One of the biggest pains in the butt when it comes to camping is actually pitching your fabric home. It often involves a whole bunch of poles that look exactly the same and trying to work out where on earth they go. The Igloo from Khyam takes away some of the hassle, but using their ‘Khyam Rapidex Quick Erect System’ (no giggling please), where all poles are sewn into the flysheet, all you have to do is simply click them into place which takes a matter of seconds. This makes it easy to move between sites and just sit down with a beer.

The ‘Rapidex System’ uses strong, fibreglass poles with tough nylon auto joints, and in our first test it took us 1 ½ minutes to set it up. It has a three-man capacity, which as we all know, usually means a one-man tent with room for all your stuff plus beers. However, the Igloo does have both a front and back porch that can be utilised for storing your gear and make the main compartment a comfortable two-man at least. The inner-tent is constructed from a breathable polyester to prevent condensation forming and that sweat box feeling in the morning. It seemed to work reasonably well: it will still get warm when the weather is warm, but not suffocating and you can always open both doors to provide some airflow. There is a waterproof groundsheet sewn in for protection from the cold, damp ground and all those insects that seem desperate to come inside your tent. The Igloo has storage pockets integrated onto the inner-tent walls, so in the dark you will know where essentials like ear plugs and toilet roll are. The hexagonal shape also means that are lots of corners to store gear.

Other features include flame retardant polyester, ‘WeatherWeave Pro’ taped seams, an included roof mounted cowl to cover the vents of the tent, and high visibility guy ropes with reinforced double shock corded pegging points. There is no groundsheet in the porch areas included, but one can be bought separately. Due to the 5.6kg weight and pack size of 78x19x19cms, it is best suited for car-camping, festivals and auto touring. It is super-fast to put up and spacious, but the door has low entry so be prepared to bend over or crawl in. RRP £279.99

4 out of 5

Buy now

Pros

Khyam Rapidex Quick Erect System

Hexagonal shape provides space inside

Front and rear doors

Weatherproof

Integrated pockets

Good ventilation

Cons

No groundsheet included for porches (come on you are paying enough)

Low level entry

Heavy and large when packed down