Easton Kilo Tent

[lyndoor]

This piqued my interest, what do you think?

This two person/3 season tent weighs just under a kilo.Weight saving is in the new design of their poles (Carbon ION™ with AirLock™ connection system) which are up to 56% lighter than present lightweight aluminium poles & fabric is considerably lighter.I don't think it will be available in the Southern Hemp until early next year & is about $US400.

http://www.eastonmountainproducts.com/tent/kilo-tent

Easton Kilo Tent.jpg (8.67 KiB) Viewed 8459 times

[crockle]

Looks very interesting! (and I didn't even know Easton made their own tents).
Certainly seems very light for the space on offer
I couldn't get the "AirLock™" video from the Easton site to run on this computer, so am none the wiser on that feature .
I'm adding it to my "shelters to investigate" list.

[cams]

The entry doesn't look very good for wet weather.

Crockle. I think the airlock system has to do with the way the poles hold together. Instead of a shock cord running the length of the pole there are small interlock bits just at the ends of each section. They reackon this saves alot of weight. Along with the pole materials.

[Franco]

This page explains the Air Lock
http://eastonmountainproducts.com/innovation/air-lock
Franco

[lyndoor]

Thanks Franco for that link & Cams that point about entry is probably valid. It's all about weight saving, what is workable & practical, isn't it.

[nickL]

i have been looking at this tent with great interest

i wonder if you can enter by drawing back a side and keep the front (door ) panel closed

the other thing i liked was the high floor sides

franco was wondering as a guide (as i have a tarptent ) how the materials used on the fly and floor rate in terms of water resistance and strength? - i have no concept of what 30d means

are there any thoughts of the strength of the carbon poles?

are the poles field repairable?

cheers

nick

[flatfoot]

Looks like a great tent but agree that the protection for entry in wet weather looks to be problematic.

[Franco]

"i wonder if you can enter by drawing back a side and keep the front (door ) panel closed"
When you look at the picture with the fly on it gives the impression of a deep vestibule.
However if you look at the position of the hoop pole (middle of the side) , in the inner only shot , you can see that the vestibule is not that deep.
(note that the apex point for the inner and fly is the same).

The fly is 20 denier rated at 1500mm . It is silnylon with a PU coating applied. That takes the +/_ 1200mm standard silnylon to the 1500mm quoted.
Denier and waterproofing are not directly related.

Not sure about those poles. They look a bit too complex (IE not easy to repair..) for my liking.
For bent sections I think that aluminium is still a better choice.
But that largly depends on exactly how the CF are made so these ones could be more flexible than the previous offering.
Franco

[lyndoor]

Hi NickL

All I did to workout the fabric quality was to compare it with the "specs" of one I already have. I compared it to my MSR Positron & overall it was close to half the denier rating for memory. Does that mean half as reliable strengthwise & resistance to the elements,mmm, I don't know? They gave it a "3 seasons" rating.

Makes you wonder where the compromises have been made. Is shock cord that heavy?!

Still, I'll be interested in it's reviews when they come through.

[nickL]

thanks guys for answering my questions

if i designed this tent i would have made the tope pole go over the end of hte tent to extend the vestibule and attach into two walking poles - would add stability and you could radically increase the vestibule size

i am still intrigued by the tent though - i am trying to convince someone to fork out the money for it so i can check it out

i agree, i cant understand where they have made the weight savings to get this size and double skin under one kilo

nick

[Orion]

i cant understand where they have made the weight savings to get this size and double skin under one kilo

It's the poles. Their design reduces the total length of pole in the tent and they utilize their new pole technology which is a lot lighter. According to what I've read, both poles together weigh a total of 150g. Compare that to a typical two-man three season tent. For example, with the BD Lighthouse tent (DAC Featherlite aluminum poles), each of the two main poles weighs over 190g.

If you pair their new poles with ultra-light designs and skimpy fabrics it will save gram counters even more weight... with additional cost of course.


Franco -- is Tarptent considering offering tents with these poles?

[Franco]

is Tarptent considering offering tents with these poles?
Those poles are not avaliable yet . Henry is always keeping an eye out for new poles and new fabrics but those are not on the list right now.
Franco

[kenny12]

I would be interested in upgrading my rainbow with these tent poles if the option became available.

[Franco]

I will be following with interest what happens with the poles in the Kilo because there are a couple of segments there that will be under some good stress.
For now the weight saving between the Fibraplex and the 344 Easton for the Rainbow (less than 20% from memory) is not worth (IMHO and Henry's) the bother.
Franco