Recommend me a one man tent

[Wook]

A number of years ago I engaged in my one and only foray into the world of unassisted bike touring. The reason I never repeated the exercise was that the single skinned one man coffin tent I used was not fit for purpose. I got "rained" on all night by condensation, even with the door fully open, and didn't get a wink of sleep. The 34 mile ride home the next day was not a happy one. I set off at 0530 simply because I was still awake and still getting soaked.

However this spring I'm willing to give it another bash. I think I've nailed down what I need, and I bow to the superior knowledge of the folk in this forum.

Essential:

• Must be suitable for bike camping and backpacking (i.e. lightweight and ideally can be transported in pieces to balance panniers)
• Must be double skinned
• Must have good ventilation
• Since condensation is unavoidable all the time, it must be designed to drip condensation down to the ground rather than onto the occupant
• Must offer decent rain and wind protection, especially if I fancy taking it up the hills
• Must cost around £200 or less.

Can any of you suggest some tents? If there aren't too many 1-man tents that meet the above criteria, I'd be willing to go as big as a 2-man provided it is reasonably light weight and compact when stowed.

 

[copper_head]

I'd have to recommend a wild country zephyros 2, had mine for a couple of years now. Packs pretty small, decent living area for one person and weighs in at 1.7kg. Around the £100 mark.

 

[Squidders]

I'd probably go for this due to budget constraints: http://www.cascadedesigns.com/msr/tents/experience-series/hubba-nx/product

 

[Jethro924]

I'm planning to go cycle touring myself this year, I'll be taking my Tenth Wonder Bivi hammock (http://www.twhammocks.co.uk/Hammocks/Hornet-Hammocks/Zip-in-Bivi-Hammock-Green) and tarp. I got it as a present last year and haven't used my tent since

 

[ozzy1977]

I think that the msr is over the £200 budget.

 

[bearpark]

For £200 I'd be tempted by the Wild Country Zephyros 2 Lite or the Force 10 Helium 200. Both are good in bad weather, weigh under 1.5kg and pack really small. They're double skinned and offer options for ventilation when you need it.

 

[Wook]

I'd seen the Zephyros line before, although some commenters on other blogs reported condensation issues. It may just be that that they didn't know how to work it, or had unrealistic expectations.

I'm not daft enough to expect no condensation, but I want to be sure that whatever there is does not make its way into where I am sleeping. I want it to stay on the outer skin or drip down to the ground between the outer and inner skins.

 

[VanDeRooster]

I'd look at the MSR Hubba HP, great tent and sometimes found around the £200 mark.

 

[crucible]

If it's for bike touring, then I would go for these options rather than a 1 man tent:

black diamond megalight:
http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/tents-and-bivys/mega-light-tent-BD8005070000ALL1.html

or a hennessey hammock:
http://www.hennessyhammock.com/

These out of the box options will offer you better ventilation, storage, and waterproofness for roughly the same amount of money that you were budgeting.

 

[neilwragg]

I use a DD hammock for bike touring, lack of trees on one trip meant I used a playground climbing frame to pitch up in though. Also use a Lichfield treklite - bright blue but it's only about £40 & better than some more expensive tents I have.

 

[gobfish1]

i do 3 / 4 weeks bike touring each year , im using a 5 year old vango banshee 200 , no problems with it , condensation or other wise ,

pitch in one, takes a few mins to put up, ( i dont put tent in my panniers it just go,s on top of rack) tho it would fit less the poles ,


ps

its a one man tent may say it would take two , no way id want to have someone in this tent with me ,

 

[spoony]

Zephyros 2

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[spoony]

Helium f10 100

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[petrochemicals]

I think everyone has missed the resonably light, and bike factor. How light ? As you could have a palace for bike camping !

Tipi would be my out right first choice for lightweight

coleman falcon x2 a second lightweight

but for something a bit heavier 2kgs plus theres alot of choice.

 

[Wook]

I think everyone has missed the resonably light, and bike factor. How light ? As you could have a palace for bike camping !

Tipi would be my out right first choice for lightweight

coleman falcon x2 a second lightweight

but for something a bit heavier 2kgs plus theres alot of choice.

I'd be willing to go for something as heavy as 3kg, but volume is the main issue. My bike is a recumbent, so everything needs to fit into two "side pods" that total 55 litres. I can't sit things on top of a rack. I also want to have the option to take the tent into the hills. Again volume is more of a concern than weight. I'm reasonably strong (from lugging around all this fat ) so the odd extra kilo here or there really doesn't bother me. But I do have a preference for slightly smaller backpacks - no 70 litre Royal Marine bergens for me, thank you. I think my largest pack is 40 litres, although it does have external strapping points.

 

[gobfish1]

I'd be willing to go for something as heavy as 3kg, but volume is the main issue. My bike is a recumbent, so everything needs to fit into two "side pods" that total 55 litres. I can't sit things on top of a rack. I also want to have the option to take the tent into the hills. Again volume is more of a concern than weight. I'm reasonably strong (from lugging around all this fat ) so the odd extra kilo here or there really doesn't bother me. But I do have a preference for slightly smaller backpacks - no 70 litre Royal Marine bergens for me, thank you. I think my largest pack is 40 litres, although it does have external strapping points.

i dont bother about the odd kg saving or cutting my toothbrush in half ,
at the start of one of my week+ long bike ride,s i may have 4kg of food 6L of water , my bike feels the same if iv got a 3 full water bottles or 3 empty,


i only have 2X28L panniers and i fit all my kit in , i could split the tent over both and not need to use the top of rack.
it go,s there as i have it and makes life simple, i can get at thing,s i want on the day as im moving ie food / cooker / wet gear/ what ever ,

on a bike a few kg wont make on odds , not like when its on your back , (monday i did a 25 mile walk with 4L of water i was happy later on as id used up the water and my pack was feeling good after that) tho i was somewhat bow legged the next day lol

if im wanting something to put with my bike touring kit, its volume i look at first , then the kg s ,

ps if you take the tent poles out and put tent in a compression-stuff-sack you can half the volume , tape poles to bike frame some place .

best
steve

 

[Nonsuch]

Second hand Hilleberg Akto? The best. There was one on here until quite recently

 

[Purgatorio]

Yes the Akto will do for sure everything you've asked.
A terra nova laserlight, or photon also but with more condensation and less protection.

A Golite shangri-la outer is a 700gram palace. Use a sleepingbag cover which is smaller in weight and volume than the innertent.

You want your panniers in the tent, so enough room is important. You can go for a super small size tent but in bad weather, enough room to move a bit is priceless.

I do not agree with a kilo more or less. With just a few kilometers going upwards in the French Alps i was thinking of everything i could strip, or trow away. And i have front panniers aswell. So do think about cutting your thoothbrush in half. In the end it will safe kilo's but a lot of volume aswell.




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[chrisinhove]

Macpac microlite. Mines still going strong after 22 years. Bought for trekking, now used for motorcycle touring. Can squeeze in the panniers, boots, helmet and jacket in the porch area, keeping the inner dry, and can sit up just enough to get dressed inside. Pitches in one go with 8 pegs in a ridiculously short time.

 

[Shewie]

Get a Trailstar and you can park your bike inside too

For an extra £30 on your budget you can pick up a TN Laser Comp from F&T right now, with a couple of easy mods they're a great tent for the hills, a touch over 1kg and a tidy package.

Keep an eye on Outdoors Magic forum as there's tents up for sale all the time on there.