Hilleberg Akto experience

[SCOMAN]

I spent a rather uncomfortable night in my MSR hubba (2004) recently being battered by not actually that strong winds. I'm looking for a new robust tent and came across the Hilleberg Akto. My search on here brought up a few purchases by people earlier in the year. What's been your experience of them? How are the tents in wind? is the footprint worth it? And is the tent worth the cost?

 

[Nohoval_Turrets]

I've been using an Akto for over ten years. It's a fantastic tent.It will stand up to winds that flatten most tents. For really strong winds you can put a second pole in the same sleeve, but having been in several gales in this tent with just the one pole, I can't imagine what would require a second. It goes up in minutes - you'll be wriggling into your sleeping bag while others are still pushing tent poles in. The vestibule space is huge - you can really organise your gear there and save the space int he inner for you.

The downsides - it is quite low. I'm 5'6" and I can sort of sit up, but anyone taller couldn't. It requirs a surprising amount of space to set up - being a single pole design, it relies on the guylines to pull the shape out fully. It's also expensive of course, but I bought mine in 2003 or 2004 and it's still perfect. And that's with a LOT of use. It never leaked, tore, frayed or wore away. So I can vouch for the quality.

 

[SCOMAN]

Cheers chum, I was just in Cotswold and one of the guys in there, that seemed to have some awareness of tents, did caution that the fabric was thin and not great abrasion-wise.

 

[Ivanhoe]

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=131195&p=1637899#post1637899

 

[widu13]

Popular with people migrating from the Akto:

http://www.tarptent.com/scarp1.html

 

[Brynglas]

I've had my Auto for about five years and never had a problem, a great tent and worth the outlay. Weighs less than my bivvy bag, is roomy and the porch is big enough to cook in and store gear. I've certainly not experienced any weakness or abrasion in the fabric, nor for that matter have I heard it mentioned.

 

[Nohoval_Turrets]

1

Cheers chum, I was just in Cotswold and one of the guys in there, that seemed to have some awareness of tents, did caution that the fabric was thin and not great abrasion-wise.

Well I don't know what to say about that. Any of the points where you'd expect abrasion are reinforced with webbing - the corners where it meets the ground, the pole-ends and so on. Yes it's the lighter Hilleberg material, but I don't see any significant wear, and I've never felt in any danger of it going.

I've seen lots of tents fail over the years (not mine!), but abrasion was never the issue.

Anyway, I don't think you need to worry about longevity with the Akto, or any Hilleberg tent. Several people I know got Aktos around the same time I got mine, and they're all still going strong.

 

[SCOMAN]

Cheers guys, thank you for the advice. Now I need to find one at a good price.

 

[PDA1]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1iJvk6tKs4

Here's an Akto in 80 poh winds

 

[SCOMAN]

Heres another couple of questions;
Does the inner not get wet with whatever condensation there is when you pack it up between pitches or do you need to have the ventilation open at both ends and the top to prevent this?
Can the footprint be left attached to the rest of the tent when stored?
Is it okay to use a candle lantern in the tent?

 

[Nohoval_Turrets]

If there's condensation on the fly, then yes. This is a disadvantage of all pitch-as-one tents. But it never seems to be much, and the inner dries very quickly. It's never been a problem for me. If it's a concern, you can always separate the inner - it only takes a minute, and can be done with the outer still up.

You definitely want to have all the ventilation going to reduce condensation. The one at the top of the door seems to be the most important, and at least one of the end vents. In really strong winds I close the one to windward, bit otherwise I keep both open.

I keep the inner and outer together all the time. Obviously, you want to hang up the tent to air after any trip.

You can use a candle lantern no problem. It helps to control condensation - well I think so, some disagree. With a Uco mini, I use a piece of wire to keep the right distance between the lantern and the fabric. Because the tent is so low you'll need to be careful not to bump it with your head.

 

[Brynglas]

I don't attach the footprint, I roll the tent up in it o keep it clean and then roll it up separately. Never had any big issues with condensation as the tent is extremely well ventilated.

 

[SCOMAN]

Cheers for the help and quick and speedy advice guys.

 

[MarkN]

I've had my Sand coloured Akto for over a year now and think it's a superb bit of kit. The inner does get a bit wet with condensation but that's normally down to me not opening the air vents properly.
I generally leave the footprint attached to the tent and it works well.
The best place I found for a good price was RayMears.com - they had the colour I wanted and also through in the footprint.

 

[Uilleachan]

I've an akto and I get on fine at 6'4", I can sit up mid tent but find it better to lie down to dress. Never bothered with the footprint, for the same cost one can procure a football pitch sized roll of poly sheeting, so I use a inner footprint size piece of plastic sheeting, which is only really needed on rough or heathery ground and if I lose it it's no great loss finically, although it a pollutant if it gets loose.

Best small tent of it's class, there are others around costing half the price but they're just not as robustly or generously built, IMVHO of course. What sealed it for me is the generous flysheet and the snow/weather flaps that can be loaded up to keep the weather out when the chips are down. If a fly sheet doesn't touch the ground, easily, it's no good for me.

 

[SCOMAN]

Cheers guys, I got one from eBay essentially brand new and have bought a footprint. I'll not get out this weekend but hope to be out soon. It's particularly stressful at work recently and a night sleeping out is quite helpful.

 

[Nohoval_Turrets]

Congratulations on the new Akto! Hope it's everything you hoped!

I just realised that I was misinterpreting your question about leaving the footprint attached - I was talking about leaving the inner attached, not the footprint. I don't use a footprint, so disregard my comments on that.

Do write up a review once you've used it!

 

[Goatboy]

Good buy Scoman,
Of all the single man tents I've used the Atko is by far the best. The only drawback I ever had with it (and it's tiny) is that if you unzip the floor zip on the inner past the half way mark the bathtub collapses, only really a problem if camping on boggy ground.
As to the percieved condensation problem. Well I always aligned the tent so the end vents caught a through draft, that eliminated the problem. Any limpet fly of that quality needs air to circulate.
Have used it on exposed ridges an summits in very high winds and all weathers and once pegged properly it didn't budge an iota.
You'll get many happy years out of it.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

 

[Squidders]

I had an Akto for a very short while... peerless construction and materials but I couldn't sit up in it, found getting dressed inside a pain in the rear and generally just didn't bond with it.

I have since gone with a Hubba Hubba NX which is comparable in weight but massive inside. If I were to spend more time camped on the side of hills I would probably go for the HP version with its stronger fabrics and poles. That said, I believe the Akto would still have the edge on absolute strength. If what you needed was utter reliability maybe also look at the soulo.