Camping in a Severe Cyclonic Storm | Will the Hilleberg Tent Survive? 

Horizontal rain is a real challenge to most tents in one way or another. A feature of Hillebergs is that they have a fly sheet that reaches to the ground (to avoid snow coming in underneath), so they go big on the higher level ventilation, usually with both a mesh (flies) and a 'solid mesh' zippable barriers. However when the wind drives the rain into those meshes, it is designed for the wind (i.e. ventilation) to penetrate, which unfortunately can carry the water with it. The top vents are then more susceptible to the driven rain as they end up above you, while in the tunnel tents the vent meshes tend to be far more into the vestibule, so the few drips aren't really a problem. We even suffer from them in our Keron 3 tunnel, in the driven Scottish rain storms (a good storm makes for a refreshing sleep!). Definitely among the best tents there are.

Thanks for this video, I love that you had a good time despite the circumstances. Look forward to seeing more of your videos.

Hi alex. Loved this video! Its like being with a buddy who smioes through everything! And the feeling of being out in the elements. Great viewing😊

You're crazy bruh I love it !!!

Crazy but wonderful!!

Great video! Thanks.

What a great time enjoying the weather and the tent. 16:21 Totally agree! Keep these great videos coming!

Great video! Looks like a wild night! Appreciate the good natured chuckling despite the disappointing leaking. 😁 Way to roll with the punches! Beautiful shots of the Big Sur coastline at the end. 😍🔥👌

Fascinating video to watch. Really enjoyed this. Thanks.

Great upload. Interesting to watch. Keep up the good work. Always stay safe bro.

New subscriber here, love crazy storm camping videos and this one was very fun to watch.

You are one brave tough guy I couldn't do it. Great video I'm glad this came across my newsfeed I'm subscribing.

This is a beast of a storm camping video.. well done sir

Hi Alex, You got a new subscriber. I love my Alak2 tent. I bought it last year and went on a trip towards the North Cape Norway. It was a nice 3 weeks summer vacation (late August, beginning September) with a lot of wind, rain and cold weather. I drove every day further with my car and after putting my tent every day up and down, it's still the best tent I owned. It's really does the job.

Hey, Alex! What a night! You are such an humble man. Thank you for a great video! Stay safe and well!! 😊 🦋Janet English 🐞

Good video of conditions in a storm. I have 4 Hilleberg tents (3 BL, 1 RL) and I have heard of this condition a lot, but have never experienced it. I have gone out when it's dry and windy or snowing and no wind. I have to say that one of the ways that I avoid issues is to go out in tents that are slightly larger than I need to help reduce condensation and also move away from driving rain drips if that happens. These are my favorite tents (Tarra, specifically) - I have DCF fabric tents, but can't get away from Hilleberg despite the weight and trade-offs.

New viewer, subscribed Absolutley love this content!! My ultimate fav 😍 🌧️ ⛈️ ⚡️ ⛺️ ❤️ x

Good video - fun to watch! Uber light sounds very nice! Thank you.

Really enjoyed your video Alex. I am also an Allak 2 owner and fan. It took me awhile to become friends with the model, but now I really enjoy it. It isn't a fast pitch, it's not the easiest to pitch in dark or windy conditions, but it's more wind stable than you give it credit for. Combine it with 10mm poles and it can be rock solid through intense storms. The problem you experienced with moisture is almost certainly as the vents are only water resistant, and water beading off, that has been blown under the hood by strong sideways winds, could run down the zipper and drip through at the ends. You could seam seal it yourself, I do take on board that Hilleberg really *should* do this themselves in factory or swap both vent material and zipper for a more waterproof solution, or extend the length of the hood (or both). The tent itself is not a leaky tent, the materials are premium as is the craftmanship, but I consider it a bit lazy of Hilleberg not to address this flaw in design / materials choice. That being said, the hood can be cinched down and you can tackle it yourself to a large degree. Ventilation options and wind stability is where the Allak really shines. Hope you get out in it lots more! Tc

Enjoyed this. Good job. Tony.

