Tony Evett
i'm going backpacking and want to keep my pack light and i purchased a tent for $90, it was the columbia hood river tent...i need something big enough for two people, the tent weighs 9 lbs...is this too heavy? its a two day hike
Answer
For a two day hike you'll be OK but 9lbs is heavy for a backpacking tent for long trips.
The lightest single person tents weigh less than 2lb...the Coleman Raid I use is good value for one of those....and lightweight two person tents weigh from a bit less than 2 1/2lb upwards.
Around 5lb is a good compromise for build strength and lightness for a two person tent of reasonable price. Very light but strong two person tents like the Vango Force Ten Helium 2 are available at high prices and Coleman do some very good ones which handle rough weather but are reasonably light and will last for many seasons without costing a fortune.
Two small lightweight tents are normally better than one big one unless you want to be cozy together as in b/f g/f camping or for married couples.
You can put two small ones together with the entrances facing each other, cover the whole lot with a sheet of polythene or a lightweight groundsheet or tarpaulin, and have a tent with two bedrooms and an eating or sitting area between them for a total weight of less than 8lb and having good waterproofing and shelter from the extra cover as well as a lot of extra space, with the weight shared between the two people.
A two person and a small one person tent pitched that way make a bedroom and storeroom tent, eg for the rucksacks, drying clothes, or storing a bike under cover.
The tarpaulin is strongly pegged out all round leaving an entrance at one side and helps to reduce wear and tear on the tents and provides more protection for them in a high wind or heavy rain.
Each person carries their own tent, one carries the tarpaulin and the other carries the stove and pots, the food weight is shared, and then the weight of the basic living stuff is nicely distributed between them.
With side entrance tents it works out to a compact squarish shape with a covered area between the tents as deep as the tents are long.
With end entrance tents you get a long thin arrangement with a covered space between the tents that is only as deep as the tents are wide and you need a very long tarp or you could put the tents side by side and extend the tarp over the front to make a covered porch area and then you have private bedrooms that don't face each other.
If you knock two poles into the ground between the tents you can fix a drying line for clothes onto them or use them for a bicycle stand which is out of the way but easy to get to and a line over the top of them makes a ridge line to support the tarp.
A whole load of arrangements is possible with two small tents pitched together.
Side entrance tents are easier to get in and out and they air out nicely with the whole side of the tent opened up.
It's easier to get stuff in and out of them and easy to get to the whole floor space from the outside for getting the flooring sorted , sleeping bags laid out etc, and the zips allow a much more versatile arrangement for the entrance, which can be be a top window all the way along the tent , small door at one end, totally open, a small ventilator, however you want.
Have a good trip.
For a two day hike you'll be OK but 9lbs is heavy for a backpacking tent for long trips.
The lightest single person tents weigh less than 2lb...the Coleman Raid I use is good value for one of those....and lightweight two person tents weigh from a bit less than 2 1/2lb upwards.
Around 5lb is a good compromise for build strength and lightness for a two person tent of reasonable price. Very light but strong two person tents like the Vango Force Ten Helium 2 are available at high prices and Coleman do some very good ones which handle rough weather but are reasonably light and will last for many seasons without costing a fortune.
Two small lightweight tents are normally better than one big one unless you want to be cozy together as in b/f g/f camping or for married couples.
You can put two small ones together with the entrances facing each other, cover the whole lot with a sheet of polythene or a lightweight groundsheet or tarpaulin, and have a tent with two bedrooms and an eating or sitting area between them for a total weight of less than 8lb and having good waterproofing and shelter from the extra cover as well as a lot of extra space, with the weight shared between the two people.
A two person and a small one person tent pitched that way make a bedroom and storeroom tent, eg for the rucksacks, drying clothes, or storing a bike under cover.
The tarpaulin is strongly pegged out all round leaving an entrance at one side and helps to reduce wear and tear on the tents and provides more protection for them in a high wind or heavy rain.
Each person carries their own tent, one carries the tarpaulin and the other carries the stove and pots, the food weight is shared, and then the weight of the basic living stuff is nicely distributed between them.
With side entrance tents it works out to a compact squarish shape with a covered area between the tents as deep as the tents are long.
With end entrance tents you get a long thin arrangement with a covered space between the tents that is only as deep as the tents are wide and you need a very long tarp or you could put the tents side by side and extend the tarp over the front to make a covered porch area and then you have private bedrooms that don't face each other.
If you knock two poles into the ground between the tents you can fix a drying line for clothes onto them or use them for a bicycle stand which is out of the way but easy to get to and a line over the top of them makes a ridge line to support the tarp.
