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| First night in the Tracker 3VD - at Morawa |
You may ask what expertise we have to review a tent. No
technical knowledge, but a huge amount of camping over the last ten years or
so. We have completed a long trip of at least nine weeks (the longest being
seven months) every second year, as well as many weekends and short trips (up
to three weeks).
We have actually used seven different lightweight dome tents
during this period. Four of these were three man tents and three were four man
tents. We used the three man tents for single nights and when travelling on the
bikes without the trailer. When I tow the trailer we take the four man tent for
the additional comfort.
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| Outdoor Equipped 3EV - at Kiama |
All the tents have been good in the wet, but with excessive
use, have gradually deteriorated under the intense UV of the bright Australian
sunlight. The biggest issue has been the tents collapsing in the wind.
During our ten week 2016 trip the Outdoor Equipped 3EV tent sprung
a leak in the floor; the floor perforated along one of the fold lines. As it
was during the New South Wales floods we had to purchase a new tent very
quickly. The guy ropes on this tent were attached quite high up, and in wind
the tent caved in below the guy attachments.
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| Outdoor Connection Escape 3 Plus - at Nagambie |
We were in Wangaratta, where there are a couple of camping
stores, so we had a little bit of choice. We decided on the Outdoor Connection
Escape 3 Plus since we have a four man Bedarra model from the same
manufacturer. The Bedarra has been an excellent tent and has seen a lot of use,
is great in all conditions and we have never had any issues with it.
The Escape 3 Plus was an issue immediately, when we arrived
at the campsite on the afternoon of purchasing the tent we found no poles in
the package (we thought it seemed light). Luckily we hadn’t gone far and the
retailer had another tent in stock with poles. Our main issue with the tent was
that the fly just never seemed to fit correctly. The guy ropes were attached
lower than with the previous tent, but it then collapsed above the guys when
windy.
In September 2017, while on a trip to Albany in South
Western Australia we visited Trailblazers
camping store (just to get out of the rain). They had the Roman Tracker 3VD
Tent on display. It is a geodesic design and on careful inspection looked
perfect for us. So back home, I did some internet research, and we decided that
we should swap tents. We sold the Escape 3 Plus via the internet and then
phoned our preferred local store, Compleat
Angler and Camping World Rockingham, for a price. They didn’t stock this
model tent but got back to us with a great price (matching internet retailers)
so once again they got our custom.
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| Tracker 3VD - showing the guy ropes - at Kalbarri |
After the first trip of five nights we are extremely happy
with the Tracker 3VD. We put it up three times over the five nights, getting a
little quicker each time. Since there are five poles (reinforced durawrap) it
takes longer to put up and take down. We also thought the poles were stiffer
than on the other three man tents. There are also eight guy ropes, one on each
corner, two for the vestibule and one at the centre of each side. We didn’t
deploy the side guys every night.
Although we had no severe weather to fully test the tent, we
had showers one night and moderate wind (approximately 15 knots on the tent).
The tent was very rigid and of course water tight (with 3000mm waterproofing,
which is better than most dome tents).
There is only a vestibule at one end, but this is large for
a three man tent. In fact it is quite a stretch to close the vestibule zips
from within the inner tent. The shoulders of the inner tent are generous which
creates good internal volume and thus feels larger than the other three man
domes we have owned. The advertising for the tracker 3VD talks about “Roman's
unique CROSSFLOW ventilation” but this probably just means it has fly windows
on both sides, just like most dome tents. The side and rear windows on the
inner tent don’t have material covers, so there is a lot of ventilation. Maybe
too much if it gets very cold.
We also liked the colour and thought it was a good looking
tent. Travelling on motorcycles we thought that, at 6.5kg, it may be a little
heavy, but we found the weight was not an issue.
• Flysheet:
210T Waterproofed 3000mm, PU coated
• Flysheet
with tape sealed seams
• Inner:
Breathable Polyester
• Floor:
Heavy Duty 12x12 PE with welded seams
• Reinforced
Durawrap tent frame poles
• No-See-Um
mesh to provide a Bug Proof Zone
• Geodesic
frame system for maximum stability
• Extra
large “D” door with door-in-door zips
• Roman's
unique CROSSFLOW ventilation
• Reinforced
guy rope points with fitted ropes
• Roof
vents to expel hot air
• UV
protection on fly
• Features
durable carry bag
• Pegs and
rope included
• Weight:
6.5kg
• Dimensions:
215 x 195 x 125cm
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| Roman Diamantina 4VD - at Jindabyne, Another Geodesic tent |
Geodesic Tents
The term geodesic is a mathematical one. A ‘geodesic’ line is
the shortest route between two points on earth. It’s used to describe a tent
where the poles criss-cross over the surface, intersecting to form triangles.
This distributes the stress across the structure, making it the most stable
type of tent for extreme weather conditions. If you climb Everest, chances are
that you will want to take a geodesic tent with you.
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| Outdoor Connection Bedarra - at Katoomba |
2006 - Oz Trail 3P
2007 - Kathmandu Basecamp Retreat 100
2008 - Roman Diamantina 4VD
2012 - Outdoor Connection Bedarra (family tent)
2012 - Outdoor Equipped 3EV
2016 - Outdoor Connection Escape 3 Plus Dome Tent
2017 - Roman Tracker 3VD Tent by Companion Brands |
| Kathmandu Basecamp Retreat 100 - at Lake St Clair |
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| Oz Trail 3P - at Wagin |
