Robens Arch 2 Tent Reviews and Details

Tent Reviews: Robens Arch 2

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Current Model?
Berths:
Weight:
RRP on date added:
Bedroom inners:
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Pitching Style:

Yes
2 (more 2 berth tents)
2.40 KG
Ł250.00
1
N/A
In one

Average User Rating:

7/10 from 3 reviews

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3 Reviews of the Arch 2

By: Mattoutandabout Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2022 Rating: 8 from 10

Having owned a Macpac Minaret and a for work, a few iterations of Vango tunnel tents (Helix and Scafell recently) and TerraNova (Starlight and Hoolie), this Robens is up there with them.

Negatives: the person who designed the front guy and small flap it attaches to was clearly on a Friday afternoon. It's poor - blocks easy access, and doesn't project quite far enough to protect the tent inner/floor when unzipped. The Macpac has the front pole angled forward slightly, a longer flap and twin guys. Much, much better.

The poles only have one tiny coloured insert to tell them apart - not great in the dark.

The bag is sausage shaped, not a funnel like most others these days, although it is generous in size.

Meh.

It weighs just over 2kg, which I've knocked a few grammes off by lighter pegs I already had. While not light these days, I've had enough of 900g super light tents that let water in or flatten in the slightest breeze, and have groundsheets made of tissue paper. This tent balances weight against performance and durability really well in my view.

Positives.

It's a great living space, easy to pitch and get a really taught pitch, doesn't droop much when wet, easy to separate inner and outer, quality build, nice colour to my eye and seems really very resistant to water ingress and stable in the wind (subject to the usual tunnel tent limitations).

Poles fit in a bike frame bag nicely.

I'm more than happy with it, particularly as mine was Ł80 in a sale.

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By: Deedees Reason: Other Made in: 2019 Rating: 9 from 10

In reply to the above (as I was looking at this tent myself), the 2019 model is 2kg, models after this are 2.3kg. Guyline over the porch works on the Pioneer 3EX, so I assume is just a hangover from using the same parts. Tunnel tents, when hit from the side, act as a sail. Putting a peg half way along the side wall would put so much stress on the area it would probably fail. I can't think of a tunnel with guylines or pegs on the side wall. They need practice when putting up.

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By: Jamesvolunteer Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2019 Rating: 4 from 10

While it has a couple of attractive features, this tent is the first real dud I've bought in quite some time. (Actually it's the second.I bought a Robens Boulder 2 directly before this and it arrived from the factory with a hole in the top). My advice is to give the Robens Route range a miss based on my experiences.

The tent, Robens claim, is 2kg maximum and 1.8kg minimum which for a tent this size and cost, is not too bad at all. However, having weighed the tent,it is 2.3kg without packaging materials.300g more than the stated maximum weight on the label and website. This is an unnaceptably high discrepancy for a hiking tent.

How to get to the 1.8kg minimum weight is anyone's guess, as this is not freestanding, making guy lines and pegs mandatory.

Pack size is good, a little smaller than a Vango Banshee 200 while having more usable space when erected.

The Porch is a great size, leaving enough room to cook, store gear etc.There is just about enough room to sit up in the end of the tent and work in the porch, which is good.

The colour of the tent is nice in my opinion. Darker than in Robens promotional material, and though certainly not stealthy, it's not the bright red that many tent manufacturers seem to go for. It is embossed with little Robens motifs which is a nice touch, contributing to the illusion of quality.

The design of having a guy rope over the entrance is very strange. I may remove it but this makes the storm flap.Erm.Flappy. This will also make tight pitching even harder than it already is. The guy gets in the way to a great extent when entering and exiting, making each and every use of the tent irritating, Also opening the door fully is awkward with the guy line in the way, not made any easier by the ridiculously oversized storm flap.

The design works on paper, as it covers the ventilation mesh from oncoming weather but in camping reality land, when sitting in the tent at the door you basically have a good face full of red material, as opposed to whatever idylic lake or mountain you have camped at. The flap also means you have to open the tent door blind due to having to bend your arm under and around it to open the one way opening door. I really do wonder ifthe door area was designed at 1am at the Christmas office party.

The Robens voyager, from which I assume the design is loosly based has a much shallower flap and user friendly door.And no guy line right where the door is.

It's quite difficult to get a taught pitch. I never understand why many tent makers don't add peg loops to the longer edge of tents like this. All guylines need to be used and adjusted properly to get anything like a decent pitch.

To add to the problems, the materials are simply not nearly as robust in feel as the mid range Vango's, or other tents I've had at this price. Even my 'cheapo' tents (Quechua 2.1 and Coleman Darwin 2.A highly underrated budget tent in my opinion) feel much more bomb proof. In fairness this could be perception. Only time will tell how robust it actually is.

The biggest problem was that my tent had it's colour coded poles mixed up. (They had a 50% chance as there are only 2 poles). The red pole ended up being for the black sleeve and vice versa. Though in some ways an amusing, silly mistake from my point of view, for a beginner this could have much more confusing and frustrating implications, including severe damage to the poles and tent. Also, this is easily avoidable quality control mistake number 2 for me from Robens.

I've emailled Robens and they couldn't care less about the colour coding, much less the design issues. Customer service seems to be in line with the door design, so the plus side is that I wont be fooled into getting a more expensive Robens tent any time soon.

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Manufacturer's Description

The simple tapered twin-hoop design of the Arch 2 tunnel tent is an ever-popular choice with cyclists, trekkers and other lightweight campers and this tent offers all the features and comfort required for less demanding adventures. The Arch 2 pitches quickly and easily, making it the ideal shelter for self-propelled travellers who, at the end of an exhausting day, want to relax in generous internal space with a handy porch for storage.

Technical Specifications
Type of tent: Tunnel
Sleeps people: 2
Flysheet: HydroTex Core, 75D polyester 190T, Fire retardant, 100% polyester
Hydrostatic head: 3000 mm
Pitching way: Flysheet first or as one
Inner tent: 68D polyester 190T, breathable, 100% polyester
Floor: 75D polyester Taffeta 185T, 6.000 mm, 100% polyester
Poles: Aluminium #7001, T6, 8.5 mm, anodised
Pack size: 43 x 17 cm
Weight: 2.4 kg
Item number: 130341

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