Hilleberg Unna
About Unna
A fully free standing ultralight solo tent that can be pitched anywhere, anytime. An Ultralight, fully free standing dome tent, the Unna is both supremely simple and highly versatile. It is ideal for journeys in any season where low weight is a high priority, and where the terrain makes for tricky pitching conditions. Since its outer tent is made with our ultralight Kerlon 1200 – whose 12 kilo tear strength is still far stronger than most “expedition” tent fabrics – the Unna is a fine choice for long or short trips in exposed and/or above tree line in all but the worst conditions, and for use in more protected areas any time. Its dome design handles snow loading quite well, making it suitable for short term base camp use, while its roominess and light weight lend themselves very well to mobile journeys, where you pitch your tent each day. Rather than a vestibule, the Unna has a spacious interior that easily accommodates the occupant and gear – or, in a pinch, the occupant and another person. And by disconnecting a corner of the inner tent, one can create both a virtual vestibule and keep the inner tent dry while entering or exiting in rainy conditions.
Unna Users
The fully free standing Unna is supremely easy to pitch nearly anywhere – rocky shores, narrow ridgelines, dense forests (or, of course, even on “perfect” tent sites) – and it boasts an impressive amount of interior space. Add to that its eminent stability and impressively light weight, and it’s no wonder that it has become a favorite of paddle tourers, year ‘round backpackers, mountaineers, cycle tourers and casual campers alike.
Photo: Hilleberg Unna with tarp
The pitching of the Unna doesnt take very long, a couple of minutes.
To erect the outer, the two poles of equal length feed through a continuous sleeve on the fly. There is then a short section of reinforced material in two corners on one of the fly side edges that receives the poles. Taking the free end of one pole, it is inserted into one of the plastic pole “cup” on the corner of the opposite fly side edge. The second pole is then inserted into its receiving plastic pole cup and in this action the shape of the fly fully erects into a dome. The poles are cinched down by the adjustment straps on the fly connecting the plastic receiving pole cups. At this stage the tent is taut and freestanding and it takes a few seconds to peg down the tent body. If it isnt windy there is no real requirement to peg out the guylines although as a habit I always do on mine.
The inner is attached to the outer by a series of toggles and loops including the ground corners. This is easy to do hence my preference to separate the inner and outer for packing and pitching. The inner is the normal bright cheerful “Hilleberg yellow” and the groundsheet feels reassuringly tough and waterproof.
The quality of the materials is as good as you would expect from Hilleberg. The pegs are solid and functional although I may replace one or two with larger V-pegs for the guylines and the corner ones with skewers to lighten the weight a bit. The guylines are extremely robust and solid and the poles too. As mentioned above the inner floor material is top notch and the inner body material water resistent. The outer fly material is strong and oozes quality.
Movie: Hilleberg Unna - Pitching instruction
