Lightweight tent recommendations?

No experience with reproofing, sorry, but in the short-term could you just pitch it on a footprint/tarp/groundsheet?

Recently bought a Vango Heddon, which is not super light but looks to have a nice amount of space and headheight. Mainly this will be for bikepacking so I wanted to make up some poles rather than carrying trekking poles around. Decided to buy an avalanche probe and recut it to make 2 poles, so got a Terrawest 240cm probe which is 12mm 7075 alloy and inserted rawlplugs to tie off the shock cord at each end. They seem to have come together pretty well and come in at 245g for two 105cm poles (folded length is 38cm). Not bad for £20 and a bit of bodging time.

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Reviving this thread with a simple question: what’s the current recommendations for sub-2kg tents that don’t use trekking poles?

Context is backpacking solo and camping wild, but crucially I can’t get use out of poles due to a historical hand injury (technically an amputation but hey), so the weight saving of that sorta shelter doesn’t make any sense for me.

Current shortlist includes the Phoxx 1, Terra Nova Laser, Alpkit Soloist etc. Don’t mind it being secondhand and budget is up to £200 a a stretch. TIA.

Natirehike

You could get a Lanshan 1 (best small tent I've had personally) and use a folding carbon pole? That works really well and is super light and small.

Like this - https://ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/carbon-tent-pole-125cm-5-section/

+1 for Lanshan and a carbon pole.

That’s some big brain thinking - didn’t know there were carbon poles like this!

Lanshan 1 (non-pro) does seem to fit my budget etc at £120 ish

One more question for the room: besides a bit of a price difference, why would folks choose the Lanshan over the Alpkit Tarpstar? Weight looks equivalent, but bigger porch and a warranty is what you’re paying more for maybe?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256678823388?

Excellent price ( sorry to confuse matters). I'd recommend the Soloist.

Might have an unused phoxx 1 v2 to sell

That alpkit doesn't show any mid height tie out points, which you will want/need if it's windy. Check the MLD Solomid for the design standard.

I'd go lashan but the pro. I love pyramid tents.

Good catch - thanks for pointing that out. Lanshan it is - cheers y’all

*Erroneous post.

I was referring to the tarpstar trigs linked too

The best thing for me about the lnshan is that you can open the doors and not get wet. It's such a simple design idea with the porch and vertical side, loads of room inside, big porch, and you can have a door open in the rain too (as long as you have it in the right direction).

I'd recommend getting the footprint too, makes pitching easier as it uses same peg location, and a bit more protection, and the bottom of your tent doesn't get wet so easier to fold in wet.

I like the Alpkit soloist. IMHO it's nice to have a proper geodesic solid tent with an inner and a sewn in groundsheet. But maybe I am a wimp

+1 for Naturehike

I have the Alpkit Soloist XL and other than the flysheet zip catching it’s been perfect. Really quick and simple to pitch and strike

I have the Tarpstar 2, or did till a fox bit one of the corner off
Looking at the online reviews I'd say that the Lanshan pro looks better made and , has been noted , you can open it up to get a better view .

a fox bit one of the corner off

Well that's a story!

After all this excellent advice, I packed up my bag last night with my current 'heavy' (2.2kg) tent and, well, it felt fine. And on further inspection I realised that even with this weight of tent my overall base weight is 5kg lighter that the base weight from my aborted attempt to walk the Gower coastline. That's my baseline so dropping 5 kilos is already such a win.

So tl;dr: I don't actually need a super light tent, and priority now is replacing my mildly rubbish Planet X tent with something that's suited to my use case without worrying too much about the weight of it. The Robens Starlight 1 (a rough copy of the Hilleberg Akto) looks like the current frontrunner now I've less anxious about weight - would much prefer to prioritise durability and stability, as good as the Lanshan looks for the weight of it.

And here's my packlist for anyone curious: https://lighterpack.com/r/gsk2jk

You should be looking at a Tarptent model for what you've said.

Rainbow for only ever one person,
Double Rainbow for one person palace or comfy for two (10 days together fine).

They come up quite often on eBay in EU / US, my lightly used Double Rainbow was £200 delivered. It's an exceptional tent, and I have used many.

Re: your Lighterpack

1. Could save 0.5kg with a lightweight backpack (AliExpress probably your best bet)
   
2. You def don't need two sleeping mats, get one decent one, Forclaz or Exped
   
3. Looks like a GoreTex / Event waterproof might be better over a Poncho
   
4. Don't need a map and compass, and an Etrex, just use Gaia on your phone. Airplane mode the battery lasts ages anyway. It's the coastline so nav has gotta be easy as it gets. If you're really worried print out a couple of A4 OS maps from WTP and recycle as you go.
   
   

Take a look at the Sales section on Trek-Lite, there's always good stuff there cheap

Thanks for the feedback - don't want to derail the thread too far but:

1) Definitely could save some weight on the pack but already got the Highlander and it's comfy so in no rush to swap it out. Will have a wander on Aliexpress mind you.

2) This choice of two mats is for cold weather and partially a result of already having multiple Thermarest-type mats that don't work for me and actively leave me in pain. I'm a side sleeper with prominent hip bones, so the Alpkit mat makes it comfy and then the cheap Karrimor mat adds some insulation back in. 700g overall so not the lightest, but best/cheapest solution to my specific needs and I can ditch the Karrimor for warmer nights out.

3) Have experimented with various Goretex type options but I've found a poncho is comfiest and also acts as a bag cover when needed. Also the poncho was 20 quid from Decathlon so a bargain really.

4) The boy scout in me could never go without a paper map and compass just for basic safety - almost certainly will never need them but sub-200g for a safety blanket is worth it IMO.

Will have a look over on Trek Lite so thanks for the heads up. Will also scout eBay as suggested re: tents - my wife is currently over in Canada so will see if there's any bargains she could bring back.

@trigs

I'm normally stuff a dry bag with clothes for a pillow. I'm tempted to get one of those reversible pillow/drybags for a little more comfort but I'm also lazy so haven't bothered yet.

Echo platypus on the single sleep pad. We changed from two pads to a double Exped Ultra 3R and it's really nice - no cold spot in the middle.

On the tent - it's pretty personal but we used a Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL2 which is closer to 1kg than 2kg. For winter we use a bigger Vango which has a vestibule for cooking and changing in that's more like 2kg.

I don't own a Trangia. I want one but I'm not that bothered. I prefer a canister stove setup mostly because I'm not "cooking meals" I'm just heating water for packet food.

I've heard ponchos are a bit better for hiking but that's out of my realm. I stick with waterproof jackets on the bike. I'm going to miss my RAB Flashpoint when it dies.

I've never used map and compass in anger. Nor will I.
Don't see any spare batteries listed for Garmin. Lithium are lighter.

Depending on how often you're near civilisation and your speed you could use a smaller battery pack.

What is the monocular for? Camera zoom innit :)

Not as good as the suggestions so far but there was a cheap wild country version of the laser comp on terra nova website outlet section when I looked the other day. Edit: https://www.terra-nova.co.uk/products/outlet-zephyros-compact-1-tent-dark-green/

Thanks again y’all for all the wisdom! I listened re: the sleeping mat situation and picked up this Exped today. Not that light at 715 g but can confirm it’s comfy for side sleeping. Oh and it was £40.11 (!) on a price match at Go Outdoors which is wildly good considering the £120 retail price.

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