Tents, tents, tents!

As you may have guessed money changed hands for some used pieces of plastic and metal.  Simply put, I bought a new tent.  I love tents and camping.  I have been camping for years and my preference would be wild camping.  I can remember my dad’s first attempt of taking me and my older brother up the mountains for a night.  We had an old Vango canvas ridge tent.  It had large heavy poles and a rubbery plastic floor that alone must have weighed more than the average tent available today.  It was obviously similar to the old force 10 tents but not the same protection.  For this first adventure the weather was terrible.  Howling wind and driving rain. My dad was obviously really keen not to disappoint us and we got in the car and headed for the hills despite the weather.  I don’t know as what stage he decided but he didn’t go to the mountains.  We did make it to Newcastle but camped at his uncle’s property.  We lay under canvas listening to the elements and the creaking trees which dripped on the tent sounding like someone throwing marbles but safe in the knowledge that we were only a quick dash from a dry, warm house.  I can’t even remember if we made it into the hills the next day or not.  That didn’t matter.  I got to go camping with my dad and brother and not just in the back garden.  That was more than enough for me! 

I don’t remember when but we sold the Vango tent and bought one of the “new” dome style tents.  At the time it seemed brilliant.  It was so light and easy to put up.  Pretty sure its still somewhere in my parents home.  At the time we had a family touring caravan and my older brother and I used the tent every time we went caravanning.  Our first venture into the hills with this fancy new tent didn’t go that well.  We camped at one of my favourite wild camps beside Lough Shannon.  Hills surround it one 3 sides but the side of the lough is very exposed.  Just our luck it was a rather breezy night.  The wind beat against the side of the tent with no reprieve.   The tent cracked under the constant battering and tore all along the side.  My poor dad had to spend the night lying on the side of the tent to hold it together through the night.

After that disaster my brother and I went a bit mad.  We decided enough was enough.  We would go and get a decent tent that would not crack under the pressure.  In hindsight we maybe went a bit too mad, we bought a Terra Nova Super Quasar.  What a tent.  Anyone who knows Terra Nova will know the quality.  We have used that tent now for around 10 years pitching it on top of mountains in the snow, anywhere in fact.  Never did we have to worry about our site as we knew the tent would be ok.  It was when looking for this tent that I really started getting interested in tents.  I guess due to my education in engineering my interest grew more, looking at the structures and materials.  My only gripe with the Super Quasar would be the weight, as due to its 4 season status it is built with materials designed to survive extreme weather.  To carry around 5kg of tent alone would make ultralight weight backpackers almost faint. 

A couple of years ago I did buy another tent, wanting something lighter and smaller pack size for use on my own and for camping trips on my motorbike where space for damp bike gear is critical.  I bought a Vango Spirit 200+.  To be honest I realised this tent was more than adequate for any weather I would ever be likely to experience.  This was a great tent.  Not ultralight but not a bad weight for the space provided and much better for camping on my own.

Over the past year, primarily due to my older brother’s influence, and lately Twitter and the Outdoor Station, I have discovered the joy of heading into the hills ultralight style.  I have been spending months viewing outdoor forums and backpacking blogs, hungry for ultralight gear reviews tales of people’s adventures.  I have started dreaming about new light gear, titanium and carbon fibre often playing many a lead role.  Obviously I would be mad to just head out and change all my gear for new fancy super light stuff.  I will have to be patient and change it as the old stuff wears out or when I convince myself that it has. 

This year I have made a few purchases and will be reviewing them here soon, my most recent purchase being the new tent.  I do have a bit of a habit of changing things and rather quickly too.   I have been eying up the Golite Shangri La 3 for months so 2 or 3 weeks ago I took the head stagers and advertised my Vango and a one man Coleman tent I had to try and fund the change.  The two tents sold rather quickly and the Shangri La 3 was bought.

As for the Shangri La 3 first impressions are very good.  The weight is a big improvement and the ease of pitch it fantastic.  The space inside is tardis like.   Hopefully in the not too distant future I will get out up the hill and give it a good old try.

Simon