#355

#pretents #wildcamping
So I'd set aside some money to buy either the Tarptent ArcDome 2 Ultra or the Durston X-Dome but when they came out I wasn't convinced by either for my needs.
So looking for an alternative I stumbled across the Pretents Border tent and it ticked a lot of boxes for me. 4 season, 2 person, 1.45kg without the optional vestibule or add the vestibule and use your walking poles as the frame for another 200 grams. I'm not sponsored and it wasn't given to me. I spent my own money on this model (£440 landed from China) and I'm hoping it will work out as my winter tent. What do you make of it ?
If you'd like to inquire about getting a Pretents Border sent a personal message to / pre_tents and they should be able to help.

[@olliemilner1]

Interesting! I currently have the Soulo and Unna with the X Dome on order. I may sell the Unna and keep the Soulo for real UK winter and X Dome for better weather (until they release a solid inner)

[@gordonmculloch4904]

It look like a quality tent. It will be interesting to see how it preforms. 👍

[@DonP_is_lostagain]

Whenever you come through your door with a box, I don't have to guess what you've got. LOL!

[@davidcressey]

Great review Andrew. Looks a great tent and will be interested to see how it does when fully tested.

[@TFStents-cn]

Hi, the ring mentioned at 9:48 is used to expand the vestibule space. You can detach the outermost clips on the inner tent and attach them to this ring, which will create a larger area. This way, you can sit inside the tent and cook without feeling cramped.

[@AndrewParkOutdoors]

Brilliant, thanks for that. I'll try it out. Andrew

[@mrlockie]

Liked the shot of your big white Bush at the start!

[@Fantic156]

Looks nice, but the door is not something I'd want to negotiate when it's raining. It seems to open almost directly (and therefore might allow rain ingress) to the inner and where your sleep system is! That reason alone is enough for me not to care what it looks like ... The additional vestibule ought to be part of the tent, not as an addition, which it so obviously looks like. I use my tarp for the same job!

[@mountain_del1863]

Looks very well made, high quality kit. Porch nose looks like the bow of a ship......that'll be the wind facing side, especially with those poles. I do wish more manufacturers would offer double poling options though.....that's a gamechanger.

[@MountainParameters]

In the 70's the single wall Bibler tent with its polypropylene panels became the status symbol of a "true mountaineer" which popularised the X design. As noted by @Fantic, this design, while very wind stable, allows for the ingress of precipitation as soon as you open the door, which is not great for egress, ingress, cooking, or venting (an even more critical consideration for single wall designs). I ended up adopting a 15D sil nylon tarp to fashion a door-less A frame ridgeline vestibule that used one hiking pole. I still have the tent and the floor got damaged by the agitator in our washing machine, so I'm considering turning it into a Bothy by cutting the floor out. Overall, I'd say in my quest for lightening the pack weight and thus after using quite a plethora of tent designs over 50 years in the mountains of North America and Scotland, the X design is my favourite,. With the advent of sil nylon it's probably still lighter with the vestibule than the original Bibler was, so this tent looks like a winner to me.

[@AndrewParkOutdoors]

Yes like you I'm a fan of assault style tents. As you say you do need a tarp or porch arrangement when required so I was attracted to this in that I can use on off and with my walking poles which I trek with it's a minimal weight or bulk to carry too. Cheers A

[@stevenanderson5404]

Had a Pretents light rock 1p and was a very good tent. Light and possibly the easiest tent I've owned to set up and good quality. The reason i sold it was because it was to small inside and especially the lack of vestibule. If they resigned the 2p to have a vestibule i would buy one all day long. Very good tents. Not far of Hilleberg in terms of quality 👍

[@Mickoutdoors]

Not sure what to make of this one Andrew, nice looking but looks to much of a faff on, maybe those toggles are for a footprint to attach or is there another inner anchor point you may have missed ? Great vid as always though 👌👍

[@GusExplores]

I have been looking at the pretents lightrock 1. It needs seem sealed so it's probably the same.

[@BackcountryExposure]

I've been so impressed with Pretents and TFS. Several years ago I had ordered the Soloist from Pretents, but it was a little too short for me. This year though I got the TFS Gemini and that tent is excellent! TFS/Pretents need more presence in the US market, which I understand is a focus from them. How did you go about ordering this? It's not a model seen on their website. Maybe it's different with me being in the US...

[@AndrewParkOutdoors]

Hi Devin, Yes really nicely made stuff. I actually had to PM Pretents on Instagram and made an order that way. They have said they'll be happy to process orders via that channel. ATB Andrew

[@scotbotvideos]

That's a handsome tent. Good colour choice too. Seems to me that the vestibule end looks somewhat aerodynamic so would users would do well to face it that ways into strong winds.

[@AndrewParkOutdoors]

I was thinking that's the way I'd pitch it, without the porch it's a bit of a guess which is best

[@peterrobertson8141]

Trouble is that you would then lose the advantage of the sheltered vestibule...

