I've recently started to do some bike packing, my old tent was a Naturehike CloudUP 2p tent, very good tent for the money but I now want something a little lighter.
So after lots of research/browsing, head scratching, I think I've narrowed it down to these:
Terra Nova Solar Photon 2 Lightweight tent which weights in at around 900g & the other is a MSR Ultra Freelite 1p which weighs in at around the same 900g.
Terra Nova Solar Photon 2 I've found for £430, usually its around 6-700! and its also 2 man but at under 1kg I'm not complaining!
The MSR freelite 1p I've found for £355 which is a little cheaper
The main difference between the 2 is pack size, the MSR is 46x15 & the Nova is around 40x15 & the MSR can be put up with fly 1st which is a nice feature! I don't think the Terra Novar can be pitched with fly first then inner?
The pack size makes a big difference as the tent will be strapped to my bars, my CloudUp2 was 46x20 and just about fit in my drybag. So either of these will work for me, but the Nova will prob make it a little easier due to the smaller pack size.
Which of these 2 tents would you guys think is the best & why?, I will mostly be bike packing for 3-4 days at a time, peaks/lakes & also Scotland etc, so all in UK (for now) but not in winter. I almost pulled the trigger on the Nemo Dragonfly bike packing 1p tent, but this was 1.3kg & pretty expensive compared to the MSR/Nova and ideally I want to keep it under 1kg as my bike is old-school peddle power so weight is everything!!
At the moment I'm leaning towards the MSR as like I say it can be pitched outer first, but I like the Photon 2 is 2 man so a little more space etc & has smaller pack size.
Also how easy is it to seam the seals myself as the TN Photon says it isn't factory sealed so I would need to do this myself!?
Any info much appreciated! thanks guys :)
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Topic: Which Tent (Bike packing!)
