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Main Boards => Gear => Topic started by: richardh1905 on 08:54:18, 07/06/19

Title: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
Post by: richardh1905 on 08:54:18, 07/06/19

My latest object of desire. £212 for a bomb proof 1 man tent only weighing 1.7kg. What's not to like?


https://www.ldmountaincentre.com/camping-c13/tents-c93/1-person-tents-c173/nordisk-svalbard-1-si-p9447 (https://www.ldmountaincentre.com/camping-c13/tents-c93/1-person-tents-c173/nordisk-svalbard-1-si-p9447)
Title: Re: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
Post by: gunwharfman on 09:59:40, 07/06/19
Looks good but not for me I'm afraid, as I get older I can only cope with side entrance tents, not as flexible as I used to be, I need to 'roll in, roll out' if I can.

My problem is that I too would like a change of tent, but my Marmot Pulsar 1 (no longer made) still spoils me in that for one person the inside living area is large, plus I have a 14" horizontal zip that allows me to store items on the no-door side of the tent (for my hiking sticks, Uriwell and if I carried cooking stuff, ideal for the storage of these items) and in the mornings I can sit up and move back and forth for about 12" before my head touches the fabric, plus the sides are almost vertical which makes for plenty of 'elbow room.' Easily allows me to get dressed inside my tent and when it's raining I can even organize and pack my rucksack inside the tent as well. The entrance area is also big enough to store my rucksack, in the dry overnight.

I've looked for is similar spec tent but it must be lighter, but I haven't found one yet! I've found out that as I find something to like (e.g weight and space) I equally find something to dislike (e.g. weight and a poor entrance) so I just get hesitant and then fail to make a decision.
Title: Re: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
Post by: Patrick1 on 14:01:51, 07/06/19
Gunwharfman, its a rather different style of tent, but have you considered a Hexpeak V4 (https://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/shelters-1/WF129-138.html)? Lighter than your Pulsar 1 (about 1.35kg assuming you pitch with your walking poles), plenty of space (more floor area than the Pulsar)  and a huge vestibule (half the tent) with the one person inner, or you could sacrifice some vestibule for even more interior space with the two person inner. Its a good robust tent. I've got the Octopeak from the same range for camping with the family, which gives us standing headroom and accommodation for five at just a little over 3kg...
Title: Re: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
Post by: richardh1905 on 15:30:18, 07/06/19
Looks good but not for me I'm afraid, as I get older I can only cope with side entrance tents, not as flexible as I used to be, I need to 'roll in, roll out' if I can.

My problem is that I too would like a change of tent, but my Marmot Pulsar 1 ….



I am used to tunnel tents, and quite like the entrance at the front. Although I must confess that I have not tried a side entrance tent.


I've looked at Marmot tents, but they look rather draughty for my liking - a big gap around the bottom of the fly, and all that mesh! One thing that attracts me to the Svalbard is the ventilation control - I like to be able to seal up the inner reasonably tight in winter, but to have a full mesh door if I so desire, to keep the midges out on rainy summer evenings. Shame that not so many tents have a double mesh/solid inner door nowadays.
Title: Re: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
Post by: humansnail on 19:39:00, 10/06/19
I've never seen that tent before - looks excellent to me! O0
Title: Re: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
Post by: gunwharfman on 19:55:14, 10/06/19
That's interesting, the Hexpeak seems to be the same as the Naturehike Pyramid Tent. So which one is the knock-off of which?
Title: Re: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
Post by: Patrick1 on 08:38:39, 11/06/19
They're the same type of tent, certainly, but the Naturehike one that comes up when I google it has a square base not a hexagonal one. Its significantly cheaper, but Luxe are a reasonably good quality tent maker and I was happy to pay the extra for security on a windy night.
Title: Re: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
Post by: richardh1905 on 08:44:27, 11/06/19

The two are very different gwm. Look at the inner layout in particular.


But neither can really be classified as 4 season!
Title: Re: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
Post by: alan de enfield on 11:38:09, 11/06/19

But neither can really be classified as 4 season!



There certainly seems to be a '5th Season' developing in the world of camping equipment.


