Wild Country Helm 1 Footprint Groundsheet protector

Product Information

The inner has plenty of headroom and there's a good sized porch for kit storage, plus extra storage space under the rear flysheet accessed from a small door in the inner.

The flysheet is a PFC-free 20D ripstop sil-nylon (1,500mm HH), coated on both sides and with taped seams. The inner is entirely made from 15D fine gauge mosquito mesh, with a bathtub groundsheet made of 40D sil-nylon (5,000mm HH). The hubbed poles, on the other hand, are high-quality aluminium alloy DAC Featherlite NSL, in variable diameters. The tent is supplied with 9 lightweight pegs and 2 guylines. The flysheet and groundsheet are made from a silicone-treated ripstop nylon with a 1,200mm hydrostatic head rating and an additional PU coating, while the tent inner is a breathable ripstop nylon with polyester mesh. All seams are taped with a waterproof, solvent free PU tape and the poles are DAC Featherlite.There’s only a single entrance, but it has a decent-sized porch plus a handy rear storage area with an unusual ‘hatch’ in the mesh inner that allows you to reach through and stash small items of kit. The end walls are also fairly steep, especially at the head of the tent, which means you ought to be able to lie out comfortably even if you’re well over 6 foot tall. The width isn’t class-leading by any stretch, but should still accommodate all but the chunkiest sleeping mats. They were the first company to launch a sub one-kilogram tent after the Millennium, and though their rivals would soon catch up with them, the weight and the little details have always been something at which they have excelled. The first thing you’ll notice about the Helm 1 is its slightly strange asymmetric shape. Don’t worry, that’s deliberate, it’s all about the space-to-weight ratio. The single-person tent, made by Terra Nova Equipment’s sub-brand Wild Country provides a generous amount of inner space while remaining impressively light overall.

For anyone taller than me, I would say this isn’t really big enough. I’ll live with it because I wanted to reduce the weight and bulk of my old Terra Nova Solar 2, which is actually still a good tent, but heavier and bulkier. Like most light tents, I would recommend using a footprint of some sort to protect the thin groundsheet from cuts etc. Flysheet: 20D nylon ripstop silicone PU, 3000mm HH / Inner: 20D nylon ripstop silicone/ 15D nylon mesh / Groundsheet: 30D nylon ripstop, 3000mm hydrostatic head / Poles: 2 trekking poles (not supplied) / Pegs: 9 x 15cm Y / Porches: x 2 , 28cm deep.The Wild Country Helm Compact 1 has been awarded the Best Value one-person tent in 2022, as reviewed by Trail Magazine. I’m 6ft 0ins tall and this is not really long enough inside. My feet touch the end whilst my face is uncomfortably close to the wall at the other end, remember that the walls are not vertical – they slope towards the centre of the tent, so whilst the footprint appears on paper to be adequate, the full length is not useable. If you are say, 5ft 10ins or less, it would be fine. The flysheet is made from a TripleRip silicone coated polyamide with an impressive waterproof rating of 3000mm (hydrostatic head). Cleverly, the upper parts of the fly have a 20D strength rating while the lower parts, those more at risk of abrasion, are rated at 40D. The inner features a 15D ripstop polyamide, a super fine bugproof mesh, and a 40D polyamide bathtub style floor with a 4000mm hydrostatic head. The poles, on the other hand, are made from a DAC Featherlite NSL, whilst the pegs are v-shaped and made from DAC aluminium alloy. All the materials here are made without PVC plastic and have a PFC-free DWR treatment.

I haven’t tried this out for real yet, but on first erection in my garden: -The tent appears to be well made (I have bought Terra Nova tents before and am confident this will be fine), and really good value for the money, but there are a few points to think about. – Like all of the products that Vaude manufactures, the Taurus SUL tent is completely PVC-free and instead, uses waterproof tent fabrics made from triple silicone coated nylon which is siliconised on both sides. This gives it high UV reflection and increased tear resistance, ensuring sustainability through longevity without resorting to more harmful treatments. This design gives a relatively large sleeping area, with 1.2 metres of height and 2.4 square metres of sleeping space. On top of that, you’ve also got the benefit of a 0.8 square metre porch, providing plenty room to cook and organise your kit – something we feel is an essential feature in single skin tents to avoid touching the potentially damp walls of the main compartment. If you are a super tidy tent person and have a tent partner who, er….isn’t; save yourself hours of torment by gifting them a gear loft or tent tidy so you don’t lose valuable life minutes while they ratch around for their stuff. We recommend using a footprint which sits under the groundsheet and porch area to help prolong the life of your tent. A footprint for the Helm Compact 1 is available.The Helm Compact 1 has a mesh panel on the inner door plus a small mesh door with a cover at the rear of the inner (which also allows access to the rear storage space), providing several options for ventilation depending on weather conditions. The Wisp Bivy’s incredibly light weight is mainly down to the technical materials that have been used, more specifically, the clever SuperSil fabric, which is a ripstop nylon that’s coated on both sides with silicon to add both waterproofness and durability. We recommend using a footprint that sits under the groundsheet and porch area to help prolong the life of your tent. A footprint for the Helm Compact 1 is available. Key questions to ask yourself before tent shopping are: Where am I going? When am I going? What terrain will I need to pitch on? New for 2021, the Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL1 has been redesigned using a solution-dyed fabric that is highly resistant to UV fade and drastically reduces energy consumption and water use during manufacturing, a process that is better for the environment and that “improves the quality of the tent fabric”.