New Quechua "Fresh & Black" Tents

[Beerqueen]

Well I'm not getting far with Decathlon's CS over my broken pole.  So far, their solution is for me to drive to my nearest store with the broken pole and they will replace it and restring the set.  Er, I don't think so.  Why should I use my time and petrol to rectify this on a tent that's only a month old?  I don't mind putting it in the post at their expense but I'm blowed if I'm making an hour's round trip to replace a faulty part which they accept is covered by their warranty.  

[Penrhos]

I got a Fresh & Black 2-person XL pop-up  for this year after almost cooking to death in my old tent in 2019.

Here's my review.

Nice and dark inside so good for a lie-in provided you close the rear and side vents as they let a lot of light in.

Cool - plenty of ventilation even with the side vents closed, in fact too much at night . was decidedly chilly Saturday night so make sure you take a decent sleeping bag - I didn't and ended up getting dressed again and back into it.

Loads of space inside - I could fit my Vango 250 inside it - downside is bigger footprint so squeezing in tight spaces not an option.

Takes twice as long to get it back into the bag as it does to pitch it - watch video carefully as there's a knack to it (push & twist as you pull on the orange chord to make it into a figure of 8 )

Has a decent sized porch for your boots/wellies.

Tall enough for me to sit upright in without my head touching the liner (I'm 5' 10").

Plenty of room for 2 people or one person and a load of beer etc.

kept the rain out

Only downside is carrying a huge disk around on the coach etc especially when you've got a rucksack on as well.

 

One of our party had the 2-person non-pop up version and personally I'd probably go for that instead as it's cheaper, easier to transport, just as dark inside, not much slower to put up and put away and has a smaller footprint (but has less space inside too).

 

 

 

Edited June 30, 2022 by Penrhos

[dougal1]

My review is that the tent was almost too good - kept sleeping for 12 hours and missing all the bands I'd intended to see in the morning/early afternoon 😆

[stanh]

22 hours ago, gooner1990 said:

How did the new fresh and black owners get on over the weekend? 😃

absolutely incredible, not even joking when i say it's the best tent i've ever had! cheers for the recommendation guys! 

[Beerqueen]

So Decathlon won't send me a new set of poles in the post as "we don't sell them as a set".  But they will arrange collection of my whole tent and give me a full refund.  While this is fine by me, as I can then order a new one to be delivered to my home, it doesn't seem to be a particularly good business plan on their part!  

And if I decide not to reorder, I've had the use of the tent for 9 nights for free!

Edited June 30, 2022 by Beerqueen

[verrymerry]

2 hours ago, Beerqueen said:

So Decathlon won't send me a new set of poles in the post as "we don't sell them as a set".  But they will arrange collection of my whole tent and give me a full refund.  While this is fine by me, as I can then order a new one to be delivered to my home, it doesn't seem to be a particularly good business plan on their part!  

And if I decide not to reorder, I've had the use of the tent for 9 nights for free!

Good on you for standing your ground! 

[mazola]

went through to 10 or so each morning, which is a good couple of hours on top of what I'm used to.

we upgraded to F&B from an identical standard Quecha 4 man that we had been using for a few years.

Not sure how much of the extra kip I can put down to the new tent, I mean it was a lot cooler this year than most. Definitely kept the light out though, and just as importantly kept my beers cool.

Edited June 30, 2022 by mazola

[gfa]

5 hours ago, dougal1 said:

My review is that the tent was almost too good - kept sleeping for 12 hours and missing all the bands I'd intended to see in the morning/early afternoon 😆

Wish mine worked that well!

[Sku]

Was my first time in the 4.1 pole version. I got hold of it a few weeks before the festival purely because of this thread. Yes, I bought into the hype.

It did stay reasonably cool in the morning, but perhaps not as cool as some of the hype in this thread had made out. It did still get a bit hot at times, but in fairness, other tents would have been totally unbearable sweatboxes in the same conditions. So I'd say it did the job.

It also wasn't particularly dark, I have stayed in a much more dark blackout tent. But to be honest, it was only the coolness I was interested in, rather than the "black out" aspect, so wasn't too fussed.

One problem was certainly that the middle pole was really difficult to get into place. I've put up many tents, and I've never experienced anything like it. 3 of us kept taking turns trying to get it in, and only sheer brute strength of us all working together seemed to do the trick in the end. This challenge wasn't particularly appreciated at midday on Wednesday in the sun, when we had already been queueing in the heat for 4 hours. Most frustratingly, it's actually quite a simple tent to put up overall, but completing this one task really tripped us up. Hopefully now it's a bit "worn in" it will go in easier for our next festival.

[atleta]

I've bought one of these recently and used it for a week during a bike tour. (MH500, 3 person poled version.) Probably cooler than the non-black versions, though the sleeved design is pretty stupid. The M100 basic version, where the inner layer is hanging on the poles and the outer one is just put over is definitely easier to setup. (This is how my old tent worked.)

I did, however, found that the sun/light blocking layer has small holes in it. A few brighter ones and one side looks like the nigh sky. Is this normal or is this a defect? I don't think it effects how dark it is, which I find OK, but a defect could mean it would not last long. (I can't seem to attach a picture.)

