View Full Version : Argos Pro-action 1 man tent
Anyone know if these are any good?
I've read a few reviews on other sites, and the overall opinion seems pretty good. There's a general consensus that the vestibule is too small, but I was thinking of using a tarp to provide etra workspace anyway. The only other big worry is the pu rating (500???) Is it possible to increase this with a light coat of PU waterproofing, like it is possible with other tents.
any help most welcome.
Hi
its meant to be very good for the price, I know a lot of people on the news group, rec.uk.walking (or the samilar) have one and swear by it for lpackpacking.
Paul
Just bought one of these today with some vouchers I got from work.
Nice forest green colour, Ally poles, very well made pegs and a decent tray groundsheet. The inner has adequate ventilation with mozzy netting and for £29.99 is a right good bit of kit. It's small enough to bung in your pack, weighs in at 2Kg and is well shaped. Comes in it's own compression sack too.
And a 3rd the price of a hennessy for those of us on a tight budget (or when the missus catches us buying expensive kit) :biggthump
If its not waterproof enough just buy some Ronseal sealant (type used on bricks etc) and put it on with a roller, works a treat.
I've got some friends that make canvas work for boats etc and thats pretty much all they use, also the other half uses it for waterproofing her horses rugs.
RAPPLEBY2000
26-03-2004, 22:14
:shock:
be very carefull!
pu rating 500? this is the amount of water pressure that the material will stad without leaking!
500 = 50cm = 0.5 meters
average cheep £10 "pack a maks" have a rating of 1m!
thats a tube full of water 1meter in length
mountain tents and some goretex jackets can have ratings up to 10 meters!
ok to put this in laymans terms.
immagine you sit on wet grass with cheep waterproofs on, sometimes the water gets pushed through by your body weight thats 1 meter pressure!
so if your tent has 50cm pressure on the groundsheet basically unless the ground is bone dry water is going to seep though especially if you are lying on it!
the only way of getting around the problem is to put a groundsheet under the tent or better advice would be spend a little more and get a better tent!
remeber a £30 tent is not suitable for winter or mountain conditions!
if in doubt try it out! (hey that's a kind-a catchy phrase!!!)
honest, i'm not trying to patronise you, just be aware of its capabilities! :uu:
Yeah, but ya gotta balance that against a 6' x 4' sheet of poly and 20m of paracord. It's all relative. The poly sheet doesnt have a groundsheet at all, so that's 0.0mm head of water before it breaks through. :wink:
Do a search for "hydrostatic head" and words like "gore tex" and you'll find a lot more on this topic.
It's like science day here at BCUK today!
:shock:
be very carefull!
pu rating 500? this is the amount of water pressure that the material will stad without leaking!
500 = 50cm = 0.5 meters
Do a search for "hydrostatic head" and words like "gore tex" and you'll find a lot more on this topic.
It's like science day here at BCUK today!
That's what I mean, it's too easy to get bogged down with all the NASA stuff. How relevant is hydrostatic head if you're using an Aussie hootchie? I dont know much about this stuff and dont have any experience really, but it seems to me, that if a hootchie is OK, then even a cheapo Argos tent, with a less than stellar waterproof head would be fine too. Or am I missing something?
It's just blinding people with science ... what's it mean to most people? nothing. I've seen some stuff sold with a ridiculously high quote for hydrostatic head (which I don't believe).
Isn't "waterproof" just good enough!
Do a search for "hydrostatic head" and words like "gore tex" and you'll find a lot more on this topic.
It's like science day here at BCUK today!
That's what I mean, it's too easy to get bogged down with all the NASA stuff. How relevant is hydrostatic head if you're using an Aussie hootchie? I dont know much about this stuff and dont have any experience really, but it seems to me, that if a hootchie is OK, then even a cheapo Argos tent, with a less than stellar waterproof head would be fine too. Or am I missing something?
mojofilter
27-03-2004, 23:10
ive had one for a few years and think its fine and is really small and light.
you cant really go wrong for 30 quid
the naughty boy
27-03-2004, 23:58
recently i started using a tarp and bivvy bag to camp. a tent is usefull when your staying in a family site with amenities etc but nowadays i prefer to go a bit rougher.i bought a large [ too large ] tarp for 12 quid and a gortex bivvy bag on ebay for 35. great kit and relativly light too. the camping section in argos is pretty cool though,i was impressed by the increased number of items. its as though they are trying to start a camping boom. as for the technical jargon...waterproof can sometimes be misleading.i bought a quality tent [apparently] to bring to weston park game fair.as i was shooting in the european airrifle championship i had to stay both days and it poured non stop .eventually the tent started to let in a bit and it all became a bit miserable after that.i know the tarp wont let in no matter how much rain hammers it.
SquirrelBoy
28-03-2004, 16:17
I`ve got one of these and for the money I reckon they`re great.
I have only camped out in summer in it and the only thing I noticed was my sleeping bag had got a bit damp where it had touched the inner fly to the outer, this was at the foot end.
As has been mentioned they have a kind of following on uk.rec.walking - lots of them have it and some have even taken to the hills with it.
