When Hilleberg zippers fail. And fail again...

[matagi]

Take a look here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eFAyKMz314

Ha! I was just about to start a thread asking how one pitches a tent in strong winds - very informative video.

BTW that video is nice but seriously do you expect to recall it after days even months on the road, possibly facing for the first time pitching the tent in such conditions and in a foreign country where you are being bombarded with all these new experiences? I think sometimes we get so detached from what it is actually like "on the ground" when we are hiding behind our computer screens.

Oh for those interested Tierra del Fuego is in Argentina not far from the Falklands so I can imagine a pretty windy place for sure.

Tierra del Fuego is renowned for its wind. One would have to have done next to no prior research not to know that.

And yes, I would expect to recall at least some basic points from that video even years down the track. In fact, before I even saw the video I was thinking about what would be the best method of erecting a tent in high winds and came up with anchoring the windward side of the tent and trying to minimise its profile to the wind while setting it up.

[Orion]

Cycle touring can be many things, just like bushwalking. Funny, I first encountered Hilleberg tents in Patagonia which can be kind of a windy place as well.

Aushhiker, I agree with you that reading personal experiences can be valuable. But one ought to remain cognisant of the fact that there is a tendency to get a biased view this way. You know, squeaky wheels and all that. So until the reports of failure start coming in like gangbusters I will remain convinced that Hilleberg makes really fine, albeit expensive, tents. I see them all the time and haven't met anyone unhappy with theirs yet.

[Ent]

Hi

I have a Nallo 2 and Katium 3 and they are rather different beasts to handle in strong winds. The Katium 3 is a hugely long tent and yes tethering one end into the wind is what I always attempted to do but occasionally the wind can swing around. Also you might be forced by the land not to pitch in the ideal direction.

The Katium design does appear to load the zips up more than the Nallo and at times I have worried over the strain but as mentioned never had a problem.

As for what is the right grade. Well the colour code Hilleberg guide did not exist.when I brought mine. My general impression is the heavy duty range is for hanging off the side of an extreme mountain or traveling in polar conditions. The next level down is good for anything else.

I am a happy Hilleberg owner but can understand the issues published. I would like to think that Hilleberg would accept that just occasionally a tent might not be as good as their reputation would suggest and work with the customer to sort out the issues which would be rare given the quality of their products. One brand I respect offered to refund a tent because the inner was not as windproof it needed to be for mid winter. The person declined the offer but it was great that it was made.

As a long term Hilleberg owner based on what is posted bit disappointed with Hilleberg's service. But then it is said you never can tell service until you strike a problem yourself. I would think that the vast majority of Hilleberg owners would not strike problems so would never need to call on the warranty service.

Cheers

[Aushiker]

Cycle touring can be many things, just like bushwalking. Funny, I first encountered Hilleberg tents in Patagonia which can be kind of a windy place as well.

Aushhiker, I agree with you that reading personal experiences can be valuable. But one ought to remain cognisant of the fact that there is a tendency to get a biased view this way. You know, squeaky wheels and all that. So until the reports of failure start coming in like gangbusters I will remain convinced that Hilleberg makes really fine, albeit expensive, tents. I see them all the time and haven't met anyone unhappy with theirs yet.

I have n doubt they are good tents ... see lots of posts by users which suggest this ... what struck me more than the zip failure itself was the response from Hillberg. That was very disappointing to me.

Anyway I am now out of the market since buying a Tarptent Scarp 1 last year so less of a concern for awhile.

Andrew

[Aushiker]

And yes, I would expect to recall at least some basic points from that video even years down the track. In fact, before I even saw the video I was thinking about what would be the best method of erecting a tent in high winds and came up with anchoring the windward side of the tent and trying to minimise its profile to the wind while setting it up.

I wish I had your memory. I have seen that video before but had forgotten about it, but then I don't offer encounter such strong winds when bushwalking or touring even though I tend to do both activities in the season for same.

Personally I thought sitting on it to hold it down a bit whilst trying to pitch was quite a smart thing to do ... It does not seem to be putting stress of any note on the tent hence if that was going to damage the tent in such circumstances I would be more worried about the tent. Given all the reports about Hilleberg it shouldn't have been an issue, no?

Andrew

[Orion]

... what struck me more than the zip failure itself was the response from Hillberg. That was very disappointing to me.

Yeah, the bit about washing the zips every day does seem over the top. But remember this is just one experience which may or may not be typical. There are loads of reports on the internet from the disgruntled and very few from the gruntled.

