Easton Kilo

Setup the Kilo for real yesterday. Here's my initial non-real-world test impressions:

The setup was pretty quick, the carbon fiber poles came together easily, but I did have to adjust the fly a couple times to get it right. The tent's not freestanding. It takes a minimum of 7 stakes to set it up, though I think one could get away with 5, particularly if the weather is nice. Like Randy, I found the tent to be pretty sturdy, especially with the fly on. It did not seem weak or compromised in any noticeable way and I pulled and pushed it from various directions. Obviously, it would need to be guyed out in gale force winds, but so would most tents. The grass was a bit wet when I set the tent up, but I got no floor seepage when sitting or kneeling in it.

As for space, I got about 50 inches at its widest point, 39 inches at its tallest. I am 6 feet and could sit up in it without my head touching the tallest point of the tent, though just barely. It'd be a tight fit for two average size adult males, but would work for a couple nights.

I found the vestibule to be oddly shaped, but there was enough room to store my backpack in one of the triangular vestibule "side pockets" and my shoes in the other. I measured about a foot of space from tent to fly in these side pockets. My guess is they allow one to tuck stuff away while leaving space for an easy entry/exit from the tent. I measured a little over a foot space from the front of the tent to the fly so there is room there for stuff too, though you'd have to shove it to the side to get out or in.

As of now I see no obvious ugly deficiencies with this tent. Maybe the two poles could be clipped together when the fly is not on just for extra sturdiness, but that's a minor detail. If one is looking for a truly lightweight tent option, so far this feels like a good way to go.

Nice pics. In that last picture the door looks pretty well protected from falling rain….better than I expected.

Overall the tent looks sweet. I just wish they made a 2.5 person version.

I am sure a 2.5 version will be forthcoming if this version of the kilo sells well enough.
The rain issue is one of the reasons I just could not go for the fly creek ul 1. I just saw too much about water dripping into the tent online. There is definitely fly protection for the front entry with the kilo. Enough that I forgot to even mention it in the above. Obviously real world testing will be the true tell though.

Thanks for sharing the photographs and your impressions on this shelter. Hopefully it'll be a success and Easton will continue to develop it. As Dan said, give us a 2.5 person version. That'd be sweet.

I can't seem to find anywhere online to buy it?

Perhaps Easton was listening to our comments :)

For 2012, Easton is releasing both 1 man and 3 man versions of the Kilo. The Kilo 1p is 846g (1.8 lbs?)

The 3 man tent is supposed to weigh 3.0 lbs (fly + inner + poles). That's about 0.4 lbs lighter than my Big Agnes Fly Creek UL3 and it's got a more waterproof floor too. It might be time for a new tent for next summer. The door still looks vulnerable to falling rain, but so is my current tent so no change there.

Key points seem to be:
– 3.0lbs min weight (3.5 lbs max weight)
– 70" x 93" floor
– 2500mm waterproof floor rating.
– single door, single vestibule
– vestibule looks pretty small.

http://hrxxlight.com/?p=1305

Thanks for posting this Dan!

The 2.5-person version. Really just good for two anyway you look at it.

"Key points seem to be:
– 3.0lbs min weight (3.5 lbs max weight)
– 70" x 93" floor
– 2500mm waterproof floor rating.
– single door, single vestibule
– vestibule looks pretty small."

Looks good until you read the fine print and find out the head room is only 30". :(

Where do you see headroom is only 30"? That seems hard to believe. That diagram shows the vestibule size as 30", not the height of the tent.

"That diagram shows the vestibule size as 30", not the height of the tent."

Oops, you're right, Dan. As is often the case, I misread the fine print.

Dan – do you know when these will be available?

Dan mentioned that the Kilo couldn't be set up fly first and THAT'S a deal breaker for me.

C'mon, at $400. it should be as well engineered as a Hilleberg tent. Inner tent up 1st is SO '80s tech.

Can you please name other fly first set ups that are as light and roomy as these models? Freestanding would be nice as well.

