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I just bought a Tempest 200 this morning as it happens. My lad is off on his Bronze DofE expedition tomorrow and when we picked up his backpack we couldn't belive the weight. He's having to carry all of the tent this time round and his old Delta 300 weighs 5.6Kg....

So Mum raided the family allowance account and had a happy morning wandering around camping shops lying in tents. I agree, the Banshee 200 is very small and I think you'd be struggling with you and the dog in one. The 300 is better but there's still not enough porch imho. I like to be able to lie in a tent with the door open and watch the drizzle outside and the design of the Banshee makes that a bit tricky. Plus given there were going to be two huge teenagers in mine I didn't like the way one was going to have to climb over the other to get out. I prefer the end on sleeping arrangement.

So on to the Tempest 200. It's got a far more spacious porch, big enough for a couple of backpacks and boots...or a dog to laze in. The cut back roof means it's easy to get out of, it's got TBS, it's got lots of vents and it only weighs 2.8Kg. I could sit up in it with room to spare, though I'm only 5'4" admittedly I did look at the Tempest 300 too btw but since weight was one of my most important criteria I decided that the extra space didn't quite justify the extra 0.75 Kg. It is higher too of course. The sleeping area of the 200 is a good size for a nominal 2-man..it tapers in at the back of course but I don't think there was that much size difference between it and a Banshee 300.

Anyway, I liked the arrangement of space, door, porch and max height position of the Tempest 200 best so that's what I got for my lad. Of course I felt I had to check it over as soon as I got it home (if there were any faults it would have had to be returned today) so it's now pitched in the back garden. very simple to put up, very sturdy feeling, lots of nice little features like the lightweight inner attachment toggles and colour coding on the poles and of course it's got TBS. I am a great fan of TBS!

I was in a hurry so went with the Go Outdoors price of £99.99 for the Tempest 200 which is pretty fair and undercut the local competition by a tenner. They have the Banshee 300 for £89.99 though. My local Sports Warehouse also had the Tempest 300 for £94.99. All within your budget.

I would recommend the Tempest 200 over the Banshee 300, then, but of course there's no substitute for seeing them in the flesh. I'd also suggest checking out the Tempest 300 if you felt it was still light enough, because there's quite a bit more head room, porch and living space.

HTH! I can report back on performance in a couple of days though just looking at it  gives me confidence tbh. Very nice looking tent.

Just a quick report back on the Tempest 200 as promised. My lad took it away for a two day, one night trip....25 hilly miles both days, wild camping one night in a fairly exposed area with quite a wind, apparently. He carried tent and all his personal gear. (Partner had cooking kit and food.) He reports that the tent went up in minutes, despite him never having erected it solo from scratch before and was a snug but okay fit for him, his pal (both big teenage lads of 5'9" who play prop at rugby) and the two backpacks. I asked at this point if the 300 would have been a better choice but he said no, it was fine and he wouldn't have wanted the extra weight.

It was windy that night and they had a downpour but no problems at all with the tent. A couple of other tents started to work loose apparently, but he says they were pitched and positioned badly. No problem with condensation either...there's a mesh door vent and two rear vents. He dropped the tent as one with the inner still attached and said that was so much quicker he's going to make sure it goes up that way next time. (I've taken it apart to air it out.) Incidentally he did say that the porch groundsheet had so many tabs and elastics it would have been no problem to rig it as a temporary porch canopy if he'd taken walking poles.

Anyhow, he liked it and said it felt very secure. He's only 15 but he's been camping since he was 4 months old and has pitched a few tents in his time with us, with Scouts and with various outward bound groups btw so he has a pretty good idea about them. One reason he takes his own tent now is because he's had to put up with some really bad ones! He likes the fact it's so light and his only grump was that there wasn't much spare space. But he says that when he's on his own, it will be fine.

HTH.

Tension Band System

Basically it is where the tent has straps fitted along the bottom and sometimes inside along the sides of the tent which when Tensioned will make the tent more secure in high winds.

Acronyms: WNT!

Quote: Originally posted by Bertie300 on 18/6/2011

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]Acronyms: WNT!

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