4 Season One Person Tent - My shortlist and comparisons

[Son of a Beach]

Yet another tent topic!

I just want to use this topic as a reference for my shortlist of tents from which I'll probably buy one some time next year, and to ask for any opinions on the tents on the list (or suggested additions to the list). I'll probably update the shortlist of tents (and the list of priorities) as time goes by. I'll be interested to hear from anyone who can comment on these from personal experience, or who can correct me on any errors, etc. Feel free to suggest others.

My priorities are:

• handle all the weather Tasmania can throw at it, including strong winds, heavy rain and heavy snowfalls (strength, durability, ventilation)
• light weight (preferably under 2kg)
• cheap (preferably under $600)

Of course I realise I can't have all this in one tent, and therefore there will need to be compromises, but this is my ideal.

I only need a one person tent, but if a two (or more) person tent happened to fit the bill, then I'd be happy with the extra room (and would not need to have two tents!).

My list of tents so far is below. Note that I've already ruled some of these out, but I thought I'd include them here for completeness, as I did seriously consider them (and owned one for a while before selling it again).

Hilleberg Soulo
Pros

• Very strong and stable

Cons

• Expensive (~$750)
• Heavy (2.1 kg)

Hilleberg Nallo 2
Pros

• Strong and flexible
• Fits two people for only 2.1 kg packed weight

Cons

• Expensive (~$750)
• Heavy (2.1 kg)

Hilleberg Unna
Pros

• Strong and stable
• Cheaper (~$590)
• Quite spacious (for one)

Cons

• Heavy (2.1 kg)
• No vestibule

Tarptent Scarp 1
Pros

• Light (1.6 kg)
• Cheap (~$410?)

Cons

• Doesn't handle snow as well as I'd like

Macpac Minaret
Pros

• Strong and flexible
• Fits two people (one small though)

Cons

• Heavy (2.4 kg)
• Expensive ($750)

Hilleberg Akto
Pros

• Cheap (~$485)
• Light (1.6 kg)
• Quite spacious (for one)

Cons

• Doesn't handle heavy snow as well as I'd like

Exped Vela I (& variants)
Pros

• Cheap (~$475)
• Light (1.4 - 1.8 kg)

Cons

• Doesn't handle heavy snow as well as I'd like
• Occupies a large area on the ground

[Nuts]

..

[ninjapuppet]

Hi nuts.

The akto I bought from you was a good trustworthy tent, but i sold it for one of these http://www.alpineambitions.com/Alpine_Ambitions/Rocket_Tent.html
Here is another review by Kai Larson. http://www.larsonweb.com/shelter/id9.html
I strongly considered the 2010 sublite for its snow handling, but after abit of web research, i think this rocket is a keeper.
Detailed photos and review will come after 3 weeks of NZ field testing.

I have no field experience with it yet, but from what i can gather, if used as a 1 person tent:
Pros

• Light (just over 1.1 kg using your own trekking poles)
• quite spacious for a 1 person tent with decent vesibule
• min setup 3 pegs, maxium of 15 pegs can be used for super stability.
• advertised as a 2 person, so it can squeeze 2 people in if required.
• Packraft fits inside.

Cons

• fragile and easy to cut cuben fibre
• expensive - with footprint = $763.50 USD delivered.
• 97cm height. (still better than akto)

Unsure yet if a Pro or Con

• Matt Brooks (from Brooks Range) emailed me saying its been thoroughly tested in all harsh conditions and is superior to hillebergs in terms of rain/wind/snow handling. I owned 2 hillbergs and know this is a crazy claim to make, so I shall be a skeptic till i see it.
• Condensation. fabric is watertight but the 3 vents placed above where your head should be should disperse it most of it. Also has a massive door vent but i am yet to test this.

[ninjapuppet]

Nik

At current exchange rates, that soulo you wanted from Moontrail is only $622 USD at $550 + $72 shipping
you can even get a whisperlite stove with the bonus, so I think total cost can easily come down to $500 AUD if you sell that whisperlite.

They're going for over $500 on ebay US and UK, (like that one i showed you last week) so i think its worth it to buy new.
Common, you know you want it.... $500 smackeroos


EDIT: OOOPS!, turns out i was wrong because Moontrail dont ship out MSR goods. i'm afraid its still stuck at $622 then

[Son of a Beach]

If I had the money now ... . No, it needs to wait until next year and I'll be using the bigger 2 man tent until then.

[alliecat]

Hadn't noticed this thread til just now...