Just caught the video. Amazing conditions to test the tent. Stay dry my friend.

Awesome videos!

Great work!

Thank you for this video! Whoops. I bought it, and I received it today... The Hilleberg Allak 2... Almost regretting it already, I must test it in rain this weekend before our 10 days hike in August.... 🤞😪🌦

Very cool video and test in real conditions! Reminds me of getting drenched on a family campout at Copalis Beach on the WA coast in the early 60s. Absolutely MISERABLE, but what great memories! LOL. Another time, also in an old Coleman Canvas tent, same thing, at the coast, and the rain beat on us so hard, with the flashlight, you could see the clouds penetrating and passing thru the tent. I’d have fallen fast asleep and not heard a thing, after a hot meal and a stout brewski! 😴 Cheers!!

Good one. Thanks a Lot

I'm a new subscriber. I really enjoyed the video. This was AWESOME!🏕️ I'm looking forward to many more videos in the future. This kind of weather made it super interesting! Thanks 👍🏽 It is very refreshing to see real life happening in nature. Many of the stations I subscribe to only show cold weather or clear days. This was genuine... authentic... Excellent!

Despite the rain and wind, the tent did survive. At least a raccoon didn't attack you. Looks like a great tent and thank you for showing how it perform in an intense rain storm. Now following!

Seam seal your outer and silicone spray your outer, including the vent flaps, and that won't happen again. This is one of the best tents made.

First time here and love this. The storm brought me here . - new sub -

That's a real challenge. You're a brave man. By now I would have dug a burrow and hidden in it. Also would have put a rock in glass and poured a whisky over it and drank whisky on the rocks. Oh boy, give this man a Bells, he deserves it. Enjoy!

GREAT. CAMPING.

Love 💕

Good vid pal, enjoyed it. Looked like a standard weekends weather in the Highlands where we are 😂 Shame the Allak leaked a bit, it was definitely unfortunate mix of conditions to cause it. Still a cracking tent and even in those conditions again you might find it didn’t leak, it’s so angle specific with wind driven rain. Take care and hi from the Scottish Highlands

I really enjoyed your video. I love the rain and wind. Sorry your tent leaked. I am very surprised--the Hilleberg 4 season tents are usually very sturdy. It might have been the force of the wind blowing the rain sideways. Anyway, great video.

Great video,thinking of buying the allack 👍👍🇬🇧🇬🇧

Cool video brother 👍

Great vid, can't believe you got water inside!

You need to adjust the “top hat” pull it down further to prevent the slanting rain getting in. Also don’t pitch your door into the driving rain. I suppose these are just things we learn on our journey. All the best from Scotland Alex. 👍🏼

Great review on the Hilleberg, I'll now be going for the Fjallraven 👍

What a wind! I liked the night shot of you by the tent with head torch on.. should do it myself next time I will be out :) I have Nallo 2. Haven't been out in the rain much.. would be really dissapointed if it leaked. Nice film. Thanks for sharing.

I love watching these crazy storm camping in tents with torrential rain and winds! Only thing better is snow storms! Uber lite i ve seen them they seem pretty cool ! Now retired will be doing some of this tent testing myself !lol

My white duck bell canvas tent has handled 85 mile an hour straight line winds in Oklahoma..incredible tent

Lovely video

Amazing even high end brand names leak in rain. Alot of people on RU-vid taken this out in snow. But I hadn't seen this tested in the rain. Maybe its just me but I need a tarp over the tent in heavy rain. And I love people who go out in storms and test gear. They are awesome! So if I'm out camping and I have notice of heavy rain I'm going to cut a good size pole from a tree for a ridge line, and hang a tarp over that has bungee cord tie outs added to the tie outs. I mean why not tarps are super lightweight these days and well worth their weight in gold. Thanks for vid! Cheers

You seem in such good humour after a pretty much sleepless night in a very expensive leaky tent. Congrats.

