Gear Review: Nemo Hornet Ultralight Backpacking Tent
Value Rating: 6
Durability Rating: 6
Overall Rating: 8
Location of Test: Pacific Northwest, Rocky Mountains
Duration of Test: Many 1-10 day trips
Product Name: Hornet 2 person ultralight tent
Product Brand: Nemo
Best Use: 3-season backpacking
Size: 81.5 x 50.4 x 42.6 inches.
The Full Review:
As of 10 years ago, Nemo was a relatively unheard-of brand. Standing for New England Mountain Outfitters, this New Hampshire company has been breaking into the backpacking limelight.
Their tents are known for their unique and thoughtful features as well as lightweight construction. Some features include multiple conveniently placed pockets for storing small items like a headlamp, book, notepad and pen, keeping your tent more organized saving you agonizing time looking for something small that has now disappeared underneath you or your sleeping pad (we’ve all been there. It’s annoying). There is also a luminescent pocket at the top of the tent for a headlamp to fit into, which helps distribute the light throughout the tent acting as a lantern. The lightweight, strong aluminum poles snap in with the DAC pole system, helping keep the tent and poles very secure, even in high winds and snowfall.
Although the Nemo Hornet tent is rather small for a two-person design, it’s done so with the purpose of weight savings. The body is predominately mesh with a lightweight material low denier material at the bottom. It has two side access doors, with a nice sized and fully adjustable vestibule on each side once fully staked out, allowing you to leave your gear outside of your tent itself. I’ve used the vestibule to make coffee from my sleeping bag on cold or raining mornings quite easily.
The rain-fly design may be my favorite part of the entire tent. Once you stake out the 6 major points (two corner points near the feet and head area, and two vestibules above each door), the rain-fly can be tightened and fine-tuned with a very easy to use pulley system. Instead of struggling to tighten the fly by re-staking individual points, you can just pull the small cord attached to each stake point to tighten that area of the rain fly. This helps speed up the setup process- especially while setting up camp in adverse weather, as well as makes sure your tent is ready for a quick pitch if a random storm blows in.
The Full Review:
As of 10 years ago, Nemo was a relatively unheard-of brand. Standing for New England Mountain Outfitters, this New Hampshire company has been breaking into the backpacking limelight.
Their tents are known for their unique and thoughtful features as well as lightweight construction. Some features include multiple conveniently placed pockets for storing small items like a headlamp, book, notepad and pen, keeping your tent more organized saving you agonizing time looking for something small that has now disappeared underneath you or your sleeping pad (we’ve all been there. It’s annoying). There is also a luminescent pocket at the top of the tent for a headlamp to fit into, which helps distribute the light throughout the tent acting as a lantern. The lightweight, strong aluminum poles snap in with the DAC pole system, helping keep the tent and poles very secure, even in high winds and snowfall.
Although the Nemo Hornet tent is rather small for a two-person design, it’s done so with the purpose of weight savings. The body is predominately mesh with a lightweight material low denier material at the bottom. It has two side access doors, with a nice sized and fully adjustable vestibule on each side once fully staked out, allowing you to leave your gear outside of your tent itself. I’ve used the vestibule to make coffee from my sleeping bag on cold or raining mornings quite easily.
The rain-fly design may be my favorite part of the entire tent. Once you stake out the 6 major points (two corner points near the feet and head area, and two vestibules above each door), the rain-fly can be tightened and fine-tuned with a very easy to use pulley system. Instead of struggling to tighten the fly by re-staking individual points, you can just pull the small cord attached to each stake point to tighten that area of the rain fly. This helps speed up the setup process- especially while setting up camp in adverse weather, as well as makes sure your tent is ready for a quick pitch if a random storm blows in.