An article popped up on one of my facebook feeds the other day Wild Camping UK about people paying to wild camp in the U.K.
Continue reading “Paying to Wild Camp in the U.K.”Paying to Wild Camp in the U.K.
Real Turmat Outdoor Meals
Real Turmat Outdoor Meals are the best freeze dried meals I have come across. They are really tasty and pack a load of energy.
So if you are day hiking, wild camping, canoeing or fishing these are perfect in every way.
Real Turmat Outdoor Meals
Over-nighter along the Suffolk Coastal Path.
Over-nighter along the Suffolk Coastal Path.
Walberswick To Dunwich.
With the family away and free from work for a few days I chose to walk a section of the Suffolk Coastal Path and do an overnighter.
As I have this 110km walk in June through Arctic Sweden I wanted to do a trial run with most of the kit I am planning to take with me (minus the Dog).
Continue reading “Over-nighter along the Suffolk Coastal Path.”Swedish Army LK35 Rucksack
Swedish Army LK35 Rucksack
I’d read about these rucksacks a while ago and the Swedish Army Lk35 Rucksack appealed to me. I liked the old school metal frame and thought this would be a great bag for bushcraft and more importantly I wanted something I could use for hammock camping.
Affordable backpacking tents review.
When you search the internet for affordable solo back packing tents you will become inundated with with affordable backpacking tents.
Some will be high end and some very cheap and probably not be suitable or won’t last one camp.
Each tent has its good points and bad points some however don’t have any good points and these are generally the really cheap ones that you can find.
Below is a review of three affordable solo back packing tents.
All three of the tents below can be purchased for under £100 and as cheap as £53.
Vango Blade Pro 100
I used this tent whilst participating in the Fjallraven Classic Sweden. It was great for me and I was lucky I didn’t have to pitch it in the pouring rain. I at 1.83cm could sit up in this tent, just enough space for my bag in the vestibule (but have to crawl over bag to get out for the call of nature). Offering incredible value for money the Blade 100 tent from Vango is a single pole tent with an overall weight of less than 2kg.
The use of a single alloy pole keeps the weight of this tent down to just 1.82kg. Pitching is quick and easy with just a single pole.
Downfall is the inner needs pitching first (not great if its raining). Hyrdostatic Head: 5000, Ground sheet hydrostatic head: 6000. Two compression straps are used to keep the pack size small.
Flysheet door vent allows ventilation, increasing air flow and reducing condensation creating a comfortable nights sleep. With lightweight pegs and taking the tent out of the supplied bag this tent weighs 1.63
Wild Country Zephros 1
The Zephyros 1 person tent offers an ideal blend of low weight, reliable weather proof performance coupled with a competitive retail price. Hydrostatic Head: 4000, Groundsheet Hydrostatic Head:6000. The outer is pitched first which is good if it is raining.
It uses the Superflex alloy pole and tried and tested Wild Country, high performance flysheet and groundsheet fabrics. This tent when swapped with lightweight pegs and minus the bag weighs 1.41kg.
Based on an existing highly successful Terra Nova design, the single poled Zephyros tent gives sturdy resistance to bad weather whilst also offering spacious sleeping and storage areas. The tent pitches flysheet and inner together for speed but I would recommend packing the inner away seperately if you haven’t time to dry condensation of the inner of the fly.
3L UL Gear LanShan 1
I originally saw this tent on a youtube video of someone completing the Coast to Coast walk and liked the look of it for a summer lightweight back packing tent.
The item was purchased of Aliexpress and took about 2 weeks for delivery from China. It is extremely light weight at once the pegs where swapped at 820gms. You use your walking pole to erect this tent. The Hydrostatic head of the flysheet is: 5000 and the groundsheet which is bath tub design: 8000.
Slight flaw in design as where the webbing is stitched for guy lines and guy ropes this hasn’t been waterproofed so rain will seep in and drip onto inner.
This is easily fixed with seam sealer and small patches on the inside (see video below).
If you are tall like me there isn’t a lot of head room. There is Loads of space inside, large vestibule and can be pitched either inner or outer first.
Out of all three of these affordable backpacking tents this is my favourite as a 3 season tent, but if there is the chance of some bad weather I would use the Wild Country Zephros 1.
They each have there good and bad points and what works for me might not be what works for you and also it is weather depending on which one I use.
Pros & Cons of the affordable backpacking tents.
| Model | Inner/Outer pitched first | Hydrostatic head | Weight | Price | Link |
| Vango Blade Pro 100 | Inner | 5000 | 1.63 | £86.40 | Taunton Leisure |
| Wild Country Zephros 1 | Outer (with inner attached) | 4000 | 1.41 | £94.99 | Funky Leisure |
| 3L UL Gear LanShan 1 | Inner or Outer | 5000 | 820gms | £58.27 | AliExpress |
If you want a really lightweight option then I don’t think you can beat a lightweight tarp as these are really versatile in how you use them. (see video)
