Is it just me or is everyone, or anyone else fed up with looking for a tent with a "FULLY Sewn In Groundsheet" (SIG) only to find it's not at all?
I've been looking at the Tent Showcase reviews on here and can see a classic example of what I mean.
On the listing for the Lichfield Strathy 4 it states ;
"Living area groundsheet: Fully Sewn-in"
Looking at hallcat's photo http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/tents/p/Lichfield-Strathy-4/2295 it clearly isn't "fully swen in"
As a motorcyclist and car driver who camps using either transport we do not have the luxury of stowing the surplus equipment or clothes in the car to keep dry and relatively bug free when camping for a weekend on the motorbike.
Having been camping regularly for over 40 years I feel the need to say enough is enough will manufacturers please come up with a standard definition of a "Fully Sewn In Groundsheet" !!
I've never NOT seen a SIG for the bedroom area of a tent, except for the old ridge tens of the early 70's.
Therefore, does anyone have any suggestions for a 3/4 person tent that has a FULLY Sewn In Groundsheet in the living/storage area that is actually sewn-in all the way round, including the entrance areas where you'd step over, weighs under 7kgs, has a decent head room for a 6 footer with old spinal injury, oh and a high Hydrostatic head.
We're fed up of going out looking at such a tents only to find they're not what they claim to be.
Something like the Hi Gear Rock 4 Tent would be good but it is 11.8kgs so too heavy .
Rant over and thanks for reading, any links to sites showing such tents welcome
------------- Rain is only a pain it ya tent leaks. After 40 years still looking for the perfect tent
All synthetic fabric small tents suffer from condensation. It forms on the inside of the flysheet and is allowed to run down to the grass within the tent and drains away.
During the night you will breathe in your sleep, having the main inner tent door partially open lets in fresh air for you to breathe. There may well be an insect proof inner tent door to let in the air. As an experiment do up all your inner tent doors and sleep in the tent, enjoy the oxygen starvation headache in the morning.
Air circulates under the edges of the fly sheet, bringing you fresh oxygen and disposing of CO2. Ground-sheeting off the porch area will reduce your oxygen supply unless air vents are added to the fly sheet adding weight and cost.
In conclusion, use a non sewn in groundsheet in your porch area if you must, and keep stuff that doesn't mind getting slightly damp there eg boots, cooking equipment and furniture. Anything that must be kept dry take into the inner tent.
not sure if this is the kind of thing you'd like, but at 7.40kgs there's the Coleman Instant Tourer 4...
no internal sleeping pod, but a number of people here own them and seem to like them...
i don't think it would give you the headroom you require tho...there is a 6 person version that gives more headroom, but you're looking at 11kgs for that one...
Big Fred, why the anger! Pity us poor readers here. It would have been sufficient to say something along the lines of:
Can anybody suggest me a three to four person tent that has a fully sewn in groundsheet, stand up height, separate living and sleeping areas, has a high HH and is under 7kgs.
And the answer is no.
You can get all that and it will weigh a lot more than 7kgs.
You can get some of that and achieve 7kgs. I'm so glad you didn't pitch in with the old 'under £100' malarky too! Honestly, some people want what you want and want it for peanuts too and something has got to give.
It boils down to what you can compromise on. Smallish tents don't have sewn in groundsheets for reasons outlined above. The condensation is an enemy when you are camping and the five to six man ones have sewn in groundsheets by the virtue of lots of internal space and plenty of ventilation.
You can get stand up height and achieve your relatively low weight but not with a separate living and sleeping area. Think all in one dome tents etc.
The nearest I can think of for you, stand up height and two separate areas and at 8.2kgs is the Osaki 3 from Halfords. Now Halfords tents were slated but last year they pulled the finger out and produced better offerings. This is one of the results. It's £99 too. The HH isn't particularly high though and the separate living area is 'compact' to say the least.
Next I can think of is Gelert Cabana 4, it's 11 kg but it is stand up height, does have the separate areas and has a good HH. It's discontinued but still available and at a sale price at Sports Direct. It has a big pack size though.
Then there's the Vango Kalu 400 which is 12.5kgs, it's got everything you want except the required weight, and I can't comment on pack size as I've never seen it.
As a biker, pack size is important too and you don't want to exceed about 60cms.
A friend of mine is a biker and he has two tents, one for the car and one for the bike. His bike tent is a Vango Halo. It's pack size is 40 by 20cm odds which suits him.
Thanks Moonstone, Sknarf and Frog for the suggestions.
Sknarf I like the Ark DS400 however, the porch area is slightly too small. The reason being that when going camping on a motorcycle 2 up (rider and pillion) I/you need room to to store 2 full sets of biker clothing including helmets, boots, "soft" luggage/panniers and small stove, kettle and other basic items. We keep the motorcycle clothing in the bedroom at night and it doesn't get damp contrary to what Barmstorn and Campermic say.
Moonstone, Thanks the Coleman Instant Tourer 4 looks good and weight is good, easy to erect and roomy but pack size at 103cm long is too long to fit on the back of the bike but as you say
Frog, Now this one looks just right. I very much like the groundsheet arrangement whereby you can have half & half IF needed. At first when I searched for this Wild country Etesian 4 I was somehow directed to the Wild country Etesian 3 and the Youtube video for that shows the 3 doesn't have a groundsheet at all, good job I noticed it before checking elsewhere this reply or I would have written the Wild country Etesian 4 off.
Campermic. Thanks also. Looking at the Gelert Cabana 4 this one is a contender too. The "anger" is because, as I say, a lot of manufacture's list their tents as having a SIG when its not and I'm fed up going to shops with displays to look at a particular tent only to find it doesn't have a SIG. Also by wording the this the way I have I thought others who may feel the same as I would reply if they agreed.
I fully understand the condensation problem being a long time/experienced camper it's MY choice to want a SIG after years of being without one and fed up with wind and rain coming into the living area.
Barmston. I know,,,! As I say, "its MY choice" to have a tent with a SIG so why look for one without ???
We went to GoOutdoors in Lakeside yesterday only to find that their display area was closed for viewing and only had 4 or 5 tents on display anyway.
------------- Rain is only a pain it ya tent leaks. After 40 years still looking for the perfect tent
The tent you seek is the Vango Kairos 300, which they no longer make (grrr!) Actually it is 1kg too heavy at 8kg, but it is a favourite with bikers, tall enough to stand up in, definitely fully sewn in ground sheet, and an all round lovely tent. However, it is 3 berth, and as I use mine on my own, you'd not actually fit 3 people in it comfortably. Good for 2, excellent for 1.
I would have suggested the Kairos, but it hasn't been available for four years or so.
The Lichfield Findhorn replaced the design, but it's a bit bigger at a four person tent. Then Vango brought out the Kalu V this year which might be a contender for you only for that pesky weight.
Let us know how you get on! There has been posts on here recently looking for a Vango Beta style tent but with a proper SIG, there was no solution on those threads to my recollection either.
I've plumped
Well I've plumped for a Vango ARK 300+
Well I say plumped for, I made a cheeky offer of £97.50 for on eBay yesterday (£97.50 + £2.50 P+P).
My offer was accepted and despatched the same day.
I suppose the only way to find the right tent is to try it out but it'd be better if you could try before you buy.
It's too late to try it out now as we're off to Wales camping on the bike for the weekend and the new tent hasn't arrived yet, luckily a friend is taking our camping gear and is already packed in his car.
As soon as we get back I'll pitch it in the garden to test it out and rate it and post my thought on it.
Happy camping people
------------- Rain is only a pain it ya tent leaks. After 40 years still looking for the perfect tent
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Topic: Fed up with false claims of "Fully SIG"
