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Sako Tent by Nemo
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Upside: Uses air baffles instead of poles. Downside: At 6.25 lbs, the tent is a bit heavy. Rating: ^^^^ (4 out of 5 peaks) Ideal User: Anyone who doesn't mind carrying a non-lightweight tent.
A small pump inflates the air baffles in just a couple of minutes, making the tent easy and fast to set up. So easy, in fact, that my partner and I set it up for the first time in the dark without reading the instructions. It was no problem. Staked down and pumped up, the tent really shines. Some of the quality features include: bombproof construction, a built-in vestibule, lots of headroom, built in air vents, waterproof zippers and a soothing green color. However, the thing I liked most about the Sako were the two giant doors on either side of the tent. Each side has a solid door and a screen door - this combination makes the tent very versatile. When the solid doors are zipped up, the Sako becomes a tight shelter that can be used comfortably in heavy rain or snow. When the solid doors are unzipped and the screen doors up, the tent is perfectly suited to warm, humid or dry hot desert climates. The screen doors allow air to flow through well, which keeps the tent cool and the bugs out. The designers at NEMO also cut the doors high enough that it�s easy to lay in your sleeping bag and stargaze until sleep takes you. I slept soundly in the tent and had fun hanging out inside, however there are a couple of things I did not like about the tent. First, the Sako weighs in at a 6.25 pounds, so if you are a weight freak, this probably isn�t the tent for you. Secondly, the tent does not pack up small, and despite my best efforts to squash it into a small space, it takes up some room in the pack. To inflate the tent, NEMO offers two pumps - a tiny model that fits into a pocket on the tent or a lightweight foot pump (4 oz.). In kind of a funny twist, the pump is not included with the tent, so this bumps the price up another $39-65. Friends who found this tent appealing, asked me about getting holes in the air bladders - obviously a problematic scenario. After using the tent backpacking in the Rockies, kayaking on a desert river with lots of thorny plants nearby and car camping with my wild girlfriend, I had no problems. The bladders are protected everywhere by a very durable fabric cover and inexpensive replacement bladders are available.
Discuss this review — Reviewed & Written by Nathan Ward, MountainZone.com | |
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Straight from the wooded hills of New Hampshire, a fresh new company named NEMO has jumped into the competitive tent market with a radical new design. The SAKO ($495) is a single wall, 2-3 person tent that uses internal low-pressure air baffles instead of poles.
