guessing :

Matt £5
Sleeping Bag £20
Tent £60

Have looked at dozens of reviews though and price seems to barely come into the equation with quality. There’s a lot of 1 star £100+ tents...

So I shall simply pull this face -> and ask BCF, any of you lot got any recommendations?

[Marmalade]

[stinkwheel]

Winter camping, you are asking for trouble if you get gear for those prices and it freezes.

In terms of a tent, you should seriously consider a 2-man tent. You'd never fit two people in them anyway but it gives you some room for your gear. A one man tent has room for you and nothing else.

The most important bit of gear you can buy for winter camping is your roll mat. I would strongly recommend going down the self-inflating route. Therm-a-rest is one of the very best brands but they are pricey, have a look at them as something to aim for. Another option (surprisingly cheap and lightweight) is a camp bed but they are a pain to put up and take down.

Sleeping bag, you're going to have a bit of a dilemma because of the vageries of the British climate. You could be looking at double figure temperatures some of the time and well below freezing at others. Sit in a four season arctic sleeping bag on a mild september night and you'll roast but it'll keep you toasty when it's minus five.

One solution is to get two, cheaper-end 2-season sleeping bags which gives you the option of putting one inside the other if necessary. Or a three season and a blanket

Tent. For winter, your biggest enemy will be wind. Of course a lot depends on where you're camping but from personal experience, you would be best avoiding anything with fibreglass poles. I personally don't rate dome tents either because they tend to buckle sideways. I'd go for either a tunnel tent with tension bands or a technical/geodesic design.

Chancing your luck for £60 though.

I'm a big fan of vango gear but a £60 vango is not going to stand up to winte rconditions.

The smallest and lightest of the small, light tents are terra Novo but they are £££.

I've been surprised how robust the quechua pop-up tents appear to be. I've a couple of mates with them who are too bone idle to even peg them down, let alone put the guy ropes out. By rights they should have died last time I was camping with them in February (in all that snow). Trouble is pack size. You have to fit a big disc on your bike.

At £115, a Vango Mirage 200 would do you very nicely. That's my recommendation for all year round one man motorcycle based budget camping.

So. Aluminmium poles. Also look for the hydrostatic head of the flysheet (that's the amount of water you can pile on it before it leaks). These days I wouldn't look at anything less than 3000mm.

Also remember, if you're on a bike, you aren't carrying it. Weight is largely irrelevant unless you're backpacking, it's pack size that is important. This is of particular relevance to sleeping bags, some of them are enormous. Snugpak do some pretty small packing sleeping bags.

Also. Invest in an ortleib dry bag. Put your sleeping bag, roll mat and dry clothes in it. Best sleeping bag in the world is useless if it's wringing wet. It can also be left outside the tent with some of your gear in to create space without worrying about it getting soaked.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Cadbury]

Long post inbound!
I am going to go slightly against the grain here, and recommend some of the innexpensive kit i have had personal experience with.

Myself and my brother go camping quite a bit, and have got light packing down to a fine art now.
My tent:

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/t2-ultralight-pro-tent-id_6539976.htmlhttps://www.decathlon.co.uk/media/653/6539976/zoom_asset_70437784.jpg

£100 RRP, i paid £60 in a sale. This has stood up to pretty huge winds and massive rainstorms leaving the camp-site flooded. I stayed perfectly dry. It has aluminium poles and pegs and will fit 2 in at a pinch, roomy for one. It weighs under 2kg, and is about 30cm long when all packed up.
My brother has this:
https://www.gelert.com/products/solo_tent
https://www.gelert.com/images/sized/images/products/2011/TEN/TEN252-Green-640x453.jpg It cost £30.... pack size is about the same, but the tent is smaller - certainly can't fit 2 in it, but it has stood up to the same conditions as mine, and performed admirably. Downside is it does have fibreglass poles, but it hasn't been an issue yet.

