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Lightweight 2 Person Tents: Additional Information
We have been looking into acquiring lightweight, two person tents to complement our range of lightweight and ultralight one person tents.
The thing is, we want true two person tents, not so-called two person tents that in reality are only suitable for one person and their kit. And in this so-called two person tent category I would include amongst many others, the popular Vango Banshee 200, and indeed my beloved Coleman Avior X2. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the Vango and the Coleman are bad or poor tents (you know I love my Coleman, and my mate loves his Vango Banshee), and indeed both the Coleman and the Vango are well made and high spec tents, and for one person and their kit both tents excel. No, I'm just saying that they are not particularly good or ideal tents for two adults.
Both the Vango Banshee 200 and the Coleman Avior X2 are/were promoted as two person tents, however the floor of my Coleman is only 125cm at its widest narrowing down to just 55cm at the foot end. The Vango is far worse in this respect being only 120cm at its widest (in the middle), while narrowing at the head end to around two 90cm and to around 60cm at the foot end. And consider this: most sleeping mats and pads are around 185cm in length by around 57cm wide, and given the floor plans of both the Vango and the Coleman, you simply cannot get two sleeping mats or pads side by side for the full length of these tents. Furthermore, the Coleman has a maximum ceiling height of 100cm, at the head end reducing to around half that at the foot end. The Vango has only 90cm ceiling height in the middle, reducing drastically at both the head and foot ends. Add these specifications to the floor size and you can see that both tents (but particularly the Vango Banshee 200) are very small tents for two people. In the case of both tents you may be able to comfortably sleep two kids, but two adults is a whole different story.
So our quest to find a good, true two person, lightweight tent began. We searched wide and far but struggled to find a tent that met our particular requirements and offered what we saw as good value-for-money. That is until our friends at GeerTop in China informed us of a new design that was very likely to meet our specific needs. We were sent photos and the specifications, and indeed we were very excited by this new tent. It appeared to be just the lightweight two person tent that we were looking for, so without delay we had GeerTop send us a sample.
The thing is, we want true two person tents, not so-called two person tents that in reality are only suitable for one person and their kit. And in this so-called two person tent category I would include amongst many others, the popular Vango Banshee 200, and indeed my beloved Coleman Avior X2. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the Vango and the Coleman are bad or poor tents (you know I love my Coleman, and my mate loves his Vango Banshee), and indeed both the Coleman and the Vango are well made and high spec tents, and for one person and their kit both tents excel. No, I'm just saying that they are not particularly good or ideal tents for two adults.
Both the Vango Banshee 200 and the Coleman Avior X2 are/were promoted as two person tents, however the floor of my Coleman is only 125cm at its widest narrowing down to just 55cm at the foot end. The Vango is far worse in this respect being only 120cm at its widest (in the middle), while narrowing at the head end to around two 90cm and to around 60cm at the foot end. And consider this: most sleeping mats and pads are around 185cm in length by around 57cm wide, and given the floor plans of both the Vango and the Coleman, you simply cannot get two sleeping mats or pads side by side for the full length of these tents. Furthermore, the Coleman has a maximum ceiling height of 100cm, at the head end reducing to around half that at the foot end. The Vango has only 90cm ceiling height in the middle, reducing drastically at both the head and foot ends. Add these specifications to the floor size and you can see that both tents (but particularly the Vango Banshee 200) are very small tents for two people. In the case of both tents you may be able to comfortably sleep two kids, but two adults is a whole different story.
So our quest to find a good, true two person, lightweight tent began. We searched wide and far but struggled to find a tent that met our particular requirements and offered what we saw as good value-for-money. That is until our friends at GeerTop in China informed us of a new design that was very likely to meet our specific needs. We were sent photos and the specifications, and indeed we were very excited by this new tent. It appeared to be just the lightweight two person tent that we were looking for, so without delay we had GeerTop send us a sample.
A very nice quality, waterproof, roll top compression stuff sack was immediately a good sign.
An unusual design to be sure, but what we had was a very nice looking, high spec, true two person tent. When I say unusual design, it is the tent pole configuration which makes this tent somewhat different. It is a hybrid – a cross between a semi-geodesic and a dome tent. Only two aluminium shock-corded tent poles, but unlike a true dome tent the tent poles of this tent cross twice. Unusual, but very stable. This is the GeerTop ‘Shark 2’ tent.
