Cheap, lightish two person tent for the tall?

[Brett Peugh]

Looking for a cheap light-ish freestanding two person tent that might fit a 6’5″ person.  Any suggestions?  Thank you.

[Ken Thompson]

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/two-person-three-season-tentshelter-for-the-tall/

[Brett Peugh]

Most of those are around $300+ or not free standing.

[Martin Farrent]

If you want something cheap, not wildly heavy and fairly well regarded by those who own them, you could look at Decathlon tents from France – specifically the Quick Hikers.

I have no experience with them and don’t know whether shipping/customs would be prohibitively expensive… but for what it’s worth: https://www.decathlon.co.uk/C-359132-2-man-tents

[Roger Caffin]

I think Decathalon are a retailer, not a mfr. They sell Quechua tents, like this one:

No further comment needed.

EDIT:
I stand corrected, thank you Franco. I had heard of Quechua, but not Decathalon. Well, well.

I note that they list tents for ‘Mild weather’ and ‘Warm weather’, but not anything else that I can see. On the other hand, they do sell ski touring gear, including house brand! Could be interesting.

I see they closed their last store in the USA in 2006 – I wonder what went wrong there?

Cheers

[Martin Farrent]

@rcaffin

Quecha is a Decathlon brand, unavailable anywhere else afaik. The tents range from cheap and nasty to cheap and okay… and sometimes even to reasonably priced and fairly good, I think. All of France seems to buy them (and everything else Decathlon sells). So at the higher end, you get some pretty tolerable products.

[Roger Caffin]

Fair enough, although I note the tents are also available through Amazon and several eBay vendors.

As for ‘all of France’ – doubtful. Au Vieux Campeur is probably the largest retail chain in France (I have been there many times) and they don’t even stock them.

But I am sure they have a market.

Cheers

 

 

[Ken Thompson]

Doubt you’ll find anything long enough.

[Franco Darioli]

Of course no other retail shop will stock the Quecha tents because it is the Decathlon house brand.

Decathlon is the largest sporting goods  group in the world.

78.000 employees, 1.100 stores.

( about 5 x the REI revenue)

They are here in Australia now. About to start their retail operation.

 

[Martin Farrent]

@rcaffin and @franco

I bikepack in France a lot. Decathlon domination has even become a tangible problem for me, because it seems to have killed off most bike and outdoor stores in smaller towns. I had to pedal 100km to a mid-sized town (with a Decathlon store), just to find a spare inner tube a few weeks ago.

I used to think of Decathlon as a company that sold inferior outdoor gear. But more and more budget-conscious people in my (German) bikepacking forum now seem to be buying Decathlon stuff. So I recently took a look at their website and discovered that weights were down on the more expensive products, while materials like silpoly were appearing in the specs of some tents. I suppose this has been happening for quite a long time. I just didn’t notice.

Off topic, really, but I see a problem emerging wherever Decathlon gets big. While they probably don’t care about the high-end market, they might conquer enough of the mid-range segment to cause difficulties for manufacturers who rely on that broad source of revenue (but also offer premium equipment)… which could obviously lead to less diversity. So I’m not totally happy about Decathlon’s success – for myself, that is.

Back on topic, you hardly ever see a hiker in France who isn’t wearing or carrying at least one or two  items from Decathlon. For that matter, about 30% of the casual snorklers down on the Mediterranean coast seem to love a certain integrated mask/snorkel from the same source. And Decathlon has also occupied a lot of Jack Wolfskin / TNF territory for ‘urban outdoor’ clothes. With that development (I have no idea how long it has been going on), they seem to have included some better and more expensive (but still very affordable) products to satisfy more consumers… which is why a budget-conscious buyer might well appreciate a Decathlon tent.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Martin

Oh Dear. It is a few years since I have been in France – the last few times were to the East, Austria etc. But, things evolve.

Outdoors stuff is not the only area where that sort of thing happens: it has happened here with machine tool distribution too. The good vendors got smothered by a large group selling a lot of Cheap Chinese stuff. Sigh. But things evolve.

Cheers

[Ken Thompson]

Brett, being over 6’ is a curse at times isn’t it?

All of us want what you are looking for. Too bad we are such a small demographic worldwide.

[Brett Peugh]

So no to the French tents then?

