Terra Nova Unisex's Laser Compact 2 Lightweight Tent, Green, 2 Person

Product Information

Unlike most of the tents reviewed the new Terra Nova Laser Compact AS is designed for year-round use – the AS stands for All Season. That means it’s built with heavy-duty materials including a groundsheet with a very high hydrostatic head and is designed to repel wind and snow. It also has extra headroom and living space over the other Laser models for comfort in cold weather. The penalty for this is extra weight. It’s also expensive. This innovative design uses air poles to lower the weight, and they're surprisingly sturdy, even in bad weather. Inflating it using the included bike pump is speedy and simple. Vango hasn't skimped on the details here, serving up a twin-skin build (important to fend off condensation), as well as a Yunan carbon fibre singular pole which sits at the foot-end of the tent. A cotton thread that expands to seal gaps when wet means there's no seam tape here, shaving a few more grams, while a 7D nylon with a double silicone flysheet should keep the wet stuff outside in all but the worst weather.

Using our most durable flysheet fabrics and made in the UK, this series gives peace of mind to those who may experience severe weather when travelling to the most remote parts of the world. How easy is it to erect the tent? Fast and simple works best, especially if you need to pitch in an emergency. To help to increase space inside the tent and to keep your feet away from any potential condensation, two carbon fibre struts are added into the corners of the inner at the bottom end. When pegged down these make a big difference. Further space inside the inner can be achieved by using two ‘volumising guyouts’ that sit on either side of the tent. These thin cords attach the inner to the fly, pulling the inner out, creating a little more width. Full Specifications

Outer pitched first / non freestanding design / Kerlon 1000 outer tent fabric / 9 mm poles / 3 season design / single entrance / single porch / (LxWxH): 220cm x 95cm x 93cm. MORE INFO: Terra Nova has been on my radar for some time now. I first came across them when preparing to ski to the North Pole and was looking for a solid expedition tent. I trialled the Laser 2. Main seams are seam plus factory silicone sealed and the fully taped groundsheet offers complete waterproof protection

denier ripstop silicon polyester, with a hydrostatic head rating of 1,500mm / double porch / twin door / pitches all-in-one construction. Terra Nova have included a handy webbing loop at the bottom of the flysheet door to accommodate a trekking pole, enabling you to create a useful canopy. A simple, effective design with single entrance help keep weight down. The low profile of the tent, guy lines and low-cut fly make it an excellent tent for battling the wind and rain.MSR has once again delivered quality at a reasonable price. The Hubba Hubba NX dome tent is not best suited to mountaineering, but it’s more than capable of handling some pretty epic weather. In fact, it’s probably a good candidate for the best 3 season tent

The end poles angle outwards. The top of them is covered by a hood. This protects vents in the end walls. There is also a hood over the top of the flysheet door so this can be left open for ventilation. Overall though weather protection takes priority over ventilation, as it should in a tent designed for winter conditions. The most notable feature of the bivvy, however, is that you can wear it. Yes, you heard right… you can have the bug net closed around you (or left open), but sit up and perform camp chores with just your hands on the outside. Cooking, reading and organising your gear are all easily performed, whilst your head and body are protected from bugs and inclement weather. It sounds a little bizarre, but in practice, it’s actually very, very useful. Includes a vent hood over the top end of the single flysheet doors to provide ventilation and additional protection from the rain

Product Specification

Good, reliable tents will be made from lightweight but strong and weatherproof materials. Look for something that has a strong waterproof rating, shown by hydrostatic head. Anything with a flysheet over 4,000mm will be reliable and the higher the number is the better. For the groundsheet, look for something rated at 5,000mm or more. Then there’s the fabric durability: you should look for a high denier strength – ideally 20D and over for the flysheet – and a ripstop weave. For More Like This