of pop up tents such as the Quencha range.Would only be used for weekends in the S East and overnights on the way to and home from Southern Europe. Any thoughts ?
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.jpg) When I walked Coast to Coast in 2008 I met a couple of guys who were using a pop up tent. They were wildcamping the whole route and just carried the thing under their arm. I met them at Keld (half way) and they were happy with the tent, even though they had lost its carry bag. They were also rather drunk!
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 Spent a week or so in one, low level camping around scotland during May. I think it was made by Outwell. We didn't get wet (though we didn't have heavy rain) and it didn't break and it did keep the midges out (of course, loads came in every time someone opened the door, but smashing them kept the kids entertained) Plus points: Cheap Seems robust - just springs around in the wind and presumably if it can fold flat then should be possible to get blown flat without breaking - so I guess that means that you only have to worry about the fabric tearing in a real blow (plus the possibility of being beaten to death by the wildly wipping poles) Stupidly easy to pitch. Dont underestimate this point! Pegs optional if conditions mild and you have something inside the tent to stop it blowing away. De-pitching is a little more complicated - I had to get my 8 year old daughter to do it. Minus points: Not especially lightweight (though not too bad either) Doesn't pack up small - carrying it on your back makes you look like a ninja turtle (we had a 3 man green one). If a pole did break then not sure if it would be easy to do a field repair due to the tension they would be under - no experience on this, its just a guess. Conclusion: Ideal for novices. Smaller ones may be OK for back packing but better suited for car camping due to unwieldy packed shape/size. Ideal for festivals
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Well it's a *** to carry it with other camping gear. You must be a drunk to carry it. It's great for camping out of the car on festivals or something ike that. Or summer holiday by car. It's quick, it keeps you dry. IMHO totally not suited for hiking
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 definatly a car camping job. A colleague of mine uses it all the time, even last weekend in the snow. She has no problems with it, but it is only slung in the boot. It held up in the snow very well (but it did all melt over friday night), but suffered a lot with condensation.
Funny story; A DofE team insisted on using one a couple years ago. Since it was their practise, we didn't see the harm in letting them find out the hard way the error of their ways. Most memorable part was when Steve, this little 5ft nothing kid came around a brick wall in a farm. The wind caught the tent which was like a huge sail on his back and literately flew him across the yard. Apparently it happened loads of times over the two days, but that was the only time I saw. It was really hilarious, especially with the tent and backpack dwarfing this kid.
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 I think some of the newer ones pack smaller, I saw one in france that was about 30cm across. We've got one for garden camping and when car camping it acts as the 'shed' for all the extra gear that we seem to accumulate/require. Steve D
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 FWIW, I remember camping in the south of France with my beast of a Terra Nova Terra Firma, with quite a few weedy and cheap Quechua pop-ups around us in the campsite. My "indestructible" tent suffered two snapped poles, probably due to heat, whereas all the pop-ups were fine. I flogged the TN after getting the poles replaced at home. Wouldn't fancy carrying a pop-up though.
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 We recently got the Quecha Two Seconds IIII for car camping. It really does just pop up which is great, and it is not too hard to figure out how to squish it down again quickly. Plenty of room for 2 adults and 2 kids but no porch. Used it once when there was a massive thunderstorm throughout the night (my wife and youngest removed themselves to the car) and I was pleasantly surprised that it kept the rain out perfectly. As others have said I wouldn't carry it. It is 4.3kg and an 85cm diameter disc when packed.
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Sorry should of made clear it will only be used for car camping,was looking at Quencha two seconds 4 berth. Glad you've been pleased with yours Ben.
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For the price I don't think you can go wrong with it really. We have another bigger, nicer, more expensive tent but the idea of putting it up, taking it down, drying it out if it rains etc has been enough to deter us from just going somewhere for the weekend or stopping off overnight in the past. The Quecha is small enough (in the car) and so easy to put up that it makes an overnight stay a lot more attractive. It is very basic though. You would not really want to spend much time in it other than for sleeping. But if the weather is OK you are going to be outside the tent anyway.
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 I use my blue single skin pop up (Hi Gear I think) for festivals, parties and anywhere else that it might have to put up with being covered in vomit, urine, alcohol or falling drunks. It's known as the smurf coffin as it is a bit snug but it's done sterling service so far. The condensation is a bugger though with it being a single skin, zipping the door right up means being woken at 4am by the incessant dripping.
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Each year I drive to Southern europe and thought they might be good for overnights going down and returning.With there being 6 of us ( two hotel rooms) and the kids being outdoorsy (they hate the hotels anyway) it might well be cost effective alternative.
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For that use, even if you only did it once it should be cost effective. A Quecha 2 Seconds IIII only costs €55. That is less than one night in an Etap  .
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| Edited: 14/01/11 22:09 |
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