Easton Kilo 1 Person–Brief Review

[Christopher Kuzak]

I acquired the Kilo 1-person this week. Tried to find as much information as I could online before I bought it, but there wasn't a lot. The few pictures I looked at told me a few things–it appeared to have tight head and shoulder room but a decent vestibule for a 1-man–but ultimately I had to fly blind. So, below, for those of you interested, are my weigh-in and backyard set up results. Notably, I've rounded weights up to the nearest ounce since I have an old fashioned kitchen scale, but noted parenthetically what the actual weight appears to be closer to.

Weights:
Weight out of the box with paperwork and tags still in the tent bag: 2 lbs 4 oz
Weight with eight stakes (and stake repair piece, airlock connector repair piece, little fabric square), two guy lines, tent, pole, fly, and component bags: 2 lbs 1 oz
Eight stakes: 3 oz (more like 2.5)
Pole: 4 oz (more like 3.5)
Tent: 14 oz (more like 13.5)
Fly: 12 oz (more like 11.5)
Bags: 1 oz
Guy lines and pole repair piece barely moved the needle and definitely came in under an ounce.

Set up impressions:

The tent definitely has nice floor space for a 1-man, but it's tight in terms of head and shoulder room, particularly if one is six feet (which I am) or above. Measuring things, I got about 89 inches long, 36 inches wide at the tent's widest floor point, and about 39 inches tall at the tallest point. Sitting up in the center of the tent, if I moved at all, my head touched the tent walls, as did my shoulders. I had plenty of room lying down though, much more than in my old REI T1 Quarter Dome.

The actual set up of the tent was pretty easy, including putting the fly on. What surprised me was the vestibule space–I could easily fit my backpack in it. There was plenty of room for entry and exit without having to shove stuff to the side, which is something I would have to do with my Quarter Dome.

On the flip side, what concerns me a little about the tent is the lack of shoulder room combined with the way the fly rests on the tent. Because the tent has sort of a strange triangular configuration, the fly is pretty close to the backside of the tent itself. I experimented with various things to make the fly stand off the tent, like putting the guy lines on and changing the position of the stakes, but just could not get it to really stand off the body. My fear is that this could be kind of crappy in a condensation or rain situation, but obviously I'll have to give it a real world test to know for sure. An extra guy point on the back of the fly would probably resolve this issue, assuming it is an issue at all.

In sum, I like the weight of the tent, the floor space, and the vestibule, but do have a concern about the head/shoulder room fly "issue". Pics below.

[David Ure]

Thanks for posting this. The weight is quite excellent given the floor space but you did confirm the tightness of the head and shoulder area.

[mik matra]

Man I've been doing some searching for a solo tent for my 6"4' frame and this shelter made the last 6 on my list. I actually opted away from it as in storm/windy conditions I thought this tent would really suffer. If Easton made the base width wider at only a small penalty cost that would make this tent a far mmore attractive buy for me. I went with a TT Rainbow ordered late last night. The tent, inside liner (for condensation) all stakes and groundcover comes to a claimed 1193grams. I'm happy with that. Hope I'll be happy with the tent :).

[diego dean]

Thanks for the review, your right there is not much info out there on this tent. Question, when younsay not much headroom and shoulder room, do you mean when sitting up or laying down or both. Im 6'2 and wondering what it would be like laying down with a long bag. Cant stand it when they touch the sides, but its hard to find a long light weight solo tent that doesnt utilize trekking poles.

[Christopher Kuzak]

When I was lying down, I had a decent amount of room, and I'm six feet. It was sitting up where I had the "issue". The tent slopes pretty dramatically and is shaped a bit funny. The fly doesn't really stand off the backside of the tent. In condensation conditions, you could get wet, or at least wetter than you want to be, particularly if the fly droops inwards and you have even less room to move. An extra guy point on the back of the fly or an extra staking point on the rear of the tent could make all the difference. Frankly, I sort of feel that Easton was trying to go for something lighter than the Fly Creek, but maybe pulled it off at the cost an improved design.

The above being said, I need to give the tent a real world try before I come to a firm conclusion. It is a one-man tent and I certainly do not expect luxury.