How could I not like videos from someone who cooks with a trangia? So glad I found you all the way from the Catskills of NY

Quality video, deserves million's of veiws

Hi Alex, great video. Funnily enough I just watched a video in wales where chap had same problem in his soulo. I had a Nammatj gt2 that leaked in similar conditions but from the pole clip area. Hilleberg just told me to add Silnet to the stitching. I think in sideways rain the cap just isn't quite low enough to stop fine moisture being forced thru. I think Hilly should look at tweaking the cap overlap and maybe use aquaguard zips. One other thing, why do they still use metal zip pullers, the noise from them is crazy too, I'll stick to my Rab Summit for a quiet night's sleep :-) thanks for sharing and you gotta sub from Scotland. A

Good vid,cheers from Devon England.

They were very tough conditions. What a fantastic coastline.

Just watched your Video again - I think it is a good idea when pithing any Hilleberg tent in strong wind is to get the guy cords in as soon as they become available in the clipping process. The 'top hat' when cinched down concentrates/reinforces/clamps the apex applying pressure and keeping all the poles together. Very roomy in summer with the inner removed and a 'Footprint' fitted, lots of room for a camp bed that can be moved to a desired position (flat) like all Hilly tents in the morning condensation on the inside fly must be sponged down - especially when packing away - easier when inner is removed/not fitted.

G'day Alex. Can't beat waking up to that view. It looks like the tent isn't designed for horizontal rain. The tent stood up to the wind ( in that it didn't fly away ). I've got a Hilleberg Akto that definitely would have handled that. My duplex would have gone ok as well. Understand you well in that you wanted to test a new tent in a storm. ( done it myself) Tasmania is opening up to the world from December. You should try some hikes down here sometime in the future. Always good to see your videos.

It seems pretty clear that if those two areas are not waterproof, and that's okay, that the rainfly should be a bit larger, coming down a bit more. In any construction you have to allow that rain can and on the occasion, with the right kind of wind, will blow the rain upwards. The bigger the differential in the edge of that fly and the vertical level of the vulnerable area the less likely and much less possible for this to occur. It appears that that differential is only about 6 inches or so. If it were 10-12" leakage would become virtually impossible. Good vid!

Hi alex i loved this video❤️❤️❤️

Great video! Subbed 👍

Let’s be honest, a lot of other tents would have leaked (either by blowing in under the fly or condensation dripping down) or even collapsed in these conditions. While it might leak in horizontal rain, the ventilation options in 95% of conditions is awesome.

Hey. Great video. Always a hard time to keep that sideways wind driven rain out! An Uber lite would be a nice win! Thanks for posting.

amazing tent . i love my Allak, too. its not perfect but pretty close and better than most alternatives. the pretty damn good ventilation is an issue in those conditions but an advantage in most of the conditions i use it...i am not this stormy guy :-)

Living the life 🙂

It's inedible

So casual and calm, especially when your about to visit the land of Oz. 😆 lol

Way to ride it out.. I considered ‘Hillies’ but recently went w a Kuiu Storm Star 2P, full on 4 season, double wall tent. During that same atmospheric storm system, I was out camping on the Oregon coast about 600 feet from the ocean. Due to a different design, dry and toasty w the golden retriever! Subbed.

Cool

What a fantastic video Alex… i laughed with you! And then when you said you were getting rain gear back on & going back out, I was like “WHY?!!! WHY?! No the ropes are fine. go back inside the tent!! Lol And how in the world can I get this exact campsite?! Seriously!

New subscriber here! Great video! I love how you handled that stormy weather. I love videos with torrential rain and wind.

Base Camp Chris had a similar vid (new tent, windstorm) but he didn't intentionally set out to test his new tent in extreme conditions (just missed the extended forecast). That you did is pretty rockin'. Late to the party but I'll vie for an X-lite. Keep up the great content! Stay safe.