The Shark 2 tent features two large side doors for easy entry and exit. Size-wise the inner tent is a true rectangle measuring 200cm in length by 140cm in width. So this two person tent is 15cm (6”) wider than my Coleman at its widest point and 20cm (8”) wider than the Vango Banshee 200 at its widest point. Now six inches wider may not seem like anything to write home about, but the key thing is that the 140cm width remains for the full length of the inner tent floor and this itself makes the world of difference when two people are sharing the space. At 200cm the floor is also a good length and with steep inner tent walls, the Shark 2 will comfortably accommodate people up to around 6'3”. Furthermore, the ceiling height is 110cm, so effectively 100mm (4") higher than the Coleman Avior X2 and 200mm (8") higher than the Vango Banshee 200. Again, this extra head height might not seem like much, but it actually makes quite a difference when you are inside. And yet another thing to note is that due to the design of the GeerTop Shark 2, the inner tent sides are all very steep, so the ceiling height remains high throughout the length of the tent, unlike both the Coleman and the Vango.
The materials of this tent are very high spec. The outer flysheet is UV protected, PU-coated polyester with a hydrostatic head of 5000mm, while the floor is a tough, Oxford cloth fabric PU-coated polyester with a hydrostatic head of 6000mm. So, very waterproof indeed. And although the polyester flysheet is a marginally heavier fabric than equivalent tents that employ thinner silicone-coated nylon, it is quite strong, and of course it does not wet-out and hence sag like nylon flysheets do when it rains - worth bearing in mind! The inner tent is mainly full polyester so the tent will be warmer in colder weather than some of the tents (like our Pyramid tent) whereby the inner is comprised mainly or completely of no-see-um bug mesh. The two doors are similar to our Topwind 1 tents in that they employ both a full polyester and a no-see-um bug mesh doors that can be opened or shut independently so providing good heat regulation and ventilation options, along with additional privacy when necessary. There are also two triangular air vents located high on either end of the tent.
To erect the Shark 2, two long shock-corded proflex 7001-T6 anodised aluminium tent poles are fed through full length sleeves on the inner tent and located into metal eyelets. Once the two poles have been fed through their sleeves and slotted into their respective metal eyelets on the straps in the four corners of the inner tent floor, you just need to peg down the straps and the tent is up. Note: take a little care when feeding the tent poles through the sleeves. Both the aluminium poles and the sleeves are long and the sleeves cross each other at two points which can seem a little confusing to start with. And unlike a normal dome tent the poles do not cross and go to opposite tent corners, but cross twice and come back to the same side. Just bear this in mind and take your time easing the poles through. Once both poles are through both sleeves, even out the sleeve material along the poles so there are no clumps of sleeve and carefully insert the end of the poles into the metal eyelets in the floor corner straps.
Like all good quality modern tents, the flysheet is draped over the inner tent and buckle clipped into the corner straps. There are numerous Velcro attachment points on the inner tent and flysheet that you mate together to hold the flysheet securely in place over the inner tent. It is just then a matter of pegging out the flysheet nice and evenly.
The unusual design of this tent is quite eye-catching and very pleasing to look at. The doors are both set more at one end of the tent, so that the flysheet does need to go on the right way in order to line up with the inner tent doors, but this design gives rise to vestibule storage space that doesn’t so much block your entry and exit. The flysheet extends a further 50cm on either side creating two good size vestibules for storing rucksacks, boots and other gear. Needless to say, we like this tent very much.
Ah, one point I haven’t yet mentioned... weight.
Well, this tent is more weighty than both the Vango Banshee and my Coleman Avior X2. The Shark weighs in at 2.75kgs, where as my Coleman is 2.45kgs and the current Vango Banshee 200 is 2.35kgs.
So this tent is 300 grams heavier than my beloved Coleman Avior X2, and 400 grams heavier than the Vango Banshee. But here’s the thing, whereas my Coleman would be extremely uncomfortable for two adults and their kit, the Vango even more so (both of which are generally used by just one person and their kit), the new GeerTop Shark 2 will happily and comfortably accommodate two adults and their kit. This being the case, if the 2.75kg weight is shared, then each person will only be carrying 1.375kgs. So effectively each person will carry over 1kg less than I would be carrying with my Coleman Avior X2. This is when a true two person tent pays dividends.
So it is a bigger tent and it employs a more robust polyester flysheet and floor materials with a greater hydrostatic head than our other GeerTop tents, and it does also feature the nice double inner tent doors... and you can easily get two sleeping mats or pads in, side by side, for the full length of the tent. It is heavier than the Coleman and the Vango... but then it is a good size, true two person tent. So is the few hundred grams weight penalty justifiable? Is the additional slight weight burden worth it? Well, in our opinion, that's a big fat, YES! Actually it's a no-brainer. When used as a two person tent and hence shared by two people, the GeerTop Shark 2 is a terrific, high quality, high spec tent.
In short, the GeerTop Shark 2 is a lovely, well made, well designed, and true two person tent.