[Martin Farrent]

However tall you are, there’s always the variable of your personal sleeping style. On your back, on your stomach with feet stretched out? Or curled up a bit on your side? Additionally, check how vertical the walls are. Then you’ll know whether the tent might be long enough. My guess is that if one of the better (pricier) French tents will fit, you could have a fairly good deal.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Brett

It’s difficult for taller people if you follow the herd. However, I find a 2.2m long groundsheet adequate for most people provided that the ends of the roof are not sloping. That is the problem with so many tent designs: you lose a huge amount of length or width when there is any wind.

It is (of course) a strength of the tunnel design is that one or both ends of the groundsheet have upright walls. The blue line below shows the top of the bucket groundsheet. We sleep quite happily in 100 kph winds.

But, tunnels are more expensive than pop-ups. You pays yer money and …

Cheers

[Paul S]

But where can we get a tent like the one who’s diagram you show Roger?

The only two I know of are the Macpac Olympus or Hilleberg Kaitum. Both are kinda heavy (in excess of 6LBs), and as far as I can tell, Macpac not even available in the USA. The MSR tunnel tent (I forget what it’s called) is out of production (and it was single wall)

Man. I’d love to be able to find a  4LB tunnel tent like the one shown above.

 

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Paul

Both are kinda heavy (in excess of 6LBs)
And right there is your problem. You are putting ideology ahead of survival. You want to go into extreme conditions without taking the appropriate gear.

Gear which might be just fine in ‘summer Sierra’ conditions in a pine forest are simply totally inadequate in a high-mountain winter storm. And if you do not allow for the possibility of a storm, you are not only risking your life but the happiness of your family and the lives of the people who might have to rescue you – or retrieve your body.

OK, that is a bit harsh I know, but it makes the point. There is light-weight and ultra-light, but there is also stupid-light. Sue and I do go into extreme conditions, but we also take extreme care to make sure we can and will survive. We go walking for FUN, not for macho. Get your priorities right.

</soapbox>
Hope this helps
Cheers

[Paul S]

Not going into Mtns in winter, but sometimes summer storms and winds in the WA Cascades are pretty harsh and non-tunnel tents fail. So, we want to find a tunnel tent for summer use, with lighter fabrics, but one without the sloping end(s). I.e., we want vertical internal end walls.

 

[Roger Caffin]

Have you read our survey of tunnel tents?
https://backpackinglight.com/tunnel_tents_part1/
https://backpackinglight.com/tunnel_tents_part2_2012/
https://backpackinglight.com/tunnel_tents_part3_2012/

The resources are there after all.

Cheers

[Paul S]

Hi Roger,

Yes, I love the tunnel tent survey. And after reading it last year I concluded that I want one of your tents!

[Roger Caffin]

I did try to get commercial mfr, but they pulled out. Pity.

Cheers

[Bruce Tolley]

@Paul

The MSR Dragontail is widely available. Check out Amazon or REI Garage.

I am not sure how well a single wall tent would perform in your rainy conditions. You might be better off though with a Hilleberg Nallo.  Also you can get kit by UK vendors from the UK and by German and other EU vendors shipped to the USA. Some US based tent manufacturers also sell tunnel tents in the EU and the UK.

[Roger Caffin]

Some US based tent manufacturers also sell tunnel tents in the EU and the UK.
Brands and models?

Cheers

[Bruce Tolley]

Roger,

My recollection from a shopping exercise I conducted while in the UK in 2006 was that MSR had a few. But a quick look at Amazon UK reveals
<h1 id=”title” class=”a-size-large a-spacing-none”><span id=”productTitle” class=”a-size-large”>Marmot Haldor 2P Tent brown/olive 2017 tube tent. And at Hill&Dale: ` Marmot Eclipse Tunnel 2P Backpacking Tent – Vintage Orange</span></h1>

[Martin Farrent]

Hi Roger,

We get many or even most of the bigger US names over here in Europe, often even in B&M stores. Sometimes, I think it’s a bit of a curse, because consumers here have little knowledge of the regions where certain US tents work – and where they don’t. In particular, products like the Hubba NX are purchased for uses way beyond their limits.

The same goes for some general paradigms born far away from central Europe. You see a lot of people in forums arguing the case for a poncho tarp with a water resistant bivy… in the Black Forest in late autumn. Curiously, you don’t see quite as many of them in the field. I suspect they waste their money and move on. ;-)

Best,

Martin

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