Construction

The Abisko Lite 1 uses a single hooped tunnel design with pole-propped corners, a removable inner compartment, a sizeable porch space and single door. It’s a very similar design to the Hilleberg Akto, a hugely popular tent amongst wild campers.

The inner mesh features a large c-shaped door that’s double zipped and double-layered so that you can either seal yourself in with the full protection of the two layers (in winter, say) or just use the single layer of fine mesh in the warmer months.

“This is a tent that covers all the right bases.”

The ventilation options abound. You’ve got one wire stiffened vent above the door, covered hatches at either end and then there’s also a clever toggle that allows you to fold back half of the door (from the bottom) to create bucket loads of airflow without leaving you completely exposed to the elements. The thought to ventilation even extends to the shaping of the base of the flysheet which is curved slightly upwards to create a very slight gap. 

There are plenty of guy points – a total of eight in fact, which is as many as you’ll see on a tent of this size. 

Features

Nice details to note include mesh interior pockets for storage, an internal adjustable cord for hanging equipment or clothing that needs drying, reflective guylines and there’s a handy little adjuster cord that reduces the width of the inner compartment so that you can have maximum porch space for cooking or organising gear. 

Tester’s Verdict

Will Renwick, editor of Outdoors Magic

“This is one of those one person tents that I know I could depend on in all but the most horrific of conditions. Granted, I haven’t used this in anything too stressful but it has all the ingredients that would suggest to me that it can stand up to some very rough stuff. It’s certainly got a good reputation anyway. 

“I’ve been in enough wobbly tents over windy nights to know that the more guylines there are, the better, and to have a spider web of eight guys with this is definitely reassuring. Inside, there’s no sagginess, and the walls, from what I’ve seen, don’t bend in anywhere when the wind picks up.

“I’m 5 foot 10 and of an average build and this thing gives me absolutely bucket loads of space, not just to lie down, but to sit up in, to organise kit and to cook. The porch space is a decent size too – plenty of room for a pack and boots and then to cook alongside them too.”

“Pitching it for the first time was very easy and I didn’t need to call upon the instructions, though they are there if you need them, and not just on a piece of paper but printed on the tent’s stuck sack.

“Packing it away is easy too. I’m a stuffer, not a folder and the funnel design to the stuff sack definitely suits me, making the process a complete breeze. Effortless even. 

“All packed up, the tent measures 14 x 34cm. That’s by no means large but it’s not small either. I found I could still fit this in my 45-litre backpack along with all my other gear for casual weekend camping. I like the fact the stuff sack has compression straps too – that’s handy for controlling the volume but also if you want to fix the tent to, say, the front of your bike’s handlebars.

“Come winter, it’ll be a reliable fortress to shield me from anything.”

“I like Fjällräven gear, mainly because you know you can count on the materials all being of a high calibre and you can count on the design being extremely well thought through too. That’s certainly the case here. You just need to give the flysheet fabric a pinch to get a feel for the quality.

“If my girlfriend ever said to me, ‘Will, you need to get rid of all these tents and just settle for just one’, I would without a shadow of a doubt pick this. Why? Because it covers all the bases, being light enough to take on backpacking adventures throughout the summer and then it’ll be a reliable fortress to shield me from anything come winter. With that in mind, and all the high spec materials factored in as well, I do think the fairly hefty price tag is, dare I say it, quite justified. “