It seems that to be 'Winter-proof' with snow skirts, poles of sufficient strength, etc etc you now need to buy the 5-season variant.


4-Season tents seem to be referred to when suitable for Spring, Summer, Autumn, (and low level snow-free) Winter.


I see the HexPeak has a 3.5 Season rating - wonder what that means ?
Title: Re: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
Post by: Patrick1 on 12:52:36, 11/06/19
Well, if you like the Hexpeak look / space its worth exploring the range available - there are quite a lot of variants of size, type of inner etc. There is, for example, a "winter" version (https://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/bushcraft/WF135.html) with snow skirts, a solid inner and a stove jack at the cost of a small weight penalty, if that's what you're after.
Title: Re: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
Post by: Owen on 13:35:20, 11/06/19
I looked at the Hexpeak tents a while back but then realized I already had two perfectly good lightweight tents. I don't see why you couldn't use them in winter especially the fe6 version.


I understand that they are quite finicky when it comes to pegging them out and if you add up the full weight of all the various bits their not really that light.
Title: Re: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
Post by: richardh1905 on 15:48:05, 11/06/19
Hmm, found this review of the fe6


"Used this last month in wales I was only there for 2 days I cut it short by 2 days .
why because everything inside the tent was wet  it was drizzle on and off and damp  but the first night  even my motorcycle boots are wet the whole of the inside of the sheet was very wet, and then the inner no matter what I did I could not keep the inner material off my face or head that was annoying, so I will not be using this tent much Ill stick to my HALLo 300"

The reply is interesting too, but I'll not repeat it here. https://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/shelters-1/WF135.html (https://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/shelters-1/WF135.html)


Not for me, anyway. Pricier and heavier than the Nordisk Svalbard SI, looks like a fiddle to put up, condensation issues, and pole not included!
Title: Re: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
Post by: richardh1905 on 16:09:01, 11/06/19
One of the things that attracts me to the Svalbard is that it appears to be an 'All Season' tent - the ventilation control appears to be good enough to allow its use in the summer as well as in the winter. Not as light as some 3 season tents (and the occasional expensive 4 season), but hardly a heavyweight at 1.7kg. I'm really not going to fret over saving a few hundred grams if I can have a tent that I can use all year around.
Title: Re: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
Post by: Patrick1 on 16:38:45, 11/06/19
Richard, I think the Svalbard looks a great tent. My recommendation of the Hexpeak was never intended to suggest an alternative to your choice, it was purely aimed at Gunwharfman who said he was looking for a lighter more spacious alternative to his Marmot Pulsar, which I think it is. The Svalbard looks a very good price and weight for a robust four season tent with a compact footprint.


Having said that, and with no connection to Luxe other than being a happy customer, I do think the Hexpeak range are very good tents. The weight doesn't include poles because they're commonly pitched with walking poles, which most people are carrying anyway.  The shape gives unrivalled interior space for the weight, and sheds wind very readily. There's a range of sizes and interior configurations available. The winter model is, I think, a distraction - the snow skirts etc are inevitably going to increase warmth at the cost of ventilation. As a result its a tent designed for very cold, dry winter conditions - I'd imagine the type more often encountered in Scandinavia or the States than here. Certainly I'd think that pitching a tent like that in drizzly UK conditions and bringing wet gear inside is asking for condensation issues. I wouldn't buy one of these winter models for use in a UK winter, in general, but that shouldn't detract from the merits of the rest of the range.
Title: Re: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
Post by: richardh1905 on 18:32:02, 11/06/19

I would certainly be interested if I were looking for a light 3 season tent, Patrick, but I do intend doing a lot of solo winter wild camping (and spring, summer and autumn) when I complete my move from Orkney to the Southern Lakes later this year (if all goes to plan).

The Svalbard looks like a great all rounder to me, but I am in no hurry to buy, and am open to suggestions.
Title: Re: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
Post by: archaeoroutes 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.
Title: Re: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
Post by: richardh1905 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.
Title: Re: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
Post by: gunwharfman 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!
Title: Re: Nordisk Svalbard SI 4 season one man tent
Post by: richardh1905 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!