BIG GORDY
Guest
hydrostatic head
Simon, when considering which tent to buy, and as a means of comparing on something other than dimensions, find out what the hydrostatic head of the tent is, that is to say how waterproof it is. This is a standard test comprising of a small square of the tents material being stretched out and a cylinder placed above it. The cylinder is then filled with water until the material leaks, the height of the water in mm at this point is the hydrostatic head of the material.
Apologies if you knew that already.
If you look in the YHA shops and find a tent you like in one, join the YHA for a year which is about £15, then get 20% of your first purchase. If you are spending a couple hundred quid, its worth it and you get the benefit of a years YHA membership thrown in.
For a very cheap but half decent tent take a look at the Outdoors Shops (i believe thats their name), they are the old scout shops, they import a range of tents from the far east which have a reasonable spec and sell them straight on without a middleman, hence a very fair price.
Personally I think Jack Wolfskins are the daddy tents, but I would suggest carrying a spare section of pole for DIY repairs, I have had mine snap, although I think this is through fair ware and tear of a lot of use. Build quality is very good.
Big Gordy
Simon, when considering which tent to buy, and as a means of comparing on something other than dimensions, find out what the hydrostatic head of the tent is, that is to say how waterproof it is. This is a standard test comprising of a small square of the tents material being stretched out and a cylinder placed above it. The cylinder is then filled with water until the material leaks, the height of the water in mm at this point is the hydrostatic head of the material.
Apologies if you knew that already.
If you look in the YHA shops and find a tent you like in one, join the YHA for a year which is about £15, then get 20% of your first purchase. If you are spending a couple hundred quid, its worth it and you get the benefit of a years YHA membership thrown in.
For a very cheap but half decent tent take a look at the Outdoors Shops (i believe thats their name), they are the old scout shops, they import a range of tents from the far east which have a reasonable spec and sell them straight on without a middleman, hence a very fair price.
Personally I think Jack Wolfskins are the daddy tents, but I would suggest carrying a spare section of pole for DIY repairs, I have had mine snap, although I think this is through fair ware and tear of a lot of use. Build quality is very good.
Big Gordy