Hilleberg Nallo 2

Short, back wall often touches the fly, poor ventilation. Otherwise it's a solid tent for the weight, and has stood up to some pretty tough weather.

High quality tent. I only use it for winter camping. Really stands up to snow and wind. I like to dig out at the floor in the vestibule for a nice hang out spot.

Josh

I just returned from using my Nallo in the Canadian Rockies. Temperatures ranged from near freezing (33-35F) to the mid 40'sF. We had a good bit of rain and snow at night with no breeze at all. With 2 adults and one dog, there was no condensation inside the inner tent. The only condensation I could see was on the inside of the outer tent. I pitched the tent taut as suggested by Hilleberg, and only adjusted it after a snowfall. My Nallo has an inside rear vent near the ceiling, a roll-up vent at the bottom rear of the tent, and a vent near the top of the vestibule.

I consider this an extremely well-made tent worthy of all the mfgr claims. On this trip, I consider carrying the Nallo to be well worth the weight. Inside the tent, we used a Moonstone Lucid size L, and a Nunatak top bag sized for a 6-foot person. There was no problem with the 87" length of the tent. Unlike other tents I have tried, the advertised length is true and not overstated as I have found in other models.

Hmmm, I am curious…have Hilleberg lengthened the tent since my 2006 model? I'm 5'5" and my partner is 5'2". We both often find the foot of our bags end up against the end wall and get soaked. We have found away around this by inserting a tent peg or stick between the inner foot of the tent and outer fly of the tent. It may also be part of the problem comes from using DAMs. These raise you higher off the ground, making the steep angle of the foot of the tent that much more likely to touch and wet-out. That aside, the Nallo 2 is our preferred winter tent due to it's light and robust design. Jsut watch out for your feet!

> We both often find the foot of our bags end up against the end wall and get soaked.
The groundsheet is quoted at 220 cm. This is a common length for groundsheets. But you are right about the tapered roof at the end.

Two suggestions:
1) Use the stake loop in the middle of the end of the tent fairly aggressively. Pull it out a bit, even if that means moving the corners in by a cm or two. This will increase the clearance to the inner, and is especially important when there is a wind blowing the end bell inwards.
2) Put gear in silnylon stuff sacks at the windward end and put your mats at the door end. Yes, I know this is not as convenient … but it might be drier.

Both of these are things I had to implement after our experiences in 'When Things Go Wrong'.

Cheers

Hi David

Yep, you will touch the inner tent by my calculations.
Kaitum 2?

Cheers

I have just covered the foot end of my bag with my rain jacket. I have been using the Exped DAM so it does raise my bag up a bit.

At least I do not feel cramped for length in the Nallo as far as the length goes, in spite of the slant, like I do the MK1 XL.

Yes, you can go with the Kaitum 2 , but then the weight increases 1 lb 5 oz.

Disclosure – Yes, I am affiliated with Hilleberg, but am also a user.

Tell ya what. I'll set it up tomorrow and send you photos, of me inside, laying flat, in and out of a bag.

I really don't think it's an issue.

I know your feet won't touch.

Hey Charles

> I'll set it up tomorrow and send you photos,
We all want to see!

Cheers

I don't see that a little bit of touching by your bag on your tent wall is a big deal. My FF bag with a GT shell touched the inner walls of my Bibler Solo Dome and it never bothered me, but, that was a summer-early fall rig, bought for Sheep hunting.

I think that the Nallo 2 is one of the better choices for what David and Charlie want and it seems even lighter than my Soulo, which is my choice for a "do-all" backapcking tent. I have come to prefer a dome tent over any tunnel design,having used several of both styles.

The end touching is a problem if there is considerable condensation (which is frequent in a Nallo in calm weather). Even if you put your rain jacket, stuff sacks etc…at the end of the tent, the condensation wicking through can be significant, sometimes pooling on the tent floor. It is not a deal-breaker for what is an otherwise very fine tent, but is something to be aware of. Add in a DAM which raises the foot of the bag even more, and you have a problem which even affects us shorter folk. We always carry bivy bags, so it's not a major trauma for us.

Is there a slight amount of contact with the inner tent? Yes. I have a hard time understanding why an eVent rain jacket won't protect the foot of the bag from moisture absorption when a bivy will.

We spent a night in a Nallo 3 GT with myself and my two sons last winter, and I had my huge Valandre' Thor. The foot end of the bag did get wet from the condensation. (No covering on the bag). It was a calm night with no breeze and the temps were around 15 degrees F. The down seemed to be fine, meaning that the moisture just seemed to penetrate the surface of the bag and no more. It did not turn out to be a big deal. I just aired the bag out thoroughly and hung it up when I returned home. In the future I will been covering the end of the bag just to be safe.

I am located in Utah where the climate is generally dry. Condensation certainly will vary depending where one lives and if he/she is camping close to a water source.

Disclosure – I am affiliated with both Hilleberg and Valandre.