One more thing that clinched it for me is that id rather leave a £30 tent at my campsite and go walkies, than leave something like a £240 Akto and have that go walkies on its own :shock:
One more thing that clinched it for me is that id rather leave a £30 tent at my campsite and go walkies, than leave something like a £240 Akto and have that go walkies on its own :shock:
Excellent point ... add to that the fact that for most campsites an Akto would be overkill!
you also have to remember that though the fabric of these coats with 10,000HH may taje that much pressure. it wont apply to the seams. i suspect that any half decent coat or tent will use pritty much the same sem tape so why bother
Roving Rich
29-03-2004, 13:27
Buy it, it will get you out and about and thats what counts. If it leaks then spray it with waterproofing stuff. At £30 you can't wrong. You won't even get a week in a youth hostel for that nowadays. And this tent sounds half decent from the reviews.
Cheers
Rich
Well, I bought the tent a couple of weeks ago. Used it last weekend at my sisters on the edge of the New Forest.
Its small. Not much more in length than a SASS hooped bivi. I'm 6'3" ' and it will be a little cramped, but I do fit it...Just!!!
The vestibule is large enough for my pack, or solo cooking (with great care!)
It took a couple of practice pitches before I got the tension right, the fly can be fiddly to tension, as it comes very close to the inner.
I will always use a sheet underneath, the tent's bottom fabric seems very flimsy (not much better than the fly)
Overall I think it was a good buy. It's waterproof, light, easy to pitch, and suprisingly well made.
I originaly purchased the tent to use on my hiking trips. I want to extend my 'long weekend's' into a few weeks this year, and that will mean the occasional stay at a managed site. I think this will do just the job :-D
Here's a piccy for those who are interested
http://www.argos.co.uk/wcsstore/argos/images/3408207A59IFN93860M.JPG
Well, I read the reviews on here and uk.walking and it all sounds pretty good for £29.99 - so I popped in to Argos and find that they're currently knocking 20% of all of their tents....so its now just £24...! So I bought one.
It does look remarkably well put together for the money, only 2kg and pack size is VERY small.
Just seen the argos spring bargains flyer and the 1 man pro action tent is now £19.99. Can't go wrong at that price for a summer tent.
Price to hold until 19/05
Cheers
JFW
HaggisBasher
12-05-2004, 17:31
Hi guys
Can anyone who has this tent tell me the inside length. I reckon its too good a deal to miss at £20 but I'm 6'4" so its no good if I couldnt get in it and stretch out.
Cheers
Tom
I just bought one at the weekend and it looks good (Argos still have them for £19.99).
I'm 5'6 and on the pudgy side (ahem...), and had no real problem with the interior space, although I think it would be pretty tight for someone 6'4 if not impossible.
It went up very easily indeed, although folding back up again was a bit of a challenge; and when packed the stuff sack is tiny!
SquirrelBoy
09-06-2004, 17:40
Hey Womble, did you use it at Dartmoor? Have any problems?
I found it was a little difficult to get the outer taught enough to get the fabric `ripple` free. To help I used an extra guy on the front large hoop, that pulled it all nicely :-)
Some people have added an extra loop half way down on the side of the tent, also on the small hoop at the end.
I dont think its a problem as such, could just be `needs must` at the time/place.
Had mine for a month or so now and used it twice- I'm 5'11" and had a good 10" of clearance so...I think you would be near the maximum to be honest..depends how much clearance you want.
Worth noting this is my replacement one- I put my first up before taking off camping and one of the top two hanging strips broke off, Argos replaced it straight away- the new one had black staps (instead of white) and these appeared to be made from stronger material, indeed this one has been fine. Although I agree that the relative positions of outer and inner at the entrance end need minor adjustments for best performance all said a great tent for the price (mine was £19.99 :-D ).
Best wishes and Blue Sky, Jim. :wink:
Nigel: no, I bought it the weekend after Dartmoor. It gets its first outing this weekend down Bristol way.
Well, the tent got used by a friend at the weekend, and he said it was very comfortable. Admittedly it didn't have to put up with any rain, so that test will have to wait for another day.
Ohhhhh it's now down to 14.99.
Jim
SquirrelBoy
17-06-2004, 17:39
Wow, at that price I might buy one just as a reserve :-D
At £15, it is an incredible deal. I suspect that Argos ordered a load of them after the initially high demand following the good reports about them on the net, but now this demand has been met they've got too many. After all, no serious outdoorsman would buy a fifteen quid Argos tent, unless he has read all the good user reports here and elsewhere.
Used mine for 3 nights now. holding up well. Zip a bit sticky but easily sorted with silicone spray.
I'm very tempted to buy a spare. But will they go any lower????
While bathing my toddler, Rosie, last week I told her that the Argos tent was now only £14.99. She replied "Oh. Dat's good. Please you buy me one?" So I did. She loves it, as do the older two!
I found it easy to put up, easy to take down, and despite the kids' rough treatment it's holding up well
I did a quick Demo of the tent to the Scouts on Friday night. I didn't want to come over as an Argos Salesman, but I do think it's a perfect sort of tent for them to take on weekend hikes, and it's at a price they can afford.
Can anyone confirm the hyrostatic head of the topsheet? I thought I saw it was 2000mm, which seem to be pretty good (in comparison the the Millets std of 1500mm).