Gear

I saw a Karrimor Protech TS the other day for sale at £60, lightweight two man approx 2.5kg but can't find anymore info on this tent on the net. The shop said they hadn't got any info as they were deleted stock. Does anyone know anything about them, any good???

Think they are 3/4 season tents, don't really know much else, sorry.

Probably quite decent though, did you see it put up??

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yes looked ok although quite small (but that lightweigth cheap tents for you) with two doors, it packed up small and felt very light compared to other tents boasting the same weight

Take a chance then?? (if you're after a lightweight tent)

After all at theat price you won't find much else!!

Protech was the tent brand of the YHA shops' 'Mountaincraft' range. When Karrimor bought YHA, I guess they continued to sell them under the Karrimor name. They were a reasonably high-end own-brand, with alloy poles, and reasonable materials. I have the TQ (Quasar clone, rrp £220) and TL (Minaret-type clone, rrp £170). I'm happy with mine.

I think the TS was a three-pole semi-geo along the lines of the Wild Country Trisar/Voyager TNF Tadpole.

Oh. You say it had two doors. Now I'm confused. I'm sure I could dig out an old YHA catalogue to check, but I reckon £60 is a good price for the tent. I'd guess the rrp was £200.

Thanks for the advice I've taken the plunge £60 from CCC (shefield)if you have one of their cards (£120 if you haven't)I got some more details spec wise from the shop pretty much the same size as the rest of the competition for a bargin. Not many left if you want one tho!!

I too have just purchased a Karrimor Protech TS tent from Go Outdoors in Coventry. It looks lovely, but I'm damned if I can work out how to put the thing up! Any ideas anyone?

i used to work for YHA adventure shops, own a ProtechTX and have put the TS up before.

if i remember correctly, it goes a little something like this:

lay the inner out on the ground. put the pole through the sleeves and connect it at the end of the sleeves.

peg the end of tent that is nearest the pole (ie the end where your head will go) in to the ground.

take hold of the pole and stretch out the groundsheet so that the groundsheet between the pegged end and the bottom of the pole is taut. now might be a good idea to peg in the poles, i can't quite remember.

now take the narrow end of the groundsheet that isn't pegged in. stretch it out. the pole should stay upright. you should now be able to peg in the narrow end, which will give you the shape of the tent. it should stay up if you let go.

if i remember correctly, you can now drape the flysheet over the top, and it clips in at the four corners. pegs and guylines complete the assembly.

remember to put the tent up with the doors closed!

hope that helps. by the way, i can't guarantee this is right!

I found pegging opposite corners of the inner tent ges a better shape than one end than the other but that may just be me.

Finally got around to looking out an old (winter 2001) YHA catalogue.

The TS is a single, transverse hoop 1.5 man tent, along the lines of the Coleman Cobra.

The rrp in 2001 was £100.

As for putting it up, I'd peg out one end, insert the pole, and then pull out and peg the other end; the pole should sort itself out. That's how I put up tunnel tents (which is effectively what this is).

Hi, I've got a Protech TS (I think - it's in Australia at the moment so I can't tell) and the poles got broken - does anybody have any idea what to do about getting new poles now that Karrimor have gone into liquidation?

Thanks

Karrimor are back in action again, concentrating on gear rather than clothing at the moment, so you may have some luck if you contact them.

Alternatively, you can get replacement pole kits from Pennine Outdoor

I believe I saw Karrimor Protech tents in the latest Argos in-store catalogue last weekend. No Pro-Action one, though the catalogues in the store I was in were missing pages here and there.

Interestingly, the Argos website has ProAction, but not Karrimor.

I have a Protech TS and found it great over last summer. Taking it to snowdonia in February so I hope it is more 4 than 3 season. The construction tips were great - thanks very much

Stephen

I've had a Karrimor protech TS for 3 years now. It's an extremely light, 1pole tent and packs very small. It is large enough to accom. 2 people or 1 person with luggage. The pole is extremely lightweight at 200g whilst the pegs are good, they are very heavy. It's suprisingly sturdy in high winds although when it is very windy and wet The outer blows onto the inner and it becomes damp inside, this can be controlled to a point by the flysheet adjustment system but cannot be totally stopped. The TS became availiable in argos a while back and it costed in the region of £120 so £60 is great. I recently gave mine the hosepipe test and it didn't let a drop in.

Hi lance will let you know as soon as poss just got one .Hopefully it will be ok. Bought it on gum tree web site for £70. Andy

I just brought a protech TS for £2.99 in a charity shop in Bradford, it's a little worn but all there and no rips

I have a Protech TX - small but warm, very waterproof, and easy to put up.