Olpro Pop Review 2018 after two years of use

The Olpro Pop is an umbrella style tent which is advertised as a two berth tent, not to be confused with a 'pop up' style tent that explodes once you remove the strap from a circle of fabric.  It has built in poles attached to the fabric which have 'elbows' incorporated into the design. These bend at the joint for packing away. 

Price as of June 2018 £69.00 (discounts frequently advertised, just ask)

Height (cm): 140cm

Length (cm): 210cm

Width (cm): 210cm

Packed dimensions (cm): 18cm x 18cm x 75cm

Weight (kg): 4.5kg

Hydrostatic Head: 3,000mm H/H

Material: 210 Oxford

I bought TWO

I have bought not one but two of the Olpro Pop since they were first released in Spring of 2016. The first one I bought as a weekend and touring tent as a replacement to a Vango Halo which I never got the hang of pitching easily. The main reason why I'd bought the Halo in the first place was because of the two doors and not because of it's technical capabilities. As I am by choice a weekend fair weather camper, where if it is due to rain I simply don't go, then the flip side is that in a Polyester Mix fabric tent you can get put out of it when the sun comes up in the morning with the heat and stuffiness. One simple way to get a bit more of a lie in is two partially open both doors so that the breeze can get through. The Olpro Pop also has a silver reflective inside which is supposed to help with keeping the sun and light out. I think it is quite effective in this regard.

The Vango Halo is a great piece of kit, but I found that I lacked the strength to get the third pole in. The Halo has a Geodesic shape and so the third pole makes it very windproof. Where it wins over the Olpro Pop is in pack size, it is a tiny bag and great for cyclists, hikers and bikers. The Olpro Pop is unwieldy in comparison, the pack size is about the same as a cheap camping chair although it is great for car camping. I don't think it would do as well in the wind as the Halo. 

The Vango Halo is a technical tent designed to withstand harsh conditions, and it is unfair to compare the two. The Olpro Pop has never claimed to be a 'mountain' tent or a 'lightweight' tent, or indeed is it's price point indicative of a technical tent - but as a car camping fair weather or festival tent it is excellent.

credit: Olpro

To make up for it's pack size, the stuff sack does come with two padded rucksack type straps. This makes it fantasic for carrying into a festival for example, and the fact that the pegs are in a zipped pocket on the side of the bag means you have everything you need in one package. 

Initially I bought a green one, however it does come in green, orange and blue. When I bought a second one I fancied Orange.

I brought it to the Lake District where my nearly grown up son used it as a pup tent. He lived in it for two weeks and had no problem with the heat due to it's silver reflective interior. It also has two mesh windows which further helps to cool it down. I donated the green one to him as the start of his own camping kit and bought myself another one in Orange.

The Olpro Pop is meant to be a two berth but I think you could squeeze three roll mats in and so three young people, slim people or kids could sleep in this tent. I found that a single airbed of around about 70cm wide took up less than one half of the tent.  

Two 70cm airbeds with room to crawl in the middle

The only real issue  I had with it was to do with the doors. Many small tents have the same problem, The door is a 'D' door which hinges along the bottom rather than the top or side. That means that unless you take the time to roll and tie up the door every time you want to go in or out, the door and the inner door (there is a fly mesh also) gets stepped on or pulled when crawling across it. This has led to some minor damage on the fly mesh, and is also a trip hazard when getting in and out of the tent. But then if the hinge point was along the top instead then you would lose the ability to partially open the door under the shelter of the rain fly. 

The fly mesh is black and this means that if you want to zip up the fly mesh but not the door (when it is hot) there is still some privacy as long as you don't have the door open on the other side too.

I found a prefered way was to have the mesh closed on both sides but the outer door partially open at the top to let air through. The overhang of the outer part of the tent prevented rain from getting in through the top part of the door. 

The inner can be removed leaving the outer on it's own which could be used as a beach shelter for sun protection. The inner is attached with sturdy clips as is the separate ground sheet. The inner 'pod' has it's own sewn in groundsheet so there is essentially two layers underneath you. Being able to separate the tent can help dry it out quickly if you are in a hurry to pack up. On a particularly sunny morning in Langdale, in the Lake District, and after a rain soaked night, the Olpro Pop was separated and took about five minutes to dry so we could get on with packing up and leaving.  

