On the search for an Ideal, light touring tent

[GeoffA]

I pack my fly separately to make life easier getting it into the bag. takes about 20 seconds to refit.

Same...

[macca]

Yep, the 240 lite packs up easily with the fly attached but the 300 is not so easy , i find it quicker to take the fly off. Its mainly because of the telescoping ridge poles

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

[Pete79]

Same.
Fly separated from tent and each panel folded back into their little bags.

[GU Duke]

Springbar!  OK, so ours isn't light, but bear with me - there is a lighter knock off version now available.

We bought our Springbar in USA 13yrs ago.  Its had a heap of use since and is still like new.  It's an American take on the 'touring tent', but with the roof stretched out by 'spring' bars (hence the name) then 2 upright side poles, it has much more vertical walls, and at 6'2", I can stand up straight in about 80% of it's 10' x 10' floorspace. It takes a couple of minutes longer to set up than a 1 pole tourer (a few more pegs and a couple more poles), but I can do it by myself in about 7mins and my wife and I together in about 5mins; which is why I think it is pretty close to the ideal touring tent.

Its been made out of the same family factory in Salt Lake City since the 60s or 70s and the design has hardly changed in that time.  Apparently Springbars have been taken to Everest Base Camp as HQ tents - I believe it - ours has been through hail storms, gale force winds and flood events with no leaks and no damage.

The genuine Springbar is bulky, heavy, and about the same price as a heavy duty Aussie made canvas 1 pole tourer.  Think a 25-30kg bag of canvas and pegs about the size of an Esky, plus about a 10kg pole bag that only fits in a Patrol boot corner to corner.  Because of how long it has been around though, the design patents have expired and the knock offs are appearing.  Kodiak Canvas made one (also canvas) and I've seen a couple of lighter, more compact poly / nylon versions - I think Coleman may have been one of the brands.

Attached pics were taken today - it is being used as a kids room next to the Complete Campsite Fraser for a couple of weeks.  You can see the awning rolled up - this comes out approx 2.0-2.5m squared and also has a mozzie net that clips over it. There are also a no of other accessories avail - internal wall hanging gear storage systems, internal clotheslines etc.

[Jon Burrell - Tentworld]

Nice one GU !  I did not know the origin of this design. 

OZtrail have had it in their range for some time now too, they call it the Grand Tourer Tent.  It can be seen here:

https://www.tentworld.com.au/buy-sale/oztrail-grand-tourer-tent

[BBull]

We have a Oztrail Tourer tent 10. Had it for over 10 years now.
We did the cape in it and a lot of weekends when the kids were young.
Yes it is bulky but easy to put up. We haven't used it in awhile as we now have the camper.
But I highly recommend this tent if you want a quick solid tent that will last along time.

[boobook]

Thanks all, I can't find anything that meets all my wish list. The Oztrail tourer 9 looks closest. I'm going to keep looking given I already have a few tents to see me through. Any other suggestions are welcome.

[Troppo]

About 35 years ago I had a tent like the Springbar DU Duke has. Bought it from Tentworld in Brisbane. (Sorry Jon, I can't recall you being there but I remember they gave good service.). The tent was a Coleman, 10x8. Used it travelling around Australia and living in for a time on a property while I strung barbed wire during the day. Eventually the stitching went in the roof and I had it resewn. About ten years ago it was looking worn and more stitching was coming out. I cut the usable fabric off, kept the poles and pegs and threw the rest out. What used to be the floor is now a groundsheet I use under a dome tent for extra protection. And I recently covered a cushion for my dinghy with some of the white roof canvas.

Setting the tent up was easy enough but putting the force into bending the bars took a little care. With side windows down to almost the ground, ventilation was fantastic for the tropics being right at sleeping height and able to blow across the floor. And could be closed from inside so no need to go out if a shower came across.

It was a terrific tent and the satisfaction I got from it underscored how if you get the right gear for your situation, it makes the outdoors so much more enjoyable.

