UKC

Alpkit Zhota Tent

© Neil Shearer
Matt Bird enjoys a pleasant few nights of mountain tent testing on Kinder, in November and December rain, snow, fog and high winds. He's testing the Zhota, a 3-man tent from Alpkit's new mountain tent range, which sits between the Heksa (four man) and the Kangri (two man).

Like the rest of the Alpkit range, this tent is very competitively priced (comparison with similarly specced mountain tents below), but does it really mean business in tough mountain conditions?

Alpkit Zhota: 4.84kg / £450
Mountain Hardwear Trango: 3.1 - 5.28kg/ £699
Terra Nova Hyperspace: 5.2kg / £700
Macpac Hemisphere: 5.3kg / £799
Hilleberg Saivo: 5kg / £925


The new tent range marks Alpkit's first full foray into tent making. However it's worth mentioning that the team behind the tents were able to bring in over twenty five years of tent building experience into these products. Alpkit's new tents mean business and are designed to perform so; the design team have used high quality materials and extensive development to produce products which will perform well in extreme conditions, but are still very competitive when compared to other mountain tents on the market. Alpkit have commented that they have plans to release a further range of non-mountain tents later on this year so keep an eye out on their website.

The Zhota enduring and enjoying the delights of the top of Kinder  © Neil Shearer  http://neilshearerphotography.co.uk/
The Zhota enduring and enjoying the delights of the top of Kinder

I tested this product throughout November and December on the top of Kinder. The weather did not disappoint as I went through rain, snow, fog and high winds. When packed, the Zhota is roughly comparable to other market competitors that I looked at in terms of stored size (see table below for specifications of Alpkit tents). It is not small by anyone's imagination, but split between 3-4 people on a trip, this is more than manageable.

"Could the Zhota be put up in dark and misty conditions by an idiot with no instructions?"

Ahead of the first outing, Alpkit provided me with a set of instructions (which are now available online) and it all seemed pretty straightforward. However, a late flurry of work on Friday night and an eagerness to escape the office meant that the instructions were left on my desk and now the Zhota had another test: could it be put up in dark and misty conditions by an idiot with no instructions?

Bags of space inside the Zhota made it very comfortable for three people and could easily accomodate more  © Neil Shearer  http://neilshearerphotography.co.uk/
Bags of space inside the Zhota made it very comfortable for three people and could easily accomodate more

Thankfully it passed this test rather easily. Everything was straightforward, logical and pretty easy. Eventually I got the assembly down to well under five minutes and this was useful as the weather became increasingly adverse throughout the course of this review. In the cold, I was able to assemble the tent with gloves as there were few fiddly parts, which was very welcome.

Lots of smart ideas on the tent such as the quick clips linking the inner and outer layers of the tent  © Neil Shearer  http://neilshearerphotography.co.uk/
Lots of smart ideas on the tent such as the quick clips linking the inner and outer layers of the tent

The clips for linking the outer and inner liner proved a really good idea for locking the two together while the outer tent was pegged down. This was really useful in windy conditions. The pole sleeves are created from 'Powermesh': a tough, elastic fabric that allows the tent to absorb gusts and allows air to flow around the tent's outer and inner canopy, helping to reduce condensation and stop the build up of carbon dioxide. I had some concerns that the material would wear over the long term through snagging of the tent poles on the meshing but over the course of the review, it showed itself to be pretty hardy stuff.

Like most other mountain tents, the Zhota is built using a geodesic design. This offers several advantages including the distribution of stress across the tent in adverse conditions (say through heavy winds) and less reliance upon pegging to ensure the structural integrity, which is a big bonus upon rocky or uneven terrain. Some compromises are made compared to other designs (like tunnel shaped tents) such as heavier weight and longer construction times but, throughout the review, I would definitely confirm that the construction of the tent met the demands of the tough conditions they were designed for.

"I am over 6 foot and the space for all three of us in the tent to sit up and chat was welcome."

On all of the occasions I went out in the Zhota, it was not ideal weather for disassembly and packing but, with two people, it was quick and easy enough even in windy and wet conditions. It was a lot harder when on my own (it nearly became a rather expensive kite at one point) but this was much more likely to be incompetence on my part. Back home, the tent dried out quickly and was ready to go for another round.

For a three man tent, the Zhota is incredibly spacious and could easily fit a fourth person. This makes it flexible for a three man tent for people with a load of kit or four who are looking for a speed ascent. The height of the tent is also and advantage. I am over 6 foot and the space for all three of us in the tent to sit up and chat was welcome.

Storage is another excellent internal feature. I counted 16 storage pockets inside the tent and several clips to hang more equipment, lights etc, enabling you to be organised and efficient and not have kit everywhere. The porch areas are not massive, but we were able to cook out of them and have a little protection from the strong winds.

