Kangri - 2/3 person geodesic mountain tent

Just to say that this tent erects quicker and easier than almost any other tent I know - just don’t peg it down first unless you absolutely must and on the ‘how many pegs?’ issue - ‘up to 24 - you choose’. Usually I’m going to use 6 ‘big’ ones and about 8 Tikes (I don’t care if the porch blows down on me occasionally) but if I’m going somewhere very exposed I’ll take more.

Excellent quality materials and a well thought out tent for storage etc Totally waterproof and stable in very wet ground, heavy sleet/rain with gale force gusts and pitched sideways to wind (oops…it was dark and very still when we arrived)

Well done guys, you’ve done it again and yes, it is light enough to carry for 2-3 people (if for 3 they need to be good friends and probably a weekend trip).

Hey,

Just thought someone from Alpkit should let you know we have been reading the comments with great interest and just reading through the positive reactions has re-affirmed how good the tents are. The negative points we are using constructively to constantly review our range.

The steepness of the outer doors are made to increase snow shedding and deflecting rain, while also keeping the inside of the porch quite ‘roomy’. This is always going to be a compromise between size and use-ability. Bigger porches mean zips are further away - the porch is the right size for a two person adventure in the mountains.

With all waterproof fabric, pressure in one place, such as kneeling on a groundsheet will let water through.

The tent pegs are an option with the Kangri, no other manufacturer gives you a choice on pegs. The maximum pegging points is 24 - we never use all 24, but you have the option to provide your own pegs.

The first few tents had more elastic on the poles to make it last longer, however we found that this wasn’t a strong enough pull to keep the ends connected, this was easily remedied by removing around 10cm of elastic or tying a new knot. If the pole sleeves are not fully inserted the ends can splay out and break. After using a team tent, and pitching a kangri at every event we have attended and all of our personal trips not one pole has bent or broken in use, if we were pushed we would say the majority of pole breakages and bends are user error, not design or manufacture.

I regularly pitch the tent alone and in harsh weather, I opt not to anchor it down first unless the weather threatens to blow the tent away. In which case I would rather struggle than not have a tent.

When compared with other 4 season mountain tents it is light, on the harsher nights the extra strength afforded due to extra weight is greatly appreciated. A lighter tent would not stand up to the extreme weather.

Lastly the velcro tabs - I doubt you will ever need to use the velcro tabs in the UK, if I bought the Kangri I would be tempted to cut them off if that was my only use. In North America or the harshest Himalayan weather where I would be bogged down for days in the tent, battening down the hatches with more velcro would help the structure more.

Jay - Alpkit Events Guy and Tent Testing Guinea pig

I’ve owned a Khangri for a couple of months now.

My thoughts:

Positives

The base of the tent is bomb proof. It is super lightweight but still very robust – I’ve used it on some really rocky ground and it has stood up well. Part of the reason I’m loathed to buy the footprint (see below).

I really like the colour and it has been finished to a high standard. It does not have the look or feel of a cheap tent. I was particularly impressed with the tensioners on the pegging out points!

Lots of internal storage, looks like it has been really well thought out. The 5 (weight rated) gear loops are really useful. If you reading this Alpkit, what about a couple of narrower pockets to keep bottles (beer ) up right?

A good size inside for two people and all their gear. Has proved to be a really versatile tent already.

Negatives/Observations

The porches doors are too steep, it is almost impossible to be in the tent and fully zip the door shut to the floor. You can get round this by opening the doors at the top. Like you might do in deep snow.

The seams, especially in the base leak. Badly. Not sure what has happened but they seem to let more water in than any tent I’ve owned previously (Vango, TNF and Vaude). I could buy the footprint but this would mean additional cost/weight just to keep it dry.

There are some confusing grey Velcro tabs to attach the fly to the inner. They need refining, some seem to go over the poles, others are wrapped round the poles. If you don’t use them the fly does not sit correctly on the inner and leaks! The ones that go over the poles need to be different shapes to the ones that go round the poles, the one that go round the poles don’t seem to line up properly either.

Comes with 20 candy canes but needs to come with 24. Not a massive problem but a little annoying. In hindsight the tent is more likely to be used with better quality pegs, I should have saved the £10 and replaced the pegs I sold with my last tent.

It feels like there is a problem with the pole sleeves. On its first outing a pole broke – Alpkit kindly replaced the pole and told me it wasn’t connected properly. I think they’re right, but I’m not sure how this happened in the morning after the tent had been up all night. Since then the two longer poles have bent at the ends, they’re still usable but I feel there is an issue. I know some tent poles are designed to bend over time but this do seem a bit odd and there is no mention on the Alpkit website *Disclaimer this may be the way I am putting the tent up….

