Camping it up.

[Irezumi aka Reuben]

This is something I will not do very often, however going camping is.

I am looking for a new tent (1 or 2 man) and sleeping bag. They must be small and reasonably light. They must be able to withstand fairly cold temperatures, not much more than a UK winter(down to minus 10 at max), and be resonably priced, though I am willing to pay more if they are worth it as they will be seeing a fair bit of use.

I have always been camping when on holiday so now how to do everything, I just don't know the ins and out's of tents etc and where to start looking, what brands to look for etc.

Thanks for any help.
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Pictorgraphicalfantastical

[phantomtek]

Clicky

I believe that thread may be of some assistance, some good links within.

[dainesefreak]

It also depends on your budget.

[Irezumi aka Reuben]

Budget, £200, £250 at a push. But prefferably less, though I doubt that's do-able. This however need's to cover both tent and sleeping bag.
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Pictorgraphicalfantastical

[map]

Barrett's have a selection - see here.

For extreme stuff you may want to check out Force 10.

HTH
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...and the whirlwind is in the thorn trees, it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks...
Gibbs, what did Duckie look like when he was younger?

[stinkwheel]

My mate got a Vango force 10, Serac 1:2 tent on the internet the other day for an amazingly low price (about £140) from https://www.tw-od.com.

They seem to have sold tham all now though but looking at their prices, it is hardly surprising.

I have a vango spirit 200, if you shop around you will get one for about £200. Really just a single person tent (you'd fit two but you had better be very good friends) but has a HUGE porch for all your gear. The material the flysheet is made of is waterproof, (doesn't matter if you lean on it when it's raining, the inside stays dry) and it fits in an oxford sports pannier with room to spare.
https://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f216/stinkwheel/imm031.jpg

I can also highly recommend the vango sleeping bags, they are a lot longer than most so you have plenty of room to stretch out in.

If you are going camping in the cold, get a thermarest camping mat. If I had a choice of taking either my sleeping bag or my thermarest, the sleeping bag would stay behind.

[Wave2k]

Reuben, there is a new shop open near me in orpington, its not your cheapo tent store its a proper backpacker store with some really good gear and its all on display.
MASSIVE SHOP

Hit me up if you wanna go down and look
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[Lone-Wolf]

[Irezumi aka Reuben]

Popped down to that place earlier today Wave, got a bit lost with all the technical info they shoved at you through the displays/booklet, if anyone can explain what is good in a tent then please let me know.

Thanks for the help so far, saw those mattresses earlier today Lone Wolf and was quite intrigued, may well get one.

Neglected to mention, this stuff will first be used on a cycle tour/camping trip. I will also be doing this through winter, hence the stuff must be warm.

From reading this though seems I may have to up my budget.
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Pictorgraphicalfantastical

[stinkwheel]

If you are cycle touring, you might be prepared to sacrifice space and comfort for something ultra lightweight.

Have a look at these: https://www.lightwave.uk.com/en/tents_overview.php

[Rookie]

Vango sleeping bags are pretty damn good. I got one for £90 about 5 or 6 years ago, and it's lasted many drunken sleepovers, 3 festivals, camping trips and various other abuse. The only bad thing is that it's not suited to summer camping or indoor sleeping - being about 11 when I bought it, I just thought 'go for the best looking and warmest one' and ended up buying a 4 season one which is qualified up to -14 degrees.

Aside from some stray threads around the neck part it's survived the test of time amazingly, I hope they're still made as well as they were then.

[Irezumi aka Reuben]

Bump, anymore info greatly appreciated.

Vango seems a reccomended name so far and those tent's are very good stinkwheel, shall try and find some of those. Any other companies I should look up? Weight as Stinkwheel mentioned is an issue, but not too big a problem.

Thanks for the help.
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Pictorgraphicalfantastical

[stinkwheel]

I actually met the guy who makes those lightwave tents, he is very enthusiastic about them too.

If you are wanting a winter tent, there are some features that are usefull to look out for.

Firstly you realy want alloy poles, fibreglass ones are heavy and too easy to break.

