Quechua Tent

[Cam]

Affordable and slick. Anyone every use one of these?

http://seconds.quechua.com/index.php5?lg=EN#/produit/9/

The only downside I see to this is packing a 26" or so disk.

[monkeyfez]

Originally Posted by Cam

Affordable and slick. Anyone every use one of these?

http://seconds.quechua.com/index.php5?lg=EN#/produit/9/

The only downside I see to this is packing a 26" or so disk.

That strikes me as quite a negative for bike travel. It did look cool though for the Europeans. Not for sale in the states.

[Mercury264]

WOW

That looks kinda neat.

I'd love to hear from someone with experience of using this in the 'real' world.

[xdbx]

My buddy has this tent, and actually tried using it on a few of our bike trips. it's a neat idea, and quite convenient for car camping, but riding his street ibke down the highway with a "turtle shell" on his back brought back memories of the teenage mutant ninja turtles. It turns into a backpack if you didn't know.

It really does setup in <5 seconds, but it's so light we had to stake it down every time anyways. I believe the fly is permanently attached, so no sexy beach mesh tents.. and in the end, I prefer my big agnes.

One last point to note is that he purchased it on a summer trip to Paris, so I'm really not sure how one would purchase the tent on US soil. I'll try to answer any questions for anyone interested.

[Budo675]

Seems like it would turn into a blanket in a heartbeat if winds are high...

[tmotten]

That's what I was thinking. Don't think the poles would do much so you rely on the wires for wind.

[decodent]

Looks like a hokey gimmick ... probably good enough for camping on the living room floor, though.

[everywherevirtually]

These tents are not gimmicky. They are surprisingly good for the money. Now admittedly on this occasion I was using the car as we were taking stuff from the UK to Austria. I've previously had a North face VE25 tent which was bomb proof but took too long to put up in bad weather. The advantage of this tent is that you pull it out of the bag and throw it at the ground and it unravels. It is self supporting and with the guy lines has enough integrity to keep it from collapsing.

Will it perform in a raging storm or heavy snow. Probably not. Is it good enough for summer trips? Sure. This particular model has "wings". There are draw cords inside that you can release and the wings spring open to reveal mesh windows that let the air through. This is especially useful in hot climates. I didn't buy this with the intention of using it much in the UK. My thinking was after stewing in the VE25 in France and Spain I figured a lighter, breezier summer tent would be better.





Do some crazies carry them on their bikes? Yep apparently so.



This was at the Horizons Unlimited event 2009 in Ripley, Derbyshire, UK.

[Deadly99]

Virtually every team at the Dakar rally use these tents. 30 sends to setup, 1 minute to pack. After 15 days of using one I am sold. They come in different sizes, I'm about to pull the trigger on one

[Terence FFM]

Originally Posted by Deadly99

Virtually every team at the Dakar rally use these tents. 30 sends to setup, 1 minute to pack. After 15 days of using one I am sold. They come in different sizes, I'm about to pull the trigger on one

Which one you have your eye on Deadly? I still haven't found anything that checks the boxes better (roominess, packed size, weight, quality, cost) better than your first recommendation, the redverz.

[gfloyd2002]

Quechua was the main brand for sporting goods available when I lived in China. I bought an instant up tent, some clothing, a pair of boots and some misc. gear. It is the store brand for Decathalon sporting goods. French company, but the stuff is Chinese made, somewhat cheaply.

Consider it like you would any store brand - probably not much better than other mass-manufactured in China mid range stuff. All of my stuff broken now from purchases made in 2009 and 2010. My tent's seams started coming apart fairly quickly and is relegated to living room duty with the kids (where it is great, btw. Instantly up, easy down, no worries about leaky seams under the roof or the kids wrecking traditional bungee poles.) Also seems (seams? ) like it would be a challenge for motorcycle use. Very lightweight and not super sturdy. Wouldn't trust it in a storm, which is, after all, when we need tents. The tent folds up into a giant disc that would be a potentially dangerous sail and wouldn't pack as conveniently as a traditional tent stuff sack.

Highly recommended for the play room or some fair weather car camping. Not so much for the ADVRider.

[davsato]

ive got one of the original "2second" quechuas, its a good enough tent but doesnt have much in the way of porch area if you need it. a tarp tied over it sorts that out. what i like about mine is that the inner is black, you wake up when you want, not with the dawn.
it blows completely flat in a gale! but i think the newer models have better guys.
i dont bother with it on the bike because of the packsize.

[Dan Alexander]

Originally Posted by Deadly99

Virtually every team at the Dakar rally use these tents. 30 sends to setup, 1 minute to pack. After 15 days of using one I am sold. They come in different sizes, I'm about to pull the trigger on one

Let me know when you're ordering and we can split shipping.

[HaChayalBoded]

Same concept, much much smaller pack size. 13" diameter and 2" thick, that'll fit in your top case and still leave room for your helmet.

Catoma tent's. The model with the fly is the Twist. $222

Or the IBNS (without fly) is just $95

But it's a solo tent.

If it's windy out you can also install the "backbone" to the tent for stability. Can be used sans fly for a mesh bug hut. Hell, it even has provisions to tie it to a cot.

[marc-s]

why not mount them AWACS-style on top of the top case?