Bushwalk Australia

I'm Looking to buy 1 person tent for winter backpacking The brands I'm looking at are Tarptent , Hilleberg , Terra Nova , BSI . Im new to Tassie so not really sure what style of tent is most common here. Which of theses tent makers have the best wind performance ?

Depends on the model, but you can't beat Hillebergs for all-round quality and performance. Pricey, but worth it.
For winter you'd probably be looking at the Akto (I've sat out a gale or two in mine) or one of the dome tents like the Soulo (heavier, but copes better with snow). A lot of options, depending on priorities.

Ok ive changed my mind I'm going for a solo tent. I've narrowed it down to the akto or the scarp1. Which would you choose? Does the lower weight of the scarp 1 make it less capable in extreme conditions?

If I was going to be camping in places that were very exposed and prone to high winds, I'd take the Akto. If I was more concerned about weight, price and/or ventilation, I'd take the Scarp. For the record, I have both. I used the Scarp on the recent Eldons trip and that was a mistake. It survived the gales on Eldon Peak, but I can't recall a less comfortable time in a tent. But the Akto has done more time in similar conditions and kept me comfy.

There are downsides either way. The Scarp breathes better, which is a plus in Tassie. I also find it's easier to get a taut pitch. But in my experience the Akto handles really foul weather better.

Ultralight?

Lightfoot
Have a look at the Force Ten range from Vango,
possibly the Helium 1or2.
John

The Ferrino Sintesi might be worth a look as well. Comes in 1 and 2 person guises.

http://www.ferrino.it/en/catalog/tents/91174-tent-sintesi-1

What are your thoughts on the Terra Nova Solar and laser photon tents? Can they be used in winter below tree line or is that not recommended?

I wouldn't.
I'm not unbiased in this. I had a Terra Nova and hated it for various reasons. Used it once and then sold it. I know others who have had them and loved them. They are very light but there are obvious sacrifices with them compared to many other tents. The standard pegs, for instance, are useless in anything other than your lawn on a calm day, and the condensation was like sleeping under a shower.

GPSGuided wrote:Ultralight?

Was thinking the same thing...

Supertramp wrote:

GPSGuided wrote:Ultralight?

Was thinking the same thing...

Ok i broke the rules, sorry about that.Maybe someone can move this thread into the light category?

I'm liking the look of the Big Sky Chinook for 4-season use: http://bigskyproducts.com/big-sky-chinook-1p-tent.aspx Amazing weight for a 3-pole, 2 wall shelter.

I know this is an old thread alas been using a Vango helium 2 force 10 and love it. Used mainly on the summit of Mt Erica/ old Talbot hut site never failed me.


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Lightfoot wrote:Ok ive changed my mind I'm going for a solo tent. I've narrowed it down to the akto or the scarp1. Which would you choose? Does the lower weight of the scarp 1 make it less capable in extreme conditions?

Old post, but for the benefit of the hive-mind... I recently sat out a night of 100kmph wind gusts in an exposed spot high in the snowies in my Scarp 1 (without crossing poles). Only issue was when my partner decided to go outside leaving the windward fly and inner unzipped!

Photo from the morning after shows the guy line I added - not really necessary but limited the movement of the windward corner.

So all in all I'd say the Scarp is pretty capable.

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Here is one user review (from an experienced tent user)
https://blogpackinglight.wordpress.com/ ... rm-review/
there are plenty of Hilleberg Akto vs Tarptent Scarp 1 entries into Google, take a look .

delete duplicate

The Scarp 1 looks very good. I've been thinking about buying one. The main thing that is holding me back is the color. If it were green with a yellow interior I'd have already bought one.

you could probably easily dye the inner given that it is white.

Really? I could dye the fabric?? I had no idea. I've never dyed anything, not intentionally anyway.
Isn't there a DWR coating on the inner fabric that would be affected?

Anyway, there's still the grey exterior. While I tell myself that function trumps fashion, and the color seems like a petty thing, when it comes right down to it I have to admit that it really does matter to me.

I upset someone here sometime ago by saying that he had chosen the tent because of it's colour
(mind you, it did match EXACTLY his pack and sleeping bag colour)
Sometime later the tent was for sale.

I could be wrong but from past experience dye won't work on synthetic fabrics. It is strange after so many comments on the topic TT still only offers the standard "suicide grey".

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A quick internet search pulls up plenty of evidence that dyeing nylon or polyester fabric is possible. Even coated nylon fabric on backpacks has been successfully dyed in this manner using a simple hot dye. I can't help but wonder what effect that would have on the polyurethane coating. Would it harm it? On a backpack the coating isn't so important but it's critical on a tent fly.

