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12/9/2016 at 9:50am
Location: West Sussex
Outfit: Obelink Familia 6 Alpkit Ordos 3
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After a recent hiking trip lugging our old Aravis 3 (~4kg with footprint) nearly killed us, we have bought a new hiking tent.
Initial research led me to the 2.6kg MSR Elixir 2 (footprint included) - we didn't want to spend the additional ~£150 for the lighter MSR Hubba Hubba - though I love the name! We were a bit concerned about the size. It would be used by two people, and the usual rule is to add a person on to have space for two people and gear. It does have two vestibules though, so we could keep our bags outside of the tent.
The price of these seems to vary on Amazon from lows under ~£180 up to the rrp of £220, so we were waiting for the price to come back down when...
Alpkit have a sale on. We spotted the Ordos 3 on their site at around our budget and went for it. It's a 3 person tent, so room for us and gear inside, and it weighs in at only 1.6kg. It arrived over the weekend and went up in the garden before the postman had finished walking back down the drive!
Here are the pics from the first pitching:
https:///photos/zXcZQL6wZmV4Vzat7
As you can see, it is just big enough for two plus bags. Very glad we didn't get anything smaller. I didn't fully peg it out (and only lightly pushed in the pegs i did use) - there's supplied lines for three guy points on each side, though only 4 extra pegs.
I'll do a full review once we've had a chance to use it in anger, but first impressions are positive. It is made of very thin materials though. I'm not too concerned with the fly which is probably tougher than it looks, but the mesh parts seem very fragile, and the groundsheet is only a 20D material. I have made a footprint for it out of 140gms tarp which should help this though. The footprint will also double as a picnic blanket at lunch stops.
Looking forward to using it next month for a 3 day trip along the South Downs :).
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13/9/2016 at 8:02pm
Location: Devizes Wiltshire
Outfit: Cabanon Barbados & Cabanon Guadeloupe
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Looks a lovely tent Jason and Clare! Hope you have a lovely time. Seems the perfect tent for two.
Those sleeping mats look good what are they?
Post last edited on 13/09/2016 20:07:32
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Aug 2017 St Martins Campsite, Scilly
Jul 2017 Trewan Hall, Cornwall
Jun 2017 Higher Kestle Farm, Cornwall
Mar 2017 Pitch Perfect camping Bath
Aug 2016 Brittany/Normandy:-
La Ferme Croas Men (near Morlaix)
Le Ranolien (Ploumanac'h)
Le Bois Courdrais (Cugen)
Chateau de Montfreville (Montfreville)
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13/9/2016 at 8:07pm
Location: North Devon
Outfit: Robens Fairbanks Coleman Phad X3
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Joined: 20/2/2011 Diamond Member 
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Very tidy looking. I think my backpacking camping days are behind me though.
I always worry a bit about the idea of pitching inner first if it's raining.
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Sean
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14/9/2016 at 9:12am
Location: West Sussex
Outfit: Obelink Familia 6 Alpkit Ordos 3
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The sleeping mats are Robens Vapour, at ~400g they're the lightest and smallest packing mats we could find - and reasonably priced too. They are comfortable as well - I sleep on my side and my hips don't touch the ground on them.
They are definitely not for winter use though. They have no insulation. The design is intended to allow your sleeping bag some space to fluff up under you in the ridges, providing a level of insulation that you don't normally get from the compressed bottom layer of your sleeping bag. Though I haven't been cold on them in the summer, I'm not convinced it will provide much insulation.
Regarding the inner-first pitching - Alpkit have a footprint you can buy (if it's ever in stock!) that allows one to pitch the fly by itself. You can then clip the inner tent in afterwards. Sounds quite fiddly though.
We haven't got that at the moment, but I'm not sure it's needed - I think it goes up fast enough to not be much of a problem in light rain, and heavy rain tends to be showery - you can wait for a break.
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Topic: New Tent!
