Actual Hilleberg Soulo Packed Weight

[greg c]

Good day. I just received the Soulo and the first thing I did was weigh it on a very accurate scale. To my surprise it was 5lbs. 4 oz. The stated packed weight is 4 lbs. 14 oz. I understand there can be variations and I also know that they take an average weight of 5 tents when determining this figure. However, 6 ounces over the published weight is a bit much. Perhaps I received a slightly pudgy Soulo that is an anomaly? I've made an inquiry of Hilleberg but have heard nothing yet.

Has anyone else weighed their Soulo and come up with such a disparity? It is a tad heavy even at the published packed weight, but I was willing to carry it for solo snow camping and Cascade mountaineering. The 5lb threshold perhaps is more one of principle than performance, but I have difficulty accepting a single person tent exceeding that weight. I know they have other solo options, but the Soulo was ideal for my particular activities.

Please let me know if the weight of your Soulo is more in line with the published weight of 4lbs. 14oz.

Thanks!

Greg

[David Ure]

nm

[peter vacco]

if you included stakes, stuff sack, and guide lines, i think you're going to get a high reading.
now.. i know .. it needs stakes, stuff sack, and some guide lines, for setup, but i suspect the min weight is quoted sans these items.

worse yet, i further suspect almost everybody's weights are quoted a bit low. some more than others.
i have an excellent alpacka scout that is 7oz over stated. and so what. it;s lighter than the orig alpacka by 3/4 of a pound, and only 7oz over as opposed to the orig's 9oz over weight.
i look at this as "progress".

my hilelberg and alpacka weigh what they weigh, and i am not eager to trust any lesser product.
if you are feeling a bit abused (it's understandable), petra will probably take her tent back. but then .. you're going to have to use a less stout tent.
to then be morally consistent about it, you are thence needing to weigh all your stuff and shove it back on the rest of the mfg's as well. that's a LOT of work.
i'd both appreciate a Very Nice tent, and let the weight issue disappear form my mind.

"in our society the penalty for getting caught lying is less than for telling the truth"
peter v.

[Miles Spathelf]

That's quite off…hilleberg says their packed weight includes stakes, guylines, etc…the tent alone should weigh 3 lbs 15 oz. I'd email hilleberg for their take

[Stuart .]

Hilleberg do state that there is variability in the weights for every tent, primarily because the thickness of the Kerlon fly material is not constant over large sheets. 6oz is surprising and I'll check my Soulo's packed weight next time I get it out of my storage unit. I haven't done so far because when I'm using it I'm not counting grams on the shelter – I want something I can rely on in the worst conditions. I always add the footprint, which adds another 8oz to the shelter weight but reduces condensation in winter significantly.

Over on practicalbackpacking.com there was a thread from 2007/2008 "Hilleberg Soulo (Preliminary Observations: Photos)" where the following weights were recorded by a member, for a total of 2.12kg or 74.78oz/4.67lbs – very close to Hilleberg's stated weight of 2.1kg, but quite different than your recorded weight:

Flysheet = 819g (incl. guys),
Inner = 562g,
Main bag = 32g,
Poles = 530g,
Pole bag = 16g,
Spare pole length = 19g,
Pole repair sleeve = 9g,
6 x Viper pegs = 60g,
6 x Square pegs = 63g,
Peg bag = 10g

http://www.practicalbackpacking.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3768&page=5

Maybe those will help you pinpoint exactly what's out of whack with your Soulo.

I've heard other folks who claimed they saved weight by replacing the metal zip pulls with cord, and swapping the stock 3mm guylines with a thinner gauge, but the same poster above said he saw minimal benefits of doing that – 19g / 0.67oz from replacing the zip pulls, and guylines weighing around 5g each.

You probably could get Petra to swap your Soulo for another if you asked. She's very responsive and their customer service is second to none. However, I'm not sure if it would be significantly different if they are from the same shipment from the plant in Estonia.

Edit: The one point that stood out above was the mix of pegs supplied when the Soulo was first released and the 12 V pegs now supplied. But I don't see how they could account for the delta. I'd check the fly, the inner and the poles first.

[Drowned Lemming]

Mine is 2.1kg/4lb 10oz, which includes tent, pole and peg bags and "Y" pegs replacing the supplied ones.

[greg c]

Thanks for all of your comments. And thanks Stuart for the component breakdown. I may be able to use that to zero in on the offending obesity. I am comparing the packed weight which Hilleberg describes as everything that came in the stuff sack. When they respond I may ask if they are willing to ship me another one if they can confirm its weight is close to the stated weight of 4lbs. 14 oz. I've read a number of reports from others and in this thread that seem to indicate they received tents that were in line with the stated packed weight, so I know they do exist. Thanks again for your comments and time. It's much appreciated.

