Alpkit Ultra 1

J

Jww

Thru Hiker
The Yank said:
Of course the Alpkit Ultra 1 is going to be too small for most backpackers, but I can't think of any other 1 kg freestanding tents on the market. It's really kind of an XL bivy/ small tent hybrid. Perhaps the 10D sil/sil nylon is good quality and the carbon poles certainly are light. The Ultra 1 could be suitable for some people to fill a certain niche. Probably designed for a worldwide market that tends to want full mesh inners.

For those who call it "crap" why exactly (besides being small)?
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Lightweight Backpacking Tents & Shelters | UK | Ultralight Outdoor Gear

Lightweight 1, 2, 3 & 4+ Person tents & shelters with reviews, full tech specs & helpful buying advice. FREE UK+EU Delivery
ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk

Loads there 👍
 
cathyjc

cathyjc

Thru Hiker
Robert P said:
That is an interesting piece of ergonomics, where depending on how you use the porch to cook it suits left or right handed people:.

If you cook lying in the tent then the position of the door of the inner is the critical factor, along with depth of the porch where it can be accessed from the opening in the inner.

And if you cook sitting in the tent with your feet in the vestibule then it is the space to either side of your feet, if I understand you correctly?

I'm left handed (for most things) but find would say the X-Mid inner doors and porch favours right handed people when lying down: I have to roll over on my left side and therefore use my right hand for the stove: not my natural hand, but it is is fine for me.

I don't do it myself (it is not as convenient / comfortable for me), but if I sat with feet in the vestibule I can see the porch is deeper on the left than right side so easier for left handed people.
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I find lying on my side and dealing with cooking very uncomfortable - so yes I sit with my legs in the porch.
I am profoundly right handed. left hand isn't very good at anything.
 
cathyjc

cathyjc

Thru Hiker
Tychonius said:
Yes; yours is the discussion I remembered. I’m weirdly ambidextrous so that’s pretty helpful in this application.

But my mental image is confused here. I picture sitting in the inner with the pole mostly to my left. I see reaching into the deeper part of the porch, on the left, easier with the right hand/arm. The pole and inner (due to the “L” zip) blocks my left arm and shoulder, so I reach around with my right arm.

If everything were a mirror image, with the pole, solid, inner, and deeper part of the porch on your right, you would have to sit more to your left to clear your right shoulder to get around the pole and reach into the deeper vestibule on your right. Hmmm…
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My arms are probably a lot shorter than yours ??
I just know reaching around the corner (pole) is awkward and if I'm sitting well back in the inner, to keep my legs dry/warm, it's even worse.
 
The Yank

The Yank

Trail Blazer
cuprajake said:

Lightweight Backpacking Tents & Shelters | UK | Ultralight Outdoor Gear

Lightweight 1, 2, 3 & 4+ Person tents & shelters with reviews, full tech specs & helpful buying advice. FREE UK+EU Delivery
ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk

Loads there 👍
Click to expand...
All of the sub 1 kg tents on UOG site are either semi-freestanding with 3 points of ground contact (Nemo Hornet Elite, MSR Freelite, BA Fly Creek) or hooped tents that require pegging on each end (Nordisk Lofoten/Telmark, Vango F10 Neon/Hydrogen, TN Laser Pulse). The Alpkit Ultra 1p has 4 points of ground contact making it more stable in winds and closer to a true freestanding tent.
 
Johnny3000

Johnny3000

Section Hiker
Couldn't find an image of the footprint/layout. Does this have 1 or 2 entries?

The Big Sky Mirage 1p is sub 1 kg and freestanding.
 
GrahamW

GrahamW

Backpacker
I like Alpkit as a UK based firm but they haven't tailored this for UK conditions. As already noted it doesn't have a solid inner and it also pitches inner first which is a pain in the rain.
Looks like a lot like the MSR Hubba which also pitches inner first and was the tent I used befor switching to the SlingFin SplitWing due to its flexible setup options
 
Swayndo

Swayndo

Summit Camper
I had a sit/lie down in one in the Inverness shop. I'm 182cm and for me it was 10cm too low, 10cm too short and was too dark a fly. Had high hopes but this one isn't for me.
 
MattK

MattK

Section Hiker
Swayndo said:
I had a sit/lie down in one in the Inverness shop. I'm 182cm and for me it was 10cm too low, 10cm too short and was too dark a fly. Had high hopes but this one isn't for me.
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I too popped into the Inverness shop at the weekend, took one look at it, and knew it wasn't worth trying.
 
timday

timday

Trail Blazer
tallestofpauls 🍌

tallestofpauls 🍌

Thru Hiker
timday said:
I see it's now accumulated a few reviews on the Alpkit site in the last couple of weeks... 5 out of 6 of them being negative 1-star reviews! The common factor seems there's some issue with the poles.

A surprising fail by Alpkit. People I've met with Soloists all seemed to be very enthusiastic about them.
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I don't think I've seen any tent by alpkit that has had any kind of thought process behind it.
Just mass produced Chinese shonk.
 
timday

timday

Trail Blazer
tallest of pauls said:
Just mass produced Chinese shonk.
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True of a lot of brands these days? Browsing around gear sites (especially the "accessories" and smaller items pages) I seem to be forever coming across what looks like exactly the same item but just in a different colour and/or with a different logo on it.

Generally I've liked the Alpkit items I've got (smaller stuff and some clothing, nothing big) or at least considered them good value (especially when you take into account the cashbacks and the credits you can get for reviews) and they've managed to give the impression they've at least put some effort into selecting the stuff that's worth having out of that huge morass of "mass produced Chinese shonk" that's available... so them selling something as apparently broken as the Ultra seems a bit of an uncharacteristic turn.
 
dovidola

dovidola

Thru Hiker
Alpkit put 'ethical' aims and credentials at the top of their agenda - that's certainly the impression they seek to create across their advertising and promotional material. I have absolutely nothing against this, but I wonder if they've allowed such considerations to perhaps take some impetus away from objectives such as functionality, design, weight, quality etc.
 
GrahamW

GrahamW

Backpacker
In the "bivy/small tent" category may I put a word in for the SlingFin SplitWing, 411g for the main tarp and still only 784g with the additional vestibule and bug net / mesh inner.
 
Enzo

Enzo

Thru Hiker
I too supported alpkit when they started, and really like there vibes, but there stuff Seema mostly rebadged Chinese gear that's available with different specs on Ali.

These hubber clones were everywhere on Ali a while ago.

Did I mention the knot octagonal mids are good? 😁

I don't see the appeal of the ALMOST freestanding tents.
 
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