“Is this even real?” This was my first thought when I saw the Quechua 2 Seconds pop up tent.
Considering a tent in your camping set up? Looking for something easy, affordable and super quick to erect? Had enough with wrestling with tent poles? In 2019, Decathlon gave us a Quechua 2 Seconds Pop Up tent to test in Australian conditions. In our review you’ll find out how the 2 Second pop up tent handles real world testing, how to set up, pack up and our overall rating.
The Quechua 2 Seconds Pop Up Tent caught my eye because, well, 2 SECONDS!
Decathlon are the worlds largest sporting retailer and have been designing their own innovative sports and outdoor products, including the Quechua brand, for more than 40 years. The first Australian Decathlon store opened at Tempe, Sydney in 2017. Since then, more stores have opened in Sydney and Melbourne. As they own and develop their own brands, they are able to offer quality products at virtually wholesale prices.
Quechua 2 Seconds pop up tents are available in 2 or 3 persons, and the 3 person XL.
HOW DOES THE QUECHUA 2 SECONDS POP UP TENT WORK?
The designers have made set up easy, with quick release colour coded clips. You simply undo 4 clips and the tent pops up. Brilliant! Of course, as with any tent, it performs better in wind and rain when the floor and fly is pegged out. This part takes less than two minutes. And you’re done! You don't even need to muck about with attaching the guy ropes as its already been done for you. There are ZERO tent poles to deal with and you can just get on with enjoying your new camp site. Drinks are ready to be cracked open and its high fives all round!
SLEEPS 3 ADULTS COMFORTABLY.
We picked the 3XL for our young family as there is room for 2 adults and 2 children to all sleep inside. The XL has a bonus “porch” at the entry to store your dirty shoes or other camping gear. In our opinion, this extra space is so handy. It helps prevent sand, dirt, grass and mud from entering the sleeping area. There is enough room inside to store a little bag for each person, plus it has storage pockets inside the tent for your phones and books.
The two side windows feature midge proof mesh, which is perfect for the Australia environmental conditions and can also be unzipped and opened completely.
A convenient hook is available inside to hang a small lantern at night. The only downside is that you aren’t able to stand up inside (its 121cm tall), but that is a small compromise for a quick set up tent.
WHAT DOES FRESH & BLACK MEAN?
Patented FRESH & BLACK outer fabric means you’re in real danger of sleeping in well past sunrise! It’s 99% dark even in full daylight. This also helps to keep the heat of the day out of the tent for longer.
WATERPROOF TEST.
Due to the very dry conditions here in Australia, we haven’t seen any rain to be able to test how waterproof the tent is in real world conditions. However, we did rinse off salt spray from the tent with a hose and there were no leaks at all through the taped seams. All Decathlon tents are tested and must pass a shower of 200 mm of water/hour/sqm (tropical rain) during research and development.
TESTED IN WINDY CONDITIONS.
There’s one thing that most tents don’t cope with and that is wind. The Quechua 2 Second Pop Up tent copped a flogging for two weeks, camped on a Western Australian beach front location. The wind was often so hectic, everyone would retreat inside their caravans and campers to escape the relentless pounding of wind and sand. Its a phenonmem in Western Australia known as Blovember - Blow + November!
Its unique design meant it was able to hold its shape really well. There were no issues with the guy ropes. All Quechua tents are tested to withstand up to 50kmp/h windspeed and this was most certainly proved during our recent camping trip.
HOW TO PACK UP THE 2 SECOND TENT.
When you follow the directions, its very simple! I’m going to be honest here and say, you absolutely need to follow the instructions that are attached to the tent carry bag. After 3 attempts to pack up, we realised we weren’t grabbing the correct handle inside the tent to begin folding it down.
Pull a Tag.
To begin, you need to go inside the 2 Second tent and pull a red coloured tag (it's right next to the red coloured clip!) while walking back out through the tent door.
Twist and fold.
Then, twist and fold the tent and clip together the yellow and red colour coded clips.
Pull a rope.
Now its time to pull a red rope, which brings the tent into its second twist and fold. Due to the sheer size of the 3XL, this part is better done with two people. One person to pull the rope, the other person to twist and fold. You can totally do this by yourself, its just way easier with two!
Secure the fold.
Using the attached loop, secure the now folded tent and now put it inside the provided tent bag! Done!
FAST FACTS YOU NEED TO KNOW.
Sleeping Room size: 210 X 210 cm.
Maximum useful height: 115 cm.
1 storage area.
Size of the bag: Ø85x9 cm / 51 L. Weight: 5.3 kg.
Quechua 2 Seconds Pop Up tent 3XL retails for $499 and will be on sale with 40% for a limited time:
Dates: Thursday 20th 8pm - 11.59pm 25th
T&Cs: ^Sale runs 20.04.23 8pm until 25.04.23 11.59pm AEST or until stocks last. Does not include “Price Drop” models, and is not an additional 40% on top of tents already on sale. Selected products, colours, models only. Not available in conjunction with any other offer. T&C's apply.
OUR OVERALL RATING.
Easy to open, pitch and collapse with the colour coded straps and clips to guide you. I am amazed at the quality of the seams, fabric and zippers.
The instructions are cleverly attached to the carry bag so you’ll never have to worry about remembering how to pitch and collapse the 2 Second tent. The total weight of 5.3kgs is perfect for our situation. Due to the thin circular shape, the tent can be slotted into narrow spaces for storage. The bag shape also means you're not able to store it under the seats in the caravan. We store ours in the back of the ute.
The tent is an absolute star in really rough conditions.
Our overall rating is 9/10.
Want to know more? Click the link to the Decathlon Australia online store below for more information.
