My old trusty Blacks tent

Over the past months I have been looking to buy a new tent as the pressure to keep up with the Joneses has been getting to me slightly. For the last 15 years I have been camping in a bright red Blacks 2 man dome weighing in at just over 2KG. I kid you not this tent has been amazing it has been used in temperatures below -5^oC and in winds exceeding 60mph and has survived without so much as a loose thread. Now if my memory serves me right this tent cost around £20 as I said earlier 15 years ago so I’m guessing that equates to something like £30 in today’s money.   

So knowing that I currently have this tent that has served me very well all these years it is hard to decide what to replace it with when most of the reviews I have looked at all comment on the materials being thin and ripping/puncturing early on in their life. Ok I know an additional foot print can be used to protect the ground sheet but does this not raise the question why not make the ground sheet thick enough to start with? I know that the reason for the thin materials is all about saving weight but still does weight saving have to be so drastic that you end up with a tent that does not stand the test of time.

I truly intended to write this post talking about what new tents excite me but ended up rambling on about my old tent. Maybe that tells me something... perhaps I should hold on to my old friend for a little longer until she finally starts to leak or develops some other kind of fault. In the mean time I will continue to look at others with their expensive tents and watch them collapse in high winds or leak from the floor and think to myself that was a good £20 I spent 15 years ago!