Customer Reviews

Wenzel Lone Elk Hiker 6.5 X 4-Feet One-Person Tent (Light Grey/Blue/Gold)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Wenzel Outdoor Products has recently made a change in their product line, replacing their Starlite model with the Lone Elk Hiker/Biker tent. The tents in this range are lightweight, and compact for hiking or cycling. Will this transition in products show improvement?

FEATURES
Model #: 36418
Base: 6.5 ft. x 4 ft.
Center Height: 36 in. F / 24 in. R
Area: 23 sq. ft.
Sleeps: 1

The new Lone Elk tent is one of the lightest tents in its pricepoint, and rivals other more expensive tents in features. In fact, at 1470g (3.25lbs), this tent is ideal for cyclocamping, s240's, or weekend backpacking... as long as the weather is fair.

Wenzel Lone Elk Hiker/Biker Tent

The tweaked design of the Lone Elk has increased weight by four ounces, but has also included an additional bit of length and width for added comfort. While these attributes are key, a tent needs to be durable too. Keep on reading, in order to see how it stood up to its predecessor.

Once again, this tent is not a self-standing structure. The two shockcorded fiberglass poles are easily guided through the tent supports and mount to the base with a pin and ring system. Three guy lines are used to allow the tent to stand. A complaint of the Starlite tent was that the guyline setup made entering the tent less than optimal for taller or larger users, this tent allows easy entrance without complications.

The tent itself comprises of three different materials, not including the mesh vents. The top part of the dome is a thin, grey nylon which does well at keeping heat in, and blocking wind. The seams are in places which are at optimal angles in the event of rainfall. The second material is a thicker batch of nylon, and lends itself to maintaining the support and tension of the tent. The tarp material used at the base of the tent is thin, but clearly waterproof. I still use a footprint under the tent to keep another layer between the ground and I; this may not be necessary depending on what kind of pad you use under your sleeping bag.

Inside the rear of the tent, there is a vent flap which can be zipped open or closed. The three nights that I spent in the tent for testing, I noticed with both the rear vent flap and front door vent (front only slightly open) open, condensation did accumulate, and took about two hours to evaporate after awakening. I attribute this to the nature of sleeping in a backpacking tent, not a flaw in design or architecture of the vents. The tent kept me considerably warm, and did everything else it was intended for.

Review:

This tent is 3lb4oz, and can be found for $20-25 online. It fits one person, and a backpack inside, and has a small vestibule-type overhang for a pack or shoes at the rear. It does not have a rain fly, therefore is solely meant for fair weather conditions. Tent setup takes ten minutes when done casually, and is quite sturdy with the design.

Pros:

* Lightweight
* Inexpensive
* Well Stitched
* Small Pack Size
* Availability

Cons:

* Lack of true Vestibule, Porch, or Rainfly.
* Tent Pole Length of 23' makes them awkward, but not difficult to pack.

Once again, if you are not in the market for a $200 tent, this will do you well as long as you understand and accept its limitations. Since February, I have spent five nights in this tent provided to me by Wenzel since February, in weathers as cold as 20*F, and even bailed out on a sixth night that a thunderstorm sneak attacked me. As stated before, this is an ideal cyclocamping or backpacking tent for people who are already light in the wallet. The Lone Elk tent fills a very important role/genre in the area for people who are not yet willing to invest big money in camping gear, but still want to get their feet wet, figuratively... not literally.

4 / 5 Stars.

Photos and full review @ [...]
P.S. - I was provided this tent pro-bono to review.

I bought this item for Bicycle camping in Puerto Rico. The tent is very light and comfortable for carrying. It sets up very easy, is very firm and stronger looking than other bivys and surprisingly for me It has wide room space. The mesh openings help to circulate air.
I used a Water Repellent coating on all my outdoor tents or equipment, I have tested it on heavy rain and it has not leaked at all.
I advise to cut a footprint out of a cheap material such as vinyl shower curtain liners to protect the bivy's floor.

I was looking for a tent that I could use to go solo camping with. Many retail priced 1-Man tents are a minimum of $60- So when I found this one for half that I was eager to get it. I wish it had been shipped a little faster, but the tent quality itself seems nice. I was surprised at it's spaceous inside, comfortably being able to lay down and fit a backpack inside. Nice Product.

Keep in mind that review is for the Lone Elk 1-person tent by Wenzel. This tent it an upgraded model from the previous 1-person tent from Wenzel here on Amazon.

Size:
As someone who is 6'-2", 31 yo, skinny/athletic, there is plenty of room in the tent for 1 person. Climbing into it is a little tricky, but not as bad as the other reviews make it sound, but I would agree it may not suit older, less flexible campers who aren't used to crawling on their hands and knees. Getting in/out is probably much easier now with the two ropes in the front to the sides of the door instead of one central one. It is a 1-person tent made for laying down though, so room is limited, but reasonable. If it had more room it would be a 2-person tent. There is plenty of width for one person and enough vertical room to sit up as much as you would need to. I had room on both sides of my bag/pad to bring in some extra gear from outside. The length was a concern, but barely one. Since I was on a slight slope, during the night I'd slide down a little bit toward the foot end. I kept on wishing I had 2 more inches of length in there, but then I'd realized I slid down too much (not the tents fault).