The Scarp 1 fly is silicone impregnated and so would likely refuse the dye.

A yellow interior might not be that hard to achieve. But it's mainly the grey exterior that bugs me.
Not suicidal; just kind of blahhh.

Although they might lose a few customers that way I can understand why Tarptent wants to keep it simple.

Last time I thought about buying a Tarptent I ended up sewing my own version instead because of functional issues, not color. This time it's really just the color...

I'm still undecided.

Part of the problem is that our tents are made in a different way to pretty much all other brands.
The Seattle factory that houses our tent production run , cuts and stores the panels for the various shelters ( 16 at the moment) so that when they finish making one model they start on the next (whatever model we need)
That is why when one of our shelters is listed as "out of stock" it usually is back in stock withing 2 weeks.
Having green as well would increase the space and therefore cost needed for storage at the factory.
They only make tents for us, otherwise they do backpacks and clothing .

Tents from retail brands are made as a once or twice a year run , so if say MSR runs out of a model there can be a long wait for the next run to happen unless another brand cancel their allotted slot.
Jasper (Hong Kong based, with factories in Taiwan and China) makes tents for MSR, Nemo ,Sierra Design and Big Agnes amongst other brands.
They do 500 plus at a time starting from cutting the panels to having the final product a few days later. At that point they are shipped out to the brand base (so Seattle for MSR) giving them the space for the next product to be made.
Anyway, it is possible that in the future we will have green as well.

Franco, thanks for the inside look on Tarptent.

Tarptent makes a large variety of high quality products at reasonable prices. But there's no way to please everybody. Frankly, I'd rather Tarptent offered only one color if it means the price is lower -- I just want it to be *my* favorite color. :-)

I presume that grey was chosen because it was deemed the least objectionable and hence the color that more people would buy if given only one choice? Some sort of consumer survey perhaps? I didn't get the survey, if there was one. I would have said GREEN.

Grey was chosen because it's neutral. It isn't a colour but a shade so does not change the perception of colours around you.
If green was "the colour" most tent manufacturers would only offer green but even so , what green ?

'Which shade of green?' is irrelevant.
A tent should be red. Everyone knows that.

or yellow...
but then folk complain they attract bugs.

Franco wrote:Grey was chosen because it's neutral. It isn't a colour but a shade so does not change the perception of colours around you.
If green was "the colour" most tent manufacturers would only offer green but even so , what green ?

Grey is neutral in a technical sense in that it is achromatic. But in terms of its psychological impact, its emotional effect, I would argue that no color is neutral. I find grey to be monotonous, tedious, a little bit depressing. Strider thinks it is "suicidal" -- hardly a neutral reaction.

From an environmental perspective a neutral color might be defined as the one that blends in the best. In some situations that would be grey. In others, green. Or red. Or tan. A chameleon tent with Smart-Color™ fabric might be in the future. But not everyone wants that. Many people desire the opposite, a tent that contrasts with the environment.

So to simply say that grey was chosen because it's neutral begs the question: Why was a neutral color considered optimal in the first place? Was it simply deemed to be so or was it based on some kind of research or survey of tent owners or prospective tent buyers?


As for green, there are a seemingly infinite number of shades. There isn't a single "grey" either. You can't offer them all like a paint store. And the type of fabric, thickness, tightness of weave, etc., will likely have an effect on the how the color is perceived. It's not a completely trivial choice. And it isn't clear to me if Tarptent could order any conceivable color they desired or would be restricted to choosing from available options.

My own preference is for something like a forest green.




For an inner tent (or a single skin tent) I have a very strong preference for something like a golden yellow.




I have two single wall tents that are bright yellow. I love that color.
Also a Hilleberg that is green with yellow interior, which I think is perfect.
I sewed my own single wall tent with royal blue silnylon fabric -- I wanted yellow but it was too expensive.
And I have Cuben pyramid that is sky blue, but it is translucent so the blueness is kind of ghostly.

I've had yellow, blue, grey, green, and purple tents over the years.
They were all okay, even the ugly grey car camping tent.
But that one was really inexpensive.

OTOH, I'm a fan of the grey. Blends into the Australian bush quite well, not gaudy like some of the others and neither too dark inside to find anything nor too bright to sleep on moonlit nights. I guess I'm not alone or they wouldn't sell any...

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If we did a survey and 50 people replied to it , it wouldn't be 1% of what we sell in a year.
How would we know if those that enter the survey are just a vocal minority or represent the market ?
Do you think MSR does colour surveys before they launch a new line ?
BTW, no we can't get just any colour we dream up , it has to be an existing colour at the factory .
Can be tricky to order a custom colour as Hilleberg found out recently with their "green".


or the difference between sand and sand...