This is my first post - though I am a long time lurker!
I was hoping to get some advice that will be greatly appreciated.....I am currently looking for a 1/1+ man tent but am a little unsure about what to choose! It will mainly be used for 2-3 day trips around the beacons, but will get some fairly serious usage throughout the summer months as I am a fan of the LDPs (this summers trip is the GR5 in france for example). Therefore, the tent must be both light enough, and comfertable enough for consistent daily usage.
I had previously set my mind to a vaude taurus 1 UL since it was both spacious and fairly cheap (being on sale at £140). But after reading some reviews concerning its stability, and deciding that 1.95kg for a 1 man was a little heavy...I've decided to look elsewhere!
1. Laser competition (£190)
2. Hilleberg Akto (£225)
3. Laserlite (£165 - clearence price from terra nova)
Having never seen (nor will be able to see) any of these tents before buying, it will be a blind decision on my behalf. Is the extra £25 for the LC money well spent compared to the laserlite? or is the akto at £225 the better deal?
The tent will not intentionally be used in snowy conditions (though I am travelling through the alps in late sept), but it must be stable for stormy conditions, and have enough comfort for multiple day usage. Oh, and I'm 5ft8 by the way so height shouldn't be too much of an issue!
Sorry for the (very) long post, and I'm sorry to all of you who are fed up with the Akto vs. LC discussion!
I've set up a Laser Comp once, and owned an Akto for 3 years, so as a quick comparison, the Akto: has a 2 way door zip (1 way on the Comp) - has a much beefier door zip - has a thicker, heavier groundsheet - has more room in the inner (longer and wider) - has squared off ends on the inner (tapered on the LC) - has a wider porch - is slightly less tall directly under the pole than the LC - is about 600g heavier - has a heavier fly material - has a thicker, stronger pole.
I've only pitched the LC once, but I found it a bit less straightforward than the Akto due to the inner being not fully connected to the outer (may be a none issue). There are also ventilation differences, for more info on that you could look at the V-G website.
I actually managed to link a web page, that's a first. Ceri, I meant to say that comparing like with like, if the same pegs were used for the Akto and LC, I think the weight difference is more like 500g.
Right then, let's say I have the LC and Akto in my tent collection although they're both fairly new additions so haven't seen lots of use...
Let's also assume, without getting the scales out!) that you're looking at working weights of LC - 1kg, Laserlite - 1.1kg, Akto - 1.5kg
The LC and Laserlite are the same dimensions and design, so performance will be essentially the same, so I'd probably save the £25 and have the Laserlite. Is £190 really the best price out there for a LC just now?
All the tents will take a fair amount of weather (we had a LC out in the strong winds last weekend and it was fine), but TBH the Akto will probably handle a bit more. Steve has summarised the main differences pretty well there.
The Akto definitely has more space. I'm 6ft and find the LC just big enough but tbh I'd probably only want to spend a couple of nights at a time in it in - certainly in all but idyllic conditions when it literally becomes nothing but a place to sleep. (Of course Steve Perry did his entire winter Munros round using a Laserlite.... )
Let's be clear - whichever of these tents you pick will be a good buy and do the job for you, they are all good! It's just a trade-off between slightly different sets of compromises....
But, on balance, and particularly with the extended use in mind,of those three* I'd probably end up going for the Akto.
And definitely in green!
( * not wishing to muddy the waters, but I'd be looking at a Terra Nova Superlite Voyager )
The Laser Comp is a good tent — I'm 6ft and have found it fine for a few nights, if you keep things tidy. But I wouldn't condemn the Vaude UL out of hand. It is much roomier — a genuine two person tent, so good if you like to spread out — and can actually stand up to some very strong winds, although the poles do flex quite a bit. You can reduce this movement considerably by adding extra lines to the foot of the tent, and careful pitching.
Steve, you mention that the Akto has a thicker and heavier ground sheet - is the ground sheet on the laserlite/LC fairly thin? i.e. will it require a ground sheet protector for extended (4/5+ days) use? If this is the case, it obviously adds (based on TN own protector) roughly 2-300g and £30 pound...bringing the LC very close to the akto in price and weight.
People mention that the Akto is a larger, more comfertable tent, but looking at the floor plan of each tent the interior space seems very similar? I can see that the akto has a larger porch, but other than a pack and an area for cooking the laser seems plentifull.
Does anybody have experience of TN clearence products? WHen it states "end of line", what condition am I looking at
Ah decisions! Can we have a quick vote? Is the akto worth the extra £65 compared to the laserlite clearence?
Hi Ceri. I've had a Laserlite for years and never used a ground sheet protector. It's been on a few 2 week trips and many high mountain pitches, and no sign of wear on the floor.
I would only worry about the weight of a tent, if you intend to backpack with it. Carrying it all day, day after day, the lighter the better. The weight isn't so important for weekends where you walk in on a Friday and set up camp, taking it down again for the walk out. Make your deciscion on what you use the tent for MOST of the time.