>The foot end of the bag did get wet from the condensation. (No covering on the bag). It was a calm night with no breeze and the temps were around 15 degrees F

Precisely. It's better to know of the potential issue before buying so that you can be mentally prepared for a damp foot, or choose another tent if it's a big deal. The Nallo is a fine tent, but the long slope of the back wall is a different design to most of the other tents we discuss and compare. It is really just about comparison. you would never get a wet foot in, eg a Double Rainbow (our summer tent), but it's a tarptent and not in the same category as the Nallo (our winter tent).

>I just aired the bag out thoroughly and hung it up when I returned home.

Not always possible on longer trips.

>In the future I will been covering the end of the bag just to be safe.

Yup.

>Condensation certainly will vary depending where one lives and if he/she is camping close to a water source.

New Zealand is a very challenging testing ground for any tent. As the song says :"Four seasons in one day". And most of the good camp spots are either right next to a river or on a windswept treeless mountain top! The Nallo really shines on the mountain top, but is prone to a lot of condensation when things are cool, calm and moist…

Interesting experiences from members both ways, problems with wet sleeping bags in the Nallo and those without. Getting feedback from other users is really good in making buying decisions, but sometimes one's own experiences are the best measure.

Personally, I consider an 87" length a bit short for my 6' length and I have had problems with wet foot before in other tents, but not the one time I used my Nallo in wet & calm conditions (snow & rain). Was it because I had the rear floor vent rolled up? There was certainly plenty of condensation on the underside of the outer tent. Was it because my sleeping quilt did not slide down to the rear of the tent? Was it because it was not cold enough at 33-34 degrees? Was it because I had a taut pitch as recommended? Could the results differ with back sleepers with big feet versus side sleepers? I might add that not only was my 5'5 wife sleeping in a size L bag, but our 55 lb dog spent a good bit of the night curled up in the bottom of her bag, and it was dry the next morning.

I do know that when I checked with REI, North Face and Mountain Hdwe some years ago there was no standard way to measure length. North Face, for example had no idea how this measurement was derived. Most reputable retailers will allow you to return an item that is not what it is claimed to be. I now measure the floor when I buy a tent to make sure it is accurate. I measure the flat surface only, and do not include the sides that make up the "bathtub" floor".

>Was it because I had the rear floor vent rolled up? There was certainly plenty of condensation on the underside of the outer tent. Was it because my sleeping quilt did not slide down to the rear of the tent? Was it because it was not cold enough at 33-34 degrees? Was it because I had a taut pitch as recommended? Could the results differ with back sleepers with big feet versus side sleepers?

All those things can have an effect, I'm sure. The comment RE: taught pitch is interesting. No matter how hard we pull the stakes out, the tent fly on OUR Nallo is usually touching the inner. This may be a defect, or because it's an older model and they've changed their design. This is why I place a stick or other item between the inner and fly at the foot end. It keeps the gap open a little better, but still not perfect.

That sounds like a defect. There should be a big gap between the inner and outer all round. I've used both the new style and the old style Nallo 2 (the one with same length poles) extensively and have never had any problems with the inner and outer touching.

>That sounds like a defect

Just our luck. We also once had a Warmlite 2RS with droopy inner walls. It was not nice as it made it hard to avoid touching the condensation on the walls. these kinds of defects really colour ones opinion of a piece of gear quite badly. However, unlike the Warmlite, we still like and use our Nallo2 in spite of the flaws.

Hilleberg are good with repairs and alterations. It could be worth contacting them. Without seeing the tent it's hard to know the problem but it's possible that the inner tent has been cut too big – I've seen that with other tents.

Good point about a possible defect, Chris. Looking at the 2008 tent review in Backpacker Magazine, I see many tents with less than an 87" length and I don't think the Nallo is any lower in the foot than many or most of those listed. Allison, my Nallo is also a 2006 model and it has good clearance between the inner and outer tents. Hilleberg does mention in their setup booklet that when first erecting the tent, the inner tent has a tendency to stick to the underside of the outer. They say that this will go away upon first use. That certainly was my experience. Anyway, thanks for the comments and good luck!

>Hilleberg are good with repairs and alterations. It could be worth contacting them

That is an understatement. When I was making my MYOG summer inner for our Nallo, I needed some of the toggles they use to match the loops on the fly. They send me a whole bunch of them, airmail, for free. Great service.

However, living in NZ, the cost of returning something like the Nallo (or Warmlite) for repairs is prohibitive, so we just live with it and adapt.

With the new version of Nallo tents, there is a rear guy line that attaches to the outer tent just above the rear zipper. This helps in pulling the outer tent away from the inner at the foot of the tent.

I have had three versions of Nallos and I like the latest version the best, one of the reasons being better ventilation.

I thought that this photo might be of benefit. The head-end of the airmat was all the way up to the doorway (entrance). the length of the DAM 9 DLX is 76", and the inner length of the Nallo is 87", thus the reason for the 11" space.

Disclosure: I am affiliated with Hilleberg.

You are absolutely right about the rear guyline on the bottom of the fly, Charles. That is what I used while keeping the ventilation at its maximum. Incidentally, that is featured on my 2006 model. It's too bad shipping costs are so expensive in NZ that returning a tent that costs as much as the Nallo is prohibitive. May be worth checking with Hilleberg to see what they can do.