I'm in the market for a new 3 man tent. It will be used at a music festival this year (4 days), and for a further three weeks of camping. My partner and I often camp wild and move around a lot, so the tent will be taken down/put up a lot during those three weeks, and won't always be pitched on nice campsite type lawns!
We want something nice and light for when we stick the tent in a rucksack for overnighters. But budget is also a concern so we are ruling out the mega light options.
I really like the look of the Lichfield Cullen 300, which is a good price and only 3.6kg. Cannot find too many reviews though and I'm not familiar with them as make.
The Coleman Coastline 3 Compact also looks good. It's £10 more and 1kg heavier, but is more spacious.
I also like the look of some of the Vangos, but with so many models it is hard to decide which to go for from their range! All these fit the bill:
One thing I have noticed with most of these tents is that even the manufacturers describe them as "weekend", "festival" and/or "first time camper" tents. And that doesn't give me too much confidence for two week wild camping holidays; especially as it is the manufacturers who are saying it.
I bought a Gelert Rocky 3 which has a separate flysheet, inner pitching first. My reasoning at the time was that I could easily remove the flysheet if it was too hot inside as I was thinking of taking it round France (might still do that!). I also wanted a dome tent which is self supporting whereas a tunnel type tent needs to be supported by using all the guys. With a dome tent I thought that if it's calm and still I'll only bother with some of the guy ropes. I also wanted a small porch area for holding a bag and boots.
The Gelert Rocky 3 is 3.6kg too, and to be honest it's quite a heavy load and I would not consider that weight suitable for back packing. It's fine for a plane, or public transport though, and possibly suitable for backpacking if the poles are taken out and carried by someone else.
I'm not saying that I'd recommend that particular tent over other three man options, but just the thought processes I went through choosing a tent. One of the downsides of a inner pitching tent first is that in rain it takes longer to get it up and you out of the rain.
I know Tesco Direct have got some fantastic offers on the Gelert series (The Gelert Lunar 3 looks like an improved Rocky 3), and some other offerings too. Definately worth a look.
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