Page 49 - 2018 AMA Summer

The poles and pegs came in their own separate bags and the fabric parts wrapped around them into its own lightweight bag too. The walk in was comfortable enough given the 2.2Kg of weight, however, as there were two of us, it could be separated out quite comfortably into two, reasonably equal portions for transport to our wild camp site.
In our haste to erect the Blizzard 2, whilst awaiting our nemesis for the evening, Storm Dylan, and while gloves were still firmly on, it was still very straight-forward to do so. Setup time, having found a bit of dry ground out of the wind (as best we could), was still only around 10 minutes. Instructions were given a stiff ignoring and we were gently guided through the process using intuitive colour coded poles and free sliding sleeves over the flysheet. Tensioning the flysheet was easy also and was managed without the normal rigmarole while trying to get the last pole in with an overly taught flysheet. The end result was a flysheet that was suitably tight and that covered the inner almost to the ground. Normally, on other tents, including the Terra Nova Southern Cross
‘The tent itself stood up well to the 80 mph winds we were promised and highlighted its strength’
2, this didn’t seem to go close enough to the ground and resulted in the inner fabric becoming wet as wind pushed the rain and snow underneath. This wasn’t the case for the Blizzard as it was still dry in the morning despite what panned out to be quite an ordeal.
Within the tent package received from Terra Nova was a flysheet, an inner
compartment, three colour coded poles but an insufficient quantity of pegs to peg out all the guy lines. I mention this as, given the impending apocalypse we we expecting, knowing there were enough tent pegs would have been quite reassuring. However, not without a spirit for adventure we persevered and made best use of those we were sent. Making a judgement call on likely wind direction on the lee side of a windy col, pegs were distributed towards the side catching the wind and this actually seemed sufficient. A nervous check of pegs throughout the night demonstrated our fine experience in il-prepared tent packing and expedition- ary skills had paid off and we were likely to make it to the morning without much drama.
The tent itself stood up well to the 80 mph winds we were promised and highlighted its strength but also the attention to detail put in to its design. A welcoming sight in the morning was to find moisture present on the inside of the flysheet but it had not, despite the winds, made contact with the inner compartment and I put this down how there was a sufficient air gap between internal and external fabrics.
The porch is a little cramped. If, like us, you decide there’s no justification for putting your boots in your bivi bag to keep them warm, you can then afford for them to go in the porch. For two sets of boots, gaiters and perhaps your gas cooker, you’ve pretty much filled the space available making getting in and out, particularly with a low hanging doorway a little bit of a challenge. As a result, we had to stack our bergans in the centre of the porch to stay covered while the weather raged outside.
Inside, there’s enough room for two adults and a dog plus a small amount of personal kit.
WILD COUNTRY BLIZZARD 2
TYPE: 4 SEASON
AMA PURCHASE PRICE: (RRP
£330) £210
SIZE: (PACKED) 42CM X 15CM, (FOOTPRINT) 150CM X 290CM
WEIGHT: 367 G
POLES, PEGS, BUNGEES
INCLUDED: INSUFFICIENT PEGS SUPPLIED WITH TENT
PRODUCT LINK:
PROS
• Inner door -
zips open to
the size so can be stored open in size pocket- see image
• Good ventilation
• Easy to put up / quick
• Warm
• Poles didn’t really snag when
putting up. Putting the last bits together wasn’t so tight it was a struggle
• Didn’t have to readjust a lot to get it tight.
• Can totally remove front door
• Easily withstood winds. Edge
of fly sheet was low enough to
cover ground sheet edges
• Room for two and a dog
• 3x 2 internal pockets.
• Comes with a small repair patch
• Good separation between inner
and outer skin
• Weight can be easily shared
between a pair of campers
• Good colour coding for poles
CONS
• Doorway was difficult to get in and out of accepting the need for a lower profile tent for 4 seasons
• Peg quantity was insufficient for all peg locations
• Putting the fly sheet up inside can be tricky with gloves on.
• No midge liner for the internal
door.
RATINGS:
FEATURES: 4/5 - NO LINER VALUE FOR MONEY: 3/5 SUITABILITY: 4.5/5 QUALITY: 4.5/5
ARMY MOUNTAINEER / 49