Two man, Geodesic tent

I'm looking for a two man, geodesic tent, suitable for backpacking. I've made a (sort of) shortlist down to the Vango Halo 200, VauDe taurus 1, and the VauDe Terra Trio 2P. When I say 'sort of', I mean it can pretty easily be changed!

I've set a budget for sub £200 but am prepared to go higher if I think it's worth it for whatever extra you get.

I am open to suggestions of any others people have tried as well.


Many thanks!

Have a read of this months TGO.  semi and full geo tent on review. The Huskey caught my eye with low price and no dislikes

www.tarptent.com/scarp2.html

Its sort of geodesic if you use the crossing poles in the 3rd picture, but the beauty is you dont have too. Works out at 209 pounds before shipping.

I from your shortlist I suspect you're after a fairly sturdy semi-geodesic two-person backpacking tent and if you could get a Terra Nova Voyager for £200 you'd have bought one already.

The VauDe Terra Trio 2P looks as if it's just this year's Taurus, they've just renamed it along with the usual little design tweaks (they've made the porch bigger, but then the porch on the Taurus was probably smaller than every comparable tent).

I've got the 300 version of the Halo and it's nice for car camping but even the 200 is more than a kilo heavier than the Terra/Taurus and you're going to feel that if you need to carry it.

Other options to consider:
- North Face Tadpole - You can buy it off the shelf in Blacks for £230 but it seems to be available online below £200.
- Mountain Hardwear Lightpath 2 - Around £200 and very light (sub 2Kg) but the inner is pretty much all mesh.
- Ditching the semi-geodesic requirement and getting a nice tunnel.

If you go for a NF tadpole, the Marmot Grid is a similar shape but pitch outer first.

Steve D

www.crux.uk.com/en/tents.php?range=14&product=8

Bump, to push the spammer down the forum.

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I'm looking for a two man, geodesic tent, suitable for backpacking.

I would concentrate on function over form.  That might end up as geodesic, but then again might not.  What functionality are you after that implies geodesic ought to be the way forwards?

- Ditching the semi-geodesic requirement and getting a nice tunnel.

Or single hoop, or whatever.  Personally I regard stuff like headroom, number of doors, size of porches, ease and order of pitch etc. as more significant than the pole layout.   Crawling around in a few examples is a very good idea to get the idea of how a particular model works for you.

Pete.

hi,

Thanks for all those ideas!

What functionality are you after that implies geodesic ought to be the way forwards?

I like the extra room you get with a geodesic and I think they are probably a bit more 'liveable'. The people I've spoken to also say they cope much better in the wind as they have the same shape facing the wind no matter what direction you face it, but with tunnel tents you have to pitch facing the right way to the wind otherwise you can get buffetting.

At the minute, I'm using a Vango Tempest 200 which is very good, but can be cramped (probably more because if my lack of organisation!) I could see it getting pretty cosy as well if I actually had someone else in as well.

I like the extra room you get with a geodesic

There's a better weight/space ratio in a tunnel, thobut, all else being equal.  If you have the same amount of money to throw at a tent (i.e., same quality of materials and facility for technical weight savings) then at a given weight a geo will usually be smaller because of more poles plus associated stuff to hold them.

The people I've spoken to also say they cope much better in the wind as they have the same shape facing the wind no matter what direction you face it

The omni-directionality limits you to domes (which aren't especially noted for their wind performance, you can think of them as equally bad from all directions as much as equally good) or pyramids/tipis, most geodesics are oriented along an axis, just like a tunnel tent or a single hoop, and also like those they tend to do better with some relative wind directions than others.

but with tunnel tents you have to pitch facing the right way to the wind otherwise you can get buffetting.

For some values of "have to" and also some values of "wind".  Often tents are pitched according to the vagaries of the ground, and/or the wind changes during the night, but despite this some of the world's go-to toughest tents are tunnels. And geos can be buffeted as well, but buffeting is not the same as "falling over".  I would say an advantge of a geo is it's quieter in a blow because there's more supported fabric, but there again ear-plugs are pennies and you get more space in return.

At the minute, I'm using a Vango Tempest 200 which is very good, but can be cramped (probably more because if my lack of organisation!) I could see it getting pretty cosy as well if I actually had someone else in as well.

There's nothing intrinsic to "geodesic" that will solve that.  You need a bigger tent, of whatever pole configuration.  Perhaps consider an extended porch or twin porches if you want more effective living space, and some brands have rather different concepts of how much room someone takes up than others.  It's the case with some that the 3 person tents are just about right for 2...

We have a geodesic, a tunnel and a small selection of single hoops.  The only time we take the geo is when it's travelling by boat, where the extra weight and bulk for the same space doesn't matter. 

Pete.

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