www.hilleberg.com | £795
Hilleberg, known as ‘the tent maker’, has been focused on manufacturing top quality tents since Bo Hilleberg founded the company 40 years ago. If you’re thinking what I was when I saw the price tag then no, it’s not a typo. For £795 we’d expect the tent to come with butler service, and someone to carry it for you. But you can see from the off why this tent costs so much. It’s obviously been designed by an avid camper who knows a lot about tents, and attention to detail is brilliant. Pitching it’s a breeze as the poles are colour-coded and they slide effortlessly through their sleeves. The hardened aluminium pegs are amazingly light and they have pull chords to help you get them out of the ground.
Once up the Kaitum 2 GT is huge and this space is shared nicely between a large sleeping area and two porches. The two vestibules offer a massive amount of storage space, with the bigger of the two roomy enough to fit a football team in. As a result, the tent isn’t exactly lightweight, at 3.5kg.
The sleeping area is by far big enough for two people and someone who’s six foot can easily stretch out and sit up. Inner storage is provided through four nicely sized inner pockets and a hanging line runs from end to end of the inner.
While it’s hard to find any faults with this tent, I think a few more ventilation points on the inner wouldn’t go amiss, but saying that, the two mesh doors will perform well enough.
Despite the fact that the tent is remarkably well made and is like a palace in a stuff sack I find it hard to justify spending £795 on a piece of gear. But you definitely get what you pay for in this case, and if I did have £795 going spare I’d be ordering one right now.
Hilleberg Kaitum 2 GT Tent Verdict
One of the best tents I’ve seen, incredibly well designed and made, but wow to the price!