Tents for a family of five..........

[weeds]

Starting researching tents for our OLT next year.

2 adults
3 kids 16, 15 and 12

Cost is a factor and there's the chance that all three kids may not do many multi day hikes together.

I'm thinking self standing........

3 season for adults?
Cheap tent for kids and throw kids in hut if weather is bad?
Can you hire tents? Maybe hire the kids one?

Tarp tent has good wraps...and seems to tick the boxes.....is there a reason why anybody would not seal their TT?? Got me beat why they all aren't seal at time off manufacture.

Checked out
Hilleberg
MSR
One planet

Any other suggestions for tents??

Would be nice to see different makes/models in the flesh set up.

[GPSGuided]

As Franco and others have mentioned, seam sealing at Tarptent is dependent on weather condition there in northern CA, so it's hard to include it in a cottage manufacture's production process and meet a consistent production and delivery timeline. As such, it's left as an optional item, with clear warning on the potential delivery delays. In any case, it's not hard and the material only costs $10 from Bunnings all up.

Your situation is exactly as our neighbour at Pine Valley. They had two tents. One for the adults and one for the kids, though a little younger than your. At 12-16, the elder two can handle a decent load and the carriage of two tents should not be an issue.

The other locally and readily available tent is the Exped range. Their tent aren't in the same UL league as Tarptent but are very well designed and constructed. Worth checking out. In your case, maybe a 3P tent (eg. Gemini III) and a 1+P tent (eg. Tarptent Scarp1) could be a good combo. This way, you'll have the Gemini III for times when the two of you are out and will have plenty of room, or Scarp1 for a squeeze. If you are going solo, then the Scarp1 would still be a great choice for one person. For the trip with all 5 members, the combo could squeeze everyone in when required. The older kids can go to the hut if they don't want to squeeze.

[weeds]

I like your thinking.......i didn't think about having an option of post OLT (or prior) for a roomy tent when on a solo hike and shared weight when we se together.

Hopefully Franco chimes in with suggestions of a combination of two TT that will suit five on the trail or two or just solo.

Just googled exped for a looksee........

[Franco]

Weeds,
Seam sealing a non PU coated silnylon tent has to be done with the tent set up and can take a full day to dry.
No brand using this type of silnylon (including Macpac, terra Nova ,Wilderness Equipment...) does it , at best they send you a tube of silicone "included" in the price. (nothing is free...)
Last year TT seam sealed over 700 tents at Nevada City ($30 USD), however that is a very small portion of the shelters sent out it really is not practical to offer that as a standard service.
(PU coating reduces tera strength and can pick up mold or become brittle or sticky)

Anyway, if you like the idea of having a Tarptent I could suggest a Double Rainbow and a Cloudburst 3.
The Double Rainbow is our star tent outselling several of the other models combined.
The Cloudburst 3 is a 3 person tent good enough for 3 adults but still light enough ,and with a compact footprint , for two, so if one of the kids does not come no big deal.
It could be, later on, a larger double for you and your wife. (1.5kg for two or three is not bad)
Not cheap , particularly now with the low dollar but they still , I think, offer good value for money considering weight/size/ease of use.
Note that the lightest types of tents use more and longer guylines to stand up, so as you go from a fully freestanding shelter (generally heavy) to the lightest it can get more difficult to set up on platforms.
franco@tarptent.com

[weeds]

Yeah exchange rate isn't good......however I do liked the weight.

Was looking at the scarp 2 with extra poles so that we can set up without pegs.

One plant Goondi 2, similar weight to Scarp 2 and price is pretty close at the moment. Double rainbow is priced well

K2 seem to have a big selection so will pop in on Sunday for a look.

Might check out MSR Elixier as well......

Can't wait till I get the big four purchased so I can get out there this winter.

[Franco]

"Was looking at the scarp 2 with extra poles so that we can set up without pegs."
Those X poles are really for wind and snow loading and yes you can pick up the tent and move it about but it should never be set up without anchoring the tent down with pegs or rocks/sand bags ...
(BTW, that applies to all tents...)

[weeds]

Yeah we would anchor down once all sorted depending on ground surface and weather.

Slept in dome tents for multiple nights without pegs, mesh inner no fly and our gear to weigh it down......we were not hiking but set up two person dome tents every night on sand dunes and or rock gorges for 11 nights.

[weeds]

Made a short list of 11 tents for Wendy to review........

Aim is less than 2kg and under $500 delivered.

The more and more I search the more I find.

Gemini 2 is Wendy's fav but at 2.4kg and $540ish

Me
1. Goondi 2
2. MSR Elixer 2
3. Tarp tent......double rainbow

I'm sure buy the time the sun rises in the morning I will have changed my mind

[GPSGuided]

The Gemini series tents are very very nice. Very spacious and well designed. I compared and compared before settling on Gemini III. No regret at all.

[weeds]

After checking out quite a few tents today we...........

We ended up with a Goondi 2 and a Goondi 3......we spent a fair bit of time on the tarp tent website over lunch before we pulled the trigger.

[Strider]

Good choice