Hilleberg Tent thread

I own two Hilleberg tents, a Staika and a Soulo (although the Soulo is probably going away—too many tents), and I've reviewed several more for various magazines. I've found them to be right at the pinnacle of modern tent design and construction. In particular their silicone-impregnated fly material is hugely superior to polyurethane-coated flies, and justifies much of the extra cost.

I had the Soulo pitched on a ledge on the North Rim of Marble Canyon a couple of years ago, during a really weird windstorm that kept changing directions every few minutes. The Soulo was rock-solid no matter which way it was being pummelled. The extra guylines can sometimes be annoyingly in the way when pitching, but it's sure nice to have them.

The Nammatjs replacement arrived today. It will be mainly for winter trips when a crap load of snow is forecast or above treeline and canoe camping.

Congrats on the Tarra Stephen, you're going to love it! One of my buddies is using mine as I type this. Its a phenomenal tent.

Cheers Doug,

Roll on winter.

Does anyone here on BPL actually OWN an ENAN? I'd love to see photos when this happens.

Comes out next season.

Well, when the ENAN does come out I'd love to see a photo of it side-by-side with a Moment DW.

Footprint and vestibule comparisons whould be nice too.

How about wind tunnel testing with a smoke wand?

And maybe a snow load test (W/ X-ing pole on the Moment DW ;o)

Or a "hikers-with-benefits" test?

I tested one for a couple of nights. Lightweight for a Hilleberg. Quick and easy to setup. Photos available at the Hilleberg .se site. This tent is a spin-off from their Akto design, which they produced after 16 prototypes in 1995.
Disclosure – I am a Hilleberg Retailer.

so: peter runs an akto and has done to the point of actually wearing one out. fine .. i bought another. no problem there. i love it.

i thought i was falling for the new enan, and considered that perhaps i'd like to get one for stateside romps. then i got to look'n Hard at their End Pole configuration … not liking what i see as regards the Single end pole design.
you look enough at enan and then you tell me just exactly WHAT hold the corners in place . i appears that there is but a single supporting pole at each end, and that one needs to stake ALL FOUR CORNERS, every night, just to keep the silly thing up. so it's not a nice situation where in calm conditions one could skate by with only two anchors .. but oh dear no, it takes the full SIX of them.
and that's just Wrong.
if what i am seeing is really the way it exists, then it is improperly designed. (in less you are camping on a lawn that holds stakes perfectly … like a golf course).

whatever advantages they gained with the single pole, are lost in the requirement of FOUR additional anchors. as well as a loss in a twin pole tents ability to deal with disoptimal site flatness, allow cross rigging to exploit two anchors splayed at each end in stout winds, and the total inability to deal with using rocks as anchors while still retaining tension in the fly.

i thought enan was going to knock henry's moment dw right out of the park. but, if i am seeing right, he's still sitting pretty, right on top of the heap.

maybe i'm wrong. i suspect it has happened before.

i think i will write to petra about this.
v.

The Enan requires less stakes than the Akto, and you like the Akto?

Having tested an Enan, I had no issues with setting it up quickly. In fact I didn't have to fuss with it like I do the Akto.

Yes you should contact Petra. Good idea.

My home away from home at Minaret Lake, the Jannu:

Peter,

The ENAN's end stakeout does present a problem. I doubt if they could use Tarptent's patented design with the Moment's 2captive CF rods at each end. TT's Moment design is genius.

Just one more reason to buy a TT Moment DW.

" The Enan requires less stakes than the Akto, and you like the Akto?"

