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There was a lot of excitement in the office when this tent was first seen on a computer screen. There are many 2 person tents on the market that boast the same qualities that differentiate a bikepacking tent from a regular backpacking tent. The main differences being shorter poles and the ability to attach the tent to the bike. What distinguishes the  Sea to Summit Telos TR2 Bike …

The Hilleberg Soulo is well known for being a tough dependable tent able to withstand harsh weather conditions throughout all seasons. Although the Soulo has been around for quite a while now this is our first time using this shelter. Weight and the obviously high price tag have always been a reason for us to choose elsewhere. Although, from what we have been told from those who o …

I was off on a quick one-night visit to the lakes, my plan was to pitch late, leave early, bag a summit, then back home to feed the cats. So, I was travelling fast and light, I wanted to enjoy my time at camp, so wanted a roomie tent with some liveable features. We had just got the new  Dagger OSMO 2P Tent in stock, so it was perfect timing to try out this brand-new tent! I arriv …

When we first saw the specifications for the  Wechsel Bella tent we couldn’t wait to try one. There are so few freestanding tents with external poles that are also lightweight. On paper, the Bella looked like a perfect 3 season tent for the UK. The advantage with the use of external poles for the UK is the ability to pitch the tent as one. It’s often wet when camping in Northern …

The FreeLite series gets a makeover and is now lighter than its predecessors. Poles weigh 226g Flysheets weigh 416g Inner tent weighs 338g Total weight 980g The tent I was given to test has a dark flysheet but this didn’t seem gloomy in any way. We camped in high summer and the weather was good so the tent hasn’t had a long term test nor tested in stormy conditions. …

The  Black Diamond Distance tent is a good example of the kind of tent I look out for – it’s spacious for one person (although Black Diamond says it’s a two-person), has a good head height and is very lightweight. It achieves its lightweight tag by being single skin and utilising your trekking poles as its support structure. Also, there’s no porch for storing gear – so using the …

The VLT from Gram-Counter Gear is a single skin tent, saving on weight and bulk through less fabric being used. This concept has been popular for some time now and it just so happens our introduction to single skin tents came a few years ago from the designer of this very shelter, so we were obviously very eager to see how the VLT would perform for us in Scotland. The name VLT simpl …

The Big Agnes Platinum series tent use the lightest of materials to get down to astonishingly low weights at 1113grams for a three person, two skin, two door, spacious shelter. My main reason for taking this tent on the Tour of the Matterhorn was to assess its robustness, not so much a long-term durability test but an out-of-the-box assessment of whether the tent was up to the rigours …

Sea to Summit have thought about the design of the Alto tents very carefully trying not to recreate what’s already available and fans of the brand will not be disappointed with this tent. We took the Plus version out for a three-day backpacking trip at the beginning of April when the weather was very cold but quite clear. The cold conditions (sub zeroC) required largish sleeping bags an …

When Nigor folded as a company the product designs were taken up by Bach, already a well-known rucksack brand. Bach has taken the designs and added these largely unchanged shelters to its offering. A key USP for Nigor was the use of ‘Nylon 6.6’ as opposed to standard Nylon 6 used by most manufacturers and Bach has continued with this type of nylon. It is significantly better than the …

As a well-seasoned bike-packer, I have mastered the art of strapping cargo onto my bike and into various packs, panniers and pouches for multi-day travels. So, when I got the opportunity to test the Nemo Dragonfly Bikepack 2P, a 2-person, bike-packing specific tent, I jumped at the chance to see for myself if this could be a game-changer or just a gimmick to jump on the bandwagon fol …

As the weight and appearance would suggest the High Side 3000 1P tent from Sierra Designs is built with fast travel in mind, making its way into our pack for packrafting, bikepacking, and wild camping amongst some of Scotland’s remote mountain areas. At just over 1kg (110 grams extra with footprint) it fits into the lightweight category rather than ultralight. It might then seem odd …