New Quechua "Fresh & Black" Tents

[Barneym]

7 minutes ago, deepkittycaz said:

I really want to get a Fresh and Black tent for this year, but need advice about which model to get. 

I come on my own on the Tuesday and by public transport, so it needs to be light enough to carry by myself (with all my gear for the week) and easy for a short woman to put up by herself.

Any recommendations please?

I have a 3 man XL which I can easily carry by myself as it’s light but the fact it’s a pop up means it’s big and round. I travel by coach and can carry this, my rucksack and a small bag on my front. If it’s just you though you don’t need this size unless you want a double air bed and places for bags. It’s perfect for 2

[incident]

15 minutes ago, deepkittycaz said:

I really want to get a Fresh and Black tent for this year, but need advice about which model to get. 

I come on my own on the Tuesday and by public transport, so it needs to be light enough to carry by myself (with all my gear for the week) and easy for a short woman to put up by herself.

Any recommendations please?

In terms of size, weight, and ease of pitching they're not hugely different from other tents - they end up maybe 10% or so heavier due to the material used but that's about it.

What have you used before, and how did you get on with it? Any issues that need to be addressed?

[deepkittycaz]

4 minutes ago, incident said:

In terms of size, weight, and ease of pitching they're not hugely different from other tents - they end up maybe 10% or so heavier due to the material used but that's about it.

What have you used before, and how did you get on with it? Any issues that need to be addressed?

My current tent is a 2 man Vango Ark, which is a breeze to put up and take down. Decently light as well. I've had to resort to lining it with space blankets the last 2 festivals though, and still got boiled out of it. Plus I think the noise is irritating for the neighbours!

I've also used a Coleman Tasman 2, but struggled to get that one up - didn't have the strength to get the retainer clips in the poles, so I worry about that being an issue on other tents.

[Simsy]

43 minutes ago, deepkittycaz said:

I really want to get a Fresh and Black tent for this year, but need advice about which model to get. 

I come on my own on the Tuesday and by public transport, so it needs to be light enough to carry by myself (with all my gear for the week) and easy for a short woman to put up by herself.

Any recommendations please?

If you're tempted by one of the inflatable ones (they are easy to put up/down), be warned that the pump is massive!

[deepkittycaz]

5 minutes ago, Simsy said:

If you're tempted by one of the inflatable ones (they are easy to put up/down), be warned that the pump is massive!

Definitely not, I wouldn't be able to carry the pump!

[balti-pie]

the pump does make it harder to lug around cos its bulky, BUT its then a five min job to stick it up on your own - pump up the first airbeam bit, peg the back in, second airbeam, peg the sides, and then finish the porch. voila. Its an absolute breeze and instead of a sweaty and infuriating twenty minutes of clicking this bit into there/pushing that through this narrow slot its just all so easy and you can sit down on your chair and watch other people wrestling with their poles instead. 

 

edit: you can have a blow up bed sorted in a couple of minutes with the pump too, or lend it to people around you with blow up beds 

Edited March 11, 2022 by balti-pie

[incident]

25 minutes ago, deepkittycaz said:

My current tent is a 2 man Vango Ark, which is a breeze to put up and take down. Decently light as well. I've had to resort to lining it with space blankets the last 2 festivals though, and still got boiled out of it. Plus I think the noise is irritating for the neighbours!

I've also used a Coleman Tasman 2, but struggled to get that one up - didn't have the strength to get the retainer clips in the poles, so I worry about that being an issue on other tents.

If you mean the regular Ark, rather than the Plus version, then I guess the most direct equivalent F&B tent would be the 2 person XL - unfortunately it doesn't appear to be on their site at the moment so I don't know if that's just because we're out of season, or because it's discontinued. The 3 person version is showing as available, but adds a decent amount of weight. In terms of pitching I'd expect all Dome and Tunnel tents all tend to be about the same.

[dondo]

There is this one that it says is lightweight and has a porch to a certain degree

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/3-season-2-person-dome-tent-fresh-black/_/R-p-311346

Though being tall I have always found 2 man tents a bit cramped for myself 

[gfa]

1 hour ago, deepkittycaz said:

I really want to get a Fresh and Black tent for this year, but need advice about which model to get. 