After reading the comments, it seems like people don't realize that you had the inner tent door open. Had that been closed, you probably wouldn't have noticed much .I have a Soulo and love it. I think you are the first person in America to do a video of this style in crazy conditions. For people that aren't familiar with Hilleberg tents ,the Allak is a Red label tent,which means it is a four season tent ,just like the black label line of Hilleberg tents. In my opinion , Hilleberg makes outstanding tents, yes, they are EXPENSIVE , but if you spend a lot of time camping in areas that can have some extreme conditions, then these are great tents to have.

Hi there. What a night and I always wondered if that cap on top of this tent would do the job . Obviously not . . I've just holed my thermarest so would love a replacement so any of the thermarest you mentioned would be excellent but the xlite would be preferred. Well done.

Super light would be great! Your awesome.

Man that's some crazy weather

Recently got 2 hilleberg tents the anjan 2 and akto. With the anjan , an elastic toggle in the porch leaked, with the akto , the upper vent stiching at one corner leaks.

I have the same tent. Do you have the vent open? And is in raining through the vent?

Right before this, I watched a video of a guy with an REI tent on Carson Pass, CA in a massive windstorm. I believe winds were up to 100 MPH. Now, granted, there was no rain or snow, but I think I would take his tent over this one. He kept saying, “this is a good tent”, while you kept saying “I don’t know.”. Now I just want to see the REI tent in the same circumstances as this one, to see how it would do in wind AND rain.

Alex, I noticed in the latter part of your vid that the top cover was heavily tilted to the right. When you compare it to other Hillebergs, the Hilleberg logo is flat across the doorway, whereas yours seemed to slant heavily to the right. Maybe the cover was pulled too far over, leaving the vent more exposed, hence the leak? Or is it the angle of the shot?

I have this tent too, i have bought seam sealant for those zipper areas. Its the design flaw of this tent, the wind pushes rain upwards and it just collects on the zippers, if you solve that it should be perfect

that good video..! and the tent is good but the weather was very bad..😱 ..!

Definately seemed like the rain was being blown up through the cap and gaining ingress that way. I wonder if some means of battening down the wind-facing sides could be incorporated (velcro, zipper, toggles or whatnot) to be deployed when nececessary, leaving the lee side open. Nice vid nonetheless, you conveyed the romance of being in a tent in a storm nicely. Indomitable spirit is alive and well.

Hi Alex. Just to add to the leaking under the vent cover debate. I was out a few days ago and also experienced the same issue. I’ve owned the Allak 2 for a couple of years now and it’s generally a great tent but water ingress under the vent covers seems to be an issue with top vented Hilleberg models. I have also experienced this on my jannu and I know soulo owners who have reported it too. Wind driven rain will hit the tent sidewall and be blown up the fly and eventually penetrate through the vent material. It’s not a zipper specific issue, the entire vent cover material is by it’s design breathable and so it leaked through this. There is an element of user error in this also. On the Allak the vent cover is cut to sit much lower on the foot end of the tent. The vents are of course located on the vestibule sides. If you pitch it foot end into wind I’m told this should prevent this happening as there is more top vent coverage and no actual vent at this end. I’ve yet to test this out so can’t vouch that it’s corrrect. I wonder had you pitched foot end into wind as that may answer for me ?! Incidentally Hilleberg told me to pitch the Jannu vestibule into wind to prevent wind driven rain leaking i through the vent. I’ve kind of resigned myself that this top venting problem is a trade off for a 4 season Hilleberg tent where you get the strength and fly sheet to the ground so can’t vent low down. That said it’s still very irritating and I also have been looking at the kaitum 2. Did you pick one up yet? Keep up the great content your chilled delivery and cheery demeanour is super viewing. ATB. Gary

Hilleberg and Fjallraven are the best tents and have been through the worst conditions... :) They really are designed for these conditions, but sometimes the weather is just freaky and all tents can have issues... I seam seal the zippers in my Hille and have never had issues.. :)

Those winds are something else. At least the tent blow away!

New sub here! Love the vid

here in scotland all we have is terrential sideyways rain tbh... everyone uses the soulo here and csnt say i hasve ever heard a problem with them. cheerz for vid still a nice tent

If rain is being blown horizontally and up into the vents I'd say it's a pretty freak event. As I see it the only option would be to have a solid fully waterproof fabric that you can zip closed over the vents to stop water ingress (kinda like some black label tunnels) but then you'll have crazy condensation anyway. Even with Hillebergs, you won't win in some conditions.

