Review of the lightweight tent NatureHike Cloud UP 2

The Chinese tent NatureHike Cloud UP 2 is a relatively successful clone of the American tent Big Agnes SLATER UL2+. When fully equipped (with pegs, guys, footprint and cover), its weight is 1.7 kg, which is quite good for a two-person tent. And most importantly, the NatureHike tent can be bought on AliExpress for $95, while the “original” from Big Agnes costs $389.

Unpacking and bundling

Nevertheless, a miracle happened and I received the coveted package in the mail. Please note the weight and stated cost of the package (18 bucks).

The delivery set includes a footprint. But for some reason they made a separate case for it and do not pack it in a common bag with the tent. Apparently it is implied that the “dirty” footprint should be stored separately from the “clean” tent. Or is this some kind of clever marketing ploy to make the buyer feel satisfied (2 for the price of 1, etc.). Or maybe the whole point is that this is how the original footprint for Big Agnes was supplied, which is not included in any set, is sold separately and, accordingly, requires separate packaging.

The tent inside the cover is held together with a cheerful rainbow strap.

An “operating manual” is sewn to the case. I write this word in quotation marks because this document did not answer several questions that interested me.

The cardboard label states that the manufacturer used proprietary Duraflex fittings. The markings on the fastex are really duraflex, but at first it seemed to me that it was either a Chinese counterfeit or original fittings, but from a cheap series. Later, I began to understand this issue in more detail and even found these fastex on the site Duraflex Group. It turned out that they are not from a cheap series, but from a lightweight series - Xlite® Buckle. I also found out that Duraflex is a Hong Kong company:)

The zippers at the entrance are a little tight and often snag the fabric. Fabric grips are quite unusual (there is no plastic tongue on the locks at all).

The next photo shows a cover for the pegs and a cover for the arcs. All covers are made of the same material as the tent awning (silicone with a density of 20d).

Includes 12 V-shaped aluminum pegs. Subsequently, during installation, I used 9 pieces, and 3 more were left for additional guy wires, which I did not install this time. Unfortunately, there are no through holes on the pegs - only hooks. A small loop of paracord could be placed in the hole to make it easier to pull the stake out of the ground.

The frame consists of relatively short sections (slightly less than 40 cm). This means you have every chance to lay the tent across your backpack, rather than pushing it vertically.

In addition to three guy lines for the awning (pictured on the right), three mysterious loops made of thin sling were found in the magic bag (pictured on the left). I haven’t figured out where to use them yet.

Weighing the tent

For me personally, the most important characteristic of any type of equipment is weight. Therefore, I will be especially meticulous in weighing the NatureHike Cloud UP 2 tent:)

• Awning - 450 g
• Inner tent - 460 g
• Footprint - 230 g
• Frame - 340 g
• Pegs (12 pieces) - 168 g
• Guys - 28 g
• Tent cover - 23 g
• Cover for pegs - 6 g
• Frame cover - 12 g
• Footprint cover - 10 g
• Rainbow sling - 12 g
• Total tent weight - 1740 gr

Setting up a tent

We begin the installation by securing the footprint with 5 pegs. This is an optional stage; you can walk without a footprint at all. On the other hand, on a “mosquito-free” hike, you can take only the awning and footprint, without the interior.

We throw the inner core on top of the footprint and secure it with the same pegs as the footprint itself.

We assemble the arc frame; it consists of three beams diverging from the connecting hub.

This hub-tee is traditionally considered the most vulnerable point of the frame. In this case, the tee is “male”, which means that most likely it is not the tee itself that will break, but the “mother” of one of the neighboring sections will crack. This is good because... the tubular section is easier to replace or repair with improvised means (compared to a tee).

We insert the ends of the arcs into the eyelets on the corner braces of the interior. It seemed to me that it would be more convenient to first attach short rays to the eyelets and finish with a long arc.

The interior is attached to the arches using mysterious plastic hooks. For some reason they didn’t inspire much confidence in me - they look a little flimsy. And in the “legs” of the tent, a piece of cord with a lock is used for hooking, which is not clear how to fix it.

Approximately up to the middle of its height, the walls of the inner tent are made of a windproof “parachute”. And above begins the mosquito net. The D-shaped door is made entirely of mesh.

There is an additional mesh window at the back of the tent. Interestingly, there are no “ventilations” on the awning opposite this window.

In the corners of the bottom there is reinforcement made of denser fabric.

We continue setting up the tent - we throw an awning over the arches. It is fastened with five fastex, plus two pegs to pull back the vestibule.

To prevent the awning from sticking to the inner tent, it is necessary to use additional side guy ropes.

Short leashes with carabiners are also sewn at the place where they connect to the awning. I assumed that the carabiners should be used to cling to the loops on the interior and thus prevent its side planes from sagging. But in practice, something disastrous happened (the bottom of the tent came off the ground) and the loops had to be released.

I must say that I never achieved the ideal tension of the awning. At the same time, the slings on the corner fastex have already been completely selected; it will not be possible to tighten them further. This is very bad, because when wet (from rain or dew), the silicone (the awning material) is guaranteed to stretch noticeably. And in order not to prevent the inner lining from sticking to the awning, it will have to be pulled with something unknown and unknown where. The only hope is the side laces.

