Well put together review ..Almost pulled the trigger on the 3 person version of this tent. Decided at the eleventh hour to get the Vango Pro 3 Nemesis As Its was 40 quid cheaper and higher spec.Albeit heavier at 4kg, but my son carrys half of it so its a fair trade off.. The 2 person looks great for spacious solo camping..
I have the Helm 1 loads of room for one person plenty of head room to sit up gear and the sleeping mat inside pack in the vestibule and wet boots in the mini vestibule the other side there is condensation because the fly is so tight and close to the ground, but it does not matter as there is such a large gap between the inner and outer i just wipe it down with a small cloth the half mesh upper makes for cooler tent with no crazy overheating like some other Wild Country tents . solid tent excellent in high winds make sure the fly is tightened taut the two guy lines on the apex, bring them at 45 degrees into the wind for extra stability . highly recommend it got mine on Amazon for a good price
Good review Ian, Spacious Tent Bags of room for your kit so not cramped if you have to spend some time in the tent, I am interested to see how it stands up to strong winds if it can cope well it may be a winner for me good price range and weight is not bad either, ATB, Les.
That's huge Ian. You're definitely not pushing it for space there. It looks sturdy enough to withstand some pretty poor weather. I reckon it's going to work out. I liked your rucksack storage solution. Far more efficient. Nice one. Take care. Mark
I sold my hilleberg soulo because I bought this tent. Couldn’t justify the price of the hilleberg. The helm 2 is so much more enjoyable to stay in and it’s like 6 7 or 8 times cheaper than my hilleberg was 🤣
Just a note for anyone after this tent. I recently purchased the helm compact 2 which is virtually identical, along with the footprint which works for both. Now this may have only been my footprint, but I've found in order to get a solid pitch and pull the fly sheet relatively tight you need to stretch the bungie to almost breaking point for the pole fixing points. It's not so bad on the other fixing points on account of the adjustable lines 6:15 approx. It is however fairly bad on the pole loops 5:25 approx and a stupid amount of tension has to be applied to the bungies. So in order to avoid any flappyness in high winds I've add some parachord loops to extend the bungie chords slightly, has done the job and makes it vastly easier to pitch, less faff on. Good tent overall, very easy to pitch, good pack size.
@@TheEscapizm yeah so on the extra ground sheet you get you just need to make a loop with bungie cord and attach it to the bungie points that are already on the ground sheet. So the finished product would be your ground sheet with an additional loop added. This allows you to easily stretch out the tent to get a nice pitch.
@@TheEscapizm that's the one. But it's to my understanding that this isn't the case with all helm tents. My friend got a one man helm and doesn't have the same issue. Nor have I seen any other tent with the same problem as mine. Perhaps a manufacturing error? So check your tent pitches nicely with the additional ground sheet on arriving just baring in mind the mod I've done should the issue present its self. Best of luck
Great tent I have an idea for you so obviously that you've taken out the tent poles and the tent pegs so what you could do from here if you grab yourself a compression sack take your tent out of the bag when it comes in stuff it inside a compression sack that will then save you space within your bag or you could just clip it to the outer of your bag.
High mate, the helm compact 2 has significantly less mesh in the inner than the helm 2, is the same size as this and packs down smaller. I was worried about this until I discovered the helm compact 2 which is the same tent with some minor modifications and improvements.
Thanks for the comments, I have recently purchased the Helm 2 compact. So i'll be looking to do a review as soon as there is a break in the weather. There are a few subtle changes which I like....
Hi, im thinking about buying the helm 2 or cloud peak 2, cant decided. Any thoughts please How have you found the tent in high winds and rain etc Does the rain just sit on the top of the tent, as the cloud peak has an extra cover for the top,?
Hi Matt, I haven’t had any really high winds yet but I have used in proper 4 season snow conditions, it felt totally solid. I would feel confident the tent will stand up to high winds. It doesn’t suffer from water pooling on the top. It’s nice and easy to set up and has bags of room inside. Hope that helps
@@ianwoodfield7051 thank you for the reply!! Im new to backpacking so want to make sure i get the right tent, its hard to know what is right. Thanks again
Hi, very pleased with this tent. I tend to use it more in the winter months because it is practically bomb proof. I'll use it in the summer if the dog comes with me and I need the extra space. Very easy to set up. Certainly not looking to replace it any time soon. ATB
Very helpful review, we are hoping to try and pick one if these up soon if we can find one!
Well put together review ..Almost pulled the trigger on the 3 person version of this tent. Decided at the eleventh hour to get the Vango Pro 3 Nemesis As Its was 40 quid cheaper and higher spec.Albeit heavier at 4kg, but my son carrys half of it so its a fair trade off.. The 2 person looks great for spacious solo camping..
I have the Helm 1
loads of room for one person
plenty of head room to sit up
gear and the sleeping mat inside
pack in the vestibule and wet boots in the mini vestibule the other side
there is condensation because the fly is so tight and close to the ground, but it does not matter as there is such a large gap between the inner and outer
i just wipe it down with a small cloth
the half mesh upper makes for cooler tent with no crazy overheating like some other Wild Country tents
.
solid tent excellent in high winds
make sure the fly is tightened taut
the two guy lines on the apex, bring them at 45 degrees into the wind for extra stability
.
highly recommend it
got mine on Amazon for a good price
Neeman Callender I have the same, couldn’t have put it better myself
Good review and love the Lab,
Good review Ian, Spacious Tent Bags of room for your kit so not cramped if you have to spend some time in the tent, I am interested to see how it stands up to strong winds if it can cope well it may be a winner for me good price range and weight is not bad either, ATB, Les.