Sleeping mats - we both have these: https://www.millets.co.uk/product/096561/CAMPER-AIR.html?attribute=4812663
At £15, I doubt you can get better. They are essentially a lilo (like you would use in a pool), but made of ripstop nylon, and have much stronger screw on valve. For the money, its a great bit of kit, as it gets you well off the ground, but takes the space of 2 tins of beans in pack space.
For sleeping bags - its personal choice. Find one you are happy with and that you know you will be comfortable in. But, one piece of sleeping accessory I wouldn't be without is a silk liner. £30 ish, weighs absolutely nothing, takes up less space than a can of coke, but is a great thing to have. Add it to a lightsleeping bag to keep you warmer, or use it on its own on a hot day to keep you cool. I took a lightweight 2 season bag and a silk liner in 3-4degree weather in the autumn. I'm usually really hot most of the time though.

As stinkwheel said, drybags are your friend. Buy a couple and store everything in them.I put my sleeping bag in one, underwear in another, food in another etc. Multiple colours - I can grab the one I need without rummaging through my stuff. Small ones cost about £5 each.

[stinkwheel]

From checking the spec, I confidently predict the groundsheet on that gelert solo will fail very soon. A 1500mm hydrostatic head on a groundsheet is absolute rubbish.

Something else I forgot to mention. If you think there is a chance you'll be camping in snow. make sure you have a bathtub style groundsheet, that the flysheet comes very close to the ground and that the vents in the inner and outer tent aren't lined up with one another. Otherwise you'll land up with fine, powdery snow inside the tent.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Cadbury]

[MG]

I used this tent back for a 12 day cycling tour in 2009 and it was very good, fitted two people + kit in so I can imagine it'd be plenty for one person. We didn't even bother putting the guy ropes out, it was plenty sturdy without them.
____________________
'03 Honda Cityfly 125 > '02 Honda CB500S > '98 Honda CBR600F

[Nai]

Ok, thanks gang! I shall grab a Vango Mirage 200, gets good enough reviews.

Will have another nosey at sleeping bags later.

[Clanger]

I'd also say that a decent mat would be very important too, but not cheap...

I bought my original Exped Downmat for £60, it last 7 years, was the bees knees until it decided it wouldn't keep air in it for more than 30mins. BUT because it was so fab, as in pushing the cool ground air back down, and keeping me cosy and warm...I bought another. This time I got the SynMat 7 for £69.

Just spent a week on it, and it's perfect. Packs down very small and is really lightweight.
____________________
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss

[Peirre oBollox]

+1 for the exped downmat, I have a downmat 7 I bought from Les at traveldri https://www.traveldriplus.com/shop/
I also have a Pipedream 800 sleeping bag, and a Huka bivi bag from Alpkit https://www.alpkit.com/ all of which cost a small fortune, but after many years freezing my ar$e off camping, waking up in the night shivering, I figured it was time I bought decent kit
____________________
I accept no responsibility for swearing, drinking, motorcycle riding or your pregnant teenage daughter.

[c-m]

I've got the Aztec Esquina Plus

https://www.peglers.co.uk/products/Aztec-Esquina-Plus.html

It's £150 but in 2010 it easily withstood gale force winds and suferred no leaks floating in a few inches of water.

My friend at the time had the Coleman Phact 2 Person Backpacking Tent - £99 - which again survived but flapped about in the strong winds something rotten.
____________________
Motorcycle headlight bulbs and HIDs
Blogging about my bike and trips
https://ridershandbook.com/

[stinkwheel]

I would have recommended a Vango Banshee but it didn't cope very well with the snow. I landed up with powder snow in the sleeping area and cracked poles (possibly more due to the extreme cold just the wind by itself).