The bottom of the inner tent is also not stretched evenly. There are always folds in the legs and corners. When you try to stretch the bottom with corner pegs, the corners come off the ground.

Idle speculation

It should be noted that I have never slept in this tent or tried it on a real hike. And all my previous and subsequent thoughts regarding its performance qualities may turn out to be erroneous. Nevertheless, I can’t deny myself the pleasure of showing off a little bit:)

Adhesion

This is not too noticeable in the photographs, but in the middle part of the side walls the distance between the rather freely dangling interior and the awning does not exceed 5 cm. And I think it won’t take a hurricane wind to connect them.

Habitability

Since we’re talking about convenience, let’s remember about “ruffles”. The tent has a mesh pocket for small items. He is hiding above the entrance. And in the middle of the central arc there is a hook for hanging a flashlight.

Wind resistance

In addition, a high ridge can negatively affect wind resistance. In principle, the height is not that great, but the design is not very rigid either. The back of the arch (where there is only one support point) can be moved to the side or tilted quite easily.

On the awning, just on the arches, there are loops for attaching three wind guy ropes. Obviously, this is only sufficient for moderate winds.

Tambour

The vestibule at the tent is very small. If you live in it together, then two backpacks will completely fill the vestibule space. There is no room for shoes or passage. To get out of the tent in the middle of the night you will need to jump over a mountain of backpacks.

This photo shows that when it rains, an open door will allow droplets direct access to the inner tent. Moreover, the water will pour directly onto the head of the sleeping person.

Preliminary results

Despite a bunch of identified shortcomings, I continue to think that the NatureHike Cloud UP 2 is a good tent. You just need to clearly understand its capabilities and not try to climb Everest with this tent. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen the original Big Agnes tent and don’t know how similar they are to NatureHike. In general, the Chinese from NatureHike did their job quite well and their tent looks more expensive than it costs:) That is, it has a good price/quality ratio.

• Small inconvenient vestibule
• Low wind resistance
• Weak tent tension

• Price $95
• Low weight
• Silicone awning

P.S. I plan to get back to editing this review after I've tried the Cloud UP 2 tent on an actual camping trip.

After 4 years

Over the 4 years since the first half of this review was written, the tent has gone through a lot of tests and now I can tell you a couple more interesting facts about it.

In the winter of 2016, during a New Year’s hike along the Lycian Trail, the NatureHike Cloud UP 2 tent was caught in a real storm, and it just so happened that my son and I were inside the tent at that moment. For several hours, gusts of wind and rain hit the tent with such force that the ceiling literally hit us on the heads. The long section of the Y-bar was completely unable to cope with the load and was constantly bending inward. I had to hold the ceiling with my hands and feet (in shifts) for half the night.

This storm proved that:

• in the Cloud UP tent, not only the awning is waterproof, but also the walls of the interior (everything except the mesh)
• strong wind can blow dust and sand through the door mesh directly into the sleepers’ faces
• the wind resistance of the tent is extremely low

Later, in the summer of 2016, when I was filming a video about setting up this tent, it was caught in another storm. This time there was a little less wind, a little more hail, and what is very important, I was no longer sitting inside, but outside and was able to see in detail how the wind rinsed the awning. This is how another drawback crystallized:

• when wet, the awning sags a lot and it is simply impossible to properly tension it

As a result, the awning sticks to the inner lining, air circulation is disrupted and the inner lining becomes covered from the inside with condensation. Things and sleeping bags become damp, despite the fact that formally the tent did not let in a drop of rain.

Two storms suffered greatly weakened the threads in the main hub of the frame. It stopped reliably fixing the beams of the frame; there was a risk that the hub would fall apart and the frame would pierce the awning. I filled this joint with instant glue and at first it seemed that the problem was solved. But in the fall of 2018, during the trip around the USA, the hub fell apart and even magic tape couldn’t save the situation.

I wrote about the problem to the manufacturer and the guys from NatureHike not only reminded me of the warranty for tents purchased at official representative offices and online stores of the company, but also promised to send a new version of the frame, as well as a new tent for testing.

In the new frame I discovered a wonderful new hub. It was monolithic, made from a single piece of metal, and therefore much more reliable.

But miracles do not happen and the new hub did not make the frame stable. In January 2019, our camp was covered with snow (from 7 to 15 cm) and the NatureHike Cloud UP 2 tent literally bent under the weight of the snow layer. The central arc moved to the side and, under the weight of the snow, bent like the letter “S”. At the same time, the foot of the tent was flattened and the bedroom became at least 20 cm shorter. Of course, all this was accompanied by a huge amount of condensation.

Results 2019

Over the past years, the awning material and seams have not lost their waterproofness. However, the cut of the tent does not allow for effective stretching and things still get wet due to condensation. The 2019 model hub is more reliable, but overall the frame of this tent is not able to withstand strong winds or the weight of snow.

Nevertheless, the light weight of the tent is still an important argument, and despite all the shortcomings, the NatureHike Cloud UP 2 tent travels a lot and has been to the USA, Norway and winter Turkey.