yes well… on the surface akto does appear like it takes a boatload of them. but ! in one is clever, one can combine the end ones into … ohhh phooy, hold on… i'll go find a picture of it.
the orig way akto came rigged was so silly, that i literally modified it as i was setting it up the very first time.
i grant you that, yes, if you follow the directions, it's frikk'n ridiculous.
bottom line is that unless it is quite windy, akto needs only four. and they are not at all picky as to position or elevation.
much wind will want six, and there's another level above that which is not really what bpl is about, but suffice it that one splays dual side lines and tri-rigs those corner lines to use the end-center hard points.
so, as far was we are concerned, any normal condition = four anchors.
so.. yeah, i love my little akto. that dear thing has NEVER let me down.
(know that the farther north you go, quite literally, the better akto works. it is uncanny. just the same with such as Bultaco trials bike, they are Wet Soggy Cow in a parking lot, but magic up on the rocks)

the akto and my McHale pack are alike in regards to looking quite the unsophisticated slob of a kit. but then, once you take them where they were meant to be, and they come alive with virtue. (much like the Lincoln Electric LN-8 series of wire feeders)
their elegance of design is in how they work, not how they look.

ahh ! well , that explains it.
how somebody could patent a bipod remains a mystery to me, but good for Henry ! he got there first.
—
you can see the combined functions of upper and lower corner anchor in the lines. what is not shown is the overhand-knot and loop which is looped around a small rock that is held securely under those Very Nice anchor stones. that knot/loop feature keeps any slack from transferring from top-to-bottom as things flap in the night.
note : considering where that picture was taken, and what can happen at night, those anchors are not excessive.

@Peter- it is obvious that you have a strong personal opinion of the Enan design. I do not share your concerns, as I like the design features of the Enan, personally.

My suggestion would be, if you don't like it…don't buy one.

Field testers are currently using the Enan prototype in some pretty adverse conditions, and they love it. It is, however, only meant to be a 3 season backpacking tent.

The Enan has fared quite well in Hilleberg's wind machine.

If you have a chance next Spring to see one in person, I would suggest that. I know that my opinions change once I examine a piece of gear in person, rather than assessing it on my computer screen.

with Hilleberg USA is second to none. There are only a handful of employees, but each time I've called they have taken the time to answer my questions and talk through alternatives. I'm never rushed off the phone. They genuinely love the brand, and if one person cannot answer a specific question, they find the right person who can and does. Sometimes that's Petra.

This summer I had a concern about how an inner tent fit in my two year old Kaitum 3. I emailed some photos, explained how I pitched it, and could they advise me if I was doing something wrong? They confirmed it looked too tight, causing loss of usable space inside, and shipped me a warranty replacement at no charge. And when that fit the same way as the original they offered to swap the outer tent, or allow me to exchange the (used) tent for a different model altogether if I wished. Yet I'm sure the product was built to their specs and it's just not as wide as I expected based on the floorplan diagram in the catalog and on the website. They want to make sure I have the right tent for my needs, and they are updating the measurements in the 2015 catalog.

You may pay a premium for Hilleberg, but they back up their product line. And not just for 90 days or a year or a nominal warranty period. I'm seriously impressed.

Hi All,

Right now I have 2 Hilleberg tents, the Nammatj 3 and the Allak. Although the Allak has seen more use I've just put it up for sale since my wife strongly prefers the Nammatj.

I will use the proceeds from the Allak sale to buy a hammock for when I am solo (probably an Exped Ergo if I find one), and the thought of having 2 different fly's for the Nammatj occurred to me, giving the flexibility of a bigger vestibule when I need it or when I am not so worried about weight (car or motorcycle camping).

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I've just read the 15 pages of this thread and nobody ever mentioned anything like this. The cost might be too high, or Hilleberg might not do it, but I thought I would check you guys first if this makes sense.

Thanks!

You mean like you'd have two tents – a Nammatj 3 and a Nammatj 3GT, but only one inner tent? That could work, but I'm not sure Hilleberg will sell you just an outer.

Now that I think about it, you could buy a Nammatj 3GT with a mesh inner, and then you could mix-and-match to your heart's content.

Short answer – yeah, it'll definitely work. The inner tent between a GT model and a standard model Nammatj are the same.

I had a similar thought about getting a Keron fly to give me more options when I don't need the extra space of my GT. Dealers won't be able to help you with this, but Hilleberg USA might. It depends on what they have in inventory. I asked, but none were available, so we didn't get to a discussion about price. Let us know what you hear back.

Stuart,

They said the same thing to me.. they will sell the outer only if and when they have one available. They put me on a "backordered" list.