Have you considered a pyramid style tent? They probably have best space/weight ratio, can handle wind, rain, and snow and can be quite affordable relative to some of the other options.
If you are comfortable in a bivy, something like a duomoid + superlite bivy from MLD is worth considering. If you don't like bivies (like me) there are a few inner tent options too.

Worth a think IMHO.

Cheers,
Alliecat

[Son of a Beach]

Yes, they do look very good. I don't use a walking pole and a lot of them seem to depend on them, but I haven't looked close enough at them. It would be a big change for me and I admit that I'm very stuck in my ways but I should look into them more seriously. Feel free to suggest some models to me that would suit my criteria (above) for winter in Tassie.

[Nuts]

..

[alliecat]

Yes, they do look very good. I don't use a walking pole and a lot of them seem to depend on them, but I haven't looked close enough at them. It would be a big change for me and I admit that I'm very stuck in my ways but I should look into them more seriously. Feel free to suggest some models to me that would suit my criteria (above) for winter in Tassie.

Well, as Nuts said, the golite shangri-la3 is a great place to start, though probably overkill for one person. The pole they sell is 320g. You could buy a sinlge walking pole and use that instead.

A bit lighter is the MLD mids. A DuoMid with a solo or duo inner tent, or a bivy, is a really lightweight robust option. The SoloMid is lighter, but doesn't have as many tieout points so isn't as good in the wind - for the small extra weight the DuoMid is a much better option. A slightly non-traditional mid design is the Trailstar which is garnering quite a following in the UK with lots of good reports.

The MLD inner tents are all mesh, but the guy from BearPaw Tents makes an inner that can have solid walls up as high as you like. According to reports, he does really good affordable custom work too, so he could put together a custom inner to suit your requirements.

Oware USAdo pyramids too - though their website is truly terrible to navigate.

Then there's the pyramid-like solo tents, like the six moon designs lunar solo, the zpacks hexamid, nemo meta1, ... I'm not sure I'd consider any of them truly "4-season" though.

Good luck shopping!

Alliecat

[Son of a Beach]

Thanks guys for the suggestions. I will have to look into them more seriously if/when I'm ready to buy (probably not until late next year at the earliest).

[Drifting]

Hey Nik, what do you think about using the Dixon 2 person Bivy bag and a really small tarp? You could cram all your gear in there with you, or rig up some sort of little pole and make it a tent.

http://www.owareusa.com/

[Son of a Beach]

Hmm can't get that web page to load right now, but will check it out later.

So far I've not been convinced that a tarp/bivvy offers any benefits over a light weight tent, and usually has less wriggle room, but again, I have to admit that I haven't looked into it seriously.

[Drifting]

Well same here- but this one is a 2 person Bivy

Two person bivysack - the Dixon Double,
This version is Pertex Quantum top
(in a smooth taffeta weave) and ripstop Silicone nylon* bottom.
Roomy for two people 6'+ tall with bathtub floor and
room for your bag to loft.
Integral Thruhiker.com "nanoseeum" netting closes with #5 cross chest zipper
3 tie outs over face and one at each bottom corner.
Velcro tabs secure face opening.
Rectangular footbox
Weighs 11 oz. including Cuben Fiber stuffsack.
That works out to 5.5 oz. per person for extra breathable bug,
wind, dust, ground moisture and spray protection.
Black top, grey bottom.

free pad- upgrade you and your mate's sleeping system
for the shoulder season with a Dixon Double Bivy Sack and get a free
two person sleeping pad to augment your summer gear with an R value of
.689. All orders placed for the Dixon Double will get the foam included free.

[Drifting]

http://www.prolitegear.com/integral-des ... ibule.html
and
http://www.prolitegear.com/pl_ig_southcolbiv.html


OR this one, which looks pretty expensive

http://www.prolitegear.com/rab-summit-s ... -bivi.html

[MJD]

I got a Terra Nova Laser Competition US$299 + footprint US$45 + postage recently. Very, very roomy. Very light. Nicely made. Pretty easy to set up (in the backyard). Has been out once: Pandani Shelf, pitched on 50cms of packed snow - I did have to dig down to get the pegs into the ground. I also bought some real pegs (MSR) when I got the tent as the ones that come with it are very light and more suitable for use as a toothpick - the supplied pegs get quite a lot of criticism in reviews.) The fly, inner tent and footprint all pitch together, which is really nice. It's about to get a real test as a group of us head off for nine days in the wilderness.