Hey Alex, nice to see the tent in bad weather. Did you end up getting to the bottom of why the rain was coming into the tent ? and in honesty, if you had to by a new tent again, would you get the same one or go for something els, Thank you

Hi Alex, I’ve just had my Allak 2 delivered this week after a nine week order wait ! Only had chance to pitch it in the garage to check it over, but it looks the business 😬 I would try some liquid Nixwax over the zippers on the outside of the tent, a good thick layer of it in the zipper will help to keep a lot of the water out, probably not all of it though. Pretty bad conditions you were in really, swings and roundabouts as we say, if it had been a one piece flysheet you would have crazy condensation problems 🤷🏻‍♂️? Uber cool tents though, especially in the green, 😬👍

Hi, I'm in UK, I have a Stika that I have not used much and was looking to find a video of one in a storm, as the Allak looks similar to a Red Label version of the Stika I watched your video with interest, thanks. I have seen a few videos of Hilleburg tents leaking from the top vent and what I would have tried is to push one or two UK Dustbin bags (aprox 100 litre polyethene sacks, I carry a few as a rucksack liner and for stowing wet gear) underneath the 'hood' to block out some or all of the rain. Interesting Video, thanks.

Hello! I have the same tent, in sand. Was it leaking from the external door? The higher portion of the zipper is covered by the vent cover, but not the rain gutter. If the rain gutter was covering all the zipper, maybe that would prevent water from going through?

great video love the tent looks very expensive a bit like a ROLEX EXCEPT A ROLEX INCREASES IN VALUE WITH TIME. thanks for sharing

Raccoon? Ok how about dogman? Or you'lls mistery black cat? Raccoons taste good and they have the fur too... I may had have some sativa earlier.... Nice video man. 😎

good vid m8 subbed n belled

These Hilleberg dome tents can handle insane wind and snow loads. The horizontal rain on the other hand... tends to get up under that cap. For this type of weather I'd prefer a tunnel style tent in the Hilleberg lineup, or something like an Exped Orion.

Awsome video. I watched a video earlier a hillerberg tent in strong wind and heavy rain and it leaked. A thousand dollar tent should not leak. The REI HUBBA BUBBA Tent would be dry and it's only a third of the cost of a hillerberg. The nature hike tent is better too. Heck a Coleman tent will do better 😂😂😂

Cool candle lantern...whered you get it??

Great test 👌. I probably would keep it 👍. I don't go looking for natural disasters to camp in.

Terra nova tents are the best, for the price and the performance and years of wear ant tear. They've never failed me.

I had 85 mile an hour straight line winds hit my white duck canvas Bell tent in Oklahoma it did fantastic

Had an allak for years , wind FINE rain FINE , but wind and rain NOT FINE , blows under top hat thingy and in through vents . But to be fair all tents with high up vents do the same ! I do not need or want a tent that is only any good in nice weather ( for what ? ) Now got a NALLO 2 ,vents floor level only on windward end that zipp right down to the ground . love it .

Hi, I am new here and what a great video. I am searching for a tent to use in Iceland during my 3 weeks holiday end of August. I almost bought this tent but I saw your video and I am not so sure now. Horizontal rain and super strong wind is just normal weather condition in Iceland. I am not sure I will be safe in this tent there. Do you have maybe any suggestion which tent should I check for those conditions? Thank you so much! :) Also: I would send the tent back to them if this would happen to me.

If you ask me, putting a vent on the roof of a tent is a bad idea. The roof is, in a way, is sacred: It's # 1 job to keep you safe and dry. Hilleberg uses great materials, but, I don't think they have the best designs. Wind driven (i.e. sideways) rain and wind are exactly what you want the tent to protect you from. So, if the tent doesn't protect you well in those cases, it is a fail. Glad you made it through the night!