[Raquel Rascal]

I saw this tent for $200 on Gear Trade so I snatched it up and tested in the Rockies this weekend. The temps were in the 30's at night and the fly/bathtub design did trap some heat inside. I'm 5'10" and I found the tent to be very roomy when lying down. I was completely stretched out and there was plenty of room to store all kinds of gear on the floor around me. I placed my pack under my sleeping pad to elevate my head, so I had no need to use the vestibule other than storing my light hikers.

Regarding the head room situation- even at my height, siting on a Small Exped UL synmat, my head was hitting the mesh liner while changing clothes. But, it didn't bother me- and I didn't have to bend my head down.

I really enjoyed the 2 lb. weight in my pack and the privacy of having my own tent to just be me. :)

Unfortunately, I didn't get to test it in the rain or high wind conditions…but I promise a follow up as soon as I do.

Hoping at the very least this will be a great tent for windy & dry conditions. This is the review backcountry.com that encouraged me to buy the tent:

http://www.backcountry.com/easton-mountain-products-kilo-tent-1-person-3-season

[Art …]

I'm currently looking at the Easton Kilo 2, as an ultralight 2 man tent.

your review, even though for the Kilo 1, was helpful.

[jscott]

I own the BA Fly Creek. One great thing about its design is the way the center and front poles keep the fly from coming down onto the inner mesh.Also, there's a guy-out on both sides that also keep the fly from the mesh. Just brilliant. Some people don't like the number of stakes that it requires; I've had some issues with the zippers. But the tent weight is identical I think to the Easton Kilo.

[Dave Heiss]

Keep us informed about how the Kilo 1 feels and holds up during use. I'm 6'2" and may be pushing the outer limits for comfortable use of this tent, but I remember about 10 years ago looking at a similarly designed tent – the North Face Canyonlands.

Back then I ended up buying a MSR Zoid 1, but I remember liking the single hoop design of the Canyonlands and didn't think the narrowing toward the apex was much of a problem – just sit sidways so your shoulders align with the long axis of the tent and (at least when I sat in the Canyonlands) there was plenty of room to undress/dress.

One question for you. Is the Kilo 1's bathtub floor also silnylon, or is it urethane coated nylon?

Edit: I checked and the floor is PU coated nylon. Only the fly is silnylon. On the plus side, that means there's probably no need to paint the floor with extra silicone to reduce slippery-ness.

[Raquel Rascal]

I took the Easton Kilo 1P out for a run in some dry fall conditions in the Rockies.

Temps: Low 5* F

Winds: Up to 30 MPH winds

Snow depth: About 6" and it snowed lightly during the night.

Elevation: 11,600 exposed (I didn't pick the location, my hiking partners did!)

Winter sleep system: Thermarest Prolite, Synmat UL7, new generation military gortex bivy, Enlightened Equipment 10* overstuff quilt, RAB Infinity down jacket, military synthetic insulating liner pants

I guyed it out and it held up to the night winds well. However, when the strongest gusts came through the mesh inner blew up against my bivy.

This tent could not be used in winter with higher winds without a killer bivy. The bivy made the difference–I slept like a baby. Only a little condensation on the bivy near my mouth. None in the tent due to high ventilation with mesh lining.

The snow sloughed off during the night.

I'll take it out again this winter and build some snow walls around it if I'm expecting those winds again. I'll also pick a more sheltered pitching location at a lower elevation. I won't take it out if I'm expecting a big dump though!

One problem: The new Easton pole design didn't like the cold weather. When I was taking the tent down, I was undoing the poles and one of the plastic attachments came apart. I shoved it back in there and it seems okay now, but I will contact Easton about it…

Another point: The height of the two pads made it a little more uncomfortable when I had to sit up to fuss with clothing due to the added height. My head was bent over while changing because it was hitting the mesh liner.

[Christopher Kuzak]

Got a couple chances to use the Kilo 1P over the summer. While my backyard impressions from my initial review were right–the walls are pretty narrow and my head and shoulders certainly touched them when changing etc.–I really liked using the tent overall. It provided plenty of floor space to sleep comfortably while storing a few items. My boots and bag fit nicely under the vestibule when I chose to actually put them there. As for condensation, as expected, I did get a few drops on me while moving around in the tent in the morning, but nothing too dramatic.

For the weight and price (I paid $279 I think), this is a pretty great little tent so far. I know I could do a lot worse–and have.

Oh, forgot to add, I did break a stake, or rather it broke when I was pulling it out of the ground when I was at Jackstraw Springs in San Gorgonio Wilderness. Haven't gotten around to sending it in yet, but the Easton folks did say they'd replace it for me.

