Hilleberg Nallo 3 GT

Best tent I've ever had. Just back from five nights in the Weminuche wilderness. Rained all 5 nights including one spectacular thunderstorm with microburst wind speeds.

Tent stayed absolutely dry. My companions suffered condensation problems.

The large vestibule was wonderful. Able to enter and exit during the rain with interior of the tent completely protected.

A tunnel tent useable in winter???? That's what I thought! Hilleberg is one of the top end tent producers in Europe. Their tents are used by special forces all over the world. So what makes this particular model so special? I could sum up a whole list of characteristics but for that you better check the Hilleberg web site.

Characteristics I want to mention are: 1) the tent is a breeze to set up. The inner and outer tent are connected (but also detachable), speeding set up time. I can pitch the tent in under 5 minutes.

2) Weight/room ratio; this tent weighs in at 3.2 kilos and is absolutely enormous. Room enough to sleep two "kingsize" and an enormous vestibule for sitting/cooking and gear storage.

3)Waterproofness and ventilation; my tent is absolutely waterproof. I agree that ventilation is a potential problem. However, I never felt this to be a big problem; open up the draft opening at the back of the tent and slightly open the door and you won't have a problem. Anyway, you can't have it all; with a waterproof and thermally well insulated tent (sheet all the way to ground level) you are bound to have some condensation. The use of a Hilleberg footprint is recommended.

4) Wind/Snow; so far I haven't had any problems in high winds and storm. If you have any doubts you can always replace the 9mm DAC poles by the 11mm version beforehand. I haven't tried this tent in snow but expect it to stand up pretty well although of course not like my Moss Little Dipper.

5) Workmanship: absolutely top notch!

Summarizing: a top quality tent, light, easy set-up, absolutely waterproof and room, loads of it, to spare!

Absolutely top tent if you need the space, too much for two unless you have mountains of gear so really either three people (or two plus a dog - if it sleeps inside)! I'd take this tent anywhere except possibly high mountains/heavy snow load where a geodesic might be required and possibly in a very hot climate since it can get very warm very quickly as soon as the sun hits it.

Ventilation is good, allowing for the fact that the sides go right down to the ground, but by opening various door and vents it should be OK - and even in very hot climes, one can pitch the outer or inner (albeit with additional kit) alone.

Only slight disappointment is the pegs supplied are a bit soft - we carry spares from alpkit.com (much cheaper). Also, VERY heavy duty zip covers, need to hook a finger underneath and use the outer grip to zip without snagging when closing from the inside. But that said, torrential rain, strong winds, inside this tent this is where I want to be ... and that's what I look for in a tent!