Appreciate advice on alternative to Hilleberg Rajd

Hello Backpackers

I'm looking for a new tent/shelter and hope people here may give me advice on interesting tents/shelters.

As it is my Hubba Hubba is no longer good and in search of a new one I've been inspired by Hilleberg's Rajd:

http://europe.hilleberg.com/EN/shelters/rajd/

However, my budget is somewhat lower (preferably no more than max. 200 Euros) and I'd also prefer a tent/shelter that is a bit more open, e.g. with part of the outer material transparent & possibly a bit more mesh on the inside parts.

Other criteria are a similarly low weight, fine functionality, and it needs be weather proof (three season, sustains heavy rain) ... Also, it needs be available from within the EU.

Thanks for any help you may be able to give

Cheers,

Jesper

That is a single wall tent... some people have problems with them in humid and sustained rain conditions

At least Hilleberg warns you of that right in their description. Our single wall Lightheart Duo not only leaked in it's first rain storm with factory sealed seams, glad I paid extra to have them done!!!!!, but also is horrific with condensation. You basically need to leave it completely open and allow the rain to just blow in to stop it. We had to bail out of it at 2am one night to save our gear and ourselves from a complete and trip ruining drenching. A very, and I mean very, poor tent in rain. We just cowboy camp instead of using it when we can. Sorry for the rant. Beware single walls in wet conditions. One other caution: Never buy a tent that only has reviews with the tent set up in people's yards. Save you from getting something unworthy of being on the trail. I can't find a single review of my tent being used in actual backpacking. People are embarrassed to say they got taken. I know I am.

If you were pleased with your Hubba, why not replace it with the current version (the NX, in the states)?

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

If you like that sort of design, take a look at the Tarptent Stratospire 2.
That is the tent I use if expecting rain and or if camping for a few days in the same spot.
That is because it has very large rain protected vestibules and becomes very much like a tarp if all the 4 panels are opened up (obviously when you can...)
I use the mesh inner with mine but a fabric inner is available too.
It should be somewhat around the Rajd price range shipped to the EU inc duty.
(if cost is the "should be available within the EU bit)
Lots of photos and videos on the net , or take a look on the product page :

https://www.tarptent.com/stratospire2.html
BTW, unlike with freestanding tents, you need to be reasonably good setting up this kind of shelter to get them to perform well.
franco@tarptent

Hi all,

& thank you very much for your replies - which has actually led me to omit considering something similar to the Hilleberg Rajd. I much prefer the interior of my tent to be dry & not humid so with this in mind I will look for a double wall tent with an inner mesh tent.

@ Glenn Roberts: Regarding buying another Hubba Hubba then "yes" it could have been an option. However, the first Hubba Hubba rainfly has not lasted more than altogether ~ 4 months and now MSR don't supply the rainfly anymore so I'm a bit wary of buying a similar tent. It's also a bit more expensive (about 375 Euros) than my budget is.

@Franco: Thanks for posting & linking - I like the concept but before such a tent arrives inside Denmark it probably will be more than twice my budget ... (we pay about 37% tax on both tent & shipping + USD 24)

... Reading your replies, however, made me think of my "ideal" tent which led me to draw up a sketch of what it may look like (almost attached image). It somehow looks like MSR's new thru-hiker shelters, yet with a bit more space upwards due to two transversal rods.

http://www.cascadedesigns.com/msr/tents/...shelter/product

I have now tried to attach this drawing but I get a message that I can attach 0 bytes to my reply ?? Might one of you know how I can attach an image to my posts? Thanks if you can help

Cheers,

Jesper

From another recent thread:





The "this one" packlite is referring to is in the Admin. & Support sub-forum.

Hi 4evrplan,

Thanks for your feedback. As it is I actually did read the "how to include an image ..." section and also the "how to attach a file" section in the Help section but when trying to attach a file I got the message that the file size can be no more than 0 bytes - which is quite small

Anyway I've now posted the drawing on flickr and hope that it will be able to attach as an image to this post (no, it didn't so I now insert the link below):

Tent drawing JM

As I wrote in my previous post it resembles MSR's new Thru hiker tents, however, there's more space upwards due to the transversal rods.

Again, I'd really appreciate if one of you have a suggestion as to where I may buy such a tent .. (within the EU <= 200 Euros preferably)

Cheers & thanks,

Jesper

Come to think of it, I think maybe posting images is restricted to members with 10 or more posts, if I'm remembering correctly. The flickr link works all the same. I like it. But, I don't know anything like it.

Hi ...



Thanks - that's useful to know. I'll just patiently post the remaining two posts and see what happens when I reach 10 posts. And then I hope one of the other Backpackers may know of a tent similar/close to my drawing ...

Cheers,

Jesper

OK, so you are after a flat top inner with a tarp on top.
No, I am not aware of anything like that.
I suggest you make yourself a full scale mock up of that design, doing that it may become a bit more obvious why it isn't all that efficient for both space and use of fabric.
On top of that it would be difficult to prevent the inner banging against the fly in the wind.
(I could be wrong...)



the above photo is just to give you an idea of what I mean about full scale mock up.
That particular set up I did to demonstrate how much dead space there is inside a 4 sided pyramid tent (about 40Sq feet in that one...)

Hi Franco,

Thank you also for your reply & suggestion.

I'm aware that there are a couple of "challenges" in the (preliminary) sketch I posted - e.g. that the rainfly may slap against the inner mesh tent when it gets windy.

Yet I think I've found some feasible solutions to these "challenges" which I reckon would make such a tent quite interesting (to me at least ).

Anyway, it still depends on whether or not such a tent is available somewhere ... hope someone here may actually know about it.

Cheers from Denmark,

Jesper