[Lee Oz]

Hopefully I'm not breaking any rules, just giving the heads up as I just received the promotion email and found this thread while looking for reviews.
They have this particular tent for $165 with footprint (as in the title) as of now. Maybe this information will help someone.

Link: http://www.leftlanesports.com/Product.aspx?l=00010770112500000000&p=EAS01235&et=lls

[Mark Cashmere]

That is a great deal for this tent. If I didn't already own one I would be all over this.

That being said, maybe the OP or anyone else who is currently using this tent can help me answer one thing regarding the pitching. I am so tossed about this tent since I like the weight, the ease of setup and the overall footprint space (not larger, but adequate) over my BA CS1, but I can't seem to fall in love with the single pole pitch and pull outs. It always seems that the tighter I try to make the pitch, the more the single carbon pole flexes downward and collapses the netting, especially on the backside. The tiny Velcro attachment tabs to attach the pole to the netting are almost useless and they don't help the top ridge at all from shifting the pole off the seam. I have switched to putting my head at the end away from the door which has helped dramatically. Could just be the lack of substantial pole structure (an obvious weight benefit here) is the root of the cause. Feels like this almost should have been a sleeve-pole design instead of clips and that might have helped a little.

Anyone have any other thoughts or tips?

TIA

[Zach Baker]

Use RETAIL100 for 10% off and mrrebates for another 6%. Just ordered for $155 shipped.

[Christopher Kuzak]

Mark Cashmere,

I know what you're saying. I found sleeping opposite the way you're "supposed to"–with my head at the foot of the tent–works better in terms of headroom. In terms of pitching, I've found that staking the corners of the tent out good sort of helps, but as you note, it's difficult to get an exact "seam" pitch, especially if you pitch it tight. I stopped thinking about it on my last trip and all went well.

I paid $279 for the tent and am glad I didn't pay full price. Is it the best? No. But it's pretty darn great for the weight at sub-$300. Plus, it has other positives, like a good vestibule, plenty of room to stash things inside of it, and a stronger/heavier floor material than other lightweight tents so you can ditch a ground cloth (at least as my ignorant self interprets these things).

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Raquel

> one of the plastic attachments came apart. I shoved it back in there a
Does no harm. It's just a fancy connector system Easton came up with.

Cheers

[Mark Cashmere]

Thanks for the response Chris, I really am happy with the tent overall. I got it for about the price you did as well, just wondering if there was some trick I was missing that you might have figured out in your tent usage. It does seem that a simple binder clip or small hardware clamp used on the inside at the ridge to 'scrunch' up the netting would recreate the tautness that the tent loses from the downward pressure of the fly on the pole, but I have been remiss to try anything like that yet in fear that I might damage the netting. Something I will have to experiment with carefully.

[David Ure]

How do you get into it without letting rain in?

Regardless, rumor has it that it will be replaced in 2013 with a new model.

[Christopher Kuzak]

While I haven't had it in a downpour yet, I did get some drops one night and had no problem at all with water getting in. There's a pretty generous vestibule for a solo tent.

Man, a new model in 2013? That's why it's on sale so cheap. I'm betting they adjusted the rear portion of the tent to keep the fly off the inner. Maybe Easton made it a bit lighter too.

[David Ure]

Hi Chris – I am not sure if this will be an addition to or a replacement to the Kilo 1P. I did send them a note a while back and they mentioned a cross pole. I didn't investigate further.

However, there are some pics floating around of a prototype 1P:

[Christopher Kuzak]

Interesting. It looks more like my old T1 Quarter Dome shape. Perhaps Easton is trying to add an extra pole but cut down on weight by eliminating the triangular configuration of the present tent? That somewhat flat spot on the top of the fly is a bit of a concern since it appears water could puddle up there. Will be interesting to see what comes of it.

[Franco Darioli]

Flat spot ?
Where ?

[Nick Gatel]

Franco

I think the comment was in reference to the picture David posted with 2 poles.

[Franco Darioli]

Thanks.
Somehow I missed that shot…

[Sean Heenan]

Thanks for the heads up. I've been looking for a light weight 1 person tent and had considered this tent but eliminated because of unknowns and cost.
Then this thread popped up and then the price at left lane and I thought that it must be devine intervention so I bought it. Thanks.

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