[matthias]

I'm also thinking about buying a new 1 person tent for travels next year. I have a Vango Helium 100 at the moment and it's ok, I only wish it was a little big bigger, so I might sell it and buy the Helium 200 Superlite. I'm quite happy with the quality and structure of the 100. The only thing I could criticise is that you can't really sit in there, but then it's a 1 kg tent. Not sure how it handles snow and ice, but that's not where I'm heading.

http://www.vango.co.uk/force-ten/helium-superlite-200.html
http://blog.cheaptents.com/vango-helium-superlite-review/

[Maelgwn]

Macpac Microlight?

I am sure you have seen them. It will handle any storm the Scarp 1 or Vela can handle. I think the walls are a bit steep than an Akto so should be ok with sticky wet Australian "snow"?

The only thing is it is kinda small. I am guessing you are over 6 foot and ruled it out for this reason?

[ILUVSWTAS]

I believe the microlight suffers badly from condensation, also the vestible isnt very big, not much room for cooking in lousy weather.

[ollster]

I believe the microlight suffers badly from condensation, also the vestible isnt very big, not much room for cooking in lousy weather.

Quite frankly, it's tiny and not very liveable. I checked it out when I got my Hubba HP, and it's just not a very nice tent design IMO.

[ILUVSWTAS]

I think Rohan had one for a short time, found the same problem Ollster, then got an Akto.

[etrangere]

I own a Microlight and after a trip to central australia and back having to belt pegs into rock hard ground has made me consider ditching it and consider something freestanding like the Hubba HP. Mesh only at the top to prevent dust/sand getting into the tent, and also the top cross pole means the inner walls are verticle and create a better living space. I found in the Microlight the sloping/angle of the walls made it too easy to rub shoulder/head against the outer fly and get wet from the condensation. After looking at alot of reviews online the only negatives on the Hubba HP was the siliconised fly becoming sticky and that was owner error by storing it wet or in a car boot in hot weather, which would happen to any siliconised tent.

[ollster]

the only negatives on the Hubba HP was the siliconised fly becoming sticky and that was owner error by storing it wet or in a car boot in hot weather, which would happen to any siliconised tent.

The fly is fine, although it does tend to get sticky, hardly a problem. For me it could be another 10cms wider across the shoulders, and have a few more guy anchor points... apart from that it's pretty good. Performs quite well in high winds when properly staked down. Oh, and the mesh ceiling is just stupid, it should be solid. That's one mod I'm going to get done by a tent maker. And the pegs are tiny, so I use longer aluminium stakes combined with the supplied pegs.

[flyfisher]

Two of our group used to own microlights, but they sold them off due to condensation and lack of room.

I've got a Neutrino 1 but cant handle the lack of space, nowhere to put the pack under cover etc. but very light and quite weatherproof.'

See how the hubba hubba hp compares on the next trip.

ff

[Franco]

the Hubba HP was the siliconised fly becoming sticky and that was owner error by storing it wet or in a car boot in hot weather, which would happen to any siliconised tent.

Nope...
The sticky bit is the PU coating , nothing to do with silnylon.
Some manufacturers choose to use PU coating (on the underside of siliconised nylon) to increase the waterhead, however there is a downside to it.
Franco

[etrangere]

What other downsides are there to the PU coating on the inner side?

[Franco]

Extra weight...
No other downsides that I know, the point is all all about swings and roundabouts.

Franco

[blacksheep]

What other downsides are there to the PU coating on the inner side?

PU fabrics can be seam taped, si/si nylon cannot.

[DanH]

also ... like with most things I guess.. there is PU and there is good PU... the PU on cheap tents/packs seems to suffer from hydrolysis ie get sticky a lot quicker than better brands... one of the better stores here ditched a range of cheaper tents they were carrying because of this... I have also read on one very expensive tent manufacturers site of a POLYETHER-based polyurethane coating chemistry that is claimed to be very good in resisting this.
I still use an old Mont pack that uses a PU backed spectra grid fabric that is going strong so maybe you just need to pay more?!

[Franco]

Recently a very well known and respected manufacturer has had trouble with that.
But I have read comments on "correctly dried and stored" shelters that have become sticky after not that long use.
Of course 30 years of retailing has taught me that sometimes customers descriptions do not match reality.
The only tent fabric/laminate that has no downsides at all is Unobtanium.
I see if I can get a shelter made from that.
Franco

[Drifting]

Nik- just to resurrect this thread from the archives- did you ever make a choice?