Dan Slater took Hilleberg’s Saivo 3 tent to the Snowy Mountains for a thorough testing.
Currently available through outdoor store Wild Earth in Burleigh Heads and direct to market via hilleberg.com, Sweden’s Hilleberg have a reputation as one of the world’s premier tentmakers, yet domestic sightings of them ‘in the wild’ are few and far between.
While this is no doubt due in part to their premium pricing, Australian campers in search of the ultimate shelter should be looking past the $ signs. I’d previously reviewed a couple of different models over the years, but what I really wanted was to get to know one properly, and over the past year I’ve thoroughly acquainted myself with the Saivo 3.
After 54 years and counting as a family business, Hilleberg’s current range comprises 28 models split over four main categories, or labels, signifying different end uses.
The Black Label three-person Saivo is a self-supporting dome devised for all-season strength and comfort. Thanks to four identical poles and an integral pitch design (inner and outer come attached together), erecting this tent is straightforward, even in terrible weather. However, for the same reason splitting the package up between three backpacks doesn’t really work. Unless you fancy an extra fifteen minutes of fiddly clipping twice a day, some imaginative load redistribution is required.
With an internal floor area of 3.8 m2 (170cm wide by 230cm long) and tall enough at 110cm to sit up comfortably, this is a roomy tent, even for three people – no bumping knees or awkward feet-in-your-mate’s-face moments here. And it retains heat extremely well, being noticeably sauna-like when climbing in after a midnight toilet break.
In warmer climes, doors on each end zip open completely for ventilation, providing a great through-draft in summer. Zippered double vents at the apex do the job in winter, although three hot bodies in below zero conditions still created condensation. The porches, one structured by a fifth pole, are generous enough to swallow three people’s full kit and still have plenty of space left for bad weather cooking. While the outer doors do pin back, a second toggle would make them easier to handle from the inside.
Snow, rain, wind – fuhggedabahdit! The Saivo can handle anything nature throws at it. Durable componentry and quality of construction are plain to see, e.g. 10mm diameter poles running through robust sleeves and secured by unique rubber pole cups with metal tensioning buckles. With guy lines galore, the only thing missing is snow pegs – you’ll have to buy those separately.
The downside to all this is obvious – at 5.6 kg and 51cm x 22cm packed size, it’s like carrying a comatose piglet on your back – but you won’t have a better night’s sleep in the mountains. You can certainly use it in summer as well, but if you’ve got a lighter tent in your arsenal, you’ll probably be taking that instead. The Saivo 3 is more at home in atrocious conditions where, snug and safe from the elements, you won’t mind so much having carried it all the way there.
RRP: $3799.95