"Chinese" Tents????
Submitted: Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 16:37
ThreadID:
46112
Views:
3661
Replies:
13
FollowUps:
4
This Thread has been Archived
Member - G N (VIC)
Hi all
Just wondering what experiences people have had with the "chinese" version of the
southern cross tents? Were they: waterproof; easy to pack; lighter in weight; did zips last or buckle under use;stay upright in wind etc.
Very interested in peoples accounts!!
Thanks
Reply By: Andrew from Vivid Adventures - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 16:50
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 16:50
Like with most things, there are good chinese tents and bad ones ...
As also swags (yep - chinese swags too, though mostly sold under Australianiaish labels).
Check them out first is the best bet.
Cheers
Andrew.
AnswerID:
243776
Follow Up By: Member - G N (VIC) - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 17:03
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 17:03
Thanks Andrew, we have checked them out but are wondering about how they actually perform when out camping!! It's good to learn from other peoples experiences!
FollowupID:
504656
Reply By: Member - SKI er (NSW) - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 17:11
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 17:11
see recent thanks post 46067.
I didn't see the original post (away) but read the thanks because of the centre pole wording.
We have had a Boots Great Outdoors Witches canvas hat tent for 25 years. She survived a cylone on a
Bunker Group offshore island but we pensioned her off for a lightweight modern chinese made" dome tent. It shredded in a moderate wind in Tasmania in the first bit of wind. Recommisioned the witches hat after maming many placatory promises to her never to do it again
Stay with the witches hat,
southern cross chinese versions if necessary. They dance all night on the centre pole and leave their modern contenders whistling in the wind.
Regards
SKI'er
AnswerID:
243786
Reply By: Twinkles - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 17:15
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 17:15
do you mean roof top tents?
AnswerID:
243787
Follow Up By: Member - G N (VIC) - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 17:46
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 17:46
no talking about the canvas centre pole variety!!
FollowupID:
504672
Follow Up By: Member - Au-2 - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 17:51
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 17:51
For which you can now get an inside frame (without centre pole) now at B.C.F. We bought one about 2mths ago and now no problems trying to fit single blow up mattress inside for adult daughter; who had problem getting out of bed around the pole in the middle of the night.
OzeSheila.
FollowupID:
504673
Reply By: Member - MUZBRY (VIC) - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 20:30
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 20:30
Gday
On a good Chinese tent, the zipper goes sideways, and about an hour with the first one , you will feal like another!!!!!
AnswerID:
243826
Reply By: Harry - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 20:32
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 20:32
I bought
mine in '04 and has performed very
well since with no headache problems. Takes the wind without any trouble at all which is due to the inside frame.Plenty of storm tie-downs fitted onto the tent.
No zip troubles. I wouldn't know if it is lighter than previous models, but it's only 18kg. The biggest plus for me is the wife will put it up and take it down , place in bag, so all I have to do is in and out of truck. She would'nt do that with the Orion before. No worries with rain.
AnswerID:
243829
Reply By: Big Mike - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 20:47
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 20:47
Dont forget that these are little people, a 6 man chinese = 3 man aussie :)
AnswerID:
243837
Reply By: Robin Miller - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 20:51
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 20:51
Was wondering why you seemed to only mention
Southern cross , in other posts GN
While we find dome tent more effective for some types of stay , we also have aussie disposals type centre pole tent at $179.
It has worked
well over the about 1 dozen times we have used it.
It certainly is waterproof.
The main difference is in the floor area - as the lower cost tents in dome and centre pole do not use vinyl floors.
Over a few years these become frayed and leak, but our approach to all of these things has been that there passed there use by date anyway and the much lower costs usually mean they can be replaced with latest.
In getting this centre pole we had in mind to try and make it as effective as our 4 person dome, and this meant modifications to whatever tent we brought and it was a lot easier to cut and shut a$179 tent than a $700 one.
P.S. My wife didn't like the centre pole idea and we got side poles for it @ $28
so it never ended up quite as effective as it could have been.
Robin Miller
AnswerID:
243838
Reply By: Ron George - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 21:24
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 21:24
G/day GN, mate I`ve got a 10 (oriental) man OZtrail,
Southern Cross look-a-like... Points against, (my opinion) floor area material to light, I`ve ripped
mine, original carry bag to flimsy, frame for centre pole inhibits the ability to fold up to a smaller size, it can be taken out before folding but it`s a bit of a pain, pegs are to light/short, the front awning/door flap is a great water trap, should be taken down at the first sign of rain, other than that she does the job... & as the old saying goes "you get what you pay for" so if it`durability you`re after you really can`t compare it to say a
Southern Cross as the quality of material & build just isn`t there. Cheers Ron.
AnswerID:
243852
Reply By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 21:34
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 21:34
Not Chinese, but we have an Indian canvas double swag from Rays outdoors. 2 years use on every desert trip and the canvas and zips are still as good as the day we bought it.
AnswerID:
243856
Reply By: Gerhardp1 - Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 00:14
Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 00:14
Confucious say boy and girl who go camping have evil intent....
Ozzie boy & girl need Chinese tent from Manchuria where the people are larger.
AnswerID:
243883
Reply By: Member - cuffs (SA) - Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 09:54
Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 09:54
It does not matter which country manufactures the tent material but the thickness of material 2000mm (minimum thickness) is important , seams should be what is now called hot taped pressed.
Asian countries can produce it cheap but there is an American standard of quality or they won’t import the material
I have had dome & canvas, and they will always be around.
Modern day material like the light weight Ripstop Polyester PU is replacing the heavy water absorbent canvas.
My grand kids will say “did they make tents out of canvas in the old days with poles on the inside”.
I like the Blackwolf range (no affiliation) for the first time I saw five different sizes in the one
camp area, the tent has not moved in Gail forced winds and heavy rain, where dome & canvas tents ripped & camptrailer annexes shredded.
Just my opinion.
Check out my rig page.
AnswerID:
243915
Follow Up By: Ron George - Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 17:12
Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 17:12
Aye cuffs... Mate, 2000 mm??????? (min thickness) that must be the military version!!! bomb proof. Cheers.
FollowupID:
504926
Reply By: Dean - Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 11:18
Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 11:18
Weve had a chinese made 2 room canvas tent since 1994, it has faded and some of the pole links have fallen out, other than that weve had no problems.
Dean
AnswerID:
243928
Reply By: tempestv8 - Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 13:09
Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 13:09
I think I have one of these Chinese canvas tents.
It's held up all right but there are some quality issues. The extendable poles had securing nuts that looked very much
home made, and broke after several uses. So I had to buy replacement poles.
The canvas had one or two spots where it was thin, and they stuck some tape over the holes to conceal the imperfection. I would suggest setting up the tent on a
bright sunny day and looking at every inch of the canvas to
check that there are no "light spots".
Other than that, they have been reasonably reliable. No less sturdy than the Aussie made ones.
Good luck and happy buying!
AnswerID:
243953