On the search for an Ideal, light touring tent

[boobook]

I'm on the search for a new tent - something that is super easy to set up and tear down.

The Oztents ticks every box except one. The packed up size and shape. I have a 200 and I don't want to put anything on the roof for a few reasons. I have looked closely at the Oztent and just can't see it working for me.

I want the utopia touring tent.
3 - 4 person tent. But only for 2 people.
Small packed size, preferably no more than about 80cm x 20 x 20
Just a few minutes to pack up and tear down. For moving daily.
No more than about 14 - 15 kg
Approx 1.6m or more height internally
preferably a small vestibule / verandah for storing shoes etc
NO bloody FLY - or a fly that only has to be used when it is pouring. A half fly would be ok like some Black wolf tents use.

Nothing seems to fit all that from what I can see.
I have a Southern Cross Canvas tent. Beautiful tent but it is so bulky and heavy.
I have had 2 Black Wolfs, they are too bulky when packed and impossible to get back in the bag.
Oztent needs to be on the roof.
Looked closely at the Colman instant up style tents and competitors. They come close but they seem to need a full fly and aren't that compact.
Air tents are pretty bulky when packed.
Instant style tents that I have found are too low.
Not interested in another swag.

The closest 2 I can see are the
Darche Safari 260 https://darche.com.au/product/safari-260/
and the
Oztrail Tourer 9 https://www.oztrail.com.au/collections/family-tents/products/tourer-9-canvas-tent

If the Safari 260 was a bit lighter, it would be perfect. If the Oztrail had some rain protection over the door it too would be perfect.

So the closest I can find is the Darche, but compared to my Southern cross, I'd only be saving a Kilo or two.

Has anyone got any ideas on other tents? I know I am being particular but I already have a few tents and I want something quite specific.

Why can't they make a tent in a light material that doesn't need a full fly?

Any ideas?

(Note also posted on 4x4 earth)

[Alan Loy]

How often would you need rain protection?  You could buy the Tourer tent and just put up the rain protection when needed.  I used a ridge pole from the center tent pole to an additional pole then put a tarp over that.  It worked well but requires 5 pegs 2 poles and the tarp extra.  You could just use the camper fly and not the ridge pole if saving the 1.5kg is important.

This setup gives lots of extra cover from rain and sun when it is important

https://www.oztrail.com.au/products/camper-fly   I love this fly as it's light but works as well as a heavy tarp.

https://supapeg.com.au/products-new/roof-ridge-rails/aluminium-ridge-rails-2-2/

For quick pegs I use large coach screws and a drill to screw them in and out.  It saves me heaps of time.

[D4D]

Oztent, for the small price of having it on the roof, it is the best tent.

[richo9923]

https://www.tentworld.com.au/buy-sale/oztrail-ultimate-aw-stretcher-queen?gclid=Cj0KCQiA05zhBRCMARIsACKDWjd2q2gPCAmODu7xhHNq0bgzB0DklRjQdIahYMlQU2d6u0yPtXNoAP8aAqd8EALw_wcB

[Rumpig]

Can't help with any other suggestions, Oztrail tourer plus would be my suggestion...we did Cape York and The Simpson trips as a family of 3 then 4 people in one of those. For 2 people just use the extra room internally to keep shoes etc dry inside the tent on a towel at the entry, no need for a roof rack as it fits in the wagon area. In saying that, they aren't a light tent when all packed together....i used to store the poles separately to the tent just to break it's weight up when getting it in and out of the vehicle. We had the extra side poles that allow removal of the centre pole, I'd use the centre pole to pitch the tent and then add the side poles and remove centre pole, giving one big open area inside the tent...never took the front "awning" poles away on trips, just to save on a touch extra weight

[Bird]

Oztrail Tourer 9 https://www.oztrail.com.au/collections/family-tents/products/tourer-9-canvas-tent

I've had 2x 9x9 canvas tents... brilliant, put up in minutes, packed in in 10... bit bulky but nothing like my RV1 I use now, or the Blackwolf tent I have now - but all 3 are amazingly fast to put up.

[Paddler Ed]

Bell tent?

https://soulpad.com.au/products/soulpad-3000-ultralite

Not that common over here, but used a lot for Glamping set ups.



You might need to go to the 4m diameter one to get is so you have the space for a double/two single mattresses side by side.

[Alan Loy]

I fell in love with tourer pyramid tents as a 14 year old on a school trip to central australia and still think they are the best travel tent as you only need 4 pegs and 1 pole.  They are a traditional tent so I guess that's why they're made in traditional fabrics.  I notice that Freedom and Southern Cross are still making these tents.  They are high quality products but are expensive and don't have a vestibule.  They are still made in canvas so not light. 