> Can you please name other fly first set ups that are as light and roomy
> as these models? Freestanding would be nice as well.

BigSky International?

I'm not sure when this hits stores…when I get some more free time I'll try to do a little research.

I'm probably going to try another tent next season, so it's likely this or the TT StratoSpire. The StratoSpire sets the inner up first which is nice and it's lighter, but the Kilo is freestanding and doesn't use silnylon (big plus for my tastes) and it looks a bit more robust in storms.

My Big Agnes Fly Creek UL3 rocks for space for 2, but I haven't been thrilled with other aspects of the design which are:
– fly easily slaps and sticks against inner even when fully tightened
– floor waterproof rating (1200mm) is too low
– inner needs to be set up first (yes also a problem with Kilo)
– requires 9 stakes to get a decent pitch (ie. to reduce the fly from being all over the inner)
– roof is really low in vestibule, so cooking here is sketchy

If the Kilo can solve the fly problem of the FC UL3, have a 2x as waterproof floor and shave 0.4 lbs, that's pretty nice. It also looks like the roof is higher in the vestibule for cooking. I like the StratoSpire too so it's a tough call, I just don't really want a silnylon shelter and the design looks a bit time consuming to set up in barren alpine environments with high winds. 2 minutes is easy on a grass lawn, but it would take way longer when you gotta use rocks for everything and one failure means the shelter is compromised.

Gotta run..but the Kilo 3p ships to dealers in Feb.

I thought I'd bring this back to life. I'm looking for a 'comfortable' 2 person freestanding tent for my Camonio de Santiago hike with my sister. I think the Kilo 3P would make her feel comfortable.

I see that the Easton Kilo 1,2, and 3p tents have begun shipping. Im really interested in the 1p and 3p for solo and partner camping. Anyone going to bight the bullet and put up some reviews? I could do one on the 1p but i really dont know that much about tents compared to some on this forum and it would probably show. At two pounds and a packed size of 15 inches really has got my interest for bike packing and packraft trips.

@John: The new line-up is available at Backcountry.com. Apparently the 2P got a little lighter, even.

John,
Just note that the front overhang on the 3P is quite a bit less than the 2P.
If you can settle for the need for dry setup (no fly first pitch) and water coming in during exit/entry in the rain, the 3P looks very nice and light, with plenty of room for 2, from the knees up anyway. But those are big IFS, and wind performance remains a concern me from a company fairly new to tents. A lot of tents that look beautiful in pictures can lack tautness and stability in wind if poorly designed and/or manufactured.

The more I look at the tent, the more I seean issue that's always bugged me. I see on the 3P that they didn't bring the fly all the way to the gropund. I've always had problems with this. I find the rain loves to drip on that exposed area and if your bag is touching it from the inside……WET. Why not spend the extra time to make sure all the body of the tent gets covered.

Like one person on this site always says…'I wish the desingers would actually spend time in their tents'.

I found this non-very-detailed review of the Easton Kilo 3P:
http://upadowna.com/gear/review/easton-kilo-3p-tent

Why not spend the extra time to make sure all the body of the tent gets covered.

Like one person on this site always says…'I wish the desingers would actually spend time in their tents'.

The problem is that most perceive THEIR situation (size and location) to be the standard
Tents that have the fly not hugging the floor are deliberately designed that way to facilitate air flow.
Without that many would spent night wet from condensation not rain…
So the point is that simply because something does not work for us it does not mean that it is the same for all.
BTW, I know of (directly or indirectly) several tent designers and oddly they all do spend time tenting…but maybe not in your environment.
Franco

Hi Franco, not sure if you'll be watching this old thread…
Wondering on your thoughts on the Stratospire 2 for use on the Overland Track in December.
Love the weight and integral pitch, my concern is that setup may be difficult on the tent platforms. Also, I'd have to ask Henry about making the groundsheet several inches wider to still achieve a tub floor with 3 mats.

Currently have a Big Anges Copper Spur 3, interested in options for both saving weight and non inner first setup for three people. Any input would be appreciated.

Cheers
Steve