Gearing Up at a high camp, Gangotri Valley, Indian Himalaya

 

 

Gear Review: Exped Orion Tent

June 2008

Paul Hersey manages Bivouac Dunedin. He is also a prolific climber, with over 16 years experience in the mountains. Paul took an Exped Orion tent away with him to India for some field testing on a recent expedition.

Basecamp. 4500 metres. I’ve lost count of how many days we’ve been here. Not even sure what day it is. Maybe Tuesday? Yep, go with that, but really I’ve got no idea. Twice we’ve headed up valley for our objective, our goal, our peak, and twice the weather has beaten us back: Cloud, wind, rain, graupel and finally snow. Now, the white blankets everything with an absolute silence and intense weightlessness that keeps me awake. Lying here, staring at the curved ceiling of our 2 metre by 1.5 metre cocoon, watching the gentle, incessant flakes gather against the outside walls of the tent fly. Soon I’ll have to don apparel and head back into the cold with a shovel. Aahhh, the little joys of expeditions.

Tents are the shelter, the security and the home that lets us safely venture into these high, remote wilds.

Different tents work better in different conditions, but often the argument comes down to a tunnel shape versus a dome. Tunnel tents tend to be lighter, more stable in a directional wind and easier to pitch. But, they can be a pain to clamber in and out of, aren’t so stable in variable wind, and often don’t have separate vestibules. Meanwhile, dome tents are free-standing and easily moved, more comfortable thanks to separate vestibules and a better option if the wind is all over the place.

In the past I’ve always gone for my “ol’ faithful” – a Macpac Olympus – as a basecamp tent. But, on my last overseas expedition (to the Indian Himalaya) I tried out an Exped Orion.

Never heard of Exped? I hadn’t either. They’re a Swiss company that’s been making outdoors gear since 1997. And, after giving the Orion a fair bit of stick over a one month period, I’d have to re-accentuate that comment by stating that they make REALLY GOOD outdoor gear.

In my view, the Orion beats the Olympus hands down.

Described by Exped as a two-person “ridge tunnel tent” (whatever that means), it looks and pitches like a dome tent. Two poles run lengthways, and a crossover pole adds stability and security in strong winds. We got tagged by some pretty impressive weather during our post monsoon jaunt, and the Orion handled it with ease. With a bomber floor (so often not the case with overseas tents), there was no need for an extra ground sheet. Also, the roomy two side vestibules meant heaps of space for clothing changeovers and gear storage. There were heaps of tensioning options that added to the tent’s stability, and plenty of attachments for pegs and guy ropes. My only gripe was that the Orion could have done with an extra guy rope attachment midway up each end of the fly to help shed the snow more.

Overall, at only a few hundred grams heavier than the Olympus, I’d rate the Orion the best two-person base-camp tent I’ve used. I’d score it 8 out of 10.

Footnote

Interestingly enough, the Orion tent that Paul took away to India was actually a pre-production sample, and the actual production tent (Orion Extreme – available online and pictured below) is produced with the additional guy rope attachment points which he felt would have improved the design further. I spoke with Paul and he would like to upgrade his rating to 8.5 out of 10 given this addition!

Exped Orion Extreme

Top

© 2024 Bivouac Outdoor All Rights Reserved.