Reviews > Shelters > Tarps and Bivys > Hilleberg Rajd > Curt Peterson > Field Report

Hilleberg Rajd Shelter

- Field Report -
November 2006

1)Tester Background and Contact Information

Name: Curt Peterson
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight: 270 lb (122 kg)
Email address: curt<at>boopants<dot>com
Location: North Bend, Washington, USA

I live in the Cascade foothills, just 20 mi (32 km) from the Pacific Crest Trail via trails leading right from my backyard. My outdoor time in Washington is spent dayhiking, backpacking, climbing, and skiing everywhere from the Olympic coast to rainforests to Cascade volcanoes to dry steppe.  I played football in college and often evaluate products from a big guy perspective. My typical pack load ranges from 11 - 20 lbs (5 - 9 kg) and usually includes plenty of wet weather gear.
 

2) Hilleberg Rajd Specifications

• Rajd Shelter with guylines attached: 1 lb 14.4 oz (862 gm)
• Rajd Stuff Sack: 0.6 oz (18 gm)
• Rajd Stakes (10): 0.3 oz (9-10 gm) each /  3.5 oz (101 gm) Total
• Rajd Stake Sack: 0.2 oz (6 gm)

• Rajd Pole Set (optional): 4.8 oz (137 gm) each / 9.7 oz (275 gm) Total *same as Hilleberg claim
• Rajd Pole Sack: 0.2 oz (8 gm)
• Rajd Footprint (optional): 8.3 oz (236 gm) *1.2 oz (40 gm) less than Hilleberg claim
• Rajd Footprint Sack: 0.4 oz (12 gm)

• Total Minimum Weight (Rajd Shelter + Guylines + Stakes): 2 lbs 2.8 oz (987 gm) *same as Hilleberg claim
• Total Maximum Weight (Rajd Shelter + Guylines + Stakes + Poles + Footprint): 3 lbs 5.6 oz (1520 gm)

• Rajd Dimensions - Hilleberg specs:
•     8 ft 4 in (255 cm) Long *6 ft 7 in (200 cm) Usable Length      
•     3 ft 11 in (120 cm) Wide
•     3 ft 9 in (115 cm) Tall
•     25.8 ft² (2.4 m²) Area

• Manufacturer Website: www.hilleberg.com
• Rajd Shelter MSRP: $285 US
• Rajd Poles MSRP: $19 US each (2 needed)
• Rajd Footprint MSRP: $32 US
  

3) Hilleberg Rajd Field Report

For a look at my first impressions of the Rajd, experience with two person shelters, manufacturer description, as well as notes on the Rajd's features, please see my Initial Report.  This report will focus on the use of the shelter.

I have used the Hilleberg for four nights so far on two trips.  Two nights were at a little over 5500 ft (1700 m) and two down at about 1100 ft (335 m).  Conditions on the higher elevation trip were calm and very warm, with night temperatures in the 50s F (10-12 C).  The lower elevation had cooler nights with a consistent breeze and an early morning temperature check of 37 F (3 C).

These trips have offered a lot of insight into the Rajd, and have left me eager to test it further to work out a couple little things that I struggled with.  For this report, I'll start with the aspects of the Rajd that have worked well for me, discuss a few frustrating parts of the shelter, and then note a couple little changes that I believe would make it a better backcountry shelter.  To date, I have used the Rajd with all options included: the shelter itself, the footprint, and the poles.  My long term testing will focus on using trekking poles, branches, alternative ground sheets, and no ground sheets with the shelter.

Strengths

Overall, this is a very nice shelter.  The construction quality is as good as anything I've seen in the outdoor gear world.  Sewing is perfect and the attention to detail is apparent in almost every aspect of the shelter.  The pre-tied and cam-slider guylines are a great example.  They are exactly measured, tied very securely, and ready to go out of the box.  There's no way a machine in a factory is doing that, so the care and time that produces a product with finishing like this is obvious.  The stakes are another example of the pride Hilleberg takes in their products.  They are not the noodle aluminum stakes that most manufacturers ship as stock, but very nice square peg stakes with individual reflective cord loops on each one.  And as I found on my last use of the tent, they are incredibly strong.  I pounded almost all of them into very rocky soil that did not want to accept stakes.  Despite some pretty hard bashing and my full weight on a couple of them, only one is slightly bent (see picture below). I'm quite sure this is the hardest I've ever pounded on a stake during setup.  I've bent countless stakes beyond use with much less abuse than these handled.  Considering their light weight, they are definitely the stakes that I will measure all others against from now on.

The fit and roominess of the Rajd is just fine..  The length is completely acceptable for my 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) height.  Both the head and the foot curve up towards the ends, but this sloped section doesn't seem to shorten the tent.  I can fully stretch out in my long sleeping bag and not be pressed up against the ends of the tent at all.  The middle of the tent is plenty roomy as far as volume is concerned, but it does taper fairly sharply towards the ends so this room diminishes quite quickly.  Of course, the best aspect of the shelter is the total weight.  For less than the weight of a Nalgene bottle full of water, the Rajd is a complete shelter for two with plenty of space to avoid rubbing up against a tent mate during the night.  With the double doors, each camper can get in and out easily without disturbing the other, adding to the user-friendliness as a true two-person shelter.