 

[incident]

38 minutes ago, atleta said:

I've bought one of these recently and used it for a week during a bike tour. (MH500, 3 person poled version.) Probably cooler than the non-black versions, though the sleeved design is pretty stupid. The M100 basic version, where the inner layer is hanging on the poles and the outer one is just put over is definitely easier to setup. (This is how my old tent worked.)

I did, however, found that the sun/light blocking layer has small holes in it. A few brighter ones and one side looks like the nigh sky. Is this normal or is this a defect? I don't think it effects how dark it is, which I find OK, but a defect could mean it would not last long. (I can't seem to attach a picture.)

It's normal - the holes are in the "black" coating on the inside of the tent, rather than the fabric itself so it won't affect waterproofing etc.

[atleta]

6 hours ago, incident said:

It's normal - the holes are in the "black" coating on the inside of the tent, rather than the fabric itself so it won't affect waterproofing etc.

Yep, I've figured out it's just sunblock layer/coating, I've immediately checked the fabric from the outside. I just wasn't sure if it's normal for the coating or if it's a defect. Thanks for confirming that it's normal.

Also, do you or anyone know how to use the groundsheet properly? It has hooks in the corners, but I didn't find anywhere to attach them. Do I just lay it down and do my best to keep the tent over it while setting it up? 🙂 And are the hooks there just in case I need them e.g. for hanging the sheet after cleaning or what not?

[Zacko]

About a month late on this but I had the 2 man non pop up version, and what a gamechanger!

Never been bothered about tents before as I hate camping other than at festivals, but it really really made the difference. Was getting back around 7ish most mornings and could then sleep until about 11 or so, whereas usually it would be probably 9. Those few hours were so so needed. 

[Crazyfool01]

My friend converted after setting mine up this year and realising the difference in temperature when doing his 

[gfa]

 

Right then, who's owning up!

[Crazyfool01]

24 minutes ago, gfa said:

 

Right then, who's owning up!

The queue will keep moving …  hope they haven’t bothered with pegs 

[squirrelarmy]

17 minutes ago, Crazyfool01 said:

The queue will keep moving …  hope they haven’t bothered with pegs 

Bit hard putting pegs into paving slabs

[Crazyfool01]

Just now, squirrelarmy said:

Bit hard putting pegs into paving slabs

Exactly 😀

[Fake Encore]

OK, so I am right on the edge of doing this.

 

4 PERSON BLACKOUT POLED TENT - ARPENAZ 4.2 FRESH&BLACK - £250

4 PERSON BLACKOUT AIR TENT - AIR SECONDS 4.2XL FRESH&BLACK - £430

So it is £180 more for air rather than poles (It is the same tent?)

6 6 PERSON BLACKOUT POLED TENT - ARPENAZ 6.3 FRESH&BLACK - £450

PERSON BLACKOUT AIR TENT - AIR SECONDS 6.3XL FRESH&BLACK - £650

So it is £200 more for air rather than poles (It is the same tent?)

1.  Is this as cheap as it gets?

2. Poles or Air?

3. 4 Person or 6 Person, there are three or four of us?

 

Thanks in advance

 

[Crazyfool01]

3 … I’d go for above the man number … so I’d advice the 6 man in your case .. the man number is the number of people a tent will hold but doesn’t usually take account for kit … one thing is the tents are quite heavy … my air version 4 man is 12kg from memory 

[gfa]

8 hours ago, Fake Encore said:

OK, so I am right on the edge of doing this.

 

4 PERSON BLACKOUT POLED TENT - ARPENAZ 4.2 FRESH&BLACK - £250

4 PERSON BLACKOUT AIR TENT - AIR SECONDS 4.2XL FRESH&BLACK - £430

So it is £180 more for air rather than poles (It is the same tent?)

6 6 PERSON BLACKOUT POLED TENT - ARPENAZ 6.3 FRESH&BLACK - £450

PERSON BLACKOUT AIR TENT - AIR SECONDS 6.3XL FRESH&BLACK - £650

So it is £200 more for air rather than poles (It is the same tent?)

1.  Is this as cheap as it gets?

2. Poles or Air?

3. 4 Person or 6 Person, there are three or four of us?

 

Thanks in advance

 

If theres 3 these will be fine, 4 i'd go to the 6 man.

The air makes it super quick to get it up, but you need to carry the heavy pump + more expensive.

Theres heaps of these on eBay if you want a used one, can probably get a decent bit off! Now is prime tent buying season as summer is ending - next (the clothing store) also was selling discounted new ones for some reason a few months back, not sure if they still are.

[NoBuses]

Mine survived in the reading campsite war despite being pelted with numerous projectiles. What a tent

[Leyrulion]

Used a f&b 4 man tent for the 36° hell that was Boomtown. 

I was able to sleep in until at least 9:30 every day, considering it was 29° by that point I think that's pretty impressive. 

 

[The Other Steve]

I bought a new F&B 3 person pop-up for this years festival and it was awesome!  Slept sooooo much better as usually I am the first of the group to wake but not this year.  Only downside is the size of the disc when folded up but managed to strap it to the back of my Sack Trolley which worked quite well.   

[Sorcha17]

We got the 4.1 arpenaz FNB for camping plus in Leeds and it was an absolute treat. Not to heavy to carry either considering how big the tent is. Managed to sleep until 10/11 every day as well.