Tent recomendations

[Bluegum Mic]

Rupert I think the prodigy looks like a perfectly good tent for your requirements. I have purchased things from adventure friends/Rico in the past and he's a pleasure to do business with. He's always been completely honest in whether a product I've been looking at would be suited to the conditions or not and very quick to respond to an email enquiry. So whilst I can't give you any direct feedback on the tent itself I can give you the feedback that I think ferrino gear is well made and that they are a breeze to deal with it would be nice to get some feedback/review on the tent too as I think its a reasonable enough weight and certainly price for a 3 man integral pitch tent.

[Moondog55]

For personal survival/shelter this is what I may carry in the future.
Also from Hilleberg

http://www.hilleberg.com/home/products/ ... anorak.php

[Franco]

Sorry for the diversion...

The Scarps are designed to be a 4 season tent as they are up to low snowfall or full 4 season with the extra poles .
The SS 1 and 2 were originally meant to be a 3 season shelter but during the testing of a prototype close to the release model it snowed at TT so after I commented on some design aspects, Henry made a modification to the panels to allow some snow loading
(That is a few inches not feet.)
Call them a 3 season in Tassie.
You really need to see one to understand how it works but it isn't flimsy .

Do keep in mind that if they were sold retail they would be about double what they are now.


On the first night doing the Great Ocean walk it rained really hard most of the night.
Both the Contrail and the SS2 kept us dry and were still nice and taut in the morning.
Leaving camp we noticed two other tents looking very sad indeed.
Both, (dome type one a brand name the other a promo type tent) had the fly obviously touching the inner.
(I would think that they were dripping on the occupants)
We did not see any other walkers for the rest of the week...
Franco

[Mountain Rocket]

I really like the Scarp 2, but it is not a 3 person tent

I have been using my Scarp 1 for months now and have only slept in it once by myself. All of the other times it has been with another person.
Personally I think the Scarp 2 is a great choice to meet the OPs needs. That said the Ferrino tent recommended also looks good, albeit quite heavy.

[rupert]

I have to say I agree with those recommending the Scarp 2. 1.7kg, 2 persons, 3 at at a squeeze. It's very near to where I started.
Problem is however that expectations have moved on a little since I started the thread. Had there been a Scarp3, or even a Scarp2.5 I'd have been in trouble. Bottom line is that the extra foot of width in the Prodigy is a clincher and an advertised weight of 2550g V 1700g is not all that severe.
Since starting this thread I've looked at so many tents but I have to say I've ordered a Prodigy 3. A big factor in my decision was that Rico came into the thread and agreed that the Prodigy fitted the bill. This may sound naive, I mean who believes the guy selling it, but I look at it another way. Forums such as this reverse the rules. No-one's getting paid, lot's of people are watching. The most risky thing for a seller to do is to come out and recommend their own product. If the recommendation's sound, chances are they won't get thanked. If the recommendation's a dud, or even if it's sound but it's perceived to be a dud, they'll have it rammed down their throats, and very publicly! If someone recommends their own product, and there's not immediately howls from others, I assume that they are very comfortable that their product fits the bill.
I see I've received an e.mail to tell me that the Prodigy 3 ($314.10, including freight) is now on it's way to me via express post. Might be a while before I can give it a good workout but I'll endeavour to come back to this thread and report how it goes.

[Mountain Rocket]

Well done rupert. I have to say this has been a very successful thread.
I was personally impressed with Blacksheep's comments, as he did not directly point you to one of his products. That was very admirable in my opinion.

Enjoy the tent, but most importantly the walks/total experience!

[Rico]

Rupert, thank you for your order. As you know there is some excellent gear in the market, using very sophisticated designs and technology. Franco is a very well known and respected expert in ultralight gear, both in Australia and internationally, and all other brands mentioned in this thread are excellent. The problem is that the magic tent suitable for any situation has yet to be invented, so we need to find the best compromise. This is when a public discussion in a forum can become very useful.

When you expressed your interest in the Ferrino Prodigy 3, I knew you were going in the right direction. This is not the lightest 3 person hiking tent I sell, and definitely not the lightest in the market, but it is very portable, comfortable, durable and safe, it is in my opinion the best compromise for a hiking family tent. You can attach guy lines directly to the poles giving the structure much more rigidity and solidity in strong wind, and this is the reason why I opted for this model when my wife, my five weeks old boy and I had to evacuate Cairns to run away from Yasi. Also sleeping 3 people in a 2 person tent at a temperature over 10 degrees means that you will have condensation problems, and a very unhappy daughter the day after (if she is a teenager you know what I am talking about ).

As Robert said, at the end of the day a tent is just a tool to do the job. The experience and the memories you will bring back home are by far more important. Take your time, have fun, and please come back one day to tell us your experience. You can bet that all of us “gear freaks” will be still here discussing passionately every new product in the market… We never get tired of it