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• Price: £310
• Weight: 2.35kg

German company Jack Wolfskin is marketing the Atmosphere Dome II as the perfect choice for ‘tropical climates or summer camping closer to home’. Taking this into account we’d expect the tent to feature more in terms of ventilation than others on test.

The tent has a ‘fast pitch’ system, meaning it uses only one pole (which branches off into different directions), and only two guy lines. Putting it up was indeed very quick: it was easy to see where the pole went, and the flysheet fastens into four colour-coded clips. It’s safe to say the Atmosphere provides a great amount of stability for minimal effort.  

• Price: £300
• Weight: 2.7kg

The Grid 2P is a free-standing, three-poled tent from Marmot, and the US-based company says it’s been designed with the wet and windy conditions of the UK in mind. This means it has an aerodynamic shape; a taut flysheet (to stop it from flapping around) and the pole structure should be strong enough to stand up to high winds. It also pitches outer first, so you don’t have to faff around trying to keep the inner dry if it’s chucking down, although that’s obviously fairly common.

The Grip 2P went up fairly, with the poles colour-coded to the sleeves. There’s only one entrance with a fair-sized porch – you can fit two expedition packs in, but it will be a bit of a squeeze. However, the inner is long enough for someone who’s 6ft to stretch out, or sit up comfortably, and it’s just wide enough for a comfortable sleep.

• Price: £300
• Weight: 4.2kg

Vango has been making camping and hiking equipment since 1963 and its portfolio has kit to suit every type of outdoor enthusiast, from family campers to D of E trekkers to high-altitude mountaineers.

The Hurricane 200 is a fairly heavy tent (4.2kg) that packs down into a stuff sack that, by the standards of this test, is pretty bulky. But then the Hurricane 200 isn’t the type of tent a lightweight backpacker is going to be taking with them.

The Octane 2 is a two-poled tunnel tent which pitches flysheet first, with the inner attaching via a series of colour-coded hooks and loops. Putting up the tent was fairly easy, but there was no colour coordination of the poles to help you out and the attachment loops look a little fragile. I’d be interested to see how they stand up to long-term use.

The porch can hold two expedition packs with space for cooking. There’s a large transparent window on the front of it, but I’m not too keen on this plastic panel: while it lets a good amount of light in, it also allows passers by to see into your porch and the gear you have.