Black Wolf Turbo 300 or Turbo Lite FS 300

I just went through a similar dillema.

The issues I saw were pretty much as above but a few other things to think about.

1)The Turbo lite is also smaller when packed.
2)The Turbo lite has a smaller canopy at the front( there are no poles to hold it up), and this was the killer for me. It just looks too small for a rainy day.

In the end I went for a Turbo lite plus. the extra space at the back is always useful and it is about the same weight and folded size as the turbo. It also has the large canopyI actually usually use it without the back extended but put it out in bad weather. I felt the material was more than strong enough for me.

One last point. If you are not in a super hurry join the Anaconda on line mailing list and you will be notified when the next club discount day is. I got this tip off this forum. They had 25% off many things inc Black Wolf tents. They also have storewide 20% discounts. I guess the next one will be just before Easter ( guess only). Either way it was the cheapest way to buy one that I could find.

We have yet to use it in anger - roll on January... but at this stage are very happy with the Turbo Lite Twin that we have.

The size of it would be the only draw-back.

Cheers
Andrew.

John,

We have the Turbo 300 (there wasn't a lite option when we got ours...) and have been very happy with it. In the Tojo, it sits on the floor behind the driver/passenger seats as our kid (not yet plural) still doesn't have his feet touching the floor and won't have for quite a number of years, so I find it OK there when touring (tied down of course).

Sure, it would be nice for it to be a little smaller and lighter, but since having seen the 'lite' versions, I find the 300 canvas 'seems' to set up a little better and be a little more 'rigid' in structure. I think I still would have bought the canvas version even if both were available at the time.

I have since bought a campertrailer and use this now, but have kept the BW 300 as I can't bear to part with these sort of things due to the financial loss when you sell them. I paln to use it for the shorter high country/weekend trips, where the camper trailer may not be appropriate.

So, very happy user, find it great in wind, waterproof, even without the fly (which is a little fiddly).

Good luck with your decision.

Cheers,

Mark

Thanks to those who have responded. I think we have settled on the Turbo 300 (ie the canvas one). Now all we have to do is find a reasonable price for it. The RRP is $999 but I'm sure we can do somewhat better than that.

Thanks Boobook2 for your suggestion re Anaconda. Any other suggestions from anyone as to online (or not) shops that stock this item at a reasonable price?

Merry Christmas to all.

John

We recently purchased a Turbo Twin Lite. Just a bigger version.

I was very dissapointed in the tent.

I had researched for months and had tossed up between the oz tents. Because I have 3 young children we wanted more room so went for the turbo twin. We had always wanted a Camper trailer but didnt want a loan!

I must say, we had terrible winds when we went and the tent held up well. Everyone elses tents ripped to sheds and ours was the only one left standing in the morning. However, just as we thought things were fine one of our side poles snapped from rubbing in the wind. Black Wolf did however replace them when I rang. The actual Turbo poles were strong and were good.

The things that annoyed me with the tent were:

The Zipper only did up one way. So normally, I have my zipper up the top so in the morning I dont have to worry about my kids going outside before I am awake. But, this was not an option and it drove me mad with my 2 year old! Also meant he kept coming out of the tent when I put him to sleep. Normally, the zip would be too high for him to reach so he would give up and fall asleep quickly. Arghhhh

The other thing was the fly awning. It does not zip up or roll up. So, as we had strong winds ( but would happen with any amount of wind I would expect) it flapped all night and drove me mad! The wind was too strong and the poles kept falling down so the stupid awning flapped all night. It was sooo noisy. This also meant it was quite light inside in the morning as both sides had to have the awnings up.

Another problem was the windows. So, they zip down the sides but only had a small piece of velcro in the middle at the bottom. The wind was coming in the window all night and I was freezing! Next time we will be adding extra velcro along the bottom.

So, I love camping, but was dissapointed in my $1000 tent. We are now looking at the Trak Shak ( or a camper trailer of some kind) and I hope to convince my husband to let us borrow some money to buy it. I believe my $300 tent is better then the Turbo ( but thats just my opinion). We go camping again in a few days and I hope my next camping trip in the Turbo will be more positive.

It is also bloody hard to pack away in the bag.

Overall, shape and size of tent was awesome for a family but I dont believe it was worth the money.