One of the best well-made & most rugged 2-person 4-seaon tent in the market - Hilleberg Tarra Tent - 2 Person, 4 Season

I love the outdoors and have had my fair share of dealing with camping equipment for the past 30 years.

As with most experienced campers, who experienced the need to setup or pack up a tent in windy and/or stormy weather, most of the cheaper tents with an endoskeleton design creates a frustrating challenge. Not only must one need to first pitch the inner tent in heavy rain and risk wetting the non-water-resistant inner tent, the outer tarp also flips & flops around in heavy gust, making the task more difficult than it should be.

I have heard great praises about the Hilleberg tent's exoskeleton design. But was put off by their relatively high price tag.

When it is time to find a replacement for my old tent, I revisited the current Hilleberg's offerings and decided to go with the Tarra tent. I needed a 4-seaons tent with a free-standing design that will offer the most rugged structural integrity to withstand very high winds. I live in one of the most windy cities on Earth and the last thing I want to worry about is equipment failure.

The Tarra tent not only meets and exceeds all my expectations, it also offers excellent ventilation, roomy living space & superb weatherproof abilities. Every small aspect in the Tarra tent exuberates thoughtful thinking with its design and high-quality workmenship in its build-quality.

As if the Tarra tent's 4-ole design is not tough enough, each of the pole pocket can take 2 poles, hence doubling the pole counts to 8 if needed be, to cater for the toughest and harness environment one can pitch the Tarra tent in. To be honest, the DAC poles are amazingly tough and light-weight, single-pole would be more than sufficient for most circumstances, unless one needs to pitch the tent in gale force winds.

For those who wonder why Hilleberg does not use DAC poles instead of carbon-fibre tent poles there are good reasons for this decision. The main concern is reliability and superb strength of DAC poles. If you do some research on forums it is easy to find countless bad experiences from users who experimented with 3-party CF poles made for the Hilleberg tents...they are not reliable and can fail at anytime. The DAC poles are the best premium option currently available in the market.

I also appreciate the longer loops on the sides that allows looping over the tent poles (intersection) to transfer the tension from the guy wire to the tent frame, instead of the tent fabric.

The color-coded pole pockets also makes setup quick-n-easy, especially in
dark.

Another great aspect is the separate tarp that acts as the upper vent cover, which enables the upper large area triangular air vent to stay wide open during rain, except may be for the worst windy storms. This design, combines with the vestibule(s) provides better ventilation even in less than ideal weather conditions.

The ability to pack the inner tent separately from the wet outer tent whilst working inside the vestibule's weather protection is another great bonus worth considering, minimizing weather exposure to its occupants until the last moment to dissemble the outer tent.

The Hilleberg tents may cost a bit more than other brands, but it is definitely a worthwhile investment for those who requires utmost reliability, functionality and practicality in their camping equipment. The dividends will pay off in no time, once the owner gets to appreciate the design advantages of the Hilleberg tents when used in less than ideal camping environments, where the weather elements separates the good and the bad gears.

Last but not the least, this may be a personal preference, I quite like the light-yellow upbeat inner tent colour, which provides a cheerful ambience even under an over-casted sky. Combined with the superb weatherproof built, sturdy bomb-proof reassurance and excellent ventillation, ensures its occupants a great night sleep all refreshed to take on the challenges of a new day.

This review was written in the old system and had content requirements that are different than reviews written today.