Weaknesses

The Rajd does have a few shortcomings, however.  First of all, it is has a much larger footprint than it initially would seem.  While the actual footprint of the shelter on the is ground is relatively small at about 4 ft by 8 ft (1.2 m by 2.4 m), a typical stake out increases the actual space needed to set it up to 13 ft by 18 ft (4 m by 5.5 m).  This is adjustable to an extent, but this is a typical configuration achieved by following the setup instructions.  This is actually a pretty big area - more than seven times the area of the actual footprint - and is much larger than some of the huge pyramid-style shelters I've used.  This proved to be a challenge for me on my last trip when I had a great little flat spot plenty big for the shelter itself, but trees and a rock wall made getting the room for staking a challenge.  The Rajd is completely dependent on stakes to stay up, and even 1 of the 10 failing can essentially collapse the whole thing.  In this sense, the Rajd seems to be akin to a very easy to set up tarp, but a very difficult to set up tent.  Hilleberg makes it very clear that this is not a tent, but a shelter, so this is an acceptable compromise for the light weight.

Probably the other biggest weakness in my opinion is the difficulty in getting a nice taut pitch.  No matter what I do, I end up with a couple semi-folds and can't get anything near a drum-tight pitch.  I have re-read the instructions and have followed them to the letter and still don't get a super tight pitch.  I did notice recently that in the Hilleberg literature and even on their website, the photos of the Rajd seem to have the same problem.  The shelter stands plenty securely and I don't worry at all about it not functioning, but as a tent user accustomed to being able adjust and tweak my way to a rigid canopy, this is frustrating.  One of the most confusing parts is that it seems so possible, so I keep messing with stakes and the cams on the guylines and angles of the lines to try and make it work.  Getting a super tight pitch is one of the areas I will certainly focus on during the remaining testing period.

Another aspect the Rajd that was expected has been condensation.  As a single walled shelter, condensation does happen in the Rajd.  There is essentially nothing that can be done about this, and even if the shelter had full mesh sides condensation would form in the right environmental conditions.  So while the condensation is a real factor with the Rajd, it's not something I believe is fair to criticize.  What is a little discouraging is that when the condensation gets particularly heavy the fabric appears to lengthen just a bit and this creates a sagging effect.  It's definitely not water-logged or wetted out, but the moisture does apparently allow the fabric to stretch a bit.  This is pretty typical in tents and tarps, but the shape of the Rajd makes it very noticeable because the point that sags the most is right above a sleeper's head.  In the lower elevation nights spent in the Rajd I awoke with the fabric just inches from my face.  I certainly could have just gone out and re-tensioned the lines - something made very simple with the cam sliders - but 4 a.m. trips to adjust the shelter are something I'd prefer not to do when I'm trying to eke out every bit of warmth from my sleeping bag and get in those last couple hours of sleep.

Two other issues - both relatively minor - will be things I watch out for during the remaining testing.  One is the awning tie out.  All guylines on the Rajd are attached to points that a solid knot can stay on indefinitely.  As the lines are pre-measured and outfitted with the slider cams, wrapping them up with the rest of the tent while packing is quick and easy and makes setup a breeze.  But the awning lines have two options.  When the awnings are closed, they are attached to a small ring at the end of the "beak" (see picture below).  If the night is clear and the protection of the awning is not needed, however, the guyline must be untied from the ring and re-tied to a similar ring at the peak of the tent.  This is not a big deal for initial setup, but switching in the middle of the night (to close the awning as rain begins to fall, for example) becomes a hassle to untie and re-tie the lines instead of simply zipping closed the awning as it is designed.  My solution for this has been to tie the guyline to a small mini-carabiner so that I can simply clip the guyline to either ring more quickly than I could deal with the knots, but it still involves loosening and re-tensioning the lines.  A more useful solution would be to have the guyline only attach to the tent peak point and have the awning attach to that line with a small clip and loop of some sort.  Working out a more elegant solution that allows a quick zip or unzip will be another long term testing goal I will work on.

Changes

I'm hesitant to say that there are things I'd absolutely want changed at this point - there's just too much testing still to do - but my initial thoughts on what would be potential improvements include:

• More mesh on the doors for ventilation: Half of the door instead of just the top 1/4 to 1/3
• Mesh on the ends of the shelter where the floor slopes up.  It's protected from rain there, and would add more low intake ventilation
• Struts or some other kind of lift on the corners to lower the effect of the taper from peak to end and mitigate sagging impacts
• Awning guyline system that allows the awnings to be opened or closed with the zipper only and doesn't involve re-tying

4) Hilleberg Rajd Remaining Test Plan

The "Big Four" Questions that will always be kept in mind on all of my tests:

1) Is this a suitable shelter for the Pacific Northwest in summer and early fall?

2) Is this a well-made and durable shelter than can stand up to the conditions encountered while backpacking in Wilderness Areas?

3) Is this shelter waterproof?

4) Is the on-trail use of this shelter practical for the backcountry?

Specific Remaining Questions will include:

1) Fit – How well does the shelter fit?  Can it handle two big men?  Does it 'feel' roomy in real world usage over time?

2) Pitching - Does it pitch equally well with the trekking poles and guylines or is one method superior to the other?

3) Water Resistance – Does water continue to bead up on the surface or does it wet out and create a soggy mess to pack?

4) Temperature effect - Does the shelter offer warmth during especially cold nights, or is so open and breezy that it is similar to an open tarp?

5) Venting – Are there other ways to aid ventilation?  How is venting when it's sealed up during a storm?

6) Finally, Hilleberg indicates that this is a tarp/tent hybrid.  In the end, is it more of a tent or a tarp? What feel does it have?

Thanks to BackpackGearTest.org and Hilleberg for the opportunity to test the Rajd!

Reviews > Shelters > Tarps and Bivys > Hilleberg Rajd > Curt Peterson > Field Report