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Looking for a lightweight tent (2 man) to be used mostly as a shelter when out and about for a day with the kids, perhaps at the beach or walking etc. May also be used for a night away or in the garden. Nothing up a mountain!

I have a medium size tent already but really looking for another tent (do I really need 2 tents ?!) that takes up little room in the car and not to heavy to carry for an hour or two in a rucksack.

Like the idea of a window and built in groundsheet. Looking to spend less than £35. So far considered Vango Alpha 250 (not keen on inner pitch first though) and Vango Dart 200 DS. Thought about a pop up tent but they seem at higher end of price range and poorer tent all in all.

Just want something quick, cheap and easy! OH - "nothing new there then!"

Any suggestions really appreciated. Thanks

i have just purchased a hi gear ion 2 which was really quick to pitch and comes in a really small holdall £12.99 from GO

i have also just picked up a vango zetes 200 with front window and small porch takes slightly longer to erect but nothing too strenuous for £20 also from GO

Our best beach tent ever was a 'Woolies' end of season special. It broke all the rules of 'you get what you pay for' as we only paid £4.95 for it and it lasted for years. It was only single skin but was fine for fair weather camping, and has even withstood some less than perfect weather. It went up very simply by threading the two poles across the top and popping the ends of the poles into a slot in the base. It was totally self-supporting so didn't need pegging - which was helpful on the beach. It was most certainly never well looked after!

It would be comparable to the 3 or 4 man single skin tents that the supermarkets are selling off at the moment. (£10 - £15)

By comparison, at the same time we bought my son his own tent. He wanted a camo one with room for him and his 2 friends to sleep in either in the garden or when we were away. The first time we used some of the stitching on the ties and on the inner started unravelling. On the second time we used it, a gust of wind (not extreme) caused one of the poles to snap and eventually tear the flysheet above it). This tent was from a reputable company and we paid £45 for the priviledge!!

If you are likely to be using the tent on the beach then you will probably need either a single skin, or if a double skin, then make sure it is fly-sheet first pitching so that it does not need pegs to keep it upright. Any tunnel tent, or tent with a tunnel porch would probably not suit for this reason.

This one might do:

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.100-8628.aspx

I bought it for half price last week but it looks as if that offer has past. I have not put it up yet, but it does look as if you could put it up without the inner if you were just using it on the beach or for walks (much lighter too!) but then use the inner as well if it were to be used for sleeping in. There is a four man version, but this jumps up quite a bit in price.

Hope this helps.

I have the Vango Dart 3 man pop up and it's great for the beach. We've sat inside eating our picnic when the weather turned and used it for changing in too. I don't like using it as a tent overnight as it's very claustrophobic for one, never mind three people. 

I've recently got the Quechua seconds base, for £54 from Decathlon. It's alot of tent for the money, I bought the optional inner so it could be slept in too. So far I've done one night in it and there's loads of space in there! The main benefit of it is it's so versatile, garden barbecues rescued from the downpours, beach changing room, picnic area, gazebo when you're camping..... As you can see I'm really pleased with it!

Sainsburys are selling the 2-man Gelert quick-pitch tents at the moment for £8.99, we managed to buy one last week for my daughter to take to the Sonisphere festival this weekend, and they are really good quality, it just takes a bit of practice to get them folded up and back into the bag afterwards, but now her mate has shown her how its done she can do it in 2 mins flat!

Julia  

Thanks for all the posts. I went to see a few smaller tents on display this weekend. I ended up going for a Vango Juno Tepee 300 - still cannot believe, I've bought a wigwam! But it is brill! Easy to put up, plenty of room inside and nice and high too. A little heavier than I originally wanted and a bit more expensive at £30 but sure this will fit all our needs.

Hope all enjoying the Summer!