[@bonpecheur4565]

Looks nice for the weight , very aerodynamic . 15d for the fly , it would not be good for me in the boreal forest 😅. Not sure about the front zipper of the vestibule either, like you said , hard to reach , well it would be hard for my 57 years old body ... looking forward to see more of this tent in bad weather and hear about the livability in a real situation. Thanks

[@Sneaky-Sneaky]

It depends on what you mean by four season whether this tent is a four season tent or not. Where I backpack I run into a fair amount of freak weather and high winds in higher altitudes and this tent Wouldn’t be adequate even in spring or fall…..but in lesser wind etc. I’m sure it’s a fine tent….

[@camping_guru_uk]

Nice looking tent, not so sure about the vestibule. I'm not keen on the zip being all the way down at the end. I love the vents at the side of the fly with the matching inner half dome vents. I can't find the tent online, can you let us know the cost. Cheers for a great in-depth vid, I'm looking forward to seeing it out on the hills.

[@AndrewParkOutdoors]

Yes it worked out at £440 all inclusive and i had to pm them on their insta page to get one. A

[@peterrobertson8141]

Hi Andrew. I'm impressed how you manage to hunt down these rare and (in this case hard to obtain) tents. This one certainly looks impressive and much better than some of your recent ones in that it seems to overcome most of the issues you have found with them. Not keen on the 'crawl in from the end' entrance myself. These days - with stiffness and joint problems of advancing age, I prefer nice big side entry doors, but of course that's personal choice and wouldn't put me off trying it. I would certainly attach a length of cord to that long vestibule zip to make it a bit easier to get hold of and open from inside and would want some sort of footprint in the vestibule to allow me to crawl in to close the zip from the inside (or some sort of short 'stick' to help me push the zip down to the bottom). Despite the lack of reinforcement, my guess is that those plastic rings ion the bottom edge of the long sides must be to allow the sides to be tensioned out slightly to maintain separation of the inner tent in wet & windy conditions (perhaps especially with the extra wind load of the vestibule?). Looking forward with interest to your real world testing. Regards, Peter

[@AndrewParkOutdoors]

Good tip on the zip puller ! I'll look at that , cheers A

[@pleasertoleader]

they dont sell that color on their website do they ? happy so far?

[@AndrewParkOutdoors]

It's certainly one of the three colours they do, the others are yellow or grey I think.

[@garethmurphy8235]

Great vid.. What was it about the Durston or Arc Dome that made you not want them? The only thing on the Durston I could think of that could possibly be improved is maybe making it from DCF and possibly making the foot end a few inches wider than the 27". I am in the market myself here in the US and I was just wondering what made it seem worth it to give away almost half a pound, with added expense, a front entry, significant headroom, while still having to use your trekking poles for any usable vestibule...?? And did I hear you write that you still might need to seam seal it? I totally get "to each their own' and that is why I am wondering what made you prefer this over those two specific options..

[@AndrewParkOutdoors]

Good questions. I just felt the ArcDome was too big for solo use and those big panels look like sails in the wind on the reviews I saw. The one person version would be ideal though I reckon. The X-Dome inner being mesh is no use for UK winter so waiting on them launching a solid inner for it. A

[@Rando-user-zm1fx]

And kind of looks like the vestibule add-on cuts off some of that top ventilation?

[@TheEmporiumOutdoors]

Hi Andrew, I like the quality of the tent but those vents make me nervous as they look kinda exposed for ingress by driving rain. I'm sure you will find out camping in Scotland 😄

[@winstonasmith9398]

I bought the Pretents "Lightrock" but returned it because of the smell (silicon treatment ?).

[@campingcaledonia76]

Really nice aesthetic on that tent Andrew and it definitely looks up to the job. Probably not for me though as I'm not a fan of front entrance tents for ergonomic reasons, just don't get on with them but that is a lovely looking tent and the vestibule is pretty cool. Look forward to you getting it pitched out in the wild. Cheers 👍

[@joeshepherd4990]

Really want one but the floor only 20d is there a footprint

[@AndrewParkOutdoors]

I didn't see any mention of it but I just use a polycro sheet.

[@scottyseeks]

Any links where to buy this at all? Cheers

[@AndrewParkOutdoors]

If you contact them via pm on Instagram page they'll sort you out. A

[@davidhale1568]

Baffling why manufacturers don’t use two way zips for doors 🙄

[@AndrewParkOutdoors]

Yes annoying !

[@justincurrie2102]

You've had more tents than I've had hot dinners 😂

[@Turist_72]

Hello. Please give me a link to this tent. Thanks in advance.

[@AndrewParkOutdoors]

Hi if you go to Pretents Instagram page and message them they'll be able to help. A

[@praktika1082]

If this pretents model is 1.4kg, then it's not an X-Dome alternative because the Durston tent is less than 1kg.

[@AndrewParkOutdoors]

The Durston X-Dome was never sold on it's weight alone though. A

[@praktika1082]

@AndrewParkOutdoors somewhere near the top of promotional blurbs about Durston tents, you'd find "lightest tent in its class" or something to that effect. Durston absolutely considers weight to be a major selling point.

[@SteveSingerFowkes]

😂😂😂😂

[@mahmaw7]

Keep us update on its ability Sir🫡