Moisture/Ventilation:
Slept with small vent open 100% and main vent open 75% of the way. Temperature outside was about 45-50 F over the night and I did nothing but sleep in there (meaning low breathing/heart rates). I had no problems with moisture build-up. I did feel *some* moisture on the warning tags inside the tent (think matress tag material), but on the actual canvas surfaces, they were dry. It was no damper than any other tent I've used.

Modifications:
I did spray the entire outside of the tent w/ a Dry Camp water repellent knock-off spray from WalMart. I purchased seam sealer but did not use it after seeing that all the seams away from the zippered entrance were sealed with tape. Holding off on my own seam sealer for now.

Setup/Take down:
Easy to do.

Weight:
I'm taking this on an ADK backpacking trip due to it's low weight, especially since I've shedded some things like the carrying bag, box, manual, etc. I can roll up the entire tent (minus stakes) right inside my sleeping pad and carry it on the outside of my pack (as well as inside as I've done already)

Negatives:
-The small vent is really small and doesn't open as far as you think it could open.
-The little overhang by the feet is small and hard to get a full multi-day backpack under while standing upright.
-Women tell me that it looks like a female condom when erected. (not making this up)

Summary:
I think any negative reviews of this tent are misguided and the purchasers had envisioned this 1-person tent to have as much room as a 3-person dome tent while still being labeled a 1-person tent. As for moisture concerns, I had none, but haven't gone through rain yet or perhaps the right conditions to make it really humid inside. The cost of this tent is incredible. Sure a $300 1-person tent will be much more solid and better constructed, but it's not, it's $20-something and for that $20-something I'm pretty sure it's nearly impossible to find a better backpacking tent for short trips. After reading the reviews for this tent (and it's predecessor) I had a feeling that some of the reviews were misguided. I ended up being right on some of those reviews and I'm glad I bought the product. My trial camp in good weather has me now taking this to the ADR's in projected rain and temps down to 30 degrees F.

Ive been backpacking for a while now but did not invest in a singles tent until recently. I used to use my old 3-4 people tent but the weight was just killing me. So i decided to buy one of these tents for the compact lightweight features. Unfortunately, it was a big disappointment. Heres my reasons:
1) it is not as compact as advertised. The tent folded into the same old tent bag that everyone has but only slightly smaller.
2) weight was not as light as I expected. . although it was much more roomier than my buddys one man tent, it wasnt what i was looking for
3) CONDENSATION!!! At first, i thought it was me.. maybe i spilled water or there was a puncture...but no. Every morning I woke up to dew forming on top of the tent (ON THE INSIDE). I tried opening up both mesh vents ...still condensation... I tried spraying seam sealer...still condensation.

So if you do decide to buy the tent, have a towel inside the tent ready to wipe down all the dew thats formed. or its like a Chinese torture where water keeps dripping in your face!

Well, figured the Lone Elk might be OK for a fair weather bug and breeze screen, & never figured on an entire months 1-1/2" rainfall dumping during a night thunderstorm with 50 mph winds and an additional blustery wet 37* cold front passing thru. Altho nothing bent, tore, or pulled out, there was some leakage thru a floor-wall seam segment and at the stitching of a sidewall mesh pocket. The water inside the tent wasn't severe, and manageable with a roll of wring-able paper towels. Except for a 2 foot section, the rest of the roof, walls, and floor kept water out. The "rain fly" is internal to the mesh screen entrance flap, and somewhat adjustable to keep rain out and allow air ventilation in. So, there was never an inside condensation problem as described by other reviewers. The provided staking hardware is insufficient and I highly recommend the Coleman Tent Kit with heavy duty ground stakes, rubber mallet, and stake puller. Thought the tent would be disposable after my 2 weeks use, but it was worth stashing for next years adventure.

A very very lite tent. very good price, but only good for a few seasons. As advertized it is a lite tent but it works fine.

I used this tent for the first time a while ago and found this tent was great for its' price! It was lightweight, sturdy, and made it through rains and a thunderstorm. I highly recommend this tent to anyone who want to begin backpacking but don't want to break the bank.

Took this with last weekend. Had a tent full o condensed frigid water through the night. Most likely due to no vents. Now, you could open the screen in front and back, creating a draft for you to sleep in. What I wish it did have was a double zippered screen. Instead, the screen zips only one way. So no opening the screen at the top only. If you desire the top o the screen open, you must hav the screen a fully halfway open.

I am guessin this will work out better in future, but vents, plural, would have added to this cheap purchase.

I took this tent camping on a mock survival trip. It was raining and cold nearly the entire time. The ventilation is terrible and every morning it may as well have been raining inside of the tent. Not from leaking, just from condensation. It's nearly impossible to move around inside without touching the sides/top of the tent so my gear and I would get soaking wet every morning. Complete waste of money! Another camper (avid backpacker) had a much bigger tent and he comfortable the whole time. Invest in quality!