Ultra light tents

[Scabutz]

I need as light as possible backpacking type tent for some mountain marathons. I goggled "ultra light tents" and the first website was https://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/. On there they have tents weighing between 1 & 2kg, but are £300+.

Yesterday I was bored at work so went for a wander around the Go Outdoors nearby. In there, they had this tent. https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/oex-phoxx-1-man-backp... which costs 6 times as much, but weighs only 400g less.

The expensive tent has a lower waterproof rating. The nylon is a lower denier which I guess where the weight saving is coming from.

What I am missing here? Is the cheap tent a load of crap? Does a 400g weight saving cost £300. Is the tent the best place to save weight

[Scabutz]

gregs656 said:

Do you need a tent? I’d look at a tarp or bivy bag.

In terms of cheaper light weight tents the pyramid/tipi shapes offer good bang for buck.

Rules vary. Main race I'm looking at says tent/hooped bivi. Must have poles/hoops and must have a sewn in groundsheet.

[Scabutz]

gregs656 said:

Ah ok.

Where is the race at what time of year?

End of September. Location varies each year. Previous years its been Lake District, the Dales, Cheviots, Howgill, Snowdonia. Lakes have had more than their fare share of locations, but its been there last two years so probably a good bet it will be elsewhere.

[Scabutz]

w1bbles said:

Having done a few OMMs, I’d say that the majority of tents used by competitors are Terra Novas. I’ve got a Terra Nova Laser 2 I think. Cost about £300.

Looks a good bit of kit. The 1 man version weights under a kilo and is available for £250 on-line. It has their fast-pack system which can bring the weight down to half a kilo, although not sure that would be allowed.

£200 difference between that and the GoOutdoors one for about 600g saving seems good.

[Scabutz]

w1bbles said:

One good place to save weight is the sleeping bag, to answer your other question.

Yeah been looking at those. I already have some sleeping bags, none are particularly light. As I need the tent the bag may have to be an upgrade for another time :-) Although having done triathlon for years the wife should be used to me spending -000s on kit!

[Scabutz]

AlfaPapa said:

The other thing to consider is whether you are likely to ever participate as part of pair. The majority of the ROC entries this year (I'm assuming this is the MM you mean as it is end of September) were pairs.

If that's the case then you want to spend your money on a really good two man tent, and look at what half the weight is.


Looking round MM campsites, most people use the terra nova, but this year there was a real smattering of Alpkit Ordos 2's (1.3kg, pretty spacious two man tent). They looked to be holding up to the wind pretty well (it was REALLY windy!)
https://www.alpkit.com/products/ordos-2

Yes ROC MM. Long Course - Score Format.

I'm so anti-social - to the point my wife made me do an online autism test - that the thought of sharing a tent with another person fills me with dread :-)

Also the ROC MM and others are part of a bigger plan/dream/goal/loss of all sense to be accepted on to the spine race so can use the tent for that.

Will take a look at the Alpkit stuff as well, thanks

[Scabutz]

AlfaPapa said:

Scabutz said:

to be accepted on to the spine race so can use the tent for that.

You'll be wanting a bivvy for the Spine rather than a tent. It's so important to keep your pack weight down as much as possible, and really you *should* be planning to only sleep / rest at the shelters (although you do have to share floor space with your sweaty, dirty, exhausted fellow competitors!)

For heartwarming, see the video at the end of this year's Spine where a good friend proposes to his girlfriend when he finishes (it was a miracle he got back up off his knee to be honest) and her romantic response is "Your feet stink" <3

Yeah good point, think if you carry a tent you have to carry bivvy as well anyway. Was reading a few blogs and a couple of people said they slept out as the checkpoints were so noisy. I am sensitive to noisy so thought a windy mountainside might be better, especially given my anti-social-ness :-) All stuff I need to think about later. Still very early stages in my training & planning for that.

I will have to watch this years video. I watched the long video from a few years back they filmed. Similar to that I said to my wife the other day do I smell funny? She said why, and I said I smelt myself the other day and thought I don't usually smell that bad. She said when I was training for Ironman I started to smell really odd

[Scabutz]

AlfaPapa said:

Custom fitted ear plugs are your friend. They have absolutely changed my partner's Mountain Marathon / Race / Mountaineering Hut life.

Cool, I will check those out. When I was training for Ironman and having to go to bed at 9 I tried normal ear plugs (my wife doesn't do quiet), but didn't get on with them. Will look for some custom ones.

AlfaPapa said:

I'm usually at most of the Ourea Event organised races, drop us a pm if you're going to take part in any. I'll say hi (and then leave you alone to be anti social)

Will do. I am planning on Great Lakes 3 Day and ROC Mountain Marathon. Just waiting to see how the next couple of months training goes before planning my season.