Greg

[Richard Russell]

Greg, I just purchased a Soulu direct from Hilleberg this week, and it weighs 5lb 3oz.
It looks like a great tent in terms of quality and features. Not the lightest though!

[Stuart .]

… ounces lately. Then again, Hilleberg have never been about UL. Raw material supplier change, perhaps?

Damn fine tent, but it might have to go on a diet to appeal to this crowd.

[David Ure]

nm

[greg c]

Thanks for confirming the weight of your recent purchase, Richard. I isolated the additional weight to the inner/outer tent component. It's 10 ounces heavier than the spec listed in Stuart's reply. Not sure what to do at this point. I know we're talking ounces here, but I have a problem with it being over 5 lbs. I'm not sure it needs to be. The 2010 version by all accounts was bomber.

[Stuart .]

I finally got around to weighing my Soulo this evening. Packed weight comes in at 2355g, or 5lb 3oz. Purchased earlier this year. Seems like they're using lard as a waterproofing agent these days.

[greg c]

Thanks for the confirmation, Stuart. I actually asked Hilleberg to weigh a few of theirs and I asked the same of another retailer. They all are at ~5lbs. 3 oz. now. I really like the tent though, so I'll find a way to make up the ounces. Perhaps i'll switch to their 2mm guylines. I estimated that they use around 80 feet of guyline and based on the weights they specify for the 2mm and 3mm i can save 2 ounces there. or i'll just smile at my plump and pleasing 5lb 3 oz wundertent and enjoy her enduring security:)

greg

[David Ure]

nm

[greg c]

Hi David. I confirmed by weighing the components that the weight increase is in the inner and outer tent. Poles and stakes weigh exactly the same as what someone posted 4 years ago. Petra indicated it was the result of the material as well. perhaps the coatings or connection materials (clips, clip reinforcement materials, etc.)are heavier. It's a significant change and you would think they were aware and would have questioned it. I guess not since it was news to Hilleberg.

Greg

[Stuart .]

I picked up the 2013 catalog yesterday and Hilleberg are finally coming clean about the packed weight. The Soulo is listed as 5lb 5oz instead of 4lb 14oz as listed last year. Weight increases are pretty much across the board – mostly between 3oz and 7oz, although the Atlas has jumped by 3lb 1oz to 22lb!

Kerlon 1800 models:
Keron 3/3GT +3oz
Keron 4/4GT +3oz
Nammatj 2/2GT +3oz
Nammatj 3 +4oz
Nammatj 3GT +3oz
Saitaris +6oz
Saivo +6oz
Tarra +4oz
Staika +7oz

Kerlon 1200 models:
Kaitum 2/2GT +4oz
Kaitum 3/3GT +3oz
Nallo 2/2GT +4oz
Nallo 3/3GT +7oz
Nallo 4 Unchanged
Nallo 4GT +4oz
Allak +7oz
Jannu +7oz
Akto +4oz
Soulo +7oz
Unna Unchanged

The 3 season Kerlon 1000 models (Anjan, Rogen) remain unchanged – not surprising as they were only introduced last year.

I'm suspicious as to why the Unna and Nallo 4's packed weight remains unchanged when all others have gained.

They've also dropped the confusing classification system they had where Kerlon 1800 tents were "Greatest Strength + Light Weight" and Kerlon 1200 were "Lightest Weight + Strength". Now they are colour coded like whisky – Black Label (Kerlon 1800), Red Label (Kerlon 1200), Yellow Label (Kerlon 1000) and Blue Label (everything else).

[greg c]

I finally got around to modifying my Soulo in hopes of excising a bit of weight. It started out packed at 5 lbs. 3 OZ. It now is right around 4 lbs. 10 oz. To achieve this I removed all of the steel zipper pulls and replaced them with 1mm cord pulls. That saved 1.4 oz. I then replaced all of the guylines and line locs with 2mm cord and taughtline hitches. There was 84 feet of 3mm cord and this saved a net of ~2.33 oz. I then replaced the 12 stakes with 10 MSR carbon core stake's I got a good deal on (I decided that the 2 stakes at the crossing pole were unnecessary). This saved around 2.8 oz. I then weighed the tent stuff sack, pole stuff sack, and stake stuff sack which was in excess of 2.7 oz. I replaced them with a cuben tent stuff sack and a cuben pole sack. This was a net savings of 2.1 oz.

So, in total I shaved off almost 9 oz. My tent still is portly, but I feel better about hauling the red demon out for mountaineering trips when high wind is likely.

Also, I've come to realize that the soulo is ~ 10-12 degrees warmer inside than the ambient temperature and sometimes this difference allows me to take my 30 degree bag over my 15 degree thus saving another 12 oz.

Anyhow, just wanted to share my numbers. At a minimum, removing the noisy zipper pulls is an easy mod and provides a bit of weight relief. I love the tent and now I am more inclined to bring it when conditions are iffy.

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