Ceri, I implore you to get a look in person before you buy. Failing that, order the pair and send back the one you don't want. There is absolutely no substitute for getting your hands on the stuff and seeing how it fits what you want.
Note that a look around a popular campsite in an hillwalking honeypot will probably give you a chance to see the tents pitched and chat directly with owners. It's a bit daft getting the wrong tent with £200 down the drain when a little time and a single trip would have got you the right one. The result should be working well for years, so make sure you get it right.
Ceri - comparing the floor plans is a bit deceptive; the ends of the Akto slope outwards, so the tent is actually longer a foot off the floor than at ground level. If you are tall like me this could make a particularly significant difference - my head and toes touch the ends of the LC, whereas in an Akto I've loads of head and foot room. Also note the ends of the Akto are square rather than pointy, which makes it feel a lot less cramped. Matt C is right though, nowadays a Superlite Voyager is worth adding to the shortlist - more or less the same weight as an Akto, bags of room ... can take 2 ..
The Voyager Superlite's certainly on my shortlist, but then I was stuck in the Laser Comp "in the strong winds last weekend" looking enviously at the amount of room in the Voyager Superlite next door. And I think the couple in the Voyager Superlite were looking enviously at the amount of room in the Quasar Superlite next door!!
The Voyager Superlite's certainly on my shortlist, but then I was stuck in the Laser Comp "in the strong winds last weekend" looking enviously at the amount of room in the Voyager Superlite next door. And I think the couple in the Voyager Superlite were looking enviously at the amount of room in the Quasar Superlite next door!!
Yeah, everything is a compromise. More room = more weight.
The Voyager's a bit of a squeeze for two IMHO. The Quasar has a lovely inner for two, but the porches don't do much more than accommodate a spare hanky once you've left enough room to get to the door which is why I've never really liked them much. At slightly more weight you could have a Kaitum which has more room in both inner and far more porch space, and will still take on serious conditons. The groundsheet will be a little stouter and the poles are too, it all pitches as one and you can take down the inner for extra party space.
In both cases of TN superlite noted above I'd personally pay the extra ~200g and cash for the roughly equivalent Hilleberg tunnel and have more space and slightly tougher bits. If you just like that geodesic feeling then obviously not te best of choices, but my wife likes that geodesic feeling and while she'd moaned a wee bit about me getting a tunnel she soon came round to it when she saw the extra space on offer and that the inner wasn't nearly as floppy as she'd anticipated.
Well it's certainly the weight thats the biggest priority: not only will I be using it for around 10 days towards the end of sept, I'm actually flying out over 2 weeks earlier as I am meeting some friends out there for more of a holiday as opposed to a trek, so it will be in my rucksack for over a month by the time I get back!
I think the superior weight of the lasers (comp or lite) is far more appealing, especially as I am only 5ft 8 so interior space is not as important as a 6+ footer. The price of the laser ("2" man tent) is`also fairly low, but again ensures a ca. 3-400g weight penalty.
Unfortunately, I won't be able to see either tent pitched.....not owning a car restricts me to local shops, none of which I bet have even heard of either tent! if the ground sheets are durable enough I think the Laser will be the better choice.
Ceri. Start a 'show me yours' thread! Seriously, most folk on here are out pretty regularly. I'm sure if there are OM'ers in your area with the tents you're interested in, then a Sat/Sun meet wouldn't be hard to organise.
Re the footprint notion - as a rule I do like to use one, although I have used the TN lightweight groundsheets without. But for the Laser Comp I got a spinnaker one made by Morph at TeamIO - it only weighs 75g, not the 200 -300g of a TN one, and iirc it cost £17.
We have the laser for the light weight, we also have a Hilleberg Nallo. We squeeze in the Laser, we are 5'6" and 5'9", but we are willing to do it for a fortnight, even in Scotland. The Nallo is a palace in comparison but weighs 800 gram more.
I have not found the laser groundsheet to be too flimsy but I expect the Hilleberg stuff will last longer
try the new Helion (MHW I think). Or the supalite solar 2.2. Both very light 2 mans and gets you away from the laser c vs akto debate. Got a single skin tent myself, a lot cheaper and as a 2 man is large engough to keep away from the sides yet is 1.3kg or lower if using trekking poles. Not had any problems with condensation, yet.
Look at the new Vango force10 tents, the Helium 100 or for more space the Helium 200. 1kg or 1.3kg and 1 or 2 man tent respectively. They are well made and suitable for someone as small as you.
Trying to move people away from laser / akto argument (sick of the debate).
The Voyager Superlite's certainly on my shortlist,
Kate, maybe I've got a memory malfunction, but IIRC you said you suffer from being a cold sleeper? If so, would it perhaps make more sense to get a tent where you can close off the mesh panel on the top of the door for an extra boost to the inner's warmth?
