Walkhighlands

Hi All,

Planning a trip to bag some Munros in Sep/Oct (Mamores or Kintail/Glen Shiel probably). We plan to wild camp and I'm taking the opportunity to treat myself to a new tent as the old one is rather heavy.

Research is very difficult due to the vast number of options and applications, making reviews tricky to evaluate.

I've come up with some basic criteria:

- 3 season and able to withstand the standard range of Scottish weather (and midges)
- Less than 1.8kg including footprint if a separate one is needed/advised
- Budget up to c.£500
- Genuine 2 man tent

Based on these I've come up with a shortlist that I'm seeking opinions on (happy to entertain other options if I'm missing something good):

- Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL2 (some concerns on durability and zips, but generally very well reviewed)
- MSR Hubba Hubba NX (heavier end of things but a tried and tested favourite seemingly)
- Nemo Dragonfly
- TarpTent Scarp 2 (heavier end of things and difficult to find at present)
- Vaude Hogan SUL 2P Tent

Please let me know if any of these stand out as particularly good, or bad, for 3 season use in Scotland.

Many Thanks

Rod

Dug out the old tent last night. It's a Vaude Terratrio and weighed in at 2.7kg. This tended to be split between two people, whilst the new one will largely be solo carried. I'm still happy enough with the 1.8kg weight limit listed above, but a bit lighter (assuming sufficient protection and durability) would obviously be better.

I use the Naturehike Cloud-Up 2, Amazon currently have the lighter weight ones (the "20D" range, 1.5kg for 2 man) for £135, or a fiver more with a snow skirt. (They have slightly heavier "210T" ones at just under 2kg for £105).

I'm a bit jealous of the new models, they have ventilation flaps, I can get a bit of condensation but not enough to greet about. I got the snow-skirt version not just for snow but to tie-out and peg the skirt corners to give a bit of resistance against side wind and rain. And it works, I've had gale-force side winds and it came through very well. In calmer weather I roll them up.

The material and construction really is top notch too, doesn't feel cheap in the least.

Thanks Marty, that's a very interesting option indeed

The upgraded version with skirt (seems to be essential) is about 1.8kg (including footprint), so top end of my weight range, but for a fraction of the price of alternatives.

My question would be, what am I sacrificing compared to the MSR or BA?

Apologies for the double post. Having checked the stats in a bit more detail, my concern is that although fine for 1 person, it might be a bit tight for 2. The 3 man version gets a fair bit over 2kg unfortunately, which is a bit high to solo carry imho.

I use the 2-man for myself and my medium (11kg) dog, lots of room. There's room for 2 people, it's the kit that's the issue.

The full packed weight of the silver-skirt 3-man is 2250g, but the minimal weight is 1850g; that will be without stuff-sacks or floorprint. My official 2-man floorprint is 250g, I got a Geleert one at 160g. My thought was the Geleert one would be more replaceable if it got worn.

An alternative floorprint is Tyvek at 63g per square meter and is pretty much the standard for ultralight homebrew types.

This guy had to buy an entire roll just to make his own groundsheet, and now he's selling it at just over £5 per meter x 2.8 meters.

Do you use trekking poles at all? If you do then that would open up a lot of options to fit your requirements.

I'd suggest taking a look at the Tarptent Stratospire 2, which is a strong and spacious shelter coming in at 1.35kg with the solid inner option.
https://www.tarptent.com/product/stratospire-2/

Does it have to be a 2 person tent because two of you will be using it?

Yes, 2 man as at times 2 people plus kit will be using it. I don't tend to use poles, say unfortunately that rules out a few nice lightweight options

You can buy lightweight tent poles if you don't use walking poles, they start at 40 grams each.

malrc wrote:Hi All,

Planning a trip to bag some Munros in Sep/Oct (Mamores or Kintail/Glen Shiel probably). We plan to wild camp and I'm taking the opportunity to treat myself to a new tent as the old one is rather heavy.

Research is very difficult due to the vast number of options and applications, making reviews tricky to evaluate.

I've come up with some basic criteria:

- 3 season and able to withstand the standard range of Scottish weather (and midges)
- Less than 1.8kg including footprint if a separate one is needed/advised
- Budget up to c.£500
- Genuine 2 man tent

Based on these I've come up with a shortlist that I'm seeking opinions on (happy to entertain other options if I'm missing something good):

- Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL2 (some concerns on durability and zips, but generally very well reviewed)
- MSR Hubba Hubba NX (heavier end of things but a tried and tested favourite seemingly)
- Nemo Dragonfly
- TarpTent Scarp 2 (heavier end of things and difficult to find at present)
- Vaude Hogan SUL 2P Tent

Please let me know if any of these stand out as particularly good, or bad, for 3 season use in Scotland.

Many Thanks

Rod

No such thing as a "lightweight 2 man tent as such. Although advertised. Even cheap and nasty solo tents weigh too much.

If you find one under 2.3 K let me know.

malrc wrote:No such thing as a "lightweight 2 man tent as such. Although advertised. Even cheap and nasty solo tents weigh too much....If you find one under 2.3 K let me know.

There’s plenty of 2P tents less than 1.5kg out there from manufacturers like Tarptent, Zpacks, Terra Nova, Big Agnes, Big Sky, Hilleberg, just to name a few.
There's even Big Agnes & MSR 'clones' on Aliexpress that come in at around 1.8kg, quality is good & very reasonably priced (you just have to put up with the 4 - 6wks wait).
Features vary a lot (as well as price so you just need to do the research & sort out what works for you.

whiteburn wrote:

malrc wrote:No such thing as a "lightweight 2 man tent as such. Although advertised. Even cheap and nasty solo tents weigh too much....If you find one under 2.3 K let me know.

There’s plenty of 2P tents less than 1.5kg out there from manufacturers like Tarptent, Zpacks, Terra Nova, Big Agnes, Big Sky, Hilleberg, just to name a few.
There's even Big Agnes & MSR 'clones' on Aliexpress that come in at around 1.8kg, quality is good & very reasonably priced (you just have to put up with the 4 - 6wks wait).
Features vary a lot (as well as price so you just need to do the research & sort out what works for you.

I'm pretty sure you just fell for a joke post.

Marty_JG wrote:

whiteburn wrote:

malrc wrote:No such thing as a "lightweight 2 man tent as such. Although advertised. Even cheap and nasty solo tents weigh too much....If you find one under 2.3 K let me know.

There’s plenty of 2P tents less than 1.5kg out there from manufacturers like Tarptent, Zpacks, Terra Nova, Big Agnes, Big Sky, Hilleberg, just to name a few.
There's even Big Agnes & MSR 'clones' on Aliexpress that come in at around 1.8kg, quality is good & very reasonably priced (you just have to put up with the 4 - 6wks wait).
Features vary a lot (as well as price so you just need to do the research & sort out what works for you.

I'm pretty sure you just fell for a joke post.

Quite correct! Although I am an old school. Don't work in metric!
Unless you pay a fortune.for tents not suitable for the UK. As for tarps forget it! Unless a W11 veteran