A whole load of arrangements is possible with two small tents pitched together.
Side entrance tents are easier to get in and out and they air out nicely with the whole side of the tent opened up.
It's easier to get stuff in and out of them and easy to get to the whole floor space from the outside for getting the flooring sorted , sleeping bags laid out etc, and the zips allow a much more versatile arrangement for the entrance, which can be be a top window all the way along the tent , small door at one end, totally open, a small ventilator, however you want.
Have a good trip.
What should I look for in a tent suitable for ukcamping?
Kate M
Answer
Hi, I do a lot of walking cycling and wild camping all over the UK.
Waterproofing and stability in wind are important. There are a lot of choices from small one-person lightweight tents to heavy canvas bungalows for family use on camp sites.
For British tents Vango is the top dog. They also make excellent sleeping bags and some of the best rucksacks available anywhere.
The top range Vango Force Ten tents and Vango rucksacks are used on Everest and other high mountains.
Karrimor is also an excellent choice for rucksacks, as are Berghaus ( a British company, not German as it sounds) and Lowe Alpine.
Vango is an anagram of Govan in Scotland where the company is based though not all the tents are made there. Some are made in China (what isn't these days) but the quality control is very good and they have the same standards applied to them as British made tents.
Vango has a reputation to keep as a world leader in tentage. It's a good company that gets involved in outdoor events, not just selling stuff and it works closely with the DofE board and outdoor sports groups.
For a brief history of Vango products see under the tents
http://www.greatoutdoorsdirect.co.uk/c-43-vango.aspx
My Vango mountain tent is a tunnel design so it's easy to cover with an extra plastic sheet when wanted. It's light enough, very strong, and has never let water in on the HIghlands in wet Welsh Wales, in wild places on the Alps and Andes and on the wet island I live on (IOM) even without an extra cover.
An advantage of an extra cover is having a large one enough to provide dry space at the side of the tent for rations, a bike etc.
It can be a cheap groundsheet from B&Q or Wickes or similar or just a large sheet of polythene from a builders merchant.
Plastic or brass eyelets can be bought cheaply from camping shops like Millets and take a few seconds each to fix so you can peg the sheet down, with guylines if wanted.
Stay away from dome tents if you want to use an extra cover.They are very awkward to cover because of the shape.
I also use two Coleman tents which are always good and have never once let me down even in horizontal rain in the Cuillin and the rest of beautiful Britain and in the Alps and Andes.
Here is a long answer for UK camping, old but as true now as then
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090925142055AAXaMmR . . . .
Hi, I do a lot of walking cycling and wild camping all over the UK.
Waterproofing and stability in wind are important. There are a lot of choices from small one-person lightweight tents to heavy canvas bungalows for family use on camp sites.
For British tents Vango is the top dog. They also make excellent sleeping bags and some of the best rucksacks available anywhere.
The top range Vango Force Ten tents and Vango rucksacks are used on Everest and other high mountains.
Karrimor is also an excellent choice for rucksacks, as are Berghaus ( a British company, not German as it sounds) and Lowe Alpine.
Vango is an anagram of Govan in Scotland where the company is based though not all the tents are made there. Some are made in China (what isn't these days) but the quality control is very good and they have the same standards applied to them as British made tents.
Vango has a reputation to keep as a world leader in tentage. It's a good company that gets involved in outdoor events, not just selling stuff and it works closely with the DofE board and outdoor sports groups.
For a brief history of Vango products see under the tents
http://www.greatoutdoorsdirect.co.uk/c-43-vango.aspx
My Vango mountain tent is a tunnel design so it's easy to cover with an extra plastic sheet when wanted. It's light enough, very strong, and has never let water in on the HIghlands in wet Welsh Wales, in wild places on the Alps and Andes and on the wet island I live on (IOM) even without an extra cover.
An advantage of an extra cover is having a large one enough to provide dry space at the side of the tent for rations, a bike etc.
It can be a cheap groundsheet from B&Q or Wickes or similar or just a large sheet of polythene from a builders merchant.
Plastic or brass eyelets can be bought cheaply from camping shops like Millets and take a few seconds each to fix so you can peg the sheet down, with guylines if wanted.
Stay away from dome tents if you want to use an extra cover.They are very awkward to cover because of the shape.
I also use two Coleman tents which are always good and have never once let me down even in horizontal rain in the Cuillin and the rest of beautiful Britain and in the Alps and Andes.
Here is a long answer for UK camping, old but as true now as then
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090925142055AAXaMmR . . . .
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