Camping Gear Questions

Mr.Boots

Im looking to buy a new tent, i have a North Face Tadpole at the moment but now need something a little bigger.
Was looking at the Marmot Halo4 ....are these a good Make?
Any other sugestions with good head height? (50ish inches)
Also looking at getting a new cooking System.....Any recomenations? Msr ect?
Finally where should i buy? anywhere doing good deals around at the moment? either online or bricks and mortar?
cheers.

Mitch Buchannon

Mr.Boots wrote: »

Im looking to buy a new tent, i have a North Face Tadpole at the moment but now need something a little bigger.
Was looking at the Marmot Halo4 ....are these a good Make?
Any other sugestions with good head height? (50ish inches)
Also looking at getting a new cooking System.....Any recomenations? Msr ect?
Finally where should i buy? anywhere doing good deals around at the moment? either online or bricks and mortar?
cheers.

Mr.Boots wrote: »

Im looking to buy a new tent, i have a North Face Tadpole at the moment but now need something a little bigger.
Was looking at the Marmot Halo4 ....are these a good Make?
Any other sugestions with good head height? (50ish inches)
Also looking at getting a new cooking System.....Any recomenations? Msr ect?
Finally where should i buy? anywhere doing good deals around at the moment? either online or bricks and mortar?
cheers.

I have a tadpole too dude. Great little tent.
Marmot are a super company and I'd expect all of their gear including tents are top notch. Your tent choice depends on a number of factors.
1.No of people for it to sleep.
2.For car camping or backpacking.
3.Budget.
4.Campsites or Hill/Mountain use.

The Halo4 is a big tent. The Halo4 would be a lovely car camping tent but I wouldnt fancy carrying it anywhere with a weight of 6.1kgs.

I have 4 tents, but if I was looking at getting another tent(always a possibility with me ) I would have to seriously consider looking at an American company called GoLite.They specialise in Lightweight outdoor equipment.

The 2 tents I would look at are the Shangri-La 3 (internal height of 62'') and the Shangri-La 4 (internal height of 73''). These tents are a tipi style of tent both made for backpacking/high mountain use. Though these would be totally be cool on a regular campsite. Because of the companies ethos on lightweight gear the tents are super light too(well compared to the Halo4 they are).
The Shangri-La 3 weighs in at 2.3kgs and the Shangri-La 4 weighs in at 3.3kgs.

Now to stoves.....

I have 3 stoves. One 2man Trangia and 2 MSR stoves (Pocket rocket & Reactor).

Your stove choice depents on a few factors too.
1. How many people do you want to feed?
2. What sort of fuel would you prefer to use ? eg: Meths, Gas, Multifuel (petrol, desiel, jet fuel etc)
3.Budget.

Is the total budget to include the tent and stove or have you two wads of cash to spend.

Im sorry for all the questions but the more info I have the better I can help you out with your gear selection.

Mr.Boots

Thanx a mill for reply.
My worry with the Marmot was the weight, it will be used mainly with car but ocasionaly in a pack so 6kg is realy pushing it.
The other option i thought of was the North Face Minibus 33 which comes in a just over 3kg.(on special from map&compass)
I have a Budget of max 400 euro

Stove will be for two people, i have 2 jetboil pcs and for about 70 euro could get a frying pan and 1.5ltr pot to attach to....or i could lash out and get something like a Msr stove and some cooking pots....realy not sure on this one......
Budget hare about 150 euro max.

thanx again

Ps....i think i share your love of gear.

Mitch Buchannon

Mr.Boots wrote: »

Thanx a mill for reply.
My worry with the Marmot was the weight, it will be used mainly with car but ocasionaly in a pack so 6kg is realy pushing it.
The other option i thought of was the North Face Minibus 33 which comes in a just over 3kg.(on special from map&compass)
I have a Budget of max 400 euro

Stove will be for two people, i have 2 jetboil pcs and for about 70 euro could get a frying pan and 1.5ltr pot to attach to....or i could lash out and get something like a Msr stove and some cooking pots....realy not sure on this one......
Budget hare about 150 euro max.

thanx again

Ps....i think i share your love of gear.

Yeah, 6kg is quite heavy but if your mainly car camping it could be an option and just take the hit when carrying it in your pack (or take the tadpole if tent size isn’t a factor).

I have been looking online for you and have seen a few options. Are you looking for a freestanding tent (im guessing you know what I mean) or a tunnel tent.
I spotted a Mountain Hardwear tent called the Habitat 3. It’s a 3 man tent that weighs in at 3.9kg (slightly lighter than the Halo4). It also has an internal height of 55’’. It has a floor area of 4.9 sq m as opposed to 3.9 sq m in the TNF Minibus3. I have found the Habitat 3 online for USD269.00 which is converting to EUR189.49 today. http://www.moontrail.com/mountain-hardwear-habitat-3.php . I have ordered from this site in the states before and they were very good. I did get stung for customs but I think it was only EUR50.00 so if they even got you with EUR100.00 customs fee you would still be well under your EUR400.00 budget.
I have a Mountain Hardwear tent (Sprite 1) so I have seen the quality of their tents and I would buy again.

I would again recommend the Golite Shangri-La 3 & Shangri-La 4 tents. I have no personal experience with either tent but I have never read a bad review about them, but I think The Shangri-La 3 will be my next tent purchase. (Yes I’m a bit of a gear whore).

Have you looked at Vango, their tents are quite good and usually at good prices. Most of their tents don’t have the internal height you want but they may be an option.