Southern Cross have a "lite 9"
"With a smaller overall height of 2150mm and a smaller roof frame of 600 mm square. It means that this tent packs up into a bag of 750 x 750 x 150, with a weight of 14 kgs. With these features it makes a light tent with the capacity to sleep 2 -4 people. "

The design of these tents is fairly straight forward does anyone know what it would cost to have one made in a more modern fabric

[moeite]

have a look at the Macpac Wanaka https://www.macpac.com.au/equipment/tents/camping-tents/wanaka-camping-tent/114089-IPB00-OS.html . It's NOT cheap but I can tell you that it IS durable. It packs down small and light and can be erected really quickly.
I've had a Macpac Minaret for over 30 years and it's had a LOT of use and apart from a bit of fading it's still almost as good as new.

[boobook]

Thanks so far everyone. It does seem that a light canvas touring tent is winning. I can't figure out why someone can't make one with the same material as say Black Wolf or Oztent so it is waterproof without a fly.

[Jon Burrell - Tentworld]

Hi Boobook,

The Outdoor Connection Tanbar comes close to ticking a lot of those boxes.  It is quite unique in the market currently & is a hot starter for my new tent.

Packed dimensions are 78x35x35 @27kgs. 

Floor space:  300x280 & option to setup awning.

https://www.tentworld.com.au/buy-sale/outdoor-connection-tanbar-air-pole-canvas-tent

What do you think of it? 

IN regards to why there are so few tents available that are not single skin.  This is mostly because single skin tents can be prone to suffering from condensation, especially in the hands of a new camper.  I know we put great pains to any new camper buying an Oztent to explain to them the importance of adequate ventilation, what condensation is & why they should consider buying the fly for their Oztent.

With tents that have flys, you can install compulsory, non optional ventilation to prevent this user error from happening. Helping them to ensure their camping trip goes well, and not wet.

I hope this helps.  I look forward to hearing what your thoughts are on the Tanbar.

Cheers, 

Jon

[Bird]

Hi Boobook,

The Outdoor Connection Tanbar comes close to ticking a lot of those boxes.  It is quite unique in the market currently & is a hot starter for my new tent.

Packed dimensions are 78x35x35 @27kgs. 

Floor space:  300x280 & option to setup awning.

https://www.tentworld.com.au/buy-sale/outdoor-connection-tanbar-air-pole-canvas-tent

What do you think of it? 

IN regards to why there are so few tents available that are not single skin.  This is mostly because single skin tents can be prone to suffering from condensation, especially in the hands of a new camper.  I know we put great pains to any new camper buying an Oztent to explain to them the importance of adequate ventilation, what condensation is & why they should consider buying the fly for their Oztent.

With tents that have flys, you can install compulsory, non optional ventilation to prevent this user error from happening. Helping them to ensure their camping trip goes well, and not wet.

I hope this helps.  I look forward to hearing what your thoughts are on the Tanbar.

Cheers, 

Jon

is that price in yen?

[Jon Burrell - Tentworld]

is that price in yen?

Ahaha!  No Bird, sorry I forgot to translate to Yen for you.  It's 77,737 YEN.

[Alan Loy]

is that price in yen?

Don't look at the Freedom or Southern Cross travel tents, you may not recover. 

[GeoffA]

.....
I have a Southern Cross Canvas tent. Beautiful tent but it is so bulky and heavy.
I have had 2 Black Wolfs, they are too bulky when packed and impossible to get back in the bag.
......

I can comment on these.....

We had a Southern Cross touring tent for a while. Great quality, but yes, bulky and heavy. Also, we found it dark and cramped.
The centre pole can be changed to a spreader frame, but there's no getting around the taper on the walls.

Currently have a Black Wolf Turbo 240. We bought it because it can be carried inside the car. More user-friendly internal space than the SC tourer.
We've always been able to get ours back into the bag. Perhaps you could ask Sarah to make a larger bag??

 

[grunf]

Hileberg Keron ticks all your boxes.

[Pete79]

We had a Southern Cross touring tent for a while. Great quality, but yes, bulky and heavy. Also, we found it dark and cramped.
The centre pole can be changed to a spreader frame, but there's no getting around the taper on the walls.

The sharp angle on all of those centre pole touring tents put us right off them when we where shopping around.
As the wife and I sleep on the outer sides with the 2 kids in the middle we couldn’t stand laying against the sides of the tent with condensation on us every night.

Currently have a Black Wolf Turbo 240. We bought it because it can be carried inside the car. More user-friendly internal space than the SC tourer.
We've always been able to get ours back into the bag.

Grab one of these new covers that doesn’t have the front awning and you have the best ever touring tent in my opinion.
4 pegs, no center poles or low sloping walls and side windows that can be left open in any weather. We’ve never had any condensation in our turbo tent with about 4 or 5 years of very heavy usage. From the southern tip of Tasmania to far North Queensland our turbo tent has been brilliant.

The 240 packs down into a very manageable size (ours even fitted in the back of the Jimny).



