2-man tent

[Drifting]

I'm pre-shopping for the CHEAPEST LIGHTEST reliable 3-season (for use in all seasons but Winter in Tasmania that is) 2 man tent. What do you all recommend? I'm happy to import something.

And yes, I know about the CHEAP LIGHT GOOD dilemma, as in you can never have all three.

[whynotwalk]

Hi Drifting - it's worth considering the Aarn Pacer 2 ... It's light (1.65kg min), and probably 4-season. Best of all they're on special at Backpacking Light (Melbourne & ?Sydney). I got their one person tent a month back, but I understand they have 2-person tents too. Details at http://www.backpackinglight.com.au/prod25.htm

The proviso is that you are a trekking pole user (they're part of the tent frame),

cheers

Peter

[Drifting]

I don't use poles, but I could maybe get some. Ta!

[DonQx]

Luxe tents are light & cheap and seem to me fairly good quality (have no personal experience with them tho). If you haven't done so already, you can usually eye-ball several of them at Mountain Creek shop in Hobart.

Depends a bit too on your upper limits for 'cheap' and for 'light' ... what are they?

Looking 2nd hand could be the go too.

Come to think of it ... we've got a MSR Hubba Hubba in our tent collection that we haven't been using much recently ... bought ~2 years ago for South Coast Track (as answer to the question 'what is the most effective thing we can do to reduce our pack weight' for that 9 day trip) ... tent did very well, that was a good choice (there should be a pic or 2 of it at http://ahack.org - Photos / Bushwalking / South Coast Trip) ... light, top quality ... would consider selling it for $250 if anyone was interested.

a.

[Franco]

Luxe does have a very similar tent to the Hubba Hubba, it is the Habitat, around $369.
Or the still freestanding but slightly smaller Spider at around $269. Both about 2kg .
Neither particularly light nor that cheap but a pretty good compromise.
Franco
http://www.hikelight.com.au/category18_1.htm

[Drifting]

Wow- what a good deal on that Mother Hubba- has to be when I'm broke before X-mas! LOL

I'll look into hte Luxes too- I'm not familiar with the brand.

I could just use my Nallo 4- it's only 3.4 kg or something like that, but it's pretty big to put up as a solo tent.

[Franco]

Luxe Outdoor
" I'm not familiar with the brand."

I am...
I have followed this brand (10 years old now) almost from the start because of some of the intriguing designs it has released .
My impression is that 2010 will be a bigger again year for it with the addition of some lighter tents in their range.
This is Michael Wong the designer for Luxe. Behind us is the Speedup a solo single hoop shelter . About 1.4kg.
Franco

[Drifting]

thanks Franco, I'll have a closer look.

[beanie kids]

We bought a Luxe Habitat from Backpacking Light a few months ago and I was happy with the price compared to all the others I researched. Lovely little tent. Compared to my old Macpac Eclipse its lighter, dries faster and doesn't sag overnight. Slightly larger when packed but a snap to put up. It is colder at night as its only mesh inside - but that's the same as the Hubba anyway I think. The floor is a bit thin but it came with a free floor liner which I'm hoping will prevent snags. I have a sandfly thing so I was glad to see it has the really fine mesh. I found the people at the new Sydney store really knew their gear and were very helpful about the pros and cons of other brands, unlike other stores on "the strip" who don't seem to know much about anything these days...

[leithel]

Check out this ebay seller. They have a good range of lightweight tents at great prices. I bought a Vango tent from them last year.
Wildearth: http://stores.shop.ebay.com.au/Wild-Ear ... ec0Q2em322

[Drifting]

Yeah, Wild Earth are great. I've bought a Vango storm shelter from them, and been pretty happy.

I've priced everything up, and I think I'll try getting the little bootie thingies that will let me pitch the inner only on my Nallo for the time being, and if that doesn't work those Luxes look really interesting.