Putting the tent up is a pain, it is the hardest geodesic tent I’ve dealt with. The easiest way I have found is to put the short cross ways poles up first, then the length ways ones (gold) up after that. Pegging it down first as per the instructions on the site does not work! If you look at the third picture it is not pegged down. I wouldn’t want to pitch this on my own – I’ve put it up around 10 times now and it is getting easier….slowly.

Not a really an issue but certainly an observation. The fly sheet expands and contracts a lot. I took it out of my pack and put it up in Sweden last week (4 oC). Got it all put up really well (I’m getting better). Came back to it a couple of hours later and it looked like a right mess. Was amazed by how much the tent had expanded in the cold and wet. I know this happens with tents but something to watch out for. By the time I’d got back to the tent there was water pooling on the top and beginning to drip on the inner.

Overall a solid entry into the tent market by Alpkit. I’d love to see what some of the more established brands came up with for their first efforts. If you’re looking for a good value tent then I think you could do far worse that a Kangri. If however you’re looking for a true 4 season tent, rather than a ‘budget’ option then it may be worth looking into it more carefully.

I have had my Kangri for a couple of months now, and have used it on a few trips, so I thought I’d provide a quick “First Impressions” report.

Overall I am very pleased with The Kangri.  It is quick and easy to put up (for an inner only tent), with the poles sleeves well designed to avoid snagging.  (I find it easier to put the poles in before pegging down the groundsheet, contrary to the instructions).

Once pitched, it feels solid and stable, even without using the guys or all the pegging points. With the guys out and the velcro tabs used to hold the poles it feels bombproof. I have not yet had to use it in a howling gale, but it has shrugged of heavy rain without a problem.

Inside there is a good amount of space, and I appreciate many of the design features (even if they have been borrowed from an established similar design!). The multiple zips on the outer doors make for a very flexible solution and the all round pockets inside make it easy to organise stuff.

The oversized stuff bag makes for easy packing in the morning. The Candy Cane pegs are solid, though some weight could be saved by replacing them with something lighter. Only 20 pegs are provided - a few more are needed to peg out everything, but I haven’t found this to be a problem.

I have seen some comments about it being heavy, but it seems ok to me for a 2/3 man tent.

All in all an excellent tent and great value for money.

Further note - used it in a gale last weekend. It was very stable when pitched and gave me lots of confidence, but since I was expecting wind I took the time to pitch it properly, attaching all the velcro loops to tie the outer to the poles. This is not easy to do, takes ages and is even worse to undo with cold fingers (can’t even wear thin gloves as they stick to the velcro!). This detail needs more thought.

20 candy canes provided, but if fully pegged out as recommended, 24 are required.

Claims that this is a quick tent to pitch mystify me - I’ve owned three other 2 man tents, and all three could be pitched in the time it takes to pitch this one.

It’s heavy.  A lot heavier than it sounds, and carrying it solo for a multi-day trip with full kit is not fun.

The porches area a bit shallow - leaving a large pack in the porch is a tight squeeze.

Having said all that, it’s sturdy and seems robust, and loads of hanging space and pockets, fantastic ventilation and plenty of head room make it easy to live with while it’s pitched. 

Pitching instructions on the web site do not relate to this tent, and whilst the tent is not difficult to figure out, some advice on how to speed up the pitching process would be good.

Wet ground seeps in a bit.  When will a groundsheet/footprint be available?

Overall I find there are good and bad points about this tent, as there are about any other.  I’d feel a lot happier if it was quicker to pitch - doing so in heavy rain yesterday was not the most fun I’ve ever had.

Just come back from a sea kayak trip with my new Kangri. I like it very much and it was much much admired by my friends who have a more established brand of geodesic, but I would appreciate being able to remove the stiffener hoops in the vents; they make it hard to pack it small. A warning when pitching - if you peg the corners down with ti-pins, when you push up the poles the ti-pins pull out and ping off into the distance. I now peg it out with tikes and swap them for ti-pins later.

Great tent for the price. Plenty of room inside for two people. The candy cane tent pegs are somewhat basic and heavy, and I will replace these with some tikes to reduce the overall weight. The instructions on the website actually show the Zhota tent and not the Kangri, but it is easy to put this tent up by yourself. Highly recommend this tent if you need something strong, but inexpensive.

Kangri tent pitching instructions are wrong.
Apart from that the tent is great.

Found this tent under the Christmas tree.
Spent a couple of nights on Dartmoor with it and found that it performs very well as a tent but think that more work/refinements need to be done on the ‘mountain’ tent side of things. Will say though that I’m a touch surprised at the number of people saying its ‘roomy’ especially if its being used as a mountain tent with all the attendant equipment that goes with it.
Anyway, I took a video camera with me so am currently editing down a ‘first look’ video for Youtube.