Reviews > Shelters > Tarps and Bivys > Hilleberg Rajd > Curt Peterson > Long Term Report

Hilleberg Rajd Shelter

- Long Term Report -
January 2007

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 Long Term 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.  For notes on the first few uses, please refer to my Field Report.

I got the opportunity to use the Rajd a few more nights during the last couple months, despite record-stormy weather.  November came in as the wettest month in Puget Sound history (quite an achievement in our soggy climate) and December brought record windstorms that left many with damaged property and without power.  Fortunately, while we were out of power for a week, we are all in one piece and our home is safe and sound.  I managed to sneak in a couple nights in the Cascade foothills below snowline (this shelter is not intended to be used in winter snow conditions) and a cold night in the Central Washington steppe.  

The Cascade nights were wet.  They weren't during the heart of the deluge that really hit Western Washington hard, but they were in constant precipitation and offered a great test of the Rajd's wet-weather performance.  The last night (it was supposed to be two - more on that later) was in the dry, cold tundra-like open country of the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge just south of the Potholes Reservoir in Central Washington - quite a contrast from the constant wetness, mild temperatures, and dense forests of the west slope of the Cascades. 

Following the format of the Field Report, I will focus the rest of this report on the strengths and weaknesses of the Rajd in the conditions I tested in.  For these outings, the setup included the Rajd shelter, all included guylines and stakes, and the Rajd footprint, but I replaced the Rajd poles with my trekking poles for the shelter support. 

Strengths

There are four areas where the Hilleberg Rajd really shines: weight, roominess, and quality of construction. 

Easily the most appealing aspect of the Rajd to me is the weight.  I've mentioned this in earlier reports, but for less than the weight of a liter Nalgene bottle full of water, the Rajd offers a dual-entry, dry, comfortable, spacious shelter complete with stakes and guylines.  That's impressive.  

It's as roomy as any two-person shelter I've used before, and noticeably larger inside than many others.  The peak height makes sitting up and getting dressed inside the tent easy.  There aren't any pockets or organization features, but with so much room inside it was never a problem.  When used solo, I kept all of my gear and pack inside the shelter.  When sharing the Rajd with other people there was obviously less room for gear inside, but I still managed to keep almost everything inside and we weren't on top of each other.  I wouldn't want to sit out a three-day storm in the Rajd with another big guy, but it's just fine for typical backpacking use.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the Rajd is the construction quality.  Everything about it is done well.  The sewing is immaculate, the tabs are reinforced, the guylines are pre-cut and pre-measured, it's reinforced in all the critical places - this shelter is well-made.  It's hard to describe, but especially for such a light shelter, the materials feel very stout.  I never worried about stretching it too tight, putting too much tension on the ridgeline or a guypoint, or busting a seam.  This is a tough shelter regardless of weight.  The fact that it is so light is truly amazing considering the feel of the materials and construction.  I did use the footprint throughout testing, and I'm sure this helps, but I can honestly say that this tent look as good as it did the day it arrived despite being rained on, crammed, frozen, and pulled in all kinds of directions.  In terms of construction quality, I would say the Hilleberg Rajd is as nice as any shelter I've ever seen.

Weaknesses

The Rajd is not perfect, however - at least for my needs and use.  There are three issues that continuously frustrated me: the in-use footprint, the complete dependency on stakes, and condensation issues that I could not mitigate.  The first two of these are just personal preference problems - certainly they are not design flaws or construction mistakes.  They probably are complete non-issues for experienced tarp users, but I found them limiting.  The condensation problem, however, I believe could be greatly improved with some design changes.

The footprint size continued to be a problem for me.  In all of my uses except for the most recent trip where I had wide open spaces, I ran into problems staking out the Rajd.  With the dense forests of the Northwest and the relatively small tent sites I used during testing, I had at least one stake point on each use that was less than optimal.  I could get all four corner stakes solid, but would run into a tree with one of the ridgeline stake-out points.  I could get the ridgelines taut, but would run into a downed log or boulder one or more corners.  Whatever the situation was, it led to a less-than-perfect pitch.  I always made it work, but it never would be a "by-the-manual" pitch that kept the entire shelter taut and secure.  This changed on the last trip in Central Washington where I had nothing but space.  I finally got the chance to really stake it out properly with no regard or compromise for obstacles.  This made a massive difference in how secure and well-pitched the shelter became.  Probably the most significantly impacted aspect of the Rajd affected by this difference was the sleeping headroom.  With a less-than-perfect pitch, the slope of the walls inevitably sag on or very near the sleeper's face.  With the Rajd staked out the way it is intended to be on this last trip, this was much less of a problem.  I believe part of this was due to the use of trekking poles as support poles (see picture below) instead of the stock Hilleberg poles.  Trekking poles can be set a bit higher than the stock poles, which seemed to create a tighter pitch in all directions and gave me a much stronger shelter.  Grabbing one of the ridge ends and shaking it pretty roughly didn't seem to faze the Rajd much, and the pitch with trekking poles feels much more secure.  Even in an optimal pitch, however, it's important to have it in a good spot the first time.  Any roots, rocks, or other uncomfortable under-tent protrusions are not easily remedied.  The shelter uses 10 stakes, and it can't be set up with any less.  Moving the tent - even a little ways - involves pulling and re-staking all 10 stakes.  That's a lot of stakes!  In fact, it was this aspect of the Rajd that contributed to a decision on the second night of my last trip to "camp" in my truck (steak and wine had a little something to do with it, too).  The spot we had anticipated camping at was essentially a frozen rock ground.  It was cold and dark and getting late.  An easy-to-set-up freestanding shelter probably would have found me sleeping in it that night, but after a big fire, big meal, and a few mugs of an Australian Cab-Merlot, a reclined truck seat looked a lot more convenient.

My biggest problem with the Rajd, however, has to be the condensation.  I did not have a single night without a lot of condensation in the Rajd.  I could leave both doors all the way open and even on a breezy night there would be condensation.  It's particularly intense during rainy nights.  This, of course, is exaggerated by a saggy pitch, so these two problems really compound each other.  I figured my last testing opportunity would be a good chance to see how it does outside of the damp forests of Western Washington.  Central Washington during this trip was cold, dry, and even had occasional breezes.  This should have been the best conditions to make it through a night without condensation problems.  What I found is that it still occurred, but in the form of ice.  To be honest, I much prefer the ice to the wetness, but it was still less than ideal.  Ice formed on virtually every interior wall and ceiling surface, and did so in such quantities that when I collapsed the shelter I had enough snow to create a pretty hefty snowball (see picture below).  I understand that condensation is inherent to single wall shelters, and some condensation is expected, but the slope of the walls, difficulty in getting and keeping a taut pitch, and limited ventilation conspire to make it especially heavy in this shelter.  

Snow?  Nope.  Just interior frost piled up during take-down.

Trekking Pole Support

4) Hilleberg Rajd Final Thoughts

Changes

Changes that I believe would improve the Rajd:

• 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

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

Reviews > Shelters > Tarps and Bivys > Hilleberg Rajd > Curt Peterson > Long Term Report