[north-north-west]

If you tried to pack/pitch your tent down in Tierra del Fuego, where the picture of Peli is laying on the tent was taken, you HAD to lay on the tent. Not something we made a habit out of, but in a 60km/h wind or more and with a tent that is over 5 metres long you had to anchor it down, or else you would have a long walk to find it in a barbed wire fence.

There are simple precautions to take when pitching a tent in strong winds, and none of them include lying on top of the thing. You start by anchoring the tent to your (full) pack, and guying it out before putting in the poles. Minimises the risk of damage to the tent as well as stopping it from blowing away.

[Strider]

The zip on the side door clearly had a heck of strain on it when pitched, you could see the holes from the stitching stretching, when the sun heated the fabric up, it flexed by 30cm, between hot and cold.

If your tent is flexing that much, there is something absolutely wrong with your pitching technique

[north-north-west]

*snigger*
One of the better typos of recent times.

[woollypigs]

Anchoring the tent to pannier is not enough - you had to sit on it! When it is over five and half metres long there is a heck of fabric there aka a sail - we could barely stand upright in the wind gusts. Point the tail into the wind and peck down as much as we could before we put the poles in, is something we always did. I have seen that clip on youtube and we are doing out best to do just that, and have used the tricks of added to the guy lines and the "extra" pegging too. Though that shows a tent with 2 poles ours has 4 and have a heck more fabric than that one in the video. Therefore you had to have someone on the tent to make sure the wind didn't get hold of it and started to rip it or set sail like a kite surfer.

When you pitch in the late afternoon and it is nicely stretched out no "drooping" to be seen and you think jobs a good'un and ready for a brew. Then the sun goes down and the heat drops and the evening dew arrives, you have to go around and re-tension the tent or else the fly will touch your inner. Which we all know is one of the golden rules of camping to not to do. Also if you don't do that you will have a nice floppy tent that the wind loves to play with, other than keeping you awake all night is also a bad idea for your tent.

Then when the tent get hit by the sun in the AM, the opposite happens - the tent fabric shrinks and makes it nearly impossible to get out of your tent because the is so taut that you could use the tent as a trampoline or a drum. We have had the tent pull out pegs because of that, which have been pitched correctly - 45deg and all the way in only showing the last inch or so. Since you are on the inside of the tent it is not very easy to get to the straps and guy line to release the tension. We have looked right funny many times hands sticking out under the fly or out the vents trying to get to a peg or guy line, because we were scared to break the zips if we started to pull then the tent was in its "drum state".

We have tents in the family and friends have tents that they have used for years around the year in places like Pyrenees, Scotland and the Welsh mountains etc. These tents have never been washed, at the most dusted down hanged out to dry through AFTER use then packed away. Only one of theses tents had their zips changed and that was after 10 years of heavy use. So having a expensive tent fail after a few months of use is rather disappointing.

Other than the zip problems, wearing out rather fast, and the rather blunt customer service we are very happy with this tent. It has taken some serious beating - easy to pitch in the strong winds we have heard people losing or ripping tents while pitching theirs in Patagonia. We pitched very strong winds where we barely could walk in and even in dark of the night Tierra del Fuego. And endured massive thunder storm with winds from all direction, which bent the poles down so they touched us laying inside, for more than 12 hours at Mt. Cook, others bailed out and hid in theirs cars or the refuge shelter, we woke up dry in a "water bed" in 10 cm water all around us. More than a year in total in summer, in strong UV light in NZ, Australia and Patagonia and a summer in the USA, have caused it to fade along with the two 3mm in diameter holes in the fly, that we do not know where they came from, but this haven't weaken the fabric at all. Also it is probably the only tent that can fit me inside, being 6'4" (195cm), where I don't touch the walls, which has been a big problem in many other tents I have been in. I even managed to break a pole, which the wind didn't managed to do, but that was very easy fixed with the spare pole that came with the tent.

Hilleberg have just got back to us and we are getting our zippers fixed.

[Orion]

Hilleberg have just got back to us and we are getting our zippers fixed.

Are you getting the zippers upgraded?

[woollypigs]

Hilleberg have just got back to us and we are getting our zippers fixed.

Are you getting the zippers upgraded?

That is what we have requested. We are now waiting to hear where we should send it, USA or Sweden.

[Ent]

Hi

Had the Katium three out this weekend and had a good look at the zips. No issues as yet but did notice one under a lot of strain. Quick look and found the tension strap had slipped thus the zip was carrying the load. Readjusted it and bingo the zip was not under any strain.

Tend to forget that I need to check things every now and again. The centre string that is needed for fly only pitching had also come astray one end. The resident Queen Scout soon fixed that issue.

Cheers

Ps keep us informed on your progress. Be great if Hilleberg can come up with a fix for your issues.