Thanks Les, hopefully out again in January so hopefully it will get a good test. It did perform well on Dartmoor though 😀
Thank you Ian. Your video was very helpful chap. Take care.
Glad it helped
Very good review.
Thanks
That's huge Ian. You're definitely not pushing it for space there. It looks sturdy enough to withstand some pretty poor weather. I reckon it's going to work out. I liked your rucksack storage solution. Far more efficient. Nice one. Take care. Mark
Thanks Mark, out next weekend so hopefully another video on the way 👍
I think this is pretty good,the sale was Sierra Leone is 2lbs heavier so I’m in a quandary
I sold my hilleberg soulo because I bought this tent. Couldn’t justify the price of the hilleberg. The helm 2 is so much more enjoyable to stay in and it’s like 6 7 or 8 times cheaper than my hilleberg was 🤣
Just a note for anyone after this tent. I recently purchased the helm compact 2 which is virtually identical, along with the footprint which works for both. Now this may have only been my footprint, but I've found in order to get a solid pitch and pull the fly sheet relatively tight you need to stretch the bungie to almost breaking point for the pole fixing points. It's not so bad on the other fixing points on account of the adjustable lines 6:15 approx. It is however fairly bad on the pole loops 5:25 approx and a stupid amount of tension has to be applied to the bungies.
So in order to avoid any flappyness in high winds I've add some parachord loops to extend the bungie chords slightly, has done the job and makes it vastly easier to pitch, less faff on. Good tent overall, very easy to pitch, good pack size.
which bungie cords you have extended with paracord? I don't really understand the reason.. but I agree this tent need some mods.
Hey Mr Dodger, can you offer more detail on you mod please?
@@TheEscapizm yeah so on the extra ground sheet you get you just need to make a loop with bungie cord and attach it to the bungie points that are already on the ground sheet. So the finished product would be your ground sheet with an additional loop added. This allows you to easily stretch out the tent to get a nice pitch.
@@jammydodger1449 arrr ok understood on all 6 points presumably
@@TheEscapizm that's the one. But it's to my understanding that this isn't the case with all helm tents. My friend got a one man helm and doesn't have the same issue. Nor have I seen any other tent with the same problem as mine. Perhaps a manufacturing error? So check your tent pitches nicely with the additional ground sheet on arriving just baring in mind the mod I've done should the issue present its self. Best of luck
Thanks for the comments, hope you find one 👍
Great tent I have an idea for you so obviously that you've taken out the tent poles and the tent pegs so what you could do from here if you grab yourself a compression sack take your tent out of the bag when it comes in stuff it inside a compression sack that will then save you space within your bag or you could just clip it to the outer of your bag.
Thanks Lee, I’ll give it a try 👍
Superb vid. Just the info I wanted. Seems to be a lot of mesh in the inner though which might out me off buying
High mate, the helm compact 2 has significantly less mesh in the inner than the helm 2, is the same size as this and packs down smaller. I was worried about this until I discovered the helm compact 2 which is the same tent with some minor modifications and improvements.
Thank you for a good review. This tent is on my short list so I'd love to hear anything else you have to say about it please. Thank you.
Thanks for the comments, I have recently purchased the Helm 2 compact. So i'll be looking to do a review as soon as there is a break in the weather. There are a few subtle changes which I like....
@@ianwoodfield7051 look forward to watching it.
Thanks
Looks like there's room for the dog too!
She certainly likes her room 😀
Thanks for the review! Can I ask, what kind of temps have you used this tent in winter time?
I think it got down to about -5 degrees C during a February trip to the Lake District
@@ianwoodfield7051 Nice! Thanks for the answer :)
Where did you buy this from Ian?
I think I picked it up from Sports Direct website...
Did you say it has two doors ?
Yes it does 👍
Hi, im thinking about buying the helm 2 or cloud peak 2, cant decided. Any thoughts please
How have you found the tent in high winds and rain etc
Does the rain just sit on the top of the tent, as the cloud peak has an extra cover for the top,?
Hi Matt, I haven’t had any really high winds yet but I have used in proper 4 season snow conditions, it felt totally solid. I would feel confident the tent will stand up to high winds. It doesn’t suffer from water pooling on the top. It’s nice and easy to set up and has bags of room inside. Hope that helps
@@ianwoodfield7051 thank you for the reply!! Im new to backpacking so want to make sure i get the right tent, its hard to know what is right.
Thanks again
Where did you buy this tent thanks for the review
Hi, I think the updated version is available on the Sports Direct website
@@ianwoodfield7051 cheers for that
Thanks, subbed you back 👍
Just paid £225 for the Helm 2 compact
How is this tent after two years?
Hi, very pleased with this tent. I tend to use it more in the winter months because it is practically bomb proof. I'll use it in the summer if the dog comes with me and I need the extra space. Very easy to set up. Certainly not looking to replace it any time soon. ATB
@@ianwoodfield7051 Great news
they do a higher spec version now called the Pioneer 2, though nearly double the price.
hubba hubba is a better desihn