Sunday 15 June 2014

Nordisk Telemark 1LW....A Review.

A number of folk have told me to get on and do a review of this tent, Now I don't really "do" reviews...however here's my best effort. I would draw your attention to the post here I did on the tent when I first purchased it. Some of the pictures have appeared elsewhere on the blog, sorry for any repetition. The captions will be different I promise!

It packs very small as you can see above, thats a 500ml flask. I split it up for packing, and don't faff with a tent bag that was designed by someone who thought the fabric was being rationed!
The bag says 830g! My in use weight inc Brabantia binliner to store it in is 858g.

Ok...now this is where things become blurred. The sizes quoted are correct.
This tent is plenty large enough for me, but I'm 175cm tall and weigh in at 64kg...ie I'm no giant! I also never take lots of stuff, I do like to keep my pack (I use it as a Pillow!) in the tent (if dry)
There's lots of length and plenty of width to keep all my gear to my right, ( I have used both a Neoair Xlite short and half Ridgerest)
The Bell was plenty large enough to house a wet pack, and still have room to cook (I use a Caldera Cone) and still be able to get in and out of the tent .
If at a guess you were 180cm or taller I think the headroom would become annoying?



The pole folds very short (41cm) and is a DAC Featherweight.
It is supplied with 4 DAC V channel pegs (11g each)anodised gold (why?), 4 pegs are enough to pitch the tent. The guy shown above is to tension the door/porch. (See below)
However there is 1 guying point either side of the hoop, I added some line to these and have used 2 more DAC pegs from another tent for these lines.
 On the Challenge I also carried a couple of "spare"carbon pegs. 12g 

Here we see the awning feature in use, although I have used my poles to support this rather than take three of the corner poles out as suggested. I have done this (usig a pole) with both an Akto and Laserlite in the past, Its handy for cooking under to limit the buildup of condensation.

Here we can see how easy it is to get a very taught pitch, I sleep well but was never troubled with flapping.
The Fly and groundsheet are 10D nylon....no water ingress so far what more can I say. I would always use some polycro under the groundsheet anyway.
This is a good angle to see the slightly laid back angle of the hoop, which is then braced by the angle of the hoop guys. The shallow angle faces the direction the wind is blowing from, the pole sleeve is "within the fly not external like most outer pitching tents. This makes it more slippery, from a wind point of view.

Another image to show the good sized bell.
What I don't have is a picture to show the condensation! There was on many nights during the Challenge heavy condensation on the inside of the fly...but none inside the inner.
The inner is very well proofed, I tried to force water through it, and failed.
On of the main attractions to me was easy,quick pitching, it goes up in a couple of minutes a real bonus when its raining or you're tired.
The inner and fly are very easily detached and connected.
There are 2 negatives I've found...firstly when the fly is very wet the pole "grabs" the fabric and becomes difficult to thead through its sleeve. Secondly the seperation on the shallow angle is only probably 5cm...when the door is open this then sags and rests on the inner. Perhaps as the tent ages any condensation could be forced thro by this?
I suppose the test of any product is would I spend the money on the same tent again? Truthfully I would, I consider it a much better tent than a Laser Comp, more like an Akto in its stability and ease of pitching (easier actually) but of course almost half the weight.

I have formed the above opinions over 15 nights use in varying conditions. I also bought it with my own hard earned cash, I have no alligence to any manufacturer, importer or retailer of outdoor equipment!
Hope the above helps someone out there.

7 comments:

  1. It's clearly ok for you, but that headroom would do my head in! It's even less than the Akto.

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    1. Hi David...
      But you're a giant of a man!! :-))
      We all have a different set of requirements....Weight, and pack size are at the top of my list of prioritys.!
      You pays your money and takes your choice!! :-))

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  2. David the larger versions are 100cm inner hight. This review shows the overall design works. I like this tent range, and would like a closer look. Yes the model Al has is too short for us, but the 2 person is sub 900g and bomber, and has room for tall folks. Bob at BPL is 6'2 and found a self inflating mat worked better than a NeoAir as the lower fly at the foot end is cramped for space. But overall this is a good tent. Chris T used, and like it in the Cairngorms. Thanks Al for that. Cracking kit.

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    1. Cheers Martin, I use a Neoair Xlite sometimes...but only use it to sleep on! I sit on my 3mm foam mat, not because of height issues...but because the neoair is comfy to sleep on when its underinflated...ie when sat on my backside touches the ground!
      I know I could alter the pressure but....
      Bobs review helped me to decide in all honesty.
      I don't do ultralight on long trips, but I do do lightweight.
      I might well do a post on my thoughts on this and my reasoning behind them in a future post...
      Thanks again

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  3. Hi Alan
    Chris Townsend did a review of this tent and he mentioned about the corner struts moving up out of the sleeves when it was windy. Did you notice that this happened? I really like the look of this tent but cannot decide between this and a Scarp 1 :(

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    Replies
    1. The corner struts had a habit of popping up out of their sleeves on my Telemark 2. I sewed the tops shut. The idea of using the poles to support the flysheet opening is a bit gimmicky anyway, and makes the tent go floppy. A walking pole does the same job with affecting the set of the tent.

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    2. Hi there, sorry to be a while replying. I haven't had a problem of the struts trying to escape! I can see how they might tho. Sewing them up would be a solution, however then you couldn't use them for the "awning support". I don't always carry trekking poles so this was an attraction.
      Cheers Alistair

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