Hilleberg Akto
The Akto is ideal any time you need the lightest weight, all condition solo tent. It is especially good for long trips of any kind, in any season, where light weight is a very high priority. And while it was not designed for extreme above tree line use, the Akto has proven itself on extended polar expeditions, and so will stand up well to all conditions. This is, in part, because of the Akto’s roomy configuration – it will easily accommodate you and your gear – and because of its remarkably strong Kerlon 1200 outer tent fabric. Its single pole Tunnel Tent construction, very light (very strong) Kerlon 1200 and 9 mm pole make it best suited for mobile trips, where you pitch and take down your tent every day.
Tent Specs
Total Weight: 1.5kg / Inner height: 90cms / Inner length: 2.2m
I bought the Akto for my venture into solo backpacking, based on numerous reports of excellent quality and 4-season capability.
The Akto seemed a pretty good tradeoff between weight and robustness/stability, and 1.5kg is the maximum i wooul consider for a single-pole tent.
I checked the weigt myself: as supplied it weighs 1.49kg including the stuffbag, pegs + peg-bag and pole repair sleeve, but excluding the spare pole section. On first inspection the quality os construction and materials were immediately reassuring.
Pitching
The guyline structure is excellent: at each corner a guyline is threaded through the material to form a triangle with the peg at one vertex.
The four triangles os cord are splayed out at a wide angle to give maximum support to the tent structure and each is adjustable by a sliding tensioner. Two further long guylines add support at the front and back of the tent in the plane of the pole.
Space
The internal space was surprisingly long.
Ventilation
In the Akto there is one triangle of mesh in the upper half of the door. Even this can be closed off with a solid flap attached by Velcro, but I regard it as an absolute minimum requirement. The problem is that the ventilation can’t be increased except by partly unzipping the door itself, which is not really an option on warm summer nights because of midges, and it wouldn't work very well anyway because both air inlet points would be on the same side and not create an airflow.
The door has a two way zipper to allow more venting though the chimney vent in the top of the vestibule.
Variable ventilation of the outer is achieved by zipped curved vents in the inward sloping walls at either end, and I would agree with the general consensus that these should be fully open in most conditions, and perhaps just partly open on the windward side in driving rain. In snow conditions when spindrift is likely they will need to be closed.
Each corner and door has a 5cm piece of reflector tape stitched to it which provided some reflective capabilities in the dark.
The guy line fixings are securely attached and the zips are sturdy -the out zip has large metal grip tabs which I found useful to hold when wearing gloves; they could equally be as useful when in the dark. One interesting feature the zip has is it can be locked to prevent it opening in high winds.
I particularly liked the captive rods of about 30cms high within the four corners of the sleeping area as this allowed full use of the inner space and mitigated any risk for water ingress through the inner and outer tent layers touching.
Putting the tent up is very easy with just a single central pole inserted into the fly sheet; this is then held in position by a tension adjustable pull tab shoe. You peg one end in position, walk round to the other end, pull it taught and the tent pops up. Peg everything else down and you are ready to jump in!
There are 10 pegs included, 4 hold the corners, another 2 each end hold the guy lines and the last 2 can be used as further securing on additional guy lines. As with all Hilleberg tents, the fly and inner can be left attached so going from tent packed to sitting inside is achievable within 5 minutes!
I found the adjustable ventilation very good with this tent. There’s a vent above the outer door with a wire rimmed generous cover and the upper third of the inner door has mesh insert that can be covered if required. On really hot and sticky days or nights both ends of the outer can be unzipped to allow loads of airflow through the tent. In fact Hilleberg recommend it.
For a small tent there’s actually quite a lot of room inside. It can easily take sleeping bag/ rollmat with lots of room all round.
Putting the tent up is very easy with just a single central pole inserted into the fly sheet; this is then held in position by a tension adjustable pull tab shoe. You peg one end in position, walk round to the other end, pull it taught and the tent pops up. Peg everything else down and you are ready to jump in!
There are 10 pegs included, 4 hold the corners, another 2 each end hold the guy lines and the last 2 can be used as further securing on additional guy lines. As with all Hilleberg tents, the fly and inner can be left attached so going from tent packed to sitting inside is achievable within 5 minutes!
I found the adjustable ventilation very good with this tent. There’s a vent above the outer door with a wire rimmed generous cover and the upper third of the inner door has mesh insert that can be covered if required. On really hot and sticky days or nights both ends of the outer can be unzipped to allow loads of airflow through the tent. In fact Hilleberg recommend it.
For a small tent there’s actually quite a lot of room inside. It can easily take sleeping bag/ rollmat with lots of room all round.
V-Peg
V-Peg is made from hardened aluminum, and it has specifically engineered thick yet light spine and sides to prevent bending. Its “V” cross section provides a fine balance of penetration in hard ground and holding capability in looser soil. Anodized a highly visible gold, the V-Peg also has an integrated string loop for easy removal from the ground.
The second point is a dilemma: whether to detach the inner in the morning for packing, or leave it attached and collapse the tent as one. On most mornings the inside of the fly will be wet to some extent regardless of ventilation. On this trip of 2 days / 1 night it didn’t matter, I collapsed the whole soggy thing as one, but for trips of two or more nights Hilleberg recommend detaching the inner if the fly is wet.
Akto
A spacious, ultralight, solo tent with true all season function.
The Akto is ideal any time you need the lightest weight, all condition solo tent. It is especially good for long trips of any kind, in any season, where light weight is a very high priority.
A spacious, ultralight, solo tent with true all season function. The Akto is ideal any time you need the lightest weight, all condition solo tent. It is especially good for long trips of any kind, in any season, where light weight is a very high priority. And while it was not designed for extreme use in exposed and/or above tree line terrain, the Akto has proven itself on extended polar expeditions, and so will stand up well to all conditions. This is, in part, because of the Akto’s roomy configuration – it will easily accommodate you and your gear – and because of its remarkably strong Kerlon 1200 outer tent fabric. Its single pole tunnel tent construction, very light (yet very strong) Kerlon 1200 and 9 mm pole make it best suited for mobile trips, where you move your camp every day.
Hilleberg Akto Review
Hilleberg Akto - Pitching instructie