As for not fitting in the bag, there must be some operator error going on there.
We pack our 300 with the full fly, all 3 extra wall panels, 5 spare guy ropes and a full extra set of pegs back into the bag no dramas. The strap on the sides of the bag are always adjusted as tight as they can go.

[Rumpig]

The sharp angle on all of those centre pole touring tents put us right off them when we where shopping around.
As the wife and I sleep on the outer sides with the 2 kids in the middle we couldn’t stand laying against the sides of the tent with condensation on us every night.

don't recall ever having any condensation issues in our centre pole (with centre pole removed) tent, using the side wall poles and having the "plus" model meant we had plenty of room for 2 adults and 2 kids inside it.....we actually had a queen size self inflating matresses we slept on and the kids thier own matresses, never found myself against the walls. There's likely better options to buy out there these days, but I wasn't prepared to pay the grand or more other touring tents wanted back then (and probably still want), got our tent for well under $400 instead, which suited my budget much nicer.

[macca]

The sharp angle on all of those centre pole touring tents put us right off them when we where shopping around.
As the wife and I sleep on the outer sides with the 2 kids in the middle we couldn’t stand laying against the sides of the tent with condensation on us every night.

Grab one of these new covers that doesn’t have the front awning and you have the best ever touring tent in my opinion.
4 pegs, no center poles or low sloping walls and side windows that can be left open in any weather. We’ve never had any condensation in our turbo tent with about 4 or 5 years of very heavy usage. From the southern tip of Tasmania to far North Queensland our turbo tent has been brilliant.

The 240 packs down into a very manageable size (ours even fitted in the back of the Jimny).



As for not fitting in the bag, there must be some operator error going on there.
We pack our 300 with the full fly, all 3 extra wall panels, 5 spare guy ropes and a full extra set of pegs back into the bag no dramas. The strap on the sides of the bag are always adjusted as tight as they can go.

If you have  a 300 lite they easily fit in the bag but if you have a 300 canvas then it is a struggle. I used to have a 240 lite that can be packed up with the fly attached, was really quick to set up/pack up , now have a 300 lite which i have to take the fly off to pack it up

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[D4D]

Upgrade the bag to a Drifta bag, problem solved.

[JD-120]

Ya, I bought a couple of oztrail duffel-bags for or tent. So much easier.

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[Pete79]

If you have  a 300 lite they easily fit in the bag but if you have a 300 canvas then it is a struggle. I used to have a 240 lite that can be packed up with the fly attached, was really quick to set up/pack up , now have a 300 lite which i have to take the fly off to pack it up

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We had a 240 plus canvas, no dramas packing into the bag.
Currently have the 300 (not plus) canvas with 3 extra panels for the awning, extra ropes and extra pegs, all fit in the bag no worries.

The only time I’ve even had an issue packing up was on a near enough to zero degree morning with no sun and the floor material was really stiff and hard to roll up. It was a bit of effort, but still got it back into the bag.

But my misses reckons I could steal jobs from the chinamen with the way I roll up our hiking mattresses, they end up swimming inside the little bags they come delivered in from the factory..

[Bird]

The quicker to put up the bigger the packed up bundle in most cases... thats why they are quicker.

Currently have a Black Wolf Turbo 240.

the 300 fits door to door in the GU - no room at all ... great tent, piss easy to put up - have had the locking pins seize up as we went to setup, but some WD40 fixed that instantly.

Bought mine used, its not the the 'lite' version - and my Blackwolf 300 forsale with 2 spare flys cheap

The Touring tents - the 9x9s I dont see what the issues with them are, they are designed for overnighters, not base camping. and the sidepoles make life so much easier
Bwolf and touring tents are similar in shape, the RV series are different.


we had one of these when the kids were young, Shit loads of room and just as easy to put up - but dumb **** here bought the HUGE size awning.... when it was up - it doubled the tent size... putting it up nearly ended up in the fire. packing up was a complete second bag same size

[TomH]

Just a question for those black wolf folks who’ve posted here (and sorry for posting a question on a post).  So you pack up the turbo tents with the fly and front / side panels attached?  That would save heaps of time.  When you fold up the corners into the centre, do you lift the fly then bunch it up or does the fly fold up with the tent?

I’ve got a 300 lite plus with fully enclosed front awning.  Heaps of room for 5.  Super solid tent although does leak in far back corners in heavy rain.

I’d probably buy another black wolf but one with a room either side of the entry rather than our deep design.

Cheers,

Tom


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[Bird]

Just a question for those black wolf folks who’ve posted here (and sorry for posting a question on a post).  So you pack up the turbo tents with the fly and front / side panels attached?  That would save heaps of time.  When you fold up the corners into the centre, do you lift the fly then bunch it up or does the fly fold up with the tent?

I pack my fly separately to make life easier getting it into the bag. takes about 20 seconds to refit.