The Shark 2 tent features two large side doors for easy entry and exit. Size-wise the inner tent is a true rectangle measuring 200cm in length by 140cm in width. So this two person tent is 15cm (6”) wider than my Coleman at its widest point and 20cm (8”) wider than the Vango Banshee 200 at its widest point. Now six inches wider may not seem like anything to write home about, but the key thing is that the 140cm width remains for the full length of the inner tent floor and this itself makes the world of difference when two people are sharing the space. At 200cm the floor is also a good length and with steep inner tent walls, the Shark 2 will comfortably accommodate people up to around 6'3”. Furthermore, the ceiling height is 110cm, so effectively 100mm (4") higher than the Coleman Avior X2 and 200mm (8") higher than the Vango Banshee 200. Again, this extra head height might not seem like much, but it actually makes quite a difference when you are inside. And yet another thing to note is that due to the design of the GeerTop Shark 2, the inner tent sides are all very steep, so the ceiling height remains high throughout the length of the tent, unlike both the Coleman and the Vango.
The materials of this tent are very high spec. The outer flysheet is UV protected, PU-coated polyester with a hydrostatic head of 5000mm, while the floor is a tough, Oxford cloth fabric PU-coated polyester with a hydrostatic head of 6000mm. So, very waterproof indeed. And although the polyester flysheet is a marginally heavier fabric than equivalent tents that employ thinner silicone-coated nylon, it is quite strong, and of course it does not wet-out and hence sag like nylon flysheets do when it rains - worth bearing in mind! The inner tent is mainly full polyester so the tent will be warmer in colder weather than some of the tents (like our Pyramid tent) whereby the inner is comprised mainly or completely of no-see-um bug mesh. The two doors are similar to our Topwind 1 tents in that they employ both a full polyester and a no-see-um bug mesh doors that can be opened or shut independently so providing good heat regulation and ventilation options, along with additional privacy when necessary. There are also two triangular air vents located high on either end of the tent.
To erect the Shark 2, two long shock-corded proflex 7001-T6 anodised aluminium tent poles are fed through full length sleeves on the inner tent and located into metal eyelets. Once the two poles have been fed through their sleeves and slotted into their respective metal eyelets on the straps in the four corners of the inner tent floor, you just need to peg down the straps and the tent is up. Note: take a little care when feeding the tent poles through the sleeves. Both the aluminium poles and the sleeves are long and the sleeves cross each other at two points which can seem a little confusing to start with. And unlike a normal dome tent the poles do not cross and go to opposite tent corners, but cross twice and come back to the same side. Just bear this in mind and take your time easing the poles through. Once both poles are through both sleeves, even out the sleeve material along the poles so there are no clumps of sleeve and carefully insert the end of the poles into the metal eyelets in the floor corner straps.
Like all good quality modern tents, the flysheet is draped over the inner tent and buckle clipped into the corner straps. There are numerous Velcro attachment points on the inner tent and flysheet that you mate together to hold the flysheet securely in place over the inner tent. It is just then a matter of pegging out the flysheet nice and evenly.
The unusual design of this tent is quite eye-catching and very pleasing to look at. The doors are both set more at one end of the tent, so that the flysheet does need to go on the right way in order to line up with the inner tent doors, but this design gives rise to vestibule storage space that doesn’t so much block your entry and exit. The flysheet extends a further 50cm on either side creating two good size vestibules for storing rucksacks, boots and other gear. Needless to say, we like this tent very much.
Ah, one point I haven’t yet mentioned... weight.
Well, this tent is more weighty than both the Vango Banshee and my Coleman Avior X2. The Shark weighs in at 2.75kgs, where as my Coleman is 2.45kgs and the current Vango Banshee 200 is 2.35kgs.
So this tent is 300 grams heavier than my beloved Coleman Avior X2, and 400 grams heavier than the Vango Banshee. But here’s the thing, whereas my Coleman would be extremely uncomfortable for two adults and their kit, the Vango even more so (both of which are generally used by just one person and their kit), the new GeerTop Shark 2 will happily and comfortably accommodate two adults and their kit. This being the case, if the 2.75kg weight is shared, then each person will only be carrying 1.375kgs. So effectively each person will carry over 1kg less than I would be carrying with my Coleman Avior X2. This is when a true two person tent pays dividends.
So it is a bigger tent and it employs a more robust polyester flysheet and floor materials with a greater hydrostatic head than our other GeerTop tents, and it does also feature the nice double inner tent doors... and you can easily get two sleeping mats or pads in, side by side, for the full length of the tent. It is heavier than the Coleman and the Vango... but then it is a good size, true two person tent. So is the few hundred grams weight penalty justifiable? Is the additional slight weight burden worth it? Well, in our opinion, that's a big fat, YES! Actually it's a no-brainer. When used as a two person tent and hence shared by two people, the GeerTop Shark 2 is a terrific, high quality, high spec tent.
In short, the GeerTop Shark 2 is a lovely, well made, well designed, and true two person tent.