This is part one of the review as I've only had this tent a few days but I have formed some impressions early on and these are probably worth sharing.
My camping history is somewhat distant and usually consisted of army surplus tents from the Biafrian period (late 60s) so the chance to get my hands on a modern tent that cost next to nothing was well worth the £20.50 I handed over to Tesco.
I've marked the tent against my acceptance criteria which is as follows
1 It must be big enough for me[1] and my kit
2 It must fit inside a topbox or pannier when stowed
3 It must be watertight and be suitable for summer stopovers
4 It must be able to be erected and struck by me without additional help
5 It need not be fit for camping on the north face of the Eiger
Well On 1 Tesco claim 210cm square inside [2] and while that may be the case if you pushed the sides out a bit, realistically it's big enough for a double airbed to fit without touching the front or back (just) and about 50cm to the side for kit. When packed it certainly fits the Topbox on my Varadero (Its the usual topbox supplied by honda 52L I think) as the pack size is 50cm x 14cm x 14cm. It will fit in one of the Honda panniers but not in its bag. The poles have to go in diagonally and the rest of the tent can easily fit in round them. I recon I could easilly get tent, airbed, pump and small stove all in one pannier.
Now as I said I've only had it a few days but I have erected it in the garden and it took me about 10 minutes all in. Not bad I suppose as this is the first dome tent I have even put up. I reckon I could do it in half the time next time. It pitches fly first and the only real problem I had, which may be common to all dome tents, was getting the poles to bend in the correct direction when the tent was still flat on the ground. That and the rather worrying amount of pressure I had to use to get the the pin in the end of the poles. The inner just clips in with toggles and loops. You can leave the inner attached and pitch as one but you really need someone to lift the middle of the tent when tensioning the poles due to the extra weight of the inner.
Since putting the tent (2 days and nights) up it has pretty much rained here non stop and some of that rain has been torrential and so far the inner tent has stayed bone dry so a tick for number 3 then.
Number 4 on my list is also a tick but it is a bit tricky. Has anyone got any tips for erecting a dome tent on your own?
So that's how it fares up to my check-list. Other observations are a couple of pockets on the inner for spectacles etc and the small porch area has a groundsheet and four detachable guy lines are supplied.
Bad points
Well the only leak I found was into the porch area and this I feel is down to the way the door opens. To allow for the porch the door flap is at a relatively shallow angle and had dual zips running the length of it. This makes the zips vulnerable to water ingress and when I opened the flap there was about 2 teaspoons worth of water lying on the porch groundsheet. Not a huge problem but still a leak. The other problem is when unzipping this door flap the water can run off the edge of it and hit the mosquito netting or the inner door if you are not careful. And 2 of the alloy sleeves that fit on the end of the poles are loose. A bit of araldite soon fixed that.
Markings
I've given it a 4 for ease of installation as I don't know how well this compares with other dome tents out there. There was certainly nothing that was particularly awkward or illogical.
For quality only time will tell but so far, especially considering the terrible weather it has stood up to and considering one small leak in the porch it has to be a 4 and as for value? £20 for a tent that does what it says on the tin. How could I give it anything else but a 5?
[1] I'm over 6 foot so wanted something I could sleep corner to corner if need be.
[2] 210cm x 210cm was on the label attached to the tent bag. the web site gives different dimensions below.
http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.100-8628.aspx
Brand Tesco
Colour Green
Features of Product Ideal for weekend breaks or festivals. Robust 3 person tent with porch with clear view windows & carry case. The tents comes with built in airvents and is easy to assemble. Waterproof with breathable inner & mosquito net to prevent unwanted guests. Groundsheet built in. Weight 3.6kg
Mosquito Mesh Doors Yes
Poles Fibreglass
Product Depth 208 cm
Product Height 135 cm
Product Width 215 cm
Size 3 man
Sun Protection Factor 30+
Waterproofing Hydrostatic Head 1500mm
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