I've drooled over the quality and innovative nature of Hilleberg tents for a number of years and finally plucked up the courage to buy one late last year. Best purchase i have ever made!
No one can deny the fine reputation that Hilleberg enjoy, and now i've got my own, i happily wave the Hilleberg flag wherever possible!
This is a great British backpacking and winter camping tent; i've not had a chance to test it in further climes, but i reckon it'll do just as well.
Plenty of internal space but a reasonable footprint make this a very versatile tent. Long and narrow, its easy to squeeze onto a small flat pitch whilst wild camping in trickier terrain, and while it has quite a low profile there is still plenty of space inside to sit up, cook meals and sort yourself out! The porch is a real wonder, which happily eats two 65plus litre packs and still has room for cooking safely, boots and the other kit that gets scattered around whilst camping!
The inner tent is nice and bright, a relief in harsh weather, and has plenty of space for two large adult males, plus associated duffle and big winter sleeping bags, to sleep in comfort without resorting to the usual elbows and grumbling that often ensues in lightweight backpacking tents! Two small storage pockets and a handy sock-hanging/drying line that runs the length of the inner add to the comfort and help with organisation. It's no problem for two people to completely change from sleep to trekking clothes without starting a fight!
The venting is exceptional - i've not encountered another tent yet with such good condensation control. A huge vent positioned high on the vestibule end of the tent allows for great air flow, and can be adjusted if there is a breeze, allowing wind the whip over the inner tent, leaving you warm and drip free!Outside of this vent there is an adjustable 'hood' with a wired peak to allow additional adjustment, meaning you can leave the vent open without leaving yourself open to the weather. There is a sizeable, closeable, vent at the narrow end of the inner tent and another low set vent at the bottom of the rear end of the tent. If conditions allow, one of the dual entrances can be left a touch open if you're pitched on really moist ground or its very warm. As a result, condensation is very rarely a problem, and that is one of the best points in this tent.
The outer is very tough and light - the Kerlon 1200 material lives up to its reputation perfectly. I see it withstanding many years of abuse, and has already dealt well with the odd snag and drag over rocks and spiky bushes! After the seventeen trips i have done in this tent since december '11, it looks brand new.
When pitched properly, which does take a little practise, this tent has shrugged off all manner of weather and resists snow-loading wonderfully. Ther is no flapping or annoying noises in high winds, and very little shaking about either. The Nallo 2 comes with a great instruction booklet which gives many pointers as to the best pitching. Theres a vast amount of guy lines to provide stability, and adjusters at the ends of the pole sleeves allow you to crank to pole ends flush with the side of flysheet, providing great tension and maximum headroom with a minimum of fuss. The pole sleeves are continuous and also have space enough to accomodate two of the standard NSL poles. This provides potential for taking the Nallo out into harsher weather. Only one set of poles is provided, but spares and extras are easily obtainable from Hilleberg direct. I have a good amount of experience with tents, though not much with tunnel designs. However, straight out of the bag on the first pitch it took me only 20mins to pitch on my own!
The Nallo packs into a very small space, and the stuff sack provided is nice and roomy, allowing the tent to contour the other kit in your pack instead of making a small but hard and ungainly lump. I often remove the inner when breaking camp to help keep it dry over longer trips - pack this up into a drybag, and give that and the pegs and poles to your mate, and you've split the weight and bulk easily and pretty fairly. Packed like this, you'd scarcely believe how huge to internal space in the Nallo is once pitched. The weight as a singl item complete is not light by any stretch of the imagination, certainly if compared to single person trekking tents, but i have taken it out solo before and the weight in the pack is not particularly noticeable. Its a little excessive for one person i will admit, and feels like a bit more luxury than should be allowed on a remote wilderness expedition :P, but is welcome when the weather closes in for the fourth time in as many days!
In summary then, i can genuinely state that this is the best tent i have ever had the pleasure of using! Spacious, easily vented, easy to pitch and bombproof. Add these points to a small pack size and a nice stealthy profile and colour for wild camping, and suddenly the extra few hundrer grams the Nallo weighs in at above similar competion seems utterly irrelevant - and 95% of the time i am willing to agree!
The only real minus is the price tag - its massive i know, but genuinely worth the money. I can see my Nallo 2 being a steadfast companion for many many years, the first bit of kit to go in the pack, but the last to worry about!
If i could, i would give the Nallo 2 GT ten stars!