Eurohike Pop 200 2-Person Tent | Tested and reviewed

If you're on the hunt for the cheapest summer tent you can find, the Eurohike Pop 200 might just be it. That's because it's currently available for just £29.99 (though the RRP is £85).

As you might expect, you're getting a pretty basic tent for that money. But does it offer enough protection, comfort, space and organisation to make it a worthwhile purchase? Let's hear from kit tester James Forrest to find out...

Pop-up pitching and packing away

The Eurohike Pop 200 pitches in seconds, using the standard pop-up tent technique. It works as you’d expect: simply open up the storage bag, slide off the stretchy band (which holds everything together) and then the tent springs into shape automatically, as if by magic.

There are no poles to fiddle around with or slide into sleeves – all you need to do is peg out the freestanding structure using the six metal pegs supplied. And that’s it, job done in less than two minutes.

As with almost all pop-up tents, packing it away is a little trickier than setting it up. But after a few attempts, once you’ve learnt the technique, it’s not that difficult.

All you have to do is grab all four poles in one hand, creating a burrito-like shape out of the tent. Next flip it 90-degrees so it’s standing upright and then push the top end downwards. This action folds down and inverts the tent, forming a circular shape that will fit easily into the storage bag.

Internal space and tent shape

The Eurohike Pop 200 has a dome-like shape. The groundsheet shape is oblong, with a curvy profile, and the walls of the tent are slightly tapered but with reasonable height and verticality.

Internally the tent feels reasonably spacious for two sleepers (but there’s precious little room for backpacks and boots). Unless you’re very tall, you’ll be able to sit up in the tent, and there is decent head and elbow room overall.

It’s not palatial, but it’s not super-cramped either, and for the bargain price you get just about enough room for a comfortable(ish) night’s sleep.

The structure of the tent is created via the sewn-in, pre-connected pole system. The floorspace is created by one large oblong shaped pole, while the roof and walls are constructed via another oblong pole that is folded to create a looping arch. The whole system works quite well.

The Eurohike Pop 200 has the following official dimensions: 220cm long, 100cm wide and 90cm high.

You may find – for two campers sleeping side by side – that things are quite snug, with your sleeping bags close together. There’s certainly not ample redundant internal space or much clearance between the tent outer and your sleep system.

Compared to rival tents, the width of this tent is particularly lacking, and you also get a little less length and height, too. All of this means the Eurohike Pop 200 is on the small side and feels more cramped than many others. But, in my view, there's enough space to just about camp half-comfortably.

There is one big problem, however. With two campers, there’s nowhere to put your large backpacks or wet wellington boots (this tent has no porch), so if you’ll be camping with lots of kit inside the tent, things will quickly begin to feel a lot more cramped.

Your options? Obviously in good weather you could leave your bags outside; or the Eurohike Pop 400 DS (£69) will feel way more spacious.

It’s also worth noting that there are no tension straps for adjusting the tautness of this tent’s structure. This means you can’t fine-tune or tweak the tent’s shape, based on the weather or terrain, so the structure can sometimes be a tad misshapen, flappy or imbalanced if the camping conditions are non-perfect.

Waterproofing, wind resistance and breathability

This is not a tent for inclement weather. It won’t perform particularly well in heavy rain or strong winds, and will be vulnerable to water ingress, ripping, collapsing or blowing away – you have been warned.

This is for several reasons: it’s a single-skin tent (so you only get one layer of protection, not two), the cheap materials aren’t as durable or strong as more premium tents, the dome’s high(ish) walls can catch the wind like a sail, the shape isn’t the most aerodynamic, the door and its zippers are a potential leak vulnerability, and the roof is flat in parts and can pool water.

Or, in other words, this is definitely a basic tent for dry and calm weather. It’s not designed for anything rough.

Having said this, the Eurohike Pop 200 has some pretty decent weatherproofing stats. The outer tent fabric has a 2,000mm hydrostatic head waterproof rating, which isn’t amazingly high, but it’s not bad.

The tent’s seams are sealed and the groundsheet is sewn-in too. For light showers, the Pop 200 will shed rain reasonably well and should keep you dry, as long as things don’t get too heavy.

In terms of wind resistance, the tent is a little shorter than some others, at just 90cm high. This makes it a tiny bit more aerodynamic.

The tent comes with six pegs, which you can use to secure the six pegging points (two loops and four guylines). However, for added stability, we’d suggest packing some extra spare pegs, and pegging down the exposed pole sections at each side.

In terms of ventilation and breathability, you get two vents on the outer – one at the foot end, one at the head end. Externally there’s a gap for air flow; internally you’re protected by a mesh window.

Each vent has a little Velcro tab to hold it open. These two vents help to improve breathability, but they aren’t a magic wand.

Single-skin tents – tents made from only one layer of material, rather than having two (a flysheet and inner) – are well-known for condensation problems, and in particularly humid conditions the Eurohike Pop 200 is likely to struggle with this issue.

Weight and packed size

On my scales the Eurohike Pop 200 2-Person Tent weighs 1,620g, including: the storage bag (135g), six thin metal pegs (108g), peg bag (10g) and the tent itself, including four luminous yellow guylines (1,367g).

I'd class this as impressively light for a two-person tent, which makes the Eurohike Pop 200 quite easy to carry around.

When packed away, the Pop 200 is shaped like a large circular disc, sized 75cm wide and 5cm thick. This is 15cm narrower than the Mountain Warehouse Pop Up 3 Man, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but it seems to make a quite a big difference when you’re carrying the packed-away tent.

Consequently the Eurohike version has better all-round portability. It will fit into your car boot easier and would be simpler to carry on a coach or train, too, if you’re travelling by public transport.

Features

You get one main door entry to this tent. It's located on the side of the tent, rather than at the head end.

It has one large zipper, in a U shape, and can be easily opened from outside and inside the tent. The door can be rolled up and clipped away using toggles, so that the door is left open. But you don’t get an insect screen mesh door.

In terms of the tent’s carry bag, the large circular carry case has two convenient straps, which are sized to be used over-the-shoulder. This works well.

A few other features are notable in their absence. You don’t get any internal pockets for gear storage and there is no porch.

The Eurohike Pop 200 is available in three colours: red, blue and green. A four-person version costs £69 with a Go Outdoors membership.

Verdict

This insanely cheap tent is as basic as it gets, but it’s decent for simple camping in good weather – although it struggles in windy and rainy conditions.

About the author

James Forrest writes regular features and route guides for Trail and has been one of our main gear testers for the last few years. James is based on the edge of the Lake District so when he isn’t off on his latest crazy adventure or challenge, he’s walking in his local fells.

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