Can the Hive mind please make some suggestions for a tent to meet the following needs:
School D of E groups
Accomodate 2/3 teenagers (kit can go in survival bag if no porch)
Only for 1/2 nights so a bit of a squeeze is acceptable
Alloy poles
Available in quantity (i.e. I want 6, not a one-off end of line)
Staggeringly easy to put up (no asymmetric pole set up modelled on a DNA molecule)
Cheap as possible
In an ideal world you'd be able to point me towards a Terra Nova Quasar that costs £100.
Edit: I note on the overall tents page on the Cotswold site that there are DofE tents though they do seem to have a premium. Not looked at the DofE scheme since I did it at school so don't know if they mandate usage of those "approved" models
Better weight than wisdom, a traveller cannot carry
Edit: I note on the overall tents page on the Cotswold site that there are DofE tents though they do seem to have a premium. Not looked at the DofE scheme since I did it at school so don't know if they mandate usage of those "approved" models
Thankfully there isn't a mandated tent, but you can "support" the scheme by buying a badged up approved tent.
Cheers for the suggestions, Cotswold give us 20% off too.
I haven't used either of the models but I've a similar Vango and it's held up to a Hebridean storm so should be OK. Actually it's surprising just how good some of the cheaper tents are, the one "failure" is their weight.
Better weight than wisdom, a traveller cannot carry
whitestone wrote:I haven't used either of the models but I've a similar Vango and it's held up to a Hebridean storm so should be OK. Actually it's surprising just how good some of the cheaper tents are, the one "failure" is their weight.
I think the first one at £55 is worth getting for a trial. The bigger one looks good but I have just dug out a TNF tent with windows that crumbled to dust as I pitched it!
I don't know but a mate has run DoE for his school for years. I'll ask and let you know. I was going to mention Cotswold usually do a deal for schools and DoE but looks like you may already have got that.
I've run D of E in a high school and and off for last 12 years.
During one of the 'off' years the person running it got hold of some funding for new tents and bought a huge quantity of cheap vango tents.
Many have fallen apart after a couple of expeditions - snapped poles, peg loops ripping off, etc under the wear and tear they are subjected to by teenagers. The bigger issue is the weight, D of E participants can only carry 25% of their body weight on expedition and most do not have lightweight personal kit to offset several kilos of cheap tent. In the end we can only really issue them to groups of big lads.
I am slowly replacing them all with wild country trisar 2 and trisar 3 which have been very durable, fairly lightweight and based on the excellent design of the terra nova voyager.
I've used a Vango Banshee 200 for years cycle touring, it's been incredibly durable in some horrific conditions. Probably spent 6 months or so under it and it hasn't skipped a beat.
Wife and I got a Vango Omega 350 a couple of years ago for a cross Europe trip and then a car tour of the North West Highlands. It stood up to some pretty strong winds and rain on the west coast really well. It has a massive porch which we can sit in on camp chairs with a small picnic table and room for a couple of rucsacs and a couple of boxes of cooking stuff supplies without problem. It's meant to be a 3 man tent but I think you could fit 4 in at a push as the porch allows plenty of space for gear, cooking etc. Only downside is the weight iirc about 5.5kg, maybe OK between four? There is a smaller 250 version which might be OK for three? Worth a look?
PS. It's a tunnel type tent and fairly straightforward to put up.
Take a look at the wild country coshie - same design as the vango banshee but a good bit lighter. Have no direct experience but the reviews seem favourable and meets your criteria of a tera nova tent for under a hundred quid.