There are plenty of storage options inside the tent making it easy to keep organised  © Neil Shearer  http://neilshearerphotography.co.uk/
There are plenty of storage options inside the tent making it easy to keep organised

The Zhota was able to cope with poor weather well. When I messed up the assembly of the tent, gusty winds blew the tent around and caused the outer liner to flap wildly about but a quick duck outside to readjust the tent pegs and tension of the guide ropes and this immeadiately stopped.

Summary

To conclude, the Zhota proved an excellent tent with many good design features, which means that it should be definitely considered if you are planning to spend time in the mountains and need a high performance tent. Alpkit are also offering a rental on their tents to test it out further so if you are considering purchasing this product, it may be worth giving it a spin before hand over your cash. Needless to say, that if the majority of your time camping is going to be spent outside of mountain conditions, while the Zhota is still an excellent choice (through the features outlined above), it may be worth considering other less-hardy tents on the market which may be cheaper and more appropriate.

Alpkit Tent Comparison Table

MODEL KANGRI ZHOTA HEKSA
INNER WEIGHT (G)
1253 1610 3512
POLE WEIGHT (G)
882 1574 2879
OUTER WEIGHT (G) 1252 1428 2995
TOTAL WEIGHT (G) (NO PEGS) 3527 4836 9719
MINIMUM WEIGHT (G) (NO PEGS) 3311 4612 9386
OUTER LENGTH (CM)
385 390 500
OUTER WIDTH (CM) 150
225 410
OUTER HEIGHT (CM)
123 131 170
INNER LENGTH (CM)
215 220 340
INNER WIDTH (CM)
140 215 295
INNER HEIGHT (CM)
117 122 165
INNER FLOOR AREA 3.15m2
4.02m2 7.5m2
TOTAL VESTIBULE AREA 1.68m2 1.76m2 4.65m2
POLES 4 5 9
POLE DIAMETER
9.6 9.6/11.1 10.25
DOORS 2 2 3
HANGING LOOPS
5 10 13
STORAGE POCKETS 12 16 12
PEGS (MIN) 8 8 12
GUYLINES
6 6 9
INNER 20D R/S Nylon 20D R/S Nylon 20D R/S Nylon
OUTER
40D R/S Nylon 40D R/S Nylon 40D R/S Nylon
GROUNDSHEET
70D/210T Nylon 70D/210T Nylon 70D/210T Nylon
PACKED SIZE (CM) 19∅ x 60 23∅ x 60 28∅ x 60



Matt Bird  © Matt Bird Collection

About Matt Bird

"Having been raised in the middle of the Churnet Valley where there is really little else to do, I took up climbing at an early age. Climbing highs include a disastrous, harrowing but utterly amazing big wall trip to Yosemite, first learning to climb off widths at Almscliff and any time I step foot in the Churnet Valley.

Lows include climbing in Markfield quarry, mangling my ankles too many times from ill-thought out climbing adventures and failing at a slab climb which my dog promptly ran up with ease.

I am currently focussing on bouldering in the run up to a trip to Hueco Tanks at Christmas and live in Sheffield."


For more information Alpkit/Zhota



23 Jan, 2012
Matt, very good review, though I'm interested in some more details about condensation. How was it. Was the internal sheet wet (or covered with sheet ice) in mornings?
23 Jan, 2012
Hi, whilst condensation was not completely eliminated, I did not have any major problems with condensation compared to other tents I have owned in the past. I had a maximum of three in the tent during the review and while the outer was soaked by rain, the inner stayed largely dry. Only times I experienced any significant damp on the inside was when I constructed the tent badly due to me (a) being an idiot (b) it was in the dark and (c) I was doing it in a hurry and air could not flow effectively between the outer and inner. You could argue that wind knocking the tent around could cause the same affect but I got blown around a bit and it was fine. Maybe have a look at hiring the tent out a bit before you buy to see if it fits as it is still quite a big outlay? Hope this helps, Matt
23 Jan, 2012
Three of us used one of these Alpkit tents for two months solid in America last year. We encountered a variety of weather conditions, heavy rain, damp mist, high winds, below zero temps, etc. We never had any condensation problems, certainly nothing worse than I have experienced in 30 years of using tents. It's a great tent. Cheers Alex
24 Jan, 2012
so, the big question: is the Zhota, and by extention, the Kangri, a 'real' 4 season+ mountain tent in the mould of the TN Quasar/Hyperspace or MHW Trango?
24 Jan, 2012
Big thanks for the update. I'm just curious. Two weeks ago I spent night in Peak District in my MSR Hubba Hubba and I experienced fair amount of condensation. The night started with temp around -5C and later dropped to -9C. Around 5am, I touched the sheet from inside and it was wet and in places covered with sheet ice :) A few pics of conditions and the external sheet in the morning: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mloskot/6717037439/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/mloskot/6717050999/ So, I'm just wondering...
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