Lowland Conquest

Lowland is a relative newcomer on the tent market. This small Holland-based company makes specialized, high quality expedition tents and uses only the best materials. I bought a Conquest, which is one of their smaller 4 season shelters. The geodesic structure is held up by three easton 9mm poles and features a large door, two enormous windows and a large vestibule. The outer shell is made of triple silicon polymer coated Carrington rip stop nylon, whereas Scothguard impregnated nylon is used for the inner.

I have been using this tent extensively over a period of a few months now (especially in the rough, deserty terrain of Israel's Arava valley and the Eilat Mountains) and I have to admit that it's an amazingly well-designed tent. Easy to pitch, light in weight and exceptionally strong. Mind you, I have been travelling for the last 13 years and I have had many tents of reputed companies die on me during long treks! If you have the chance of checking out Lowland tents, I'm sure you'll agree with everything I wrote here.

The Conquest I bought had a bug in its construction; The walls were cut too short which caused that the groundsheet did not touch the ground properly. It also resulted in very high stresses on the seams and the zippers. This was also the opinion of the outdoor shop (a major Dutch Lowland dealer) where I bought the tent. For whatever reason, the manufacturer disagreed with us. After 5 weeks of waiting the shop returned me my money. I had the tent less than a week in my possession. A proper Conquest seems a good tent. The construction is well thought of with plenty of space, selfstanding and good ventilation, weigthing just 3 kilos. But, in my opinion, good quality and a bad service do not go together.