Here are a couple of pics of a campsite visitor when out in the Colorado High Country about a month ago. Since before his fourth birthday my son has been clambering up and down steep trails, so we call him the mountain goat. He got to meet a real one up close and personal this trip. What a magnificent animal, it hung out at our campsite munching on breakfast for over 1/2 hour.

This thread NEVER dies! Whycome?

Stuart, Great photos and story. Your "mountain goat" son will never forget that day.

Thanks, Eric. I just added a couple more pics of the mountain goat (the real one, not my son) around the site. My son had just gone out to pee, and as he came back in I saw a white blur run past the foot end vent of my Nammatj. The goat may well have been there long before we got up, but it showed no fear and let me approach it a few times. These pics are from a fixed 28mm equivalent lens, so you can see I was really close at times. Mostly it stayed 10-15' away, but it took great interest in my backpack as we were breaking camp, and I was almost able to reach out and touch it. Those horns made me decide otherwise, though. What a beautiful creature. My son was curious yet a little fearful, so he wisely kept me or the tent in between himself and the goat.

As for the thread that never dies, well I guess there are enough of us that are enthusiastic Hillie owners that we like to keep spreading the word. And as temps start to get cooler, we may well see an uptick in postings here. Just this week I've been PM'd twice by folks interested in different models, asking my recommendations.

A few weeks ago I wrote about Hilleberg USA's customer service. Last week they came through for me in a big way. I bought the Kaitum 3 based on the dimensions listed in the catalogue, but it turned out that the taper from the maximum width in the centre to the doors was so significant that three adults would fit, but only if the outer two had the inner tent draping over their sleeping bags. Hilleberg sent me a replacement inner, in case there were manufacturing flaws in mine. There were none – the two fit identically. Long story short, they very graciously agreed to swap out my Kaitum 3 for another tent, for any difference in current retail price and a nominal cleaning fee. I spent some time on the phone with them discussing options, and am now the very happy owner of a Keron 3. On paper the inner tent's square footage is smaller, but in reality the inner tent walls are taut and three adults fit in there with ease on 20" wide pads. Kudos to Petra for empowering her employees to make sure that customers are satisfied, and many thanks to both Shannon and Stuart for working through the options with me.

During this process, I had a chance to look at a few models at Neptune Mountaineering, and I noticed a couple of changes that might be of interest. These may only apply to the Black Series (Kerlon 1800) tents, I'm not sure, so take it for what it's worth. Firstly, the Y pegs have changed in very much the same way that MSR Groundhogs changed a year or two ago. The formerly straight blades are now curved. Weight difference is minimal – on my scales we're talking 1.5g per peg (the new pegs are ~13.5g; the old were ~15g). Old model on top, new model below:

Secondly, and perhaps more significantly for some, the colour of the green outer tent has darkened significantly. What used to be best described as a Hunter Green is now a deep Olive Green. In artificial lighting it almost looks black. My initial reaction is that, in many settings, the new shade is stealthier. My Keron 3 appears to be from an older production run, as it is Hunter Green. A friend's Nammatj 3GT that he brought over to compare today, is Olive Green. I'm not sure whether the photo of the pole bag does it justice, but you can see a distinct difference in colour. As before, old colour on top, new colour below:

Once pitched, the outer tent stops looking black and the deep olive becomes dominant. I haven't seen it in direct sunlight yet, but this should give an idea:

Looking back over this thread today, I notice how different Doug's two sand flysheets look. The Nammatj 2 looks mustard coloured, and frankly a little anaemic. The Jannu looks more bronze – a big improvement IMO.

As one who belongs to the "Tarptent Persuasion" (OK, religion) I like the ENAN's room but like the Moment DW's ability to use a crossing pole even more.

Whether one uses the Moment DWs' original EXTERIOR X-ing pole or my easy interior X-ing pole mod you still get better wind and snow load resistance than with the ENAN. For me that is the deal breaker with the ENAN. Of course you could do two X-ing poles like a Scarp 1 (after sewing on 8 straps) but then why not just buy the Scarp 1??

To me the ENAN's closest design and quality competitor is the Tarptent Scarp 1.