Hilberg Akto review: the best solo tent

Hilberg, a little one, The Swedish company without pretensions has been producing in silence some of the most resistant, hardest, most resistant and climatic crossing shelters that can buy for decades. The AKTO first launched in 1995 and has seen only a design change in all those years. That is why Hilberg has some cult that follows. Hilberg tents are also very expensive, which has always left me asking me: “Is it worth it?”

To find out, I made Hilberg send me his iconic four -stations stations tent, in the style of ring, the AKTO. With a retail price of $ 740 (although you can find it for sale), it is not cheap, but after using it for almost two weeks this fall and in winter, I think it is worth money. The Akto is the best store I’ve used with a very wide margin. It is not perfect, but it is the best solo tent that you can buy, and I am quite sure that it is the only thing of Nylon that could have the opportunity to make our guide Buy for Life.

Think differently

Photography: Scott Gilbertson

The Akto was an innovative store when it reached the scene in 1995. (In reference, the name means “only” in the language of Sami, the indigenous people of Northern Scandinavia). At that time, almost nobody was doing four tents of a seasonal person, no one was using silicone nylon, now the standard fabric for light tents, and no one was doing ring tents. Fast advance until today, and although a significant part of the outdoor industry now does such things (for example, Tarptent’s Scarpa 1), the AKTO remains more or less the same tent. When something works, don’t mess with that. (Although technically, Hilberg added the little ventilation bell on the door of the fly at some point, and I’m glad they have done it. It could be my favorite feature).

Enough of history, let’s enter the store. Unless you have been using ultralight tents of the artisanal industry, it is probably very different from most backpack tents you have used.

There are two things that distinguish Akto de Hilberg. The first is Aro -style design. The other thing that makes this tent different is the fabric, which is more difficult and lighter (although perhaps not ultralight) than most of the other tents that I have tried. More about that below.

The Akto is not independent. The design consists of a single curved post in the middle of the store, such as the hoop of a covered car. Then, the extremes rush from that curved central post, with two stakes at each end. There are some advantages for an independent design, such as being able to easily move the store after it is configured. But after spending time with the AKTO and other designs that are not set, I discovered that I am fine with compensation. Jumping the independent design gives you a lighter tent, with an excellent low -end wind profile, while it remains strong enough if the wind changes at night. It is also easier to launch.

Photography: Scott Gilbertson