Wild Country Helm Compact 2 Tent RRP £260

Product Information

Materials Outer Watershed 7D Si, 1,700mm Inner ripstop Nylon plus mesh Groundsheet ripstop Watershed Si2, 3,000mm Poles DAC 8.7mm alloy Pegs 8 titanium First of all, it’s really easy to pitch. Inside the large bag are two poles – one long and one short – which slide into the colour-coded, mesh sleeves to form the structure. The main centre pole clips onto the flysheet to make it taut. The aluminium pegs supplied with the tent by Coleman are surprisingly strong and easily pushed into the hard, dry ground where I was camping. Materials Outer 40D ripstop Nylon Xtreme Shield PU/silicone, 1500mm Inner 15D Nylon micromesh Groundsheet 70D taffeta Nylon Xtreme Shield PU/DWR, 3000mm Poles 7000 series aluminium Pegs 8 anodised alloy Unlike some of the two-man tents out there, this is genuinely big enough for two people. It also has a huge front porch area, where there is room for loads of kit. Ventilation: Condensation can be difficult to avoid in the UK's wet climate, so good ventilation is key. Mesh vents on the inner and vent windows on the flysheet will help increase airflow, as will mesh panels on the inner walls. Good clearance between the inner and outer is very important too.

Pitching: Some tents, particularly from US brands, are pitched inner first – which isn't ideal if it's raining (and let's face it, it probably will be!). Others are pitched outer first or all-as-one, enabling the inner to be kept dry while the flysheet is pegged out. Ease of pitching is another important consideration. The Helm Compact 2 has a mesh panel on both inner doors providing plenty of ventilation to suit weather conditions. This one person tent features a cleverly-designed, hub-connected, all-in-one skeletal pole, which forms the main structure. A smaller transverse pole then slots across the apex of this structure stretching out the peak to maximise headroom. The freestanding inner, which is pitched first, clips tightly to this skeletal pole – and the result is a shelter with near-vertical walls and maximum head and elbow room. A decent-sized side porch and minimally-tapered floor add to the sense of spaciousness. Full Specifications The inner tent door opening could be a bit wider, it’s necessary to be really careful not to catch the opening when trying to get out. With a full-length porch on each side of the inner, you have plenty of space for kit storage without impinging on accessibility, and once you’ve unzipped the inner door panel and secured it with loop and toggle fastening, inside is roomy, too.

The distinctive pole structure gives plenty of headroom inside the tent and give's it strength in windy weather The design, build and materials match the high quality you’d expect from Terra Nova and Wild Country, all at an affordable price. It withstands wind well and the impressive waterproofing stats of the groundsheet and flysheet ensure you’ll always stay dry. All in all, the Wild Country Helm Compact 3 performs admirably: it delivers a weatherproof, spacious and full-featured shelter at a very sensible price, making several incremental improvements on the original Helm series. Weight and Size Weight: If you're carrying a tent up a mountain, you'll naturally want it to weigh as little as possible. But, the lighter a tent is, the more expensive it'll be. For a good quality, 3-season tent for UK use, 1kg or under is extremely light, 1.5kg is good, and 2kg is a tad on the heavy side.

Great ventilation with a mesh panel on the inner door, plus a smaller mesh door with a cover at the rear of the inner. When pitched, the Cobra 2 forms a wedge, tunnel shape. Inside there is theoretically enough room for two but, in all honesty, this is a one-berth tent – if you need to share, I’d recommend going for the Cobra 3 instead. The Helm Compact 1 has a mesh panel on the inner door plus a small mesh door with cover at the rear of the inner (which also allows access to the rear storage space) , providing several options for ventilation depending on weather conditions. With ventilation panels at both ends, allowing air to flow through, and zippable mesh on the inner doors, condensation isn’t a major issue. The vents have covers, so can remain open even when it’s raining.

Helm Compact 1

Storage space in both entrances is really generous. I was thinking to store equipment in one and cook in the other. The hubbed poles and colour-coded clips make pitching straightforward, although consulting the instructions for the first pitch would be advisable. The 70D polyester flysheet, with 3,000mm hydrostatic head, is highly waterproof and durable, and the lightweight alloy poles combine strength with flexibility. The groundsheet is also strong and designed to be very waterproof.

The flysheet is a PFC-free 20D ripstop sil-nylon (1,500mm HH), coated on both sides and with taped seams. The inner is entirely made from 15D fine gauge mosquito mesh, with a bathtub groundsheet made of 40D sil-nylon (5,000mm HH). The hubbed poles, on the other hand, are high-quality aluminium alloy DAC Featherlite NSL, in variable diameters. The tent is supplied with 9 lightweight pegs and 2 guylines. So you can understand why US outdoor specialist Sierra Designs decided to make an updated version of the popular Meteor tent range specifically created for the vagaries of the northern European climate. In a hot, dry Californian summer, an inner tent made primarily of mesh would make perfect sense for keeping cool. In the north of Scotland it would be guaranteeing you nights of shivering. Flysheet: 20D nylon ripstop silicone PU, 3000mm HH / Inner: 20D nylon ripstop silicone/ 15D nylon mesh / Groundsheet: 30D nylon ripstop, 3000mm hydrostatic head / Poles: 2 trekking poles (not supplied) / Pegs: 9 x 15cm Y / Porches: x 2 , 28cm deep.The tent is a three season model best suited to sheltered pitches, but you could certainly extend its range somewhat with a small handful of alternative pegs for better grip in the ground. The porch runs the side of the tent, and while the storage space beyond the doorway at the head of the tent isn’t huge, in the context of the other lightweight gear you’d be using, it’s adequate. The flysheet and groundsheet are made from a silicone-treated ripstop nylon with a 1,200mm hydrostatic head rating and an additional PU coating, while the tent inner is a breathable ripstop nylon with polyester mesh. All seams are taped with a waterproof, solvent free PU tape and the poles are DAC Featherlite. The tent has a single main pole, which forms an arch towards the front, while two short, upright poles create the rigidity at the front and rear. Both the aluminium poles are strong but flexible. The flysheet and inner go up together, and after a practice run in the garden, I found pitching straightforward and really easy. Ventilation is pretty decent, with vents at both ends, which can be held open with a Velcro strap and a guyline. It’s a hybrid tarp / tent design that features a single skin of silicon coated polyester upper that’s suspended off a trekking pole. This upper is pegged down at the edge and corners to form a hexagonal shape around its base.