Hilleberg Akto Tent Review

Hilleberg Akto in action

The Hilleberg Akto is described by the manufacturer as offering “near luxury all-season shelter for the solo traveller”. I wouldn’t go that far, but it’s a damn site comfier than a bivi bag.

Pitching the tent is surprisingly easy, and takes a matter of minutes. Pegging out one end first allows you to forget about the tent being carried off by the wind while you unfold the single aluminium pole or root about for the lightweight tent pegs.

A minimum of four pegs are need to pitch the tent, but ten are recommended to give maximum stability. The ingenious positioning of the guy lines mean that the shape of the tent can be kept, making it stable in the wind. One downside to the pitching is the area needed; with the side guys fully extended the tent is around 3.5 – 4m by 3.5m, a big area.

Once up, the tent is surprisingly spacious. For me (at around 175cm tall – that’s 5′9″ in old money) there was just not quite enough height to sit up comfortably in the middle, but there was more than enough length and width for me to be fairly comfortably spread out, with camping detritus surrounding me.

Akto dimensions

The porch too is nice and big, good for storing packs and boots, and more than ample for cooking in. Another design flaw is the fact that the toggle to tie back the outer door is near the bottom, so once you roll the door up and toggle it in place, the top can easily unroll and flop onto your face (or your stove, more worryingly).

There are vents at each end of the outer tent to give good airflow past the inner, and it’s advisable to sleep with these open to reduce condensation. There’s also a small mesh pocket at one end for valuables (glasses, torch etc) and a fold-away panel on the inner door which when un-velcroed gives a mesh view-hole to the porch or outdoors.

Weight: 1.5kg

Cost: RRP £290 (I got mine for £220 via Field and Trek online. so worth shopping around)

Pros:

• Light and robust (not as light as, say, the Terra Nova Laser Photon at 740g, but so much more solid)
• Good space inside and in porch for such a light one-man tent
• Quick and easy to pitch on your own
• Pitches and stores with inner attached

Cons:

• Needs quite a large area to pitch for such a small tent (about 3.5m x 4m)
• Not quite tall enough to allow people of average height or greater to sit up in without crouching
• Poor fastener for outer door makes it tricky to leave it open while cooking in the porch

Overall:

• A brilliant tent that will do in all seasons, ideal for short solo backpacking trips where weight and pack size aren’t too crucial. The only flaws are minor.