It did stand up but had to be thrown out after. Hence my recommending the Mirage which is very similar in design but WAY stronger on account of the extra pole.
https://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f216/stinkwheel/cimg0486.jpg
https://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f216/stinkwheel/cimg0487.jpg
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[carter36]

any tent really but vango are superb, last thing you want is a snapped pole!!

get an ex army roll mat as they are thick and cheap! ebay my friend.

i recomend snugpak sleeping backs, last a lifetime and are compact and you can choose how warm you want it, its down to pay...
https://www.snugpak.com/index.php?MenuID=93-101&ItemID=230
____________________
some prefer drugs - i prefer a windy road on a hot day with a bike cafe in site and a warmed up bike. you know the rest of it........ heaven.

[mentalboy]

For me it's a Terra Nova Laser competition tent, I've modified it a bit by using titanium pegs - whole thing weighs less than a kilo and packs pretty small.
Can't beat Thermarest mat to sleep on and for winter use a Mountain Equipment Lamina 0 (0 to -15 degrees) down bag so again packs small - as stated earlier if it's a mild winter you'll cook like a turkey!
Means that with some careful packing I can get the bag and tent in a top box, mat straps nicely under back of box.

Don't skimp on prices, get the best you can possibly afford, it'll last a lot longer and provide you with a much better night's rest - nothing worse than winter riding feeling like you need matchsticks to prop your eyelids open!!!
____________________
Make mine a Corona.

[Zero]

Mountain Hardwear Lamina's aren't down! I reckon they are one of the best bags on the market though
____________________
'01 Suzuki GZ125 - scrapped
'91 Kawasaki GT550 - given away
'95 Honda VRX400 / '08 Yamaha XT660R - current bikes

[mentalboy]

Major typo!!! Lamina packs small for a manmade fibre bag but something along those lines in down would be better if space is at a premium - like on a bike
____________________
Make mine a Corona.

[magpiemale]

Want a decent cheap sleeping bag try highland echo 400 goes down to -10 and around £50 search on eBay.also read tests about it one woman took it up a mountain to Kilimanjaro.
____________________
NSR125 1992 (sold) kawasaki Z750S,fazer FZ1 07 now gone present bike 2012 fz1s Fazer,beowulf rad protector,heated grips,sw motech gps holder,power socket.

[hallaaron759]

Hi,
I have reached on this forum yesterday and find lots of valuable information. Can any body tell me online shop who deliver home bedding product at affordable prices.
____________________
https://www.fabiia.com/

[ocatoro]

the army's polar gear is pretty cheap if you look on the ex mod auctions and on ebay. should be around the best available by all accounts.. feel free to slam me if i'm wrong.


i have an old german army bag with sleeves and a hood. i work nights and away so it's usually me and a couple bullmastiffs huddled in the van but i'm usually pretty toasty.

tents in my experience are very hit and miss. i had a cheapo lidl tent years ago that kept me dry in snowdonia's best efforts to drown me. then in a dearer gelert pop up when they come out, i've got wet in drizzle. and the wind protection was disgraceful.

so for tents i'd be going with what is tried and tested by the others.

interesting thread so far as i'll be on the lookout for all new camping gear in the nearish future.

[Derivative]

A £20 sleeping bag is not going to be good enough for winter unless it's the size of a small car.

With sleeping bags, you essentially get to choose two of the following:

Price
Size
Temperature rating

There is nothing worse than waking up at 3-4am freezing your bollocks off and knowing there's basically nothing you can do other than perhaps run around the field.

Especially 1 man. Hypothermia has a nasty habit of sapping your will to actually get the fuck up and _live_.

[smegballs]

[colin1]

rather than spending a fortune on a proper winter sleeping bag, use your cheapy one, but take several duvets to hide under too, a cheap matt may be ok not sure if your budget extends to a decent one, but something like this, is a good idea

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gelert-ABD089-self-inflating-camo-camping-fishing-backpacking-roll-mat-matt-/270987894140?pt=UK_SportingGoods_SleepingMats_Airbeds_CA&hash=item3f18231d7c#ht_1140wt_654

do not under any circumstances use an airbed as suggested by millets bloke, they are incredibly cold to sleep on, better to use a £5 cheapy matt
____________________
colin1 is officially faster than god