Is this the best value semi freestanding light weight 2 person tent ? | Part 1 of 3

[@camping_guru_uk]

EDIT:- So after a week of the tent being pitched a number of the plastic clips that clip the outer flysheet to the poles have snapped, they are very brittle and most of them are cracking. It's an easy fix to swap out to some tougher new ones. The seller couldn't been more helpful and refunded myself a good chunk of the original cost, certainly enough to cover buying replacement clips. After leaving the tent up for a week in the garden I found even with a full night of rain there were no leaks. The tent seams are not taped so I will be silicone sealing them with some DIY home made silicone sealant. I will also be swapping out the guyropes and making each one a sort of double triangle for each pole. Once all this is done I still think it will be a cracking good tent for the money.

[@Mickoutdoors]

Great first look vid Gary, i never picked up on the doors being the other way round to each other, which is another massive plus for this tent, also good to see how you attached the guy lines, i did mention in my vid that theres no obvious guy attachments, but youve attached them how i suspected they would be, glad i watched this as youve pointed out things I'd missed, it went out of stock on Temu but for anyone interested its back on now at £23 👍👌

[@camping_guru_uk]

@@Mickoutdoors Thanks for that. One thing I missed was the seams need seam sealing but that's not a big deal. Cracking bit of kit for the price though

[@TheartofCamping]

Excellent... 😀

[@cageordie]

This reminds me of my much missed Ultimate Phaserdome F. That cost me £105 in about 1983. I pitched that thing in a howling gale with driving rain on the north west coast of Scotland and didn't get the inner wet. I hate the American way of pitching the inner first, with the outer rubbing off the waterproofing as the tent moves over the (now soaked) inner. The only problems I had with that old tent were that the poles had an even number of sections, so they were weak where they were also unsupported. After 10 years of camping in the north west of Scotland they were all bent at that joint. It needed the roof vents yours has too. I told Ultimate and they incorporated my changes but refused to modify mine to recognize my help. My uncle had a similar experience with an early Phoenix tent and they made the changes for free as well as incorporating them in later production. I never bought from Ultimate again, or gave them more feedback. Phoenix was a classy firm, sad that they sold out. Not sure about those unsupported sides and the short pole. In force 8-11 winds my old tent used to look like a drop of rain being blown up the windscreen. I have woken up with it in my face. I am not sure the attachment at the end of the short pole would survive that. Still, for the money, why not.

[@camping_guru_uk]

@@cageordie I had the Ultimate Peapod tent at the same time. £99.99p at the time, it's crazy you can get a tent like this for less than £30. One thing I forgot to mention is you have to seam seal this tent yourself but you often have to do that with those expensive American tents you mentioned.

[@cageordie]

@@camping_guru_uk I don't like American tents. But people seem to favor the inner first pitching. Maybe because Americans know no better and just publish more reviews.

[@camping_guru_uk]

@@cageordie drier climate makes a difference I suppose

[@yeahbutytho126]

Looks like a strong wind would rip the poles off.

[@camping_guru_uk]

@@yeahbutytho126 maybe, we definitely have to take into account the cost and the fact you might want to use better pegs and I'll be adding new guys the the bottom and top in a triangle method. I left it pitched in the garden since making the vid as I thought it might rain and it did most of last night. Bone dry even though I've not seam sealed it yet. To be fair there was only a light breeze with the rain. As for whether the actual guy tie off points will hold in a strong wind I'm not 100% convinced

[@camping_guru_uk]

Well after a week of it being pitched in the garden in pretty great conditions most of the plastic pole clips have snapped. I will replace them with tougher ones which won't cost much and will only take a few minutes. So yes, not the best quality by far but again for less than £30 I'm still ok with it..the retailer refunded me more than enough to cover buying the new clips.

[@darrencasey828]

I tried this tent. It was awful. It leaked terribly and the material started to come apart at the seams on the first use. The ground sheet is perilously thin, and the red inner is visible through the fly which shows how thin and poor quality it is. The poles and pegs seem to be decent enough, it's just a shame about everything else. It's cheap for a reason. Spend a little more and get a decent tent.

[@camping_guru_uk]

@@darrencasey828 it's great to hear from someone who has the tent. I forgot to mention in my video that the seams need to be seam sealed. I still think for the right person and the right application it's going to be ok. I have a number of great tents but this will be for my son for festivals or summer camping for friends when we go walking from a campsite. I also have a load of waterproofing solution so I might give it a second going over. I agree about the groundsheet, I'll put a sheet of Tyvex under it as a footprint to protect it. Thanks for your comment.