On a holiday to Kinsale the year after going to the Lake District, I got caught in rain. Being away for a longer holiday where I had booked time off work and also considerably farther away from home, if it rained I was stuck with it. I found the tarp set up very useful for wetter weather and this also gave me somewhere to cook and read.

On this occasion I had my dog with me. She prefers to be in a crate when camping (it helps her settle at night). The tent successfully held my airbed, sleeping gear, the crate, my cooking gear and my chair folded up when my car broke down and I had to unpack my car completely to get the car to the garage.

 

All in all I would highly recommend this tent for car camping. I would recommend it for young people/children and couples and for solo travelers. It is very good for touring and changing camping spots frequently as it takes just two or three minutes to pitch and about five minutes to take down.

It is particularly suited to festival use. The orange colour in particular would stand out in a sea or green or blue tents at a festival.

Having two doors is a unique feature, and the only other tent that I have found that has this feature is the Vango Halo, which is a different league of tent altogether given that it is designed for adverse weather and lightweight travelling and has a price point a lot higher than the Olpro Pop. 

Pros

Very easy to pitch and take down
Surprisingly roomy inside
Great ventilation makes it a cool tent
Two doors opposite each other, can change which door you use as the 'main door' if the wind changes direction.
Two doors eliminates build up of heat.
Mesh inner door keeps the bugs out
The website is very good and makes the buying process very quick and easy

Cons

The bag could do with being a little bit bigger, it can be a challenge to get the tent back in the bag
The poles weakest point is the 'elbow' and looks like it could break - be careful!

Camping gear used on my road trip Summer 2017

This was my first long solo camping trip. The kids are no longer kids, in fact they are 19 and 20 years old and so therefore the only company I had was the dog, Coco. The plan was to travel light and move often, but car trouble meant I had a two destination trip in the end. 

I've had many weekends and overnight solo camping trips, and am well used with travelling alone and so that was not a worry for me, although it was a worry for the rest of my family. My main concern was when the car started giving me trouble, I was concerned I would have to call upon family to come and get me and since I was 6 hours away from home that was a big ask! However I am with the AA and I would recommend that any solo campers would take out breakdown insurance with whichever company you prefer. 

I brought a tent I had bought at the end of last year, which is in fact the same make and model as a tent I bought for my son to use as a 'Pup tent' when we went to England last year. I had bought the Olpro Pop which is a three person small dome tent, but I gave it to my son to use when he's at University. So I bought myself another one at £54.99 it is a relatively inexpensive tent, and I fancied a different colour so I bought the orange one. The choice is green, blue or orange. 

So the plan was to keep the majority of my camping gear in the car, and just keep the tent out for sleeping in. That meant when I wanted or needed a chair, I'd just reach into the boot and retrieve it. I also kept a big rectangular bag with lots of external pockets that is permanently packed out with lightweight cooking equipment, and dry goods. This all worked really well in good weather. 

In bad weather it was not so convenient. The tarp I had brought became really important in the rain, as I had a few rainy days in Garretstown House and to make it worse I was without a car so all that stuff I planned to keep in the car had to get crammed into a small tent along with me and the dog. One night there was thunderstorms, lighting and very heavy rain. In that small tent it was like the walls were closing in.

I pitched the tarp low over the tent with an overhang so I could get in and out of the tent without getting wet, as well as having a small porch to cook in. It wasn't much fun though and this was part of the reason I moved East. 

Later in the holiday, when the sun was a bit too hot, the same tarp was invaluable for shade. It was also useful to have the longer guy ropes for hanging towels on. 

Other camping equipment I used was a Vango camping chair, a three legged Decathlon Quechua stool, a Coleman Mini Table, a backpacker type stove and windshield and a Decathlon Quechua single airbed with foil backed foam mat underneath, Unfortunately the airbed had a slow leak which I repaired but that only meant it went down a bit more slowly again. I found that it was ok as long as I went to sleep straight away but in the morning I woke up on the floor. I tried to source a replacement but the shops in the holiday areas were so expensive for a single airbed I wouldn't buy it. So I just put up with blowing the airbed up every night and waking up on the floor every morning. 

