Tent advice for bug out.

[maldini3]

Only thing I would add to this is you may want to spend a bit less on each and get two of the same tents rather than one more expensive one. Speaking from experience putting a tent back into its bag properly after a heavy weekend at a festival is easier said than done and inevitably things will go missing or get damaged! You won't need anything especially fancy in the UK as a bug out option so £50 a piece for a nice quality 2 layered tent should be easy enough to find and obviously having two of the exact same tent will mean you can have your practice run when putting It up at the festivals!

[Wulfshead]

Check out Lidl on the 7th april, 14.99 2 person backpacking tent, packs down very small. For the money ?

Funny you should say that,
I'm off to a gathering in 3 weeks.
I am doing a chat on 72 hour bags and EDC's so I bought one of them there £15 Lidl hiking tents for the event and demonstration.

First off I was, and still am, very impressed as I have kept it pitched for a week so I can do a review on another forum.

It is only a 2 person tent if you are VERY close to the other person but that would mean leaving your kit outside the tent when occupied.
It is however a good 1 person tent which facilitates the kit keeping inside.
The instructions are rubbish but once worked out 5 minutes should be realistic for pitching in the future.
The construction is pretty good and we have had 2 heavy rainy evenings this week with no signs of leaks or puddles.
It weighs just over 1.5 Kg and has an ideal package size for a motorcycle pannier or hung from a backpack.
Reports say the rear air vents close thus making air flow bad, to be honest I find that rubbish. The guide ropes are attached to the rear vent flaps and if you pull the guide ropes tight they stay open, as mine has done for 7 days and nights now.
The outer door is well zippered as is the inner fly screen/ventilation mesh and toggle fixes well to one side of the opening.

All-in-all it is an inexpensive 'small' tent that has thus performed far better than the £15 gamble would have had me thought it would.
With no front guide ropes there is nothing stopping two being pitched with openings close together for that other person companionship aspect.
I am rather pleased with this little tent and am looking forward to my friends taking the mickey, after they have lugged a bigger, heavier and more expensive tent so they can sit in it all on their own
They say you get what you pay for, you seem to get more than that with this little tent.

Wulfshead

[munchh]

Im still on the hunt for my ultimate goal of a tent thatvis small when packed down, but is totaly free standing, so that has no need to be pegged to hold its shape, there is a good chance you are not going to bug out to the woods or even somewhere with soft ground, what if you were setting up in an abandoned building?

the ones that I have my eye on are:

Coleman Phad, coleman Tatra, vango chinook, all of which have a porch that also does not need pegging out.

there are loads of cheaper 2x pole dome tents, but having that porch is a must when you are going to have kids and gear to keel outbof ghe elements!

I have picked up quite a few backpacking type tents, they all need pegging out in one way or another to be stable (wedge shap ones), unless you go for the high end mountineer tents, that will totally blow the budget, I havent yet bought a new one, they are all second hand.