Hi all
I usually enjoy my camping with the luxury of a car, however have decided (in a bit of a mid/later life crisis!) to undertake some long distance paths. Since I want to take my ever faithful dog as well as save some £s, have realised I need to return to the backpacking days of my teenage years and therefore need to re-equip myself.
Looking at the tents on the market, I have found the most suitable to be either the Banshee 300 (think the 200 is a bit small) or the Tempest 200 probably the most suitable. Anyone any advice?
Have to add I think I am now past bivying days, and need something with reasonable room for one large adult (wide not tall!), dog (labxcocker), and pack, with enough room to at least sit up comfortably. However also need it to be reasonably light as have no-one to share the load! Lastly want to try and keep cost to below £100.......
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.
Thanks for that. Would be good to know how the tent performs :-)
I've seen both up at our local Go Outdoors - hence why I'm torn between the two! Was going to go for the Banshee 200 but just don't think it's big enough for me. The Tempest 300 is a bit weighty - so hence my choices... and dilemma!
Hello. I got 3 tempest200 for our Scout's last month and I am very impressed with them for the weight they are a big 2 man tent. I have a Coleman Bedrock 2 myself and the tempest wins hands down. So I would recommend the tempest.
I have a Tempest 200, used for 3 nights on the norfolk coastal path and 1 night kayaking on the Ardeche. Got mine for £70 from Norwich Camping about 3 years ago. OK weightwise although there are lighter ones out there for this sort of price now. Very easy to put up and very stable. It's snug, to say the least, for 2 people. My son is now the same height as me, 6ft, and although 2 of us could sleep in it there was really no room to move around at all. I imagine it would be ideal for 1 and a dog if perhaps a little heavy for multiday trips.
I quite like my Wild Country Aspect 2 because it has a fair bit of room for solo campers, two doors, an awning (basically the door using two walking poles or similar) and plenty of head room, all for a shade over 2kg.
Sadly since Sports Direct stopped selling them the cheapest I've seen it for recently is £125. If you're willing to pay a little more though, or can catch one on ebay like I did its a bargain.
Actually I like the look of the Aspect 2 - reasonable height throughout, decent 'porch' area and even the 'awning' gives some flexibility if having to cook in the rain for example.
I've also been looking at the Berghaus Snowdonia 2. More expensive again and a bit more weight. I have a Lomond 3 of theirs which I really like.
Hmmmm, would have to talk to the OH about the spend though....with 7 tents in my 'collection',it took some persuading over the backpacking idea already
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.
Sorry my ignorance, but WHAT is TBS???? Sounds a bit like a disease....
------------- Proud owner of a 1987 Sprite Alpine 370 EK, a cheap popup tent and a beloved retro Trio frame tent from the early seventies, called Giraffen.
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.
From the tent info - "The unique 'TBS' internal bracing system means the tent will stay reassuringly stable in harsh weather, with the completely waterproof polyester inner groundsheet will act like a bathtub even if the ground around you starts turning into a stream."
Thanks for the TBS-information - so that's the straps I have seen om some photos and that look as if they'll strangle you when you're taller then 5 feet...?
And you call that "nothing dangerous", PagsUK!
------------- Proud owner of a 1987 Sprite Alpine 370 EK, a cheap popup tent and a beloved retro Trio frame tent from the early seventies, called Giraffen.
Just an update - I finally went for the Tempest 200.
Although the banshee 300 offered more room (width) and is a little lighter, when lying in it, I found my head and feet very close to the 'roof' and this made it feel a little claustrophobic. Also I liked the tempest porch, which wiould allow access without wetting all your gear if raining - and somewhere to brew up if raining! Finally at £79 it was a bargain!
Although I also really liked the Aspect 2, couldn't stretch my budget to this as I decided to invest in a new (and excellent) Lowe Alpine rucksack.
Thanks for all your input. last few things to purchase over the next few weeks then a weeks backpacking at the end of August
Funnily enough I looked at a Banshee 300 in GO recently. It is quite spacious in floor area, certainly for a single person with a dog. However, like most backpacking tents, it's lacking in height. It also has the advantage of being quite light - about 2.6KG if I remember right. I liked it.
Then, coincidentally, a secondhand one came up for sale in these classified at a good price. I was very tempted and, as far as I know, it's still for sale.
Quote: Originally posted by Bertie300 on 18/6/2011]Acronyms: WNT!
TBS is not an acronym - it's merely an abbreviation.
I have a Tempest 200 which I am pretty pleased with it. Bought it as I wanted something a little more robust than my Delta 200 for coastal camping (after the near destruction of the Delta on what counts as a fairly mild day on the northern coast of Scotland). Properly pitched and with the tension bands in place it has proved rock solid so far. Downside is that the inner is low. Packs up very small, and the poles collapse into short lengths too.
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Topic: Backpacking tent - Banshee or Tempest?