Look at the overall design of the tent, is it going to buckle in a strong wind? What about if the wind changes direction? Geodesic or semi-geodesic designs are a lot more rigid than plain tunnels or domes but are that bit heavier. The more expensive Vango tunnel ones have a clever system of straps called 'tension bands' which give a lot of stability to the structure.

Can you put the inner and outer up in a oner? Can you errect the outer first? Either would be preferrable to one where you errect the inner then throw a flysheet over the top if you get caught in a torrential downpour.

Flysheet and groundsheet material, how waterproof are they? Good quality tents will state the 'hydrostatic head' of the material. This means how much water would have to be piled on top of the material before it leaks. A 'normal' flysheet has a HH of 1500mm. The Vango 4-season ones have a HH of 3,000mm, this is the same as the groundsheet on a run of the mill tent.

How hardcore are you going to get? Do you need a tent with peg-down snow flaps to stop snow getting up under the flysheet? Will you need room to cook inside the tent if the weather gets really shitty.

The inner tent, is it insect-proof? Whilst considering this, is there adequate ventilation through closeable mesh screens, it can get very stuffy in some tents and excessive condensation can cause problems. Ever seen it snow INSIDE a tent? Most unplesant.

Importantly, how easy is it to put up in a howling gale? Do you have to make something akin to a sail before you get it pegged down or can you get everything secured before you need to errect the poles.

In any case, if you are going to spend money on a good tent, insist on seeing it put up. If they aren't prepared to errect a tent you are spending a three figure sum on so you can see it, they don't deserve your custom. This lets you see how practical it is going to be to errect and if you are going to fit inside it.

Look at small details too (they can be annoying). How easy is it to get into? Can you sit up in it? Are the zips easy to find in the dark? Colour coded poles? Are there mesh sleeves to slide the poles into?

Couple of things I find mildly annoying on my spirit 200 are that there are three poles all of which are different lengths. One is purple, you slide it into a purple sleeve, all well and good. Both of the others are blue with blue sleeves. Very annoying when you have it 90% up and have to dismantle it again to swap the poles over. The pole sleeves on mine are also made of flysheet nylon. It is a bit fiddly to slide the poles through, especially when wet when it grips the poles. Mesh would have been better.

Oh yeah. Make sure it comes with a nice big bag with compression straps. Nothing more annoying than having to strike your tent in a hurry and finding it won't fit back in the bag unless it is folded just-so.

[Cillit-BANG]

Have a look at the Vango Hyrda+ too.

4 season tent and well thought out. Weight is good, construction is very stable and all materials are of good quality. RRP is £200 but everywhere seems to them for about £150.

I had one back in '96 but being young and foolish i sold it for cash for a mtb bike. I was after a tent a few years ago and was delighted to find it was still being made and didn't think twice over it.

That would leave you about £100 for a sleeping bag which would get you a cheap down one or a fairly sophisticated sythetic one from very reputable companies. It isn't likely to pack that small though, you'd need to triple your budget for a small 4 season sleeping bag.

£250 is a reasonable budget to be honest. If you think it is likely to be a really regular thing then maybe another £50 on the sleeping bag may be a thought, but then you can always wear something thicker.

[Irezumi aka Reuben]

[stinkwheel]

Sleeping bags can be another issue. You go out and buy a 4-season bag and they are bloody great. You can comfortably sleep in your underwear and find your water bottle has frozen solid through the night. But, go camping now, you are going to roast like a turkey.

As it happens, I have got both a two and a four season sleeping bag. Horses for courses.

What some people do is buy two, cheaper 2-season bags. Take one in the summer, take both in the winter.

Just a thought.

[owdamer]

I started off with a small 2 man tent, then I kept seeing what other people had. I have this now.

https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d12/owdamer/other%20stuff/IMG_7720.jpg

Bit much on the bike tho, I think it weighs in 45kg. They we have a pair of lafuma chairs, a king size airbed with built in inflator, mains unit, thermo electric coolbox, kitchen unit, double cooker, bbq, god knows what else, but we fill a mondeo estate + roofbox.
Thats just for 2 of us........
I do like my home comforts!