Most of my camping gear in one pic.

Coco on a cooling gel pad, in her crate, with a blanket to keep her in the shade

Olpro Pop tent at Garretstown House, Co Cork

Shade from the tarp, at Dunmore East, Co Waterford

Walking boots, cool box for the pink fizzy cider and one comfy chair.

Dunmore East Campsite, Co Waterford

Looking up at the cliffs in one of the many coves around Dunmore East

For the second part of my holiday I went to Dunmore East. The reason was that I had been having intermittent car problems and although it had just been fixed, the issue was a 'trial and error' type fix and I wanted to be fairly close to a main route home. As Dunmore East is quite close to Waterford City, which itself is at the end of a motorway taking me to Dublin then home, then it made sense to go there. The area was also supposed to be warmer and drier with all the bad weather in the West. 

I went to Dunmore East Campsite which is associated with Dunmore Golf Club. The campsite is on the edge of the golf club grounds, although I did not have a direct view of the course from my pitch but it was on the other side of the bank. I arrived about 4pm to reception and found that the friendly welcome I had in Garretstown House was not to be replicated here. I did find the facilities very good and spotless, however there is more of a corporate air here and the staff really aren't that interested in the people who were using the campsite. They were busy so I was put in an overflow area which I was more than happy with. I had a more private pitch as a result. If I was here again, I would quite probably request this area again. 

My little orange tent with a tarp pitched over the top to help with the shade

pic credit to the ASCII website, they do accept ASCII cards here. This is the reception and amenity block.

Credit: Pitchup Website

View from the Clubhouse at Dunmore East Golf Club

seen from the Golf Club, a ship presumably carrying wind turbines

The village of Dunmore East is a historic port that is reminiscent of 'Doc Martin' which as you probably know, is a TV series filmed in Cornwall. It would be fair to say that this coast line has a Cornish feel, there's evidence of past copper mining and the coastline to the west of Dunmore is known as the Copper Coast. It's all very 'Poldark' with secret coves, towering cliffs and winding steps down to the shore. It is no surprise to find that geologically, this area shares much of it's mineral formations with the South West coast of England and therefore this is justifiably considered that this part of Ireland that is a bit like going to Cornwall, without all the Londoners. And to top it off, the weather here is so reliable that it is also known as the 'Sunny South East' of Ireland. 

I certainly had a good number of hot, sunny days - in fact it was really too much for me to bear! 

Copper Mining Works near Annestown, Co Waterford

The Strand Inn which is walking distance from the campsite (down a steep hill)

One of the many coves 

 This one is called the 'Mens Cove' 

That's one way to get down! No thanks....

The Strand Inn became a favourite place to hang out because of it's proximity to the campsite. There is a sort of unofficial route from the campsite that takes a shortcut to the road that leads down into the cove where the Strand Inn is situated. By going to the camping pitches that have the view across the bay, you'll find a gap in the fence. A well worn path across the field will lead to a gap in a hedge beside a gate. The campsite itself is at a much higher level than the village of Dunmore East, so therefore walking down is no problem...but walking back, well that's a different story! 

The Strand Inn does good breakfasts, however there are plenty of other places in the village of Dunmore to eat including two shops that sell Croissants and hot food. I found that the best fish and chips were in a place called O'Sheas which is beside the Fire Station. 

The Strand Inn, Dunmore East

Elsewhere, I visited the nearby village of Passage East, which is literally the name of the place. From it, you can get 'passage' in the form of a ferry, Eastwards! It is the sleepiest wee village and I suspect most people drive straight onto the ferry and don't explore the town. It was so pretty and I was struck by all the washing lines on top of the town wall beside the shingle beach. 

Passage East, the village that time forgot

Passage East, Washing lines beside the sea

To wind up this trip, I went to Waterford City and found a place to park up so I could explore for an hour before continuing on my journey home (which took 5 hours) through Dublin.

Reginalds Tower, Waterford City

This hotel (below) is under renovation and the owner has decorated the building with an image representing the struggle of mental health.

Hotel across the River Suir, Waterford City

Christchurch Cathedral, Waterford City