Author Topic: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent  (Read 3865 times)

archaeoroutes

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Re: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
« Reply #15 on: 19:04:50, 11/06/19 »
There certainly seems to be a '5th Season' developing in the world of camping equipment.
For a long time there's been 5 seasons of sleeping bags. The 5th season being extremely low temperature like at high altitude. I've always referred to my down bag (comfort rated to -30C iirc) as a 5 season bag.


When talking tents I make the distinction between a mountain tent, a lowland tent, and a festival tent. The former can withstand very strong gusting winds and perhaps a snow load (my Mountain Hardware Trango 2 is at the top of this range and my Mountain Equipment Dragonfly 2 at the bottom), the middle will stand up to a bit of wind and rain (eg. Vango Banshee), the latter you don't care what it's like because you're dead to the world and are probably binning it after the weekend (eg. Eurohike Tamar).
Then there's family tents - large ones you'd only ever move by car.
I've never thought of referring to tents by seasons for some reason.
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richardh1905

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Re: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
« Reply #16 on: 09:00:48, 12/06/19 »
I think it is a symptom of us humans feeling the need to neatly categorize the world around us, whether it be tents, mountains (Munros, Wainwrights, Marilyns etc), or even the heat of chilis!

I certainly fell into the trap with tents. I take a 4 season rating to mean that the tent will take pretty much anything that the British weather can throw at it, especially wind resistance. 5 season I would regard as being able to withstand arctic/expeditions conditions - a blizzard on the Cairngorm plateau, for instance. But I'll not be going up there in those conditions.

But that is not the whole story. I also want the tent to be easy to erect, relatively light, and to have good ventilation control so that it can also be used in the summer. Many 4 season tents either have too much mesh on the inner for winter use, in my opinion, or have too little for summer use. I'm a big fan of double layer doors (mesh + solid) - make the tent feel lest claustrophobic too, which is important if you are holed up in a small tent on a midgy September evening, but I like to be able to seal the inner up tight in winter.
« Last Edit: 09:08:42, 12/06/19 by richardh1905 »
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gunwharfman

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Re: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
« Reply #17 on: 10:25:17, 12/06/19 »
My Marmot Pulsar 1p has always kept me dry except I nearly became wet on one occasion. One day three years, there was no wind and I quickly erected my tent and then dived into it because the rain came down in torrents and vertically for about 30 minutes! On this one occasion, the rain was hitting the ground alongside the bottom of my tent so hard that some of it was rebounding under the tent edge and through the inner tent mesh to where I was. None of my stuff became wet, I just quickly piled it all on top of me as I lay on my inflated sleeping mattress. When the rain stopped I just wiped over the wet areas and it dried quickly. My inner tent is all mesh, I actually like it when compared to my 'tomb' tent Wild Country Zephyros 1.

The last time I used my Zephros 1 was on the Glyndwr's Way two years ago and I again was lucky that I had time to erect my tent, alongside a hedge before the rain started in earnest. This time it was very windy and it rained heavily in waves from about 3 pm until about 5 am the following morning. Even though my tent was buffeted this way and that I remained dry all of the time, not a speck came through. Exciting at times, I thought once or twice that my tent and I would be lifted into the air like Dorothy's house in The Wizard of Oz but apart from this, the rest of the night was rather boring. My longest time in a tent, ever!

richardh1905

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Re: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
« Reply #18 on: 10:40:14, 12/06/19 »
Yes, I have a dislike for raised flysheet edges. Uncontrolled ventilation under the fly is fine for warmer nights but not so fine in a winter gale. This is one reason why I will not go for an MSR tent (the other being all that inner mesh).

We could start a separate thread for 'longest night in a tent'. I think that mine would be a night with my wife to be high up in the Pyrenees, a humdinger of a thunderstorm echoing off the cliffs above that receded and returned twice, and then a multitude of frogs 'peeping' well into the early hours. I still have the Wild Country Trisar tent - in fact I slept in it on Sunday and Monday night - but at 3.3kg it is a bit of a heavyweight for a solo camper!
« Last Edit: 10:43:48, 12/06/19 by richardh1905 »
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