Marty_JG wrote:Your tent is okay but a bit heavy at 3kg and you should avoid wind given it is spacious and has fibreglass (prone to shatter/break) poles. Nothing you need to urgently replace but if you really start getting into long camping hikes you can always ask for advice for an upgrade (plenty of affordable ones, even more affordable if you can sell your old tent). Naturehike is a superb choice but there are some others too.
The gold-standard for default replacement pegs are MSR Groundhogs. The platinum standard would be Hilleberg pegs, but you really do not need to spend that extra. There are also MSR Mini-Groundhogs but I'd go for the full sized version. The point is you buy your own pegs, or even a range of pegs if you camp in very different places: beaches, snow, swamp, rocks. And you keep your pegs if you sell the tent (selling the pegs that came with it). Make sure you learn how to put them in that that includes never using your foot (toe ball or heel) to press them in.
Four season covers a lot of territory. You can't really call a sleep system 4 season in Scotland if it's not able to handle the midwinter deep cold but you might not be intending to camp in that so "3+ seasons" is doable without going the full expedition (not that your tent is even remotely suitable for genuine 4 season use). Aegismax is a fine sleeping bag and they come in a range of prices, weights and fills. The higher the price the higher the weight the higher the fill the warmer it is. What will be right for you will depend on all the factors including your conditions (by that I mean the worst conditions you will face), your tent, your personal bodies, and your mats. An insulated mat is a huge difference. An Exped, Thermarest, or Klymit with a good R-value will make a vast difference if the ground is cold. The thin, light, aluminium foam mats are wonderful, I always use one and I love them - I touch the tent floor but instead of a cold groundsheet I feel something that's warm. But it's no replacement for an insulated sleeping mat, I have that too.
Thanks for the reply, yeah I know it's a bit on the heavier side but I'm not looking to do long hikes at the start, this will get me out at least, the other tent I'm going to buy will be lighter if I'm doing longer solo hikes, it is also the upgraded version with the aluminum poles so hopefully no broken poles
Will look into those msr pegs.
Regarding the 4 seasons I will probably avoid the worst of the weather at the start, although being scotland that might not always be possible, as I want to keep the budget down as much as possible I was just wondering which aegismax would give the best bang for buck, I think I was looking at about 700fill at about the 100 mark but with having four to buy this then eats into the budget for the Mats hence the reason for using a mix of air Mats and closed cell or foam and perhaps a liner.
Again thanks for taking the time for the detailed reply
