higear Neutron 2 Tent

[Boris]

Quick review as I only picked this particular tent up yesterday but it is on special offer at Go Outdoors for £17.99 (Usually £50) for the remainder of this week only (4th - 10th May)

It's a 2 man dome tent with a small porch but what attracted me to this tent most was the small pack size at 40cm x 15cm (the website is wrong) which means it comfortably fits in the bottom of a standard Honda side pannier

It comes in a small stuff bag which has the pitching instructions sewn into it and is large enough to make putting the tent back in a simple affair.

The tent pitches inner first which could lead to problems on a rainy day as there is a significant risk of getting the living area wet but apart from that it went up easily enough. Upside of inner first pitching is that in warmer climates you can get away without the flysheet. Guy lines are bright and well attached and the pegs are the usual cheap wire items supplied with most cheaper tents.

The tent looks well made but until I have time to actually use it in anger, which will hopefully this week end I'll reserve judgement and post an update soon but based on experience quality is similar to other cheap domes and should be fine for occasional use.

[Boris]

Time for an update.

I had a night in the tent last weekend and the results aren't as good as first thought.

First problem was that it was raining when I pitched the tent and as this was an inner first tent time was of the essence. Although I only took a couple of minutes to get to the inner up by the time I got the fly sheet up the inner had a few damp spots. Had it been chucking it down I'm not sure how I would have kept things dry.

The next problem was keeping space between flysheet and the inner and I found it impossible to correctly tension the fly. Too tight and the top of the dome touched the inner and too loose the sides flapped and touched. Guys half way along each side would have helped. After about 20 minutes I gave up as I wasn't going to get things any better. Putting stones in the inner pockets helped pull the inner away from the fly at the expense of a little space inside.

In saying that it rained most of the night and although by morning the inner was soaking wet where it had been in contact with the fly (most probably from condensation) no dripping had taken place. I'm not how much more it could have taken though.

I suppose you have to remember that this tent cost less than 20 quid and it did have a reasonable sized porch and was wind proof and as a cheap light summer tent with an extremely small pack size it fitted the bill. But for more serious use I would go for something better and to that end I have just ordered a Coleman semi geodesic tent (which cost a lot more) so watch this space for another review soon.