new tent for a tall wide person ?

[ton]

sorry if i have asked this before........ i may have.

i am looking for a new 1 or 2 person tent for someone tall and wide.
last few years i have use various options but nothing as proven very suitable.
started with a vaude taurus. it was ok, but a bit hefty to carry on the bike. moved onto a alpkit ordos 2. which again was ok, but was a pain to get in and out of. i had to reverse in feet first.
last couple of years i have been using 3 person tipi type tent. in the summer i use the out alone as a tarp tent . dont weigh much, easy to put up, but the center pole position is a proper pita.
years ago i had a macpac microlight tent. it was pretty perfect if i remember correctly. the whole side kind of opened up, and made it very easy to get in and out of.also the single pole was easy to use.
and because it was a high dome, it kept the tent off my head/face unlike most lightweight tents today.

any ideas greatly appreciated.

[yourguitarhero]

My pal took this on a motorbike tour we did, seemed to be a good tent. Lots of space for sitting in etc with the porch part

https://amzn.eu/d/44FYlBc

Seems like it's 210cm long and has vertical ends.

1450g without poles (needs 2) so maybe 2kg total?

[riderdown]

I actually have Ton's old MacPac tent, used it on BB200 and the winter event

[FLV]

Another Macpac Microlight?

[benp1]

I have a Tarptent Scarp 1, Ton. Fits me very well, very roomy inside. That design, with the single hoop perpendicular to the body, is common but the end struts mean there is more room at the room and head ends, good for tall folks like us

[ton]

cant find a macpac tent anywhere.

the tarptent scarp looks ideal.............. the price is terrifying.

[Rasta]

https://www.macpac.co.nz/macpac-microli ... t=16&sz=12

[Rasta]

Hilleberg Akto has good sleeping room, but you lose a lot with a fat mattress and it is poor for sitting up.
SMD Lunar Solo has good room if you use the 2 end tie-outs. But mine didn't last long, so not worth the money, IMO.

[adrianb]

Hi Ton
I have a microlight in attic that's not been used for a good few years (?WRT2014)
Let me know if you are interested and I'll get it out and check it's condition
Best

[ton]

PM sent adrian.

[Moff]

I'm liking my OEX Pantha II Ultralite at the moment tonnes of space for the weight/cost balance.
Thought I' would probably have got a Durston X-Dome if they'd been available then superlight for a similar cost.

[riderdown]

I think Ton may have rose tinted glasses on the space in the microlight, I am big but not Ton big and I find the inner comes in noticeably when using a thick mat, sitting height isn't amazing either

However it a joy to put up and rock solid

[ton]

I think Ton may have rose tinted glasses on the space in the microlight, I am big but not Ton big and I find the inner comes in noticeably when using a thick mat, sitting height isn't amazing either

However it a joy to put up and rock solid

i think you may be correct.
been talking to a old friend this morning. we both used a microlight for polaris events, after using a saunders jet packer...... which was like a coffin.
he reminded me that it is 20 odd years since we did a polaris. he said, we were 25 years younger, 25 years more agile and mobile, and also on polaris events were usually got in the tent at 6pm in rain, and stayed there until 6am.
the overnight was usually pretty grim.

i think i need to look at other options.

[riderdown]

i think i need to look at other options

Durston x dome 1+

It's noticeably more spacious and head room is higher than the microlight

Could do a side by side pic.

The microlight is an easier pitch but the x dome has a lot more usable space, mine is one of the first run and they reissued the poles, will probably get a solid inner at some point

[AndreR]

Following this thread with interest as I'd like a new tent at some point. I almost exclusively use a flat tarp but that only really works "in the wild" so to speak and is of limited use on a campsite. I haven't seen any reference to MSR tents but just about every long distance tourer/bike packer on Instagram seems to have one as they are so often in the photos. Another brand I see is Wechsel which looks like a German MSR/Big Agnes to me? Am I missing something here

Neither are cheap, but in my experience save your money and and cough up for the good gear and it pays back in the long term. Spent a fortune on a tent in the 80's for a "world tour" and it then went motor cycle camping, car camping etc. and was the first tent my kids slept in and it finally died after over 20 years of hard use!

[Hyppy]

Am I missing something here

I think most (all?) MSR tents require the inner to go up first which puts some folk off if you're prone to inclement weather conditions, and the inners also tend to be a bit meshy which again ain't always wanted.

To answer the original post, I use a Terra Nova Laser Compact 2 which while not being particularly light (1.3kg) gives me plenty of space, if not that much headroom. Kinda related, it looks like Terra Nova are switching up their product range as I guess EOL in their outlet listing means End of Life https://www.terra-nova.co.uk/categories ... ova-tents/

[Alpinum]

Use the search function on here to find some stuff on the Durston X-Mid.
Whilst I wasn't completely sold on the (first gen.) Pro version, manufacturing glitches, some rather crucial items missing eg. buckles to take tension away from the small zip and not so good experience with them dealing with complaints, I dealt with the issues myself and modded the cr@p out of it and now we quite like it.
I've used it (hiking) on a couple of trips when on my own and it's a bloody palace. This is the X-Mid Pro 2.
It's not that much heavier than the 1 p. version and I'm not so convinced the X-Dome can deal with more wind.
Never used the X-Dome though.
Dan has poles for those without hiking sticks and they are very well made and true to claimed weight.

Didn't Liam and ... sorry, forgot her name... take a poly X-Mid across South America? They rode in many windy places and didn't die.