[Scabutz]

HardtopManual said:

Have a look at Wild Country Zephyros. I have the 2-man. Wait for a sale and they can be had for sub £80 and you can get the weight down with some targeted upgrades.

They are going for £97 at the min. They are quite heavy though at 1.8kg. When you say upgrades do you mean to the tent or with other kit (i.e. have an ultra slight sleeping bag). Seems I can swap to titanium peg, but that only saves 65g over the aluminum. Could I get lighter poles?

[Scabutz]

Gad-Westy said:

Scabutz. Did you go for a Terra Nova Laser in the end? I'm eyeing one up at the moment.

I haven't yet. I dont need it till October so still considering my options. I looked at the AliExpress ones mentioned above but am not sure about them.

This place seems to be the cheapest

https://www.uttings.co.uk/p107763-terra-nova-laser...

I am veering closer to the Wild Country Zephos though. Its considerably cheaper and is only 600g heavier. I am 6'5'' and was 94kg at my lightest of recent years. 600g is a big poo for me. If I was 67kg racing snake that 600g would me a big difference.

[Scabutz]

tenohfive said:

Scabutz said:

I am veering closer to the Wild Country Zephos though. Its considerably cheaper and is only 600g heavier. I am 6'5'' and was 94kg at my lightest of recent years. 600g is a big poo for me. If I was 67kg racing snake that 600g would me a big difference.

I fit into your racing snake category and have taken fit, much heavier and more muscular types than I out in the hills wild camping. Never mind the percentage, extra weight in my experience (which includes some fell running and a few mountainous ultras) hurts everyone equally. I wouldn't dismiss it quite so quickly as you are there, especially when you're looking to move fast. Even traipsing through the hills with 1/3 my bodyweight in camera and wild camping gear that weight takes a toll descending (that dirty little secret no-one tells you - uphills are the easy bit.) Never mind going cross country down fell side at speed.
I'm not saying go minimalist, I just wouldn't be quite so blaise based on my own experiences (of watching other, heavier people suffer more than me.)

My personal approach when wild camping and on ultras is to be militant, strip everything back to within a gram of the lowest possible weight - then add back one or two things that'll either make life easier or a bit more comfortable. Keeps me from going too far either way.

Anyway. Tents.

Wild Country is the budget arm of Terra Nova. They trickle down the designs. The Zephyros is an old but fairly tried and reasonably well regarded design amongst wild campers. OutdoorsMagic forums may have contenders for other new, budget designs too.I seem to remember seeing some really good feedback on Six Moons Designs tents too.
I went for an Alpkit tarp/walking pole pyramid setup for a 600g shelter plus a bivvy bag. Think it works out just over 1kg all told. I've also got a Wild Country Hoolie 3 but that's for wild camping with the wife and kids, and it's palatial by comparison.

A company worth a look is Tarptent - they're a US brand. If I ever can justify it I'll be getting a Scarp 1 or Scarp 2.
https://www.tarptent.com/product/scarp-1/
The Scarp 1 will just about fit 2 people, as long as your friend is a bit of a racing snake (which may be handy for future team events.)

Last time I looked into MM's the TN Laser's were common, as were Nordisks. Neither are cheap.

If I were you I'd have a chat with PH member andy_s, I think he's done the GL3D before IIRC, has a background in MM's and he's a very nice chap to boot. I'm sure he'd be happy to tell you what most others are putting up at the OMM etc. I'm sure there will be a few common high end designs, and probably a common budget tent often in use.

Edited by tenohfive on Friday 18th January 21:46

Edited by tenohfive on Friday 18th January 21:48

Thanks for this. Good points about the weight and I shouldn't be so quick to dismiss weight savings

Started looking at it again now training has started in earnest. The Zephyros is good value, it's 1.4kg but looking at the pole & peg weights I can strip that back by 200g easily for another £40-50. Having said that the same pegs and similar poles are used on the Terra Nova Laser so I can also get 150g shaved off that for not much. I have my eye on some 2nd hand ones on ebay at the min. Hopeful I can get a tent in at about 800g for a couple of hundred quid.

Also looking a 2nd hand decent sleeping bag. Although there are no minimum requirements other than they say they may insist on 2 season if the weather is bad, its hard to get anything below 900g without spending hundreds. Especially as I need the larger size bags.

Was watching some people on YouTube and the balloon bed seems to be the mat of choice. 100g.

Also been looking at bags. Consensus seems to be that the OMM classic 25 or 32 is the go to choice. Decathlon have some good bags also and they are very cheap. Also have a 10 year warranty, although the cynic in me thinks that's just marketing BS. Its easy to offer long warranty when something is so cheap, plus most people will have lost their receipt after 6 months. They are 200-300g more than the OMM as well so silly to squeeze the tent and sleep system so light to only add it back on with a cheap backpack.