Review: Naturehike Spider Ultralight 1-Person Tent

The Naturehike Spider Ultralight Silicone 1-Person Tent is exactly what it says: a lightweight 1-person, 3-season tent.

Key Information

Price: R2399 (at time of writing)
Weight: 1618g (including the groundsheet)
Waterproof rating: Flysheet: 4000mm; Floor: 4000mm
Fabric: Flysheet and floor: Silicone coated nylon
Structure: Single pole system with two Y-couplings; freestanding
Poles: 7001 Aluminium

Design

The design is “fin-like” which is both a strength and a weakness. Pitched correctly, the tent is very aerodynamic, but if it catches the wind side-on, it takes more of a hammering than a usual dome-shaped tent. Even so, the double-wishbone pole design does give a good amount of stability, which, combined with a pegged-out flysheet and guy-lines, can stand up to strong wind.

What’s in the Bag

The tent is supplied in a neat carry bag with with compression straps. Included in the bag is the tent inner and flysheet with pegs, poles and a lightweight groundsheet, which is a great addition and really adds value and longevity in my opinion.

The guy ropes that are supplied with the tent are unusually thick, but still very light and handle well.

Weight

The weight of the inner tent, flysheet, pegs, poles and groundsheet combined, come to 1618g. The fact that the tent inner, flysheet and groundsheet are made from ultra-thin silnylon, means that it takes up minimal space in one’s backpack as well.

The groundsheet also has clips to which the flysheet can be attached, allowing for an ultralight setup, without the inner, if necessary.

Ease of Pitching

Pitching the tent is a breeze and only took me about 8 minutes – the inner clips to the poles and the flysheet clips to the inner. One needs to make sure that the poles are properly seated at the hubs, but that is the case with all tents that use this design, because all the force is focussed where the poles come together.

Inside the Tent

The inside of the tent is comfortably sized for one person, with enough floor space to have quite a lot of gear in the tent with you while sleeping. The measured floor space is 204cm x 93cm, but because of the internal angles, the actual usable length is slightly less. I’m 1.86cm tall and when I lie down, there is maybe 2-3cm left below my feet and above my head.

I was pleasantly surprised that even with the sharp angles of the “roof”, I could still comfortably sit upright without feeling cramped.

There is a very small triangular storage pouch at the head end of the tent, as well as a light hook in the roof.

The vestibule is large enough to store a big backpack and still comfortably get in and out of the tent.

A 75L backpack comfortably fits underneath the vestibule and I’ve even had a 105L pack under there at a squeeze.

Ventilation

There is one air vent on the head side of the tent and the tent inner is entirely made up of mesh, apart from the floor, which allows for sufficient ventilation – I did not experience any excessive condensation.

The full-mesh inner does however make the tent less than ideal for sub-zero temperatures, as there won’t be much temperature difference between inside and out, but this shouldn’t be a deal breaker unless you plan on only doing winter hikes in the Drakensberg.

Field Testing

I had the privilege of hiking Stage 5 of the Rim of Africa – an absolutely stunning ridgeline walk across the Langeberg mountains. Every night at sunset the wind would start to pick up and continue to build through the night, reaching about 60km/h with even stronger gusts. It didn’t make for peaceful sleep, but I was very pleasantly surprised that my little tent survived the onslaught.

Even when pitched on a level lawn, there is still quite a bit of movement in the flysheet. In most situations, this isn’t much of a problem, but on very windy nights, the noise created by the flapping flysheet can keep you awake, and potentially weaken or damage the flysheet. I found that if I extended the peg points of the flysheet with a bit of accessory cord, it pulled the flysheet tight and created a slightly more aerodynamic angle.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a lightweight 1-person tent, but can’t afford the eye-watering price tag of the MSR Hubba, look no further – at almost a quarter of the price, this tent is only about 300g heavier and can hold its own in some pretty challenging conditions. Keith Bontrager famously said of bicycle parts: “Strong. Light. Cheap. Pick Two.” The same adage applies to hiking gear, but this tent seems to tick all three boxes: fairly light, pretty strong and very well priced – amazing value for money!

This tent can be purchased from Naturehike’s online shop.

Rent hiking gear online

About Arno van der Heever 54 Articles
Co-founder of Hiking South Africa, Arno loves the outdoors and finds joy in sharing it with others. He is a qualified mountain guide, a keen rock climber and has a "thing" for technical footwear and backpacks.

7 Comments

    • Yip, the groundsheet also has clips to which the flysheet can be attached, allowing for an ultralight setup, without the inner, if necessary.

  1. “I found that if I extended the peg points of the flysheet with a bit of accessory cord, it pulled the flysheet tight and created a slightly more aerodynamic angle.”

    Would you care to elaborate a bit on this? I have some trouble visualizing it, unfortunately 🙂

    • If you tie a piece of cord to the two peg loops on the flysheet, you are able to “lengthen” the vestibule so to speak, because you can peg it further out. There are only two peg loops – the other four points on the flysheet clip to the inner tent on the corners. Hope that makes sense.

  2. Hey Arno.
    I enjoyed this review and have actually just purchased one for myself. The packed tent picture (in the red bag) has no sense of scale. It would be great in another tent/sleeping bag/sleeping mat review to see the rolled/packed state vs something known to compare size. Just a thought.
    Thanks

  3. Hi, man, great review! i’m between buying this one or the CloudUp 1P, any thoughts on that? One thing i can’t find out is if the pegs of the cycling are triangular (like the cloudup) or “regular” ones, would u mind clarifying that for me? 🙂

    • I find the “cycling” tent’s side-entrance vestibule a bit more usable in bad weather, but other than that, they’re both great tents. The “cycling” tent comes with regular pegs. I’ve subsequently replaced some of them with triangular pegs.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*