September 2009-February 2015
I have not bought any other brand of tent, but Hilleberg, since August 2006, and our first encounter with the Nammatj 2 was on a 25 day stretch in the Revelation Mountains in September 2009. For me, it is still a go-to tent, although I don’t love it like I do my Kaitum, it is actually the stronger tent.
The Nammatj belongs to the Black Label class of Hilleberg tents, which is their strongest line, utilizing Kerlon 1800 fabric (outer tent) with a tear strength of 40 lb., and 10 mm poles. These tents are suitable for the most extreme weather, and long duration setups, and compared to the Kaitum with Kerlon 1200 fabric, which has a tear strength of 26.5 lb, and 9 mm poles, they do have the edge. The Kaitum 2, which is my favorite, belongs to the Hilleberg Red Label line, which is next to the Black Labels, and focuses more on light weight, than ultimate strength.
The Nammatj 2 actually has the same floor plan as the Kaitum 2, but the difference (apart from the stouter materials) is evident when you crawl inside. You pretty quickly realize the absence of the vestibule on the back side (as with the Kaitum), and this makes for a more confined feel. The back of the tent slopes rapidly, and ultimately you give up some head space, whereas the Kaitum is the same on both ends. It does need to by staked, and guyed out properly of course, and you will probably want to sleep with your head at the door of this model, rather than at the rear due to the sloping rear.
The Nammatj 2 only has the one door, and one vestibule, and you can add vestibule length by going to the GT model, but this barebones tent weighs in at 5 lb. 1 oz. minimum weight, and the whole packed weight is 6 lb. 9 oz. The weights are always listed with Hilleberg tents in this fashion, in case you don’t want to carry the stakes, or bags, etc. The minimum weight is just for the tent itself, and the poles. I should state here that depending on what type of country you are in, you can often leave off packing the stakes, and of course the bags are not really needed if you are shaving pounds. We are often in alpine country where the soil is not conducive to staking, and there is an abundance of boulders, and they are much safer to use, and I like good 20-30 lb. boulders to really secure the guy lines in case the winds get up in that 50 mph and above range.
I don’t give the Nammatj 2 a 5 star because I don’t really like the sloping rear, at least not from the inside, but it does serve its purpose very well. It is perfectly fine for 2 men, although it will not feel as roomy as the Kaitum that has a door on both ends, and a vestibule on both ends, but it is less costly. The positive side is you can safely ride out anything in this tent, it is a very roomy for one, and certainly adequate for 2 men, and it doesn’t require as much of a lengthy spot to pitch in, and that is often an issue for us in sheep country.
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