And....Another tent thread

Sorry folks.  But I could use your help:

Need a 3 person tent with at least a metre headroom.  Must be super quick to put up, free standing and the ability to just pitch the inner when it's warm. Lightweight too for motorcycle travel, but the clincher is this - must be able to have the door open when it rains and it not get wet.

 Budget - open to suggestions, product more important than cost

 Hilleberg Nallo 3 gt fits the bill in a lot of ways, but my concern is set up time. 

Any ideas?

Not sure how you can class a Nallo as free-standing?

Might be worth looking at the Alpkit Zhota?

Free standing as in doesnt neccessarily need pegging if there's weight in it.

 Will check the link, cheers

ETA - the alpkit would take too long to put up in the rain i think

Nallo still doesn't fit your  description - needs pegging out from end to end  to stay up.

 Vango Halo 300 fits the bill - we have one and it is pretty good for the money

Or slightly better spec:  Vango Chinook 300

TNF MTN25

May be too heavy at just under 10lb but this is the only tent I've personal experience of that ticks the boxes in your query.  The extended porch at one end means that rain won't come near the inner door in all but strong end on wind.  

It's very fast & easy to pitch, even solo.  Bombproof too.  

 link

 (says it's 2 man but we have used it for 2 adults & child comfortably.)

Rosswm wrote (see)

Can you pitch those Vango's inner only? We got one of their Equinox models this summer & that's all up in one or fly first.

ah - my mistake - you can't

but then, I've never done that with a tent anyhow!

Where I've camped has always been a possibility of rain//wind/heavy dew/snow.....

If it's that warm in this country, I'd have the doors open or be pitching fly only/doors open - you never know - there's a slim chance it might rain!

If you're concerned about the setup time of a 3-pole simultaneous pitch tunnel tent, then presumably you're going to want a pop-up tent because nothing else is going to be nearly as fast.

If you're dead set on freestanding you're going to pay a penalty in pitch time and weight. Have you looked at any Exped tents? They often use an unconventional geometry that should give you reasonably sized porches without needing additional pegging out, though they may not offer you an inner-only pitching option. I'm not necessarily sure that you will be able to guarantee that the inner won't get wet with the fly unzipped unless you're using a tent with an extended porch, and those are not freestanding in any otherwise self-supporting tent I've ever seen.

You could consider something like the MSR Mutha Hubba (HP version might be preferable), though you'll need something to hold the ends of the porches out when they're zipped shut. Doesn't have a super extended porch, so might not pass the rain test but ticks all the other boxes I think.

Serriadh wrote (see)

. I'm not necessarily sure that you will be able to guarantee that the inner won't get wet with the fly unzipped unless you're using a tent with an extended porch, and those are not freestanding in any otherwise self-supporting tent I've ever seen.

Yep - that extended porch on our TNF needs pegging out.  It benefits from a few pegs around the perimeter too.  My mistake - I'd always taken freestanding in relation to tents to refer to the inner & not the fly. 

Might be worth looking at the Marmot tents. They are mostly free standing, though not the biggest porches.

Marmot Tents

Hilleberg Saivo

It's "for some values of lightweight", but for what it is (i.e., a totally bombproof free standing 3 person tent) it's not overweight.

You need some widgets to pitch the inner on its own but it does do it. It will also pitch all in one (reallygood for that as fast as possible setup you wanted) or just flysheet on its own.

Price is remarkably un-small, as you would expect.  If you do get one note it has been re-jigged a bit in the 2011 version to make it a little easier to pitch and to improve the ventilation, with a couple of big porch-vents as well as the chimney vents in the roof the previous version had.  I'd either make sure you get a 2011 or negoriate a discount if it's an older one (the pics at Moontrail's site are a 2010 model, but I think it's the outer where they've made all the changes so the inner should still look like, or at least very close to, the one there).

Hillies are, IME, the easiest tents to pitch (excepting pop-ups).  They go up fast and easy even if there's just one of you, in mittens.

You note it's for desert use, and the tougher fabrics and zips Hillie use in their Kerlon 1800 range (incl. the Saivo) should do better with wind-blown sand and grit that are more common there.

For my last Hillie I dealt with Alpenstock, who seem to have as good a set of prices as anyone and know the products really well.

Pete.

Thanks all.  Hadn't considered the Savio, or the MSR before.

It's not that easy to find something which meets the criteria really. The MSR is interesting, looks roomy too, thoughthe video seems to suggest that its pitch  the inner first then the fly due to the position of the poles. I guess it could be done fly first, might just take a little longer.

Thanks for the tip re 2010 vs 2011 Pete.

Serriadh's comment on the speed of pitch of tunnels reminds me that there's a couple that's been on a world m/cycle tour for years using a Keron GT tunnel as home everywhere they've been (deserts certainly included).  You will get more space at the weight and roughly equal overall strength (but not quietness or static snow-loading capability) than with a freestanding geodesic.

To pitch fast in a peg-unfriendly spot you just heed a heavy anchor at each end.  You have at least one motorbike, I'm guessing probably two...  The doors are offset to the sides on a Keron (or Kaitum, if you take the lighter option) so the presence of a bike parked at the end shouldn't actually stop you getting in and out.  We've pitched our Kaitum with rocks (large singlar and piles of small) by a beach where there was about an inch of turf over rocks and shingle, which the pegs had no interest in sticking in...  I don't think there's much doubt it's easier setting up a free-standing tent in that sort of situation though.

As with the Saivo, you need some extra widgets to pitch the inner on its own but as long as you know that and get them it shouldn't be a problem.

Pete.

Yes tents in the desert is never an easy thing.  You want ventilation but good stability against wind and protection from wind blown sand.  The biggest issue is the hardness of the ground so large, sharp, steel or iron pegs are needed, the ones which come with tents generally are worse than useless in the desert, they just bend.

If I'm spending a lot of money on a tent I want to be able to use it elsewhere as well, so the rain thing is more for here a nd northern europe.  There's nothing mmore miserable than being stuck in a tent when its raining and you can't have the door open.

The Helsport Gjende is also a decent option I think, and fairly light, though not free standing sadly. 

NickJ wrote (see

)

Thanks all.  Hadn't considered the Savio, or the MSR before.

It's not that easy to find something which meets the criteria really. The MSR is interesting, looks roomy too, thoughthe video seems to suggest that its pitch  the inner first then the fly due to the position of the poles. I guess it could be done fly first, might just take a little longer.

Thanks for the tip re 2010 vs 2011 Pete.

The MSR Mutha Hubba will do what you're wanting, althoug, the open door in the rain will depend on wind direction.  You can also pitch it outer first if you use the foot print.  If that floats your boat, I've got one for sale in the classified section at the moment: