HORNET ELITE OSMO

A marvel in ultralightweight engineering.

WHEN IT COMES TO GEAR, I’m a bit of a weight weenie. Partly that comes from my background as a professional adventure photographer, when to counteract the weight of all the heavy photographic equipment I’d lug around, I’d shave grams where possible so that my pack’s weight wasn’t too out of control. (Don’t worry, though; I’ve carried my share of 40+kg packs.) Equally, however, my weight-weenie tendencies stem from the more recent realisation of just how much more pleasant it is to head out with a sub-10kg pack, or even a sub-5 one. Seriously, it changes everything.

Need To Know

Product class: Two-person, ultralightweight, semi-freestanding 3-season tent

Weight (2P, as tested): 976g

Doors & Vestibules: 2

Floor Area: 2.5m2

Vestibule Area: 0.6m2 (x2)

Interior height: 94cm

Waterhead (Fly & Floor): 1,200mm

RRP: $899.85

In the past, I’ve used tarps to shave serious grams, but with the advent of ultralightweight tents like Nemo Equipment’s Hornet Elite OSMO 2P, I’m not sure I have to. In fact, I flat out don’t. The two-person version of the tent, on my scales at least, weighs a scant 976g. That’s not to say you make no compromises, albeit far, far less than if you were using a tarp to shave grams. In many ways, the Hornet Elite is like a sports car—stripped down and lean, a leader in its field, but nonetheless not the burly vehicle you’d want to take 4WD-ing. You simply can’t have a sub-1kg tent and expect it to be as robust or as spacious as something weighing three times that weight. This is a tent that’s designed to be light and fast, and it makes a few compromises in achieving that goal. The interior height, for instance, is 94cm; not lofty, for sure. And the cross-beam measures just 22cm; again, it doesn’t make for a spacious interior. But it’s nonetheless adequate, and far from a coffin.

Just don’t expect the Hornet Elite to be a roomy Taj Mahal, nor to have superfluous bells and whistles. This is a lean, mean, fighting machine. Personally, I wouldn’t want it any other way.

I want to be clear, though: While the Hornet Elite’s light weight makes it likely to become my go-to shelter for the bulk of my trips to more benign locales, I’d be unlikely to take it to, say, Tassie’s Western Arthurs. The tent is, for instance, only semi-freestanding; nonetheless, I found that on hard rock platforms, four well-placed rocks sufficed. The poles, too, are featherweight; well, DAC—the world leader in tent poles— technically calls the poles “Featherlite NFL Green”. Pick them up in your hand and you wonder how they can weigh so little. And then there are the fly and floor. Both have 1,200mm waterheads, and they feel so gossamer thin you wonder how they can keep water out. But keep out water they do. I happened to have the tent set up during a recent thumping of rain,

Flextail Test

Tiny Pump 2x

Surprisingly useful.

THIS WAS A PRODUCT I never expected I’d review: a rechargeable air pump. In fact, when first asked to review the Flextail Tiny Pump 2X, I reflexively said no. But then I thought I should learn a little about it before dismissing it entirely, and when I saw that it weighed just 96g, and that it doubled as a lantern, I relented. Still, it seemed gimmicky. Seriously, who needs a pump to inflate a Thermarest? Then I remembered that my wife refuses to use a Thermarest when camping. This includes backpacking. Instead we lug around a 15cm-high double air bed. Yeah, it’s huge. Anyway, when the package arrived and I unboxed the Tiny Pump 2X (plus its accompanying range of nozzles), it was so small— about the size of one of those tiny tins of tomato paste—that I figured it’d be lucky to inflate a Thermarest on a single charge, so I tested it first on that. It did that so quickly, I thought I may as well try my packraft. I still expected it to fail, though; this thing is tiny. But when it did that, too, I moved onto the airbed, and—while still on that first charge—managed to inflate it two-and-a half times. 2.5 times! And that’s after the packraft and Thermarest.

But that’s not all I did on that first charge; it also has a deflate function. Who of us hasn’t struggled to squeeze—by folding, squishing, sitting, or kneeling on them—air out of our mattresses before stashing them in our packs? With the Flextail, it took just seconds for my Thermarest to be completely devoid of air.

But there’s one more thing I did on that first charge; I ran the lantern for a few hours. Honestly, this is the feature that will see it getting the most use, at least for when—and this is not a typo—we received 170mm in 90 minutes, and there were no leaks. It’s actually made me rethink doubts I have about 1,200mm tent flies. The floor, though, for durability reasons, probably does need some extra protection in the form of a footprint. You could DIY a superlight Tyvek one yourself, but Nemo sells one specifically for the tent. They also, BTW, sell an even lighter 1P version of the tent.

Just a few other random things: The floor space’s highly tapered design, wide at the head, narrow at the feet, efficiently reduces weight. The U-shaped doors are a pleasure to operate; a single smooth motion takes you effortlessly from zip’s end to end. The allmesh interior saves weight and is great for warmer conditions, but obviously less so in cooler months.

In sum, while not a tent for every outing, the sub-1kilo Hornet Elite is an impressive achievement in ultralightweight design. Weight weenies, rejoice!

JAMES MCCORMACK

me. Not only does it have a handle for hanging off your tent’s ceiling, it’s got a magnetised base, so it’s perfect for all kinds of odd jobs around the house. You get an hour at 400 lumens, and 10 hours at 40 lumens. There’s a soft-rubber light-diffusing lampshade for it as well, but it’s kinda useless; I wouldn’t bother with it.

By the time the Tiny Pump 2X finally ran out of juice, I was asking myself what it couldn’t do. Was there a kitchen sink hidden in there too? Perhaps that‘s what we’ve got to look forward to when the Tiny Pump 3X gets released.

JAMES MCCORMACK

NEED TO KNOW

Weight, as tested: 96g

Battery capacity: 1300mAh

Flow (claimed) : 180L/min

Waterproofness: IP44

Lamp run times:

1 hour @ 400 lumens

2.5 hours @ 160 lumens

10 hours @ 40 lumens

Price: $39.99USD

More info: flextail.com

BESTARD

Canyon Guide Lady Boots

FOUR

YEARS AGO, I was introduced to canyoning with your typical firsttimer’s trip to Twister/Rocky Creek Canyon. Along with the excitement of the ferns and the goodness of the beams, it was during this trip that I became acutely aware of my lacking ‘rock-hopping’ skills. Lacking, as in they were completely non-existent.

I soon realised there was a contributing factor to my lack of skills, and consequently my slowness: my shoes. My $10 Big W shoes just weren’t up to scratch. And so, three years ago, I invested in a pair of Bestard Canyon Guide Lady boots. They’ve since transformed my canyoning trips, making them so much more enjoyable. The grippy sole, made from non-marking Vibram Best Idrogrip, has turned me into a rock-hopping wizard—well, half a wizard, anyway! It’s the only canyoning boot specifically made for women (I’ll take that as a win ladies), with the equivalent male version being slightly wider and more voluminous.

Comfortable? You bet. The tough sole means entry and exit tracks somehow seem less painful (and I swear I can walk faster now). The lace-locking system allows you to choose a flexible or firm fit—which I love for added ankle-hugging stability—and it’s potentially the reason they give you a spare set of laces (I do work those laces hard).

The money piece for this boot, though, is the inbuilt gaiter system that prevents sand and debris getting anywhere near your precious tootsies—ideal for notoriously silty Blue Mountains’ canyons. Its low-weight design and drainage holes for efficient water-evacuation means I can now focus on ‘enjoying’ the canyoning, rather than worrying about the weight of my boots or what’s stuck in them.

And so, after three years of use, with roughly 10-15 canyons a year, how have my Bestard Canyon Guide Ladies held up? Amazingly! That said, they’re now showing signs of wear, including rusted eyelets, and the first set of laces are set for the bin. And despite careful material selection to ensure maximum resistance to wear and tear, both from mechanical abrasion and permanent contact with water, the Cordura lining has become sun-damaged over time. The tread, however, has held up a treat.

The Bestard Canyon Guide Lady transforms you into an elegant rock warrior (at least that’s how I feel), with low-weight comfort, grip to last an age, and a gaiter system that keeps sand where it belongs—in the canyon.

MARTINE HANSEN

NEED TO KNOW

Upper:

H2O Microtech and Cordura/Rubber

Lining: Hidro-Mesh

Sole: Vibram Idrogrip

Weight, as tested: 1,090g

RRP: $299.95

More info: bestard.com

Need To Know

Product class:

Two-person ultralightweight down quilt

Season rating: 1.5

Temp. rating: 10°C

Weight (as tested): 650g

Down Loft Rating: 850+

Down Fill Weight: 650g

RRP: $799

More info: seatosummit.com.au