Wild Country Helm

Product Information

This design gives a relatively large sleeping area, with 1.2 metres of height and 2.4 square metres of sleeping space. On top of that, you’ve also got the benefit of a 0.8 square metre porch, providing plenty room to cook and organise your kit – something we feel is an essential feature in single skin tents to avoid touching the potentially damp walls of the main compartment. Did you know that 1 person can produce up to 1 pint of condensation per night? So, let’s say you have 5 people in a tent, that is potentially 5 pints of water inside your tent! Other likely sources of moisture are wet shoes, clothes, dogs, cooking, even the air itself! Warm air can hold more moisture than cold air, as the temperature falls at night the more moisture is released into the air. Fact, even without occupants, the air in a six-man tent holds approximately 1 pint of water!

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Tents designed with good ventilation and an inner tent will fair best. In certain weather conditions, the design of any tent can be overwhelmed by moisture. For example, if it is a cold night and there is no breeze to circulate the warm, moist air out of the tent, condensation is likely to form. The Helm 2 Compact is a free standing, stable dome design (although requires pegging out to stretch the tent base) The distinctive pole structure gives plenty of headroom inside the tent and give's it strength in windy weather

It pitches like a tarp tent, requiring a trekking pole to prop it up which should be either 120cm of less in length. There’s then a 15-inch aluminium pole that props up the other end. This is embedded but can be removed if necessary. we] were impressed with its fast pitching, all-in-one design, practical features and reassuringly robust build quality. The one-person version is just as good as its big brother, and arguably this style of tent is even better suited to solo use.” It’s a hybrid tarp / tent design that features a single skin of silicon coated polyester upper that’s suspended off a trekking pole. This upper is pegged down at the edge and corners to form a hexagonal shape around its base. Store wet stuff outside: Towels, boots, waterproofs, swimming trunks, sweaty friends… keep that soggy, wet stuff out of the tent. Use an awning, tarp or hub to provide storage for wet kit. The Helm Compact 1 has a mesh panel on the inner door plus a small mesh door with cover at the rear of the inner (which also allows access to the rear storage space) , providing several options for ventilation depending on weather conditions.They were the first company to launch a sub one-kilogram tent after the Millennium, and though their rivals would soon catch up with them, the weight and the little details have always been something at which they have excelled. Ventilate your tent!: The most effective way to prevent condensation is to ventilate your tent and reduce the internal humidity of your tent by promoting a good airflow. Examine your tent for low and high venting options and open them to let the moist air flow out. If the weather conditions permit, leave the upper and lower sections of the door open, mesh sections can be kept fully zipped. If appropriate, also ensure vents at the rear of the tent are fully open. Make sure the vents are not obstructed by bags or sleeping bodies. For anyone taller than me, I would say this isn’t really big enough. I’ll live with it because I wanted to reduce the weight and bulk of my old Terra Nova Solar 2, which is actually still a good tent, but heavier and bulkier. Like most light tents, I would recommend using a footprint of some sort to protect the thin groundsheet from cuts etc. The Wild Country Helm Compact 1 has been awarded the Best Value one-person tent in 2022, as reviewed by Trail Magazine. Don’t pitch too close to water: Rivers and lakes can increase humidity. Pitching your tent, a little further away from water sources can help reduce condensation.

Flysheet: 20D nylon ripstop silicone PU, 3000mm HH / Inner: 20D nylon ripstop silicone/ 15D nylon mesh / Groundsheet: 30D nylon ripstop, 3000mm hydrostatic head / Poles: 2 trekking poles (not supplied) / Pegs: 9 x 15cm Y / Porches: x 2 , 28cm deep. Its easy to put up (inner tent & flysheet pitch together) and only takes 2 mins once you’ve done it once (I love tents like this - especially when putting up tents when its raining - I don't like pitching them separately) It has 2 poles which are clearly colour coded and you won't even need to read the instructions to put it up! Great ventilation with a mesh panel on the inner door, plus a smaller mesh door with a cover at the rear of the inner. I’m 6ft 0ins tall and this is not really long enough inside. My feet touch the end whilst my face is uncomfortably close to the wall at the other end, remember that the walls are not vertical – they slope towards the centre of the tent, so whilst the footprint appears on paper to be adequate, the full length is not useable. If you are say, 5ft 10ins or less, it would be fine. The first thing you’ll notice about the Helm 1 is its slightly strange asymmetric shape. Don’t worry, that’s deliberate, it’s all about the space-to-weight ratio. The single-person tent, made by Terra Nova Equipment’s sub-brand Wild Country provides a generous amount of inner space while remaining impressively light overall.The Helm 2 Compact is a 3-season tent (fine for spring, summer & autumn use) and will also take a light dusting of snow in the not too harsh UK winter conditions This one person tent features a cleverly-designed, hub-connected, all-in-one skeletal pole, which forms the main structure. A smaller transverse pole then slots across the apex of this structure stretching out the peak to maximise headroom. The freestanding inner, which is pitched first, clips tightly to this skeletal pole – and the result is a shelter with near-vertical walls and maximum head and elbow room. A decent-sized side porch and minimally-tapered floor add to the sense of spaciousness. Full Specifications Full vestibule / high vent / zipper vestibule closure / easy tensioning adjustment / floating canopy / floating floor / optimized sleeping area / centre pole support. The flysheet and groundsheet are made from a silicone-treated ripstop nylon with a 1,200mm hydrostatic head rating and an additional PU coating, while the tent inner is a breathable ripstop nylon with polyester mesh. All seams are taped with a waterproof, solvent free PU tape and the poles are DAC Featherlite. Condensation can be made worse when the air outside the tent is significantly cooler than inside, especially after a warm, humid day. On days where there is a substantial temperature drop, it can be challenging to prevent tent condensation forming.

Footprint is available separately to sit under the groundsheet and porch area to help prolong the life of your tent. I haven’t tried this out for real yet, but on first erection in my garden: -The tent appears to be well made (I have bought Terra Nova tents before and am confident this will be fine), and really good value for the money, but there are a few points to think about. – Don’t touch the sides: If pressure is applied to the tent walls of a polycotton tent, water may seep through. Keep bags and other items away from tent walls and be mindful that condensation can collect at the foot of AirBeams. The inner has plenty of headroom and there's a good-sized porch for kit storage, plus extra storage space under the rear flysheet accessed from a small door in the inner. Turn heaters off: Further warming the air inside the tent will increase water vapour in the air as warm air can support more moisture (our techy guys talk about dew points and percentage humidity), plus the warmer the tent is the more moisture will be released into the tent through evaporation and perspiration. Instead of heating the tent, warm yourself up with the right clothing and good sleeping bags.

We recommend using a footprint which sits under the groundsheet and porch area to help prolong the life of your tent. A footprint for the Helm Compact 1 is available. At its base weight, this tent weighs just 567g, but that measurement doesn’t include the pegs and guylines. Add them in and you can expect to be carrying around 100g extra. The inner has plenty of headroom and there's a good sized porch for kit storage, plus extra storage space under the rear flysheet accessed from a small door in the inner. This tent has been one of the most popular models we sell since it's introduction and has a loyal following. Weighing under 2kg, the Wild Country Helm Compact 1 Tent offers excellent value for money and is comparable in size, weight and performance to tents several times it's price.