Examples of what my tent looked like:

https://deskgram.net/p/1661193893583351542_2931417585

http://www.active-writing.com/post.html#c18yOTE0NA== 

troppo

[Jon Burrell - Tentworld]

About 35 years ago I had a tent like the Springbar DU Duke has. Bought it from Tentworld in Brisbane. (Sorry Jon, I can't recall you being there but I remember they gave good service.).

Sorry Troppo, Tentworld was not my families business 35 years ago (I was also not born yet, I'm born 1985). 

We bought Tentworld in 2003, and it became our second camping store.  Our families business started in Toowoomba in 1968 with caravans & camping as a sideline, we became a full camping store in 1989 in Toowoomba.

RE:  Your Coleman tent, they have made some amazing gear over the years, and still do.  When you look through the global catalogue of things being sold world wide, it is amazing.  Especially some things sold in Japan.  Incredible materials (and very expensive) over there.  Sadly their styling and designs arent well suited to Australia but they are very well made. 

Some great stuff does come out in the global Coleman catalogue though and from time to time we do grab some of it to sell here.

[Pete79]

Some great stuff does come out in the global Coleman catalogue though and from time to time we do grab some of it to sell here.

If you're ever getting more of their "Foxy Lady" folding chairs let us know and I'll preorder a pair of them.

[Alan Loy]

Jon you see things that we don't, have you seen a tent like the Tourer tent except with modern material so it's lighter & folds smaller.  I love the single pole & 4 pegs

[Jon Burrell - Tentworld]

Jon you see things that we don't, have you seen a tent like the Tourer tent except with modern material so it's lighter & folds smaller.  I love the single pole & 4 pegs

Hi Alan,

I had a huge reply written for you.  Which has been lost into cyberspace, as I got logged out from myswag for some reason   I will have to remember this logging out issue for my next massive post, and write it in Word first.   I am quite upset to have lost it & dont have the time to replace it just now !!!

Sadly, in a shorter version. 

Lack of affordable appropriate material & commercial viability are the reasons why this tent doesnt exist. 

It would likely end up dramatically more expensive - and in my opinion - wouldnt be as widely appealing as the canvas is.  Ultimately, most of these tents go into four wheel drives, or trailers.  Where spending 3-4x the amount to save 5kgs or so isnt viable.

Regular, more affordable materials arent up to the task of taking the strain needed for this design - without adding lots of complexity. 

Canvas, can take a strain - and is relatively cheap to make, because it's been made for so long & is common in many items.

Sadly, this design is also fairly out of favour at the moment.  Fast Frame Tents & Air Tents are much, much more popular in this category currently.

I do agree with you on the need for a tent like this though.  When I load my boat up to go to Peel Island etc camping, I use a 3 person dome tent for my wife and I. This is light, quick to pitch and compact.  It's also not too expensive. 

My choice of these right now for two people would be the Coleman Traveller 3P. 
https://www.tentworld.com.au/buy-sale/coleman-traveller-3P-dome-tent

However,  my families about to grow - my wife is pregant with our first.  So I'll be looking at larger dome tents shortly for my boat camping needs. 

When hopefully we go camping soon!

Right now the Zempire Neo 6 is standing out to me, but I havent thought much on this.  It only occured to me just now that my camping kit was broken with this new family member! 

Here's the link for it: 
https://www.tentworld.com.au/buy-sale/zempire-neo-6-dome-tent

OR maybe I'll go an air tent.  This one measures 69cm x 41 x 41cm and weighs 18kgs. 

https://www.tentworld.com.au/buy-sale/zempire-aero-tm-lite-air-tent

Something to ponder on!!! 

[Alan Loy]

Cheers Jon

[NickZed]

You could look at a Kodiak Flex Bow Tent...

It takes 3-4 minutes to put up and has a front awning. However, it isn't light.

https://longwayleisure.com.au/product-category/kodiak-canvas/

[Jon Burrell - Tentworld]

You could look at a Kodiak Flex Bow Tent...

It takes 3-4 minutes to put up and has a front awning. However, it isn't light.

https://longwayleisure.com.au/product-category/kodiak-canvas/

Sadly it's been suggested already above - the Spring Bar & OZtrail Grand Tourer are the same design & similar materials.