Aside from the fabric, the 2-person Sigma S22 has a useful construction as well; a freestanding design with two poles (DAC 9.35mm featherlite) crossing and then a single small pole, aka ‘the brow pole’ (DAC 8.84mm), that props up the sides to add extra width. The two main poles slide through sleeves attached to the fly and the brow pole clips into two eyelets. Coupled with the multiple guylines and pegging points, this freestanding design makes it sturdy enough for four-season use.

You tend to expect tents that can be used through all four seasons to be on the heavy side, but at 1700g altogether it’s nothing too heavy by any means, especially when you consider the amount of room it affords.

Editor Will, what’s your verdict then?

Tester’s Verdict

Will Renwick, Outdoors Magic Editor

“First of all, this does all the basics well. Pitching was easy, though you need to keep it flat in order to be able to slide the poles through the sleeves easily, and it was also simple to disassemble and pack away into the generously sized stuff sack. It’s spacious for two people plus their kit, the doors can all be fastened back neatly and there are useful interior pockets for organisation.

“You’re not really here to hear about the pockets though, are you? You want to know about that carbon activated single skin flysheet. Does it actually work? In short yes, it does. The longer answer is that it doesn’t work quite as well as I wanted it to, but it was still very good. I used the Sigma S22 on a day of high pressure in Essex (in a woods found at the end of a tubeline) and on a day of low pressure in the Brecon Beacons, and each time I did find that there was condensation on the X-Tex fabric BUT there wasn’t much – certainly not enough to cause any moisture to start to trickle or drip. With the mesh nylon running lengthways on either side, it’s only at the ends of the tent – which have steep sides – and on the high ceiling that you face contact with the single skin fabric and I found it easy to avoid, so, even if there is some moisture build up, it’s not going to cause you problems.

“One of my favourite tents of the last few years has been the Terra Nova Southern Cross 2, and this reminds me of that a lot. It’s simple to pitch, really sturdy and reliable, and can be shared comfortably with another person. Having used the Sigma S22 now however, I actually think I’ve found a better tent. With this, you get a bit more space and headroom, it’s much quicker to pitch and more importantly, that single skin design makes it a few hundred grams lighter. It’s also a tiny, tiny bit lower in price!”