I come on my own on the Tuesday and by public transport, so it needs to be light enough to carry by myself (with all my gear for the week) and easy for a short woman to put up by herself.

Any recommendations please?

 

16 minutes ago, dondo said:

There is this one that it says is lightweight and has a porch to a certain degree

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/3-season-2-person-dome-tent-fresh-black/_/R-p-311346

Though being tall I have always found 2 man tents a bit cramped for myself 

I'd argue this is pretty poor value compared to this one for instance which is half the price and 200g heavier + this one is also a pop-up which is always nice.

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/camping-tent-2-seconds-2-person-fresh-black/_/R-p-142650?mc=8357352

It seems the range is pretty limited at the moment, theres usually quite a few more tent options so maybe consider waiting until May.

[dondo]

5 minutes ago, gfa said:

 

I'd argue this is pretty poor value compared to this one for instance which is half the price and 200g heavier + this one is also a pop-up which is always nice.

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/camping-tent-2-seconds-2-person-fresh-black/_/R-p-142650?mc=8357352

It seems the range is pretty limited at the moment, theres usually quite a few more tent options so maybe consider waiting until May.

I think my view is a bit tainted as I had one like that in 2016 and didn't like it due to it being too cramped for me, no porch (I ended up making a bit of a DIY one with a tarp I had) and trying to get the pop up back in the bag! Combined with it being muddy as I say probably clouds my judgement a little bit.

But agree the range does seem a bit smaller than normal 

[Crazyfool01]

Best thing is to look at the weight and work out if you can carry it for the distance from bus or carpark … mine is 12kg I think .. which for me is about the max I’d want digging into my hands ( all weights should be listed)  … and often you can compare models against each other 

[gfa]

9 minutes ago, dondo said:

I think my view is a bit tainted as I had one like that in 2016 and didn't like it due to it being too cramped for me, no porch (I ended up making a bit of a DIY one with a tarp I had) and trying to get the pop up back in the bag! Combined with it being muddy as I say probably clouds my judgement a little bit.

But agree the range does seem a bit smaller than normal 

Fair enough - putting down the pop up in a muddy year would definitely be a pain. Mine is a 3 man i share with 1 other person non pop-up i got off ebay for £30 and we survive without the porch, although it definitely would be nice to have.

[jimmillen]

Is the general consensus that the Quechua tents are better than other brands black-out style offerings?

I've seen this one for example that's a good price... Just might be worth looking a bit wider than Decathlon if other brands are equivalent quality. Maybe they're not though?!

[gfa]

3 minutes ago, jimmillen said:

Is the general consensus that the Quechua tents are better than other brands black-out style offerings?

I've seen this one for example that's a good price... Just might be worth looking a bit wider than Decathlon if other brands are equivalent quality. Maybe they're not though?!

This is dark inside, but doesn't have the white to reflect the sun and keep it cool for longer (the fresh part). There probably are other brands out there although decathon is pretty cheap as it is generally i'd say

[incident]

1 minute ago, jimmillen said:

Is the general consensus that the Quechua tents are better than other brands black-out style offerings?

I've seen this one for example that's a good price... Just might be worth looking a bit wider than Decathlon if other brands are equivalent quality. Maybe they're not though?!

That doesn't really appear to be the same thing - it looks more like a regular tent with a blackout bedroom - so you'd still get an oven effect with it.

The benefit of F&B is that it's the outer skin of the tent that's doing the work - a slightly denser fabric than you'd normally get with a coating on the inside of the skin.

[dondo]

6 minutes ago, jimmillen said:

Is the general consensus that the Quechua tents are better than other brands black-out style offerings?

I've seen this one for example that's a good price... Just might be worth looking a bit wider than Decathlon if other brands are equivalent quality. Maybe they're not though?!

 

2 minutes ago, gfa said:

This is dark inside, but doesn't have the white to reflect the sun and keep it cool for longer (the fresh part). There probably are other brands out there although decathon is pretty cheap as it is generally i'd say

gfa beat me to it as it's the keeping the tent cool that is the added bonus 

[jimmillen]

2 minutes ago, gfa said:

This is dark inside, but doesn't have the white to reflect the sun and keep it cool for longer (the fresh part). There probably are other brands out there although decathon is pretty cheap as it is generally i'd say

1 minute ago, incident said:

That doesn't really appear to be the same thing - it looks more like a regular tent with a blackout bedroom - so you'd still get an oven effect with it.

