New Hilleberg tent, some help please.

For 2 adults plus gear the Keron would be the better option, I regularly use a 4gt with 2 buddies and it has loads of room.

I tested out a Tarra and it was tight with two wide pads.

Thanks for the reply.

I was thinking that, but good to hear from a user and someone who has testet out the Tarra.

A dome will offer somewhat better static load than a tunnel tent, but the Keron and Nammatj are routinely used as basecamp tents in the harshest conditions. I recently tested an Allak in wet heavy snow, and it withstood 60cm accumulation on top overnight, without any problem.

The tunnel tents generally have more usable space, so you would be well advised to go +1 on a dome tent. From that perspective, a Saivo might be just the ticket for 2P on an extended trip.

Hello.

Thanks for the reply.

60 cm! WOW, impressive. Now sigh og caving in?

Then, the Terra is out, space, but Saivo is a strong contender.

Hmm, have to do some more reading.

The Allak was rock solid, thanks to the guylines being wrapped around the poles. I did have to knock the snow off the roof vent cover, otherwise the weight would seal the vents, but other than that it was more robust than I’d have expected it to be. I know how much stronger the 10.25mm poles are from my Nammatj days, but the Allak’s 9mm ones did just fine. I checked before I packed the dry tent away, and there was no sign of any stress on the poles or the flysheet.

Sounds great.

Thanks for the information.

Regarding Saivo and Tarra, the one thing I am not sure about is the roof vent cover, how does it stand up to wind, strong wind? Making a lot of noise? Getting loser as the wind keeps hitting it, or just fine?

To me, the Saivo is getting, so far, the upper hand on Keron 3 GT.

Not all roof vent covers are designed the same. The Saivo and Tarra covers include guylines to help keep them taut and deal with snow loading, as does the Jannu. All three are designed for Alpine conditions and above treeline use. The Allak and the Soulo do not, and if memory serves me correctly, the Staika doesn’t either. In my experience with Hillebergs, the vent covers aren’t what cause noise; rather the Kerlon 1800 flysheet tends to boom in the wind if it’s not pitched taut. I experienced it on my Nammatj 2, but I haven’t on any of the lighter fabric Kerlon 1200 tents.

You can get a sense of that in Dean’s video of the Tarra in an exposed pitch on the Brecon Beacons. That also does a good job of showing how much interior space there is in that shelter. The Tarra works well with standard width (50cm) pads, but starts to feel narrow with the wider 63.5+cm pads. I think Dean is using a 75cm wide pad in this video.

Going +1 to a Saivo or a Keron 3GT will give you gobs of space. I put two 75cm pads into a Keron 3 and had a little space left over. However I intended to use that as a 3P shelter and found it rather too snug.

Another consideration is the footprint of the dome vs tunnel tents.  The tunnels tend to be narrower but long, especially those with the GT vestibules. The Keron 3GT is over 5m long, and you need to allow a lot of extra space for the guylines because much of the structural rigidity of a tunnel depends on the windward end guylines. That will make site selection trickier outside of snow season below treeline. The Saivo is shorter at 4m 30cm. Guylines are still important, but the crossing poles provide much of the rigidity.

Stuart, thanks for helping me.

Great information and a good link. Yes, the Tarra is a nice tent, but maybe a bit small for two, if staying multiple days.

Regarding wind noise from the K1200 vs K1800, interesting. Just show how important a good and taut pitch is.

Space, yes, the Keron needs space, in winter no problem, but I feel I might have to scout more to find a good area to sett it up on a mountain side, than I need with the less area needing Saivo.

I know, a mountain may not offer a large flatt area for the tent, but less area needed is increasing the chances of finding a good area.

Saivo, yes, I will go for that model.

Hi VR, I’m sorry I’m late to the game in replying, as the Tarra and Saivo are both tents I’ve owned.  If either tent will be left unattended in snow, I think that is where they would really shine against a tunnel.  If that isn’t going to be the case, I think the Keron 3 would be my easy choice for what you’re describing.

Now that said, just how often will you be going solo vs with a partner?  If the majority of your time is solo, I’d seriously consider the Tarra over the Saivo.  As I said, I’ve owned both and the Saivo lasted about a week with me.  The tent is massive (in all the wrong ways), heavy, and complicated (for a Hilleberg), when it comes to pole set-up, with all it’s crossing sleeves.  I was quite unimpressed with the Saivo after owning the Tarra.  For one person you’d be carrying far more weight and pack size than is necessary.  On the other hand, if the majority of your trips are two people, then it would win over the Tarra.  The Keron 3 will feel like a palace inside compared to either of the other two.

For solo camping in cold weather, with lots of gear and time spent in camp, the Tarra is, IMHO, the perfect tent.  Easily worth it to squeeze two into for the rare occasions when you’ll have someone with you.  But as I said, if most of your trips will be with two, the Keron 3 would be my choice.  The Saivo would only be my choice if I needed a 2 person dedicated tent, and knew it would be unattended for long periods of time.

Have you looked at a seek outside tipi?

I never knew Hilleberg had a model called the seek outside tipi, must check it out ;-)

And there I was thinking he was making an inquiry of our Keron-toting friend Mr Walter.

Good feedback on the Tarra vs Saivo, Doug. You’re the only person I’ve known who has owned or tried the latter. The pitching videos of the Saivo and its bigger brother the Saitaris make them look painful to set up due to their size and the number of crossing poles.

Oh, that must be the one they named after Walter.

Thanks Doug for the information.

Really helps me.

Well, I have got myself a Keron 3 and as we speak, I am off to look at a used Tarra, only used for 1 week, so I guess I will take that one to.

Then, I will have one when I know I will be 80% solo and one when I am not.

As said here, the Keron offers a massive area, really lots of space, even used as a 3 person tent I think it will be fine.

The Tarra will be used late fall, winter, when I go solo and plan on leaving the tent for a day or two.

But, have to take a look at it first.

Cons with the Tarra is the added weight over the Keron, but the pro is the stronger construction.

I will lett you all know how it goes.

Sorry,

The Tarras weight is just a bit more than the Keron, I was thinking about the Saivo.

You will not be disappointed with either tent. Report back your thoughts of them.

Either will fly, you’ll be happy. I’ve put my Hille’s through heavy weather and think of them like a trusty friend. One of the few pieces of gear I’d pay full price for any day.

You won’t be unhappy with either of your choices, V R. I still have a foot in each camp, with domes (Allak and Soulo), and a tunnel (Nammatj 3GT). I traded the second vestibule of the Keron 3, and a little width on the foot end, for that incredible extended vestibule. The Nammatj 3GT is my basecamp tent in spite of the popular opinion that domes are better for that purpose. The extra weight isn’t noticed when I use my pulk to haul it in winter, and on a multi day 3 season trip I’m only carrying it to the base, not on the full route.

Thanks for the feed back.

I will lett you all know how it goes.