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A Peapod. Ah, happy memories.
Surely the answer is easy. A proper, old style Vango Force 10. Not one of the poncy new fangled this from, I dunno, the 1990's on, but a real one.
One point to think about is pitching methods. Many geodesics go up inner first which is thus under tensions and more stable. Not a brilliant idea though when it is dark, blowing like buggery and slashing down.
Aye I was thinking old school Force 10 as well but you need a Porter to carry it...
On another winter trip to Torridon, I was in an old Karrimor Marathon 4 (a backpacking tent) and it was blowing a proper hoolie. My chum and his mate were in an original Force 10. My tent blew to bits during the night so we all (4) got in the Vango. Very snug - each lying on our sides. We survived to decamp to a bunkhouse next day but my tent went in the bin.
A salutary lesson...
I worked with the designer of the Peapod for a few years. We competed in a mountain marathon together once (2010?), and were amused to see a Peapid at the overnight campsite. We spent a few hours that evening picking holes in the design of the tent that we were using, the conclusion of our conversation was that if we couldn't do better, we should shut up. The result of that conversation is a very nice 850g tent, I'm guessing it's the last tent he designed.
Whatever happened to Ultimate? <sigh>
My next tent may well be a Vango. They may not have the tech of the fancy tents - nor the headline weight on paper.
But every single Vango tent I've used has impressed for what it costs.
We see alot as Mrs tr rotates them through for DOE use they hold up to.the kids really well.
Then they always seem to keep going on to keep going even in the horrible weather.
The other tent that's impressed me if pitched tail to the wind was my vaude taurus.
I've got an old Vango Typhoon 3 man tent. It's absolutely bombproof. Not lightweight but has stood up to everything (except snow tbf as never camped in proper snow). Only bugger is fitting the poles as they cross over. It's a tight fit. Not too bad if 2 of you but solo it's a pain. Trade off I guess.
I'm still in love with my old Vango Force ten mk2
Yup its a bit heavy and certainly not bike packing friendly. But its stayed upright during very high winds on Rannoch moor and up on the Cuillin's, the latter when most of the tents on the campsite pretty much blew away.
Its funny to retire, sleep and find in the morning 2/3 of the campers that were there the previous day are now sleeping in the car 😆
Id say that many of the tents there were the lightweight tunnel design, mostly top end kit, so maybe the geodesic would be the better bet. They do seem to compress and wobble about in the high winds, but i think thats probably the strength in them.They bend rather than break.
Been camping on the hill since the early 70s Vango Force 10 era, my go to nowadays is the Hilleberg Soulo if I’m expecting to camp in high winds in winter. It’s big enough for me and two collies - last thing I’d want when it’s cold is more space in the tent. It’s worth bearing in mind that if we’re talking Scotland/ the UK, then it rarely gets that cold across the summits; all the low temp records are generally for cold sink areas in the glens like Braemar.
The best option for staying out overnight up high - a snow hole. It’ll be quieter in stormy weather, and warmer, and a well dug snow hole is a really comfy place to stay for the night, plus you don’t have to lug 2.5kg of tent on your back.
Id say that many of the tents there were the lightweight tunnel design, mostly top end kit, so maybe the geodesic would be the better bet.
Tunnels definitely move more, and they are fussier about pitching relative to the wind. My experience though, from Vango to Macpac, is that thier ultimate stability is superb - they just move more as they do it!
On the average campsite it seems that a reasonable proportion of tents are really badly pitched, not in shelter, using the crap standard pegs etc.
I’ve an original TNF Mountain 25 tent which is completely bombproof. Unfortunately it’s so bulky that unless I knew the weather was forecast for blizzards I leave it at home, so it’s been languishing in the back of the camping cupboard for years now (kind of stealth add in case anyone is after one though not considered selling until now).
Its funny to retire, sleep and find in the morning 2/3 of the campers that were there the previous day are now sleeping in the car 😆
Thinking about some of the storms I've experienced in a tent (geo and tunnel), if my car was nearby, I may well have opted for the car also. Particularly recall a night on beinn eighe, I was on the windward side of the tent (geo) and it was like being slapped in the face with a wet fish all night as the tent was continuously flattened. It survived, but had a very strange shape after that. I'd have sold my fellow campers internal organs that night for the relative comfort of a car.
@shermer75 - there's a Scarp 1 for sale on the Tarptent Owners Group on Facebook. Brand new/never used - £608.
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The trouble with tents in winter is that because the outside air is so cold and your body is warm, you’ll always get condensation somewhere. It can either occur either inside your clothes (bad), inside your sleeping bag (not great but manageable) or mostly on the inside of the tent (best). When it condenses on the inside of the tent it will freeze and can be brushed or shaken off in the morning
My winter down bag predated the decent water proof resistant outer, so whenever we had really bad condensation inside the tent it would rain on the bag which would rapidly deflate - woken up a few times really cold as a result. The fix was a lighthweight bivi bag inside the tent.
@shermer75 – there’s a Scarp 1 for sale on the Tarptent Owners Group on Facebook. Brand new/never used – £608
Amazing- thanks! I'll check that out!
That's some pretty tough entry requirements! Lol
I could send him a message asking for an email address?
I could send him a message asking for an email address
It's actually ok, I've found him on another TarpTent group that has no restrictions to join. Thanks though! I really appreciate that!
This'n 👇👇
I've a Hilleberg Akto which I've had for about ten years and which has stood up to some pretty grim conditions in the Scottish hills. Not cheap but given that it'll probably last me about 25 years I'd say pretty good value for money.