a 4 season tent can easily cost you £400, can TGO do a review of whats available?
5 years ago it was only terra nova and the american companies who did them, but now crux, lightwave and force10 are in the market and blacks seem to be doing them for £250.
is there any difference in the top 5 tents? what does a 4 season tent need that others don't?
please can we have some help on the most expensive outdoor product that most of us will buy.
Incidentally, there are fine lines between what I'd call a UK four-season valley tent, a UK four-season mountain tent and an expedition tent, all of which get called 'four-season'. There's also the irony that a tent which is fine on an Andean glacier in settled dry season conditions can explode like a bomb's hit it in the Llanberis Pass in November...
Okay Jon, just tell me which model comes in at under, ooooh, £200, weighs less than 1.5kg, and is entirely bomb-proof on Cairngorm in a february blizzard. That's the one I want.
There's that one-man thing that Argos used to sell, buy, say, six of them and just put a new one up as the old one disintegrates, should keep you going for at least one evening, maybe...
Don't forget Macpac, they've been selling 4 season tents at over £400 for at least 5 years. The Olympus and Olympus Expedition are well worth their weight in gold (or sterling).
Jon – I think you should do another feature on four season tents and what people actually use them for. Here’s my opinion (for what its worth)
- Camping at the South Col of Everest: a full Geodesic - Camping in the Alps/ Pyrenees/ Andes – Dunno, I’ve never done it, so I’m willing to bow to superior knowledge - Camping on the cairngorm plateau – why would you? - Other Scottish winter ‘high-camping’: Macpac Minaret, Hilleberg Nammatj, Crux X2, anything by Lightwave, the Force ten Serac or that new ME semi-geodesic hybrid thingy. - Winter valley camping: Vango Hydra, Vaude Hogan, Terra Nova Voyager, Hilleberg Nallo etc. etc.
My- admittedly person - rationale for Scottish four season is based on the kind of winter trips I make and where the tent is likely to be pitched as a result: - There are big muti-day climbing routes in the UK so you don’t need a self supporting geodesic for parking on a narrow ledge (you can always bivvy on the Skye ridge). - While a tent may be used fairly high up (e.g. in a corrie), a water source and some shelter will always be sought. Consequently, it is never going to be pitched at the top of the mountain or on that Cairngorm plateau. - Ideally it should be simultaneous pitching, but this isn’t necessarily a show stopper. - It does have to be easy to pitch, however, as you might be putting it up in the dark in less than ideal conditions.
IMHO, a strong tunnel tent is ideal for such use, and you save a kilo over a geodesic every time you put it in the sack. The Crux X2 compares well for weight for it is a bit cramped for two six footers.
Anyhoo, that’s my thoughts on four season camping, although the ‘geodesicists’ will no doubt take exception to such ‘tunnel vision’
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