The benefit of F&B is that it's the outer skin of the tent that's doing the work - a slightly denser fabric than you'd normally get with a coating on the inside of the skin.

Ah, that makes sense. I hadn't thought about the role of the outer in addition to the blackout inner.

[blutarsky]

I really want an F&B if we manage to get a ticket and don't also bag a campervan pass somehow. Watching some on eBay and tempted to buy but am trying to have the resolve not to buy unnecessarily. 

[deepkittycaz]

1 hour ago, dondo said:

There is this one that it says is lightweight and has a porch to a certain degree

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/3-season-2-person-dome-tent-fresh-black/_/R-p-311346

Though being tall I have always found 2 man tents a bit cramped for myself 

I did like the look of that one, plus the weight is good - but a lot of the reviews say the poles are incredibly hard to put in! Sounds like they're too long.

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/camping-tent-for-2-people-white-blue/_/R-p-172536?mc=8492483&c=WHITE is in stock, but I'm wondering how easy the pop up ones are to carry, particularly as I'm short - is it going to end up dragging on the ground?

[gfa]

13 minutes ago, deepkittycaz said:

I did like the look of that one, plus the weight is good - but a lot of the reviews say the poles are incredibly hard to put in! Sounds like they're too long.

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/camping-tent-for-2-people-white-blue/_/R-p-172536?mc=8492483&c=WHITE is in stock, but I'm wondering how easy the pop up ones are to carry, particularly as I'm short - is it going to end up dragging on the ground?

You could attach it to the back of your backpack so it just hangs down over your backpack

[deepkittycaz]

1 minute ago, gfa said:

You could attach it to the back of your backpack so it just hangs down over your backpack

Ooh, now you're talking

[Crazyfool01]

1 minute ago, deepkittycaz said:

Ooh, now you're talking

Just be careful not to sideswipe too many people … 🙂 I’ve seen lots of people do it that way with pop ups 

[squirrelarmy]

Pop ups are also difficult to get on coaches plus putting them down again is an artform. 
 

I’ve got the F&B arpenaz which doesn’t seem to be available anymore. I’ve taken it to European festivals in 40 degree heat and it’s handled the temperatures fine. 
 

@deepkittycaz the tent Dondo linked is only a smidge over 3kg. I doubt you’ll get a better tent for the size and weight especially considering the packed size. 
 

This one is a little bit heavier but half the price, you will have to decide if the  extra saving in size and weight is worth the extra cost. 
 

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/camping-tent-mh100-3-p-fresh-black/_/R-p-313085?mc=8576111&c=BROWN_BEIGE

[gfa]

Hopefully in few months the non pop-up versions of the standard fresh and blacks will be back on sale - we have the 3 man standard one and it works well. There might be some on ebay too - this is the search i check up on

https://www.ebay.co.uk/b/Quechua-Camping-Tents/179010/bn_9736069?rt=nc&_dcat=179010&_from=R40&_sop=10

[MetaKate]

9 hours ago, squirrelarmy said:

Pop ups are also difficult to get on coaches plus putting them down again is an artform. 
 

I’ve got the F&B arpenaz which doesn’t seem to be available anymore. I’ve taken it to European festivals in 40 degree heat and it’s handled the temperatures fine. 
 

@deepkittycaz the tent Dondo linked is only a smidge over 3kg. I doubt you’ll get a better tent for the size and weight especially considering the packed size. 
 

This one is a little bit heavier but half the price, you will have to decide if the  extra saving in size and weight is worth the extra cost. 
 

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/camping-tent-mh100-3-p-fresh-black/_/R-p-313085?mc=8576111&c=BROWN_BEIGE

That's the one I'm after this year. 

Hopefully I can figure out where to order it and get it on the way off the plane 😅

I'm gunna take it back to Canada with me afterwards..  those ones are like $350 here for some odd reason