A tent is a tent is a tent right. Well that all depends on whether you think the weather is just the weather is just the weather. Picking the right tent is critical for ensuring your travels are comfortable and when the conditions turn against you that you actually make it back alive to tell the story.
Win a Trail Tech Summit 3-Man tent worth R2 299
Enter the new Trail Tech Summit 3-person tent available from Mr Price Sport. I am not familiar with the brand name and must assume that this is a trade name specially made for Mr Price Sport. In addition, unfortunately, I did not have an opportunity to test this tent in suitable mountain conditions and so this ‘test’ is really a first impression.
The tent arrives packed in a neat stuff sack which has two compression straps on the outside to help reduce the bulk. There are five anodised aluminium poles; four keep the tent stable and a further pole gives the flysheet shape. This does seem excessive maybe, but it is in line with its more famous cousins – those mountain tents made by North Face and Mountain Hardware. The extra poles do add to the weight but will assist in making the tent way more storm resistant.
Most importantly the poles are colour coded – and are matched with colour flashes on their respective sleeves on the tent itself making it easy to erect – nice!
Colour-coded poles and tent sleeves make the Trail Tech Summit 3-person tent easy to erect.
If there was something I didn’t like about the tent it was the new fangled tent pegs. These do not have a large enough hook to make them useful in pegging the tent itself down and so you’d be advised to consider a few old fashioned pegs for that purpose. The pegs were great holding the guy ropes it must be said.
Design and Waterproofing
The tent has a built-in ground sheet with an upper part constructed from breathable nylon that has a 450-millimetre water column ‘waterproof’ rating. The flysheet is attractive with grey panels on orange and has a 2000-millimetre water column ‘waterproof’ rating. Generally the stitching and detail work is good, although I was a little concerned with the tenacity of the Velcro patches – the stitching on these was a little loose on my test version.
The design is intelligent with doors on each end of the inner tent although the flysheet has a main door with lots of space for packs, you could even cook in the vestibule relatively comfortable if the weather demands. Each door has a nylon panel that can be zipped separately from a gauze window allowing for good airflow. If there is a flaw in the design for South African conditions, where you tend to battle heat more than cold, is that the dome of the tent itself is solid nylon and even at its most breathable will trap more moisture and heat than a gauze ceiling. That said in really cold conditions the ‘sealed’ inner is a boon as it traps way more heat.
Final thoughts
At R2 299 the Summit 3-man tent offers good value for money and although it may not be able to tackle serious mountains like Everest, that is not its intended market and you’ll be very comfortable in most local conditions – especially if you hit a cold snap.
Basic Specs
Price: R2299
Size: 260 x 210 x 125 centimeters
Flysheet: 2 000mm water column resistance
Groundsheet: Built-in system Nylon Oxford
Poles: Aluminium anodised and elasticated
