The Hyperlite Mountain Gear Crosspeak 2 is an ultralight freestanding tent that weighs 34 ounces (964g). It’s a single-wall tent made with Dyneema DCF and has three aluminum tent poles. Designed to carry two folks, it options two doorways and two vestibules, but is light-weight and compact sufficient for one particular person to hold. The one gotcha concerning the Crosspeak 2 is its value, a gut-busting $950.
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- Sort: Freestanding
- Structural: Single-wall
- Weight: 34 oz / 964g
- Capability: 1-2 folks
- Materials: Dyneema DCF
- Doorways/Vestibules: 2
- Pockets: 2
- Poles: 3, aluminum
- Dimensions: Tapered flooring 48″ to 45″, with 42″ of peak
- Tent Stakes: Not included.
The Crosspeak 2 is a single-wall, freestanding tent made with Dyneema DCF, weighing 34 oz. It has two doorways, two vestibules with mesh doorways, and mesh sidewalls for air flow. The Crosspeak comes with three aluminum poles – two lengthy and one brief, that are inserted into pole sleeves on the tent’s exterior. The 2 lengthy poles kind an “X” over the tent, whereas a 3rd shorter forehead pole helps improve the vestibule quantity. The result’s a structurally sturdy and weather-resistant pitch that may be bolstered by tying extra man traces (not included) to orange-colored gear loops located alongside the pole sleeves.
The ground within the Crosspeak is hooked up to the tent partitions with insect netting (mesh), which provides it some “slack” to regulate to unprepared campsites that aren’t flat. I wish to check with this sort of flooring as a floating flooring, and it’s a typical design sample within the single-wall tents made by a number of producers. It additionally implies that inside condensation, if it accumulates, will roll down the partitions and drain out the mesh with out making you or your gear moist.
The ground within the Crosspeak is tapered from 48″ to 45″, which is a bit too small to make use of two vast 25″ inflatable rectangular pads, though these dimensions flip the Crosspeak right into a palace in the event you use it as a solo tent. It’s definitely light-weight sufficient for that goal and really tempting since one particular person can simply erect the tent. One of many nice benefits of freestanding tents just like the Crosspeak 2 is that you just obtain an ideal pitch each time with out having to fuss round.
One factor that’s instantly noticeable within the inside is how steep the inside partitions are, in addition to the 42″ ceiling. There’s a variety of wiggle room on this tent for altering your garments and even packing your backpack underneath cowl if it’s raining outdoors, breaking the tent down, and packing it final in an exterior pack pocket.
The vestibules, nevertheless, are simply giant sufficient to retailer a backpack underneath cowl with out interfering with door entry. DCF doesn’t have a variety of stretch and tends to curve inward when used to create a vestibule form. You see the identical factor on the Zpacks freestanding FreeZip 2P dome-style tent that we reviewed final autumn (see assessment). The Crosspeak 2’s forehead pole (the third shortest pole) helps create extra quantity on the prime of the vestibule to compensate and make the vestibule usable.
Inner Condensation
Single-wall tents are likely to accumulate inside condensation, which could be transferred to occupants and their gear in the event you rub up towards the partitions. It happens when there’s a temperature distinction between the skin of the tent and the inside (heated by physique warmth). It’s not the top of the world in the event you do get a bit of moist, however there are tried-and-true methods to stop inside condensation from occurring or to attenuate it.
A method to enhance air flow is so as to add vents to a tent’s ceiling or door, permitting sizzling air (which rises) to flee and inspiring airflow. The Crosspeak 2 has such vents on the prime of its vestibule doorways. Sadly, they don’t have props (known as kickstands) to maintain them open, they usually are likely to collapse in on themselves. A much better approach is to sleep with the vestibule doorways rolled again, permitting air to flow into and vent heat. That’s the way you convey the temperature contained in the tent’s pores and skin into equilibrium with the skin temperature.
However sleeping with the vestibule doorways vast open solely works in dry circumstances or gentle rain. What if the rain is blowing at you horizontally? For the reason that Crosspeak’s vestibule doorways have zippers down the center, you’ll be able to open one of many doorways and preserve the opposite half going through the wind closed. The guy-out line on the vestibule doorways is interchangeable to facilitate directional pitching.
Comparable Freestanding Tents
Advice
The Hyperlite Mountain Gear Crosspeak 2 (34 oz) is a single-wall freestanding tent that’s cozy for 2 folks however nonetheless gentle sufficient for one particular person to make use of as a solo shelter. The usage of exterior pole sleeves makes it a robust 3+ season shelter, guaranteeing an ideal pitch each time. The tent’s inside options near-vertical partitions and a excessive ceiling, offering loads of house to vary your clothes and transfer round inside, whereas its “floating” bathtub flooring retains you dry, even when you have to set it up on a less-than-flat tent web site. I believe the Crosspeak 2 is a positive tent and value severe consideration in the event you’re in search of an ultralight freestanding tent.
Disclosure: HMG donated a tent for assessment.
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