As for stoves……

Honestly I think you would be better sticking with the jetboil system and getting the frying pan and pot to go with it. I wouldn’t go rushing out and buying an MSR multi fuel stove and all the pots to go with it if the Jetboil will do the same thing. Don’t get me wrong, I rate MSR highly(I have 2 stoves) but if there is nothing wrong with the jetboil why get a new stove. You mention you have 2 Jetboil pcs’ so you could have one boiling and one frying which would give you a bit of flexibility if your camping.

NervousNude

I'm sorry to interrupt your thread but you both seem to know what you're talking about! I'm looking at getting a lightweight 2/3 man tent but I'm concerned about headroom. I'm mostly looking at Vango tents (shadow, spectre, typhoon, spirit etc.) and the max headroom seems to be around 100cm. Will this be enough for 2 people to sit up inside in???

I'm buying it initially for a festival although I'd like it to be lightweight to allow it to be taken on hiking trips in the future. The festival is abroad so I'll be battling with Ryanair's baggage allowance.

I've also been looking at the North Face Rock 22/32.

Would I be better to get a larger, cheaper, heavier tent now (taking the weight up to ~5kg) and splurging on a smaller, lighter (~2.5kg), more expensive tent specifically for backpacking at some other time?

I'm not looking for a Dunnes/Aldi type tent that you use once and throw away, I'd like it to last for a good number of years.

Thanks!

Mitch Buchannon

Hey Nude,

I dont know what height you are but 100cm + should be plenty high for you to sit up in. I looked at the vango tents you picked and the only one I wouldnt use (without seeing them in person) is the spectre. It only has the height at the centre point of the tent so that would probably mean that only one person could sit up at a time. Ive been there, done that and its not much fun (esp. if the weather is crap and you cant/wont go outside ).
Of the tents you listed I liked the Shadow and the Typhoon the most. Ive been in a Typhoon before and its a grand little tent. Ive seen it pitched in some horrible weather and it held up to the weather as good as tents €400 - €500 more than it cost.

The TNF Rock 22/32 look nice too and they're quite light but the inner is comprised of mesh(Like my TNF Tadpole 23). This is lovely in the summer as you have loads of fresh air but if you want to camp in colder temps (late autumn/winter) you could possibly be very cold. I know I am when I use my Tadpole in the winter.

I've camped in temps over 30c to camping in 4ft of snow and everything in between but Ive never had as bad an experience as when I camped at a festival. If I was doing it again I'd bring the cheapest/****y tent I could get my hands on. The tents your looking at buying are probably €150 - €250 ish and to be honest I wouldnt pitch any of those at a festival for fear of them getting ruined.

The Vango tents will last years if you look after them.

Another option is to see of you can buy a cheap tent in the country your going too. There is a lidil/Aldi everywhere or you could even get to a intersport shop and pick something up for your festival. Just an idea.

concussion

I picked up a Vango Tempest from Jackson Sports to replace my venerable Torino 3 (still going strong but too heavy for backpacking). I'm 6'2" and I didn't feel cramped inside even with the g/f in there. I've just used it once so far but I don't recall any issues with sitting up inside.
Pros

• a doddle to pitch, goes up as-one or flysheet first if needs be
• light
• good price, €115 delivered
• good sized porch
• lots of pockets along the inner sheet
• good distance between the fly and inner

Cons

• seemed to have an excessive amount of buckles and straps, could have saved a bit of weight (still good at 2.7 kg)
• pegs very flexible and heavy (easy to sort)
• no groundmat in porch (sorted with binliner, will bring liner from Torino next time)

So all in all, happy out with it

NervousNude

Thanks for the advice! I thought about it some more and realised how gutted I'd be if anything happened to a €200+ tent at a festival. Plus having an expensive brand plastered over your tent is a bit of a target! I've ordered a Vango Alpha 200 online for €45 delivered, only weighs 2.75kg and should be big enough for me and my bag (pfft to sharing). I'm guessing this won't stand up to high winds but should be fine for a field in Belgium where the worst we'll get is a bit of a downpour. I'm also hoping it's well made enough to cover my festivalling for the next few years, and anything EP can throw at it.

I'm still undecided about tent no.2 but the rush is off as I have the festival tent sorted. Going to take my time and get it right.

Mitch Buchannon

NervousNude wrote: »

Thanks for the advice! I thought about it some more and realised how gutted I'd be if anything happened to a €200+ tent at a festival. Plus having an expensive brand plastered over your tent is a bit of a target! I've ordered a Vango Alpha 200 online for €45 delivered, only weighs 2.75kg and should be big enough for me and my bag (pfft to sharing). I'm guessing this won't stand up to high winds but should be fine for a field in Belgium where the worst we'll get is a bit of a downpour. I'm also hoping it's well made enough to cover my festivalling for the next few years, and anything EP can throw at it.

I'm still undecided about tent no.2 but the rush is off as I have the festival tent sorted. Going to take my time and get it right.

Actually a buddy of mine has a vango alpha. Its grand for what it is, tent for a regular campsite. He doesnt bring his up the hills at all. If you look after it, it will be fine for a few years.

When you decide on getting tent no2 let us know and Im sure we can try and help you out. Enjoy your festival.

QueensGael

I just called an outdoor store to see if they had JetBoil cannisters in stock. They didn't, but said they had MSR cans which can be used instead. Methinks this might not be the case, but they reassured me that it is so.

Does anyone else know if is it possible to user MSR gas with JetBoil?

BeardyGit

Yes, it's perfectly okay - I use both Colman and MSR 80.20 on my Jetboil all the time.

QueensGael

Cool, thanks for the advice!

PanK

Hi,
Have a look at this one Vango Equinox 250
Its really good quality,stable and huge. Not too heavy for its size. Comfy for two, but too large for one - thats why I decided to return it to the store and take something smaller.