It seems every year that goes by, I am constantly searching for ways to lighten up my pack for the backcountry, and this year is no exception. One of the bigger items in our packs is going to be our shelter. I started out hauling around a 7 pound tent for hunts. After that, I moved to a 3 pound ultralight tent. There is still room for improvement though right? This had me considering some of the trekking pole style shelters. Going this route would eliminate the need for tent poles and free up even more room in my pack. I have been running a Nemo Hornet 2P shelter for a few years with no hiccups. When I saw that Nemo was coming out with an ultralight trekking pole style shelter that had a floor to it, I was immediately intrigued. Sooner than later, the Nemo Spike Storm 1P shelter was on my doorstep. I could not wait to get this thing in the field for testing.
The first thing I noticed when I opened that box was how small this thing was. This shelter is a shade bigger than a Nalgene bottle, so it definitely lends itself to opening up more room in your pack. That is something that I am always striving for. More room means that I can pack more food, which means I can stay out in the field longer. The next thing that jumped out at me was the weight. I put this on the scale and it came out to a whopping 1 pound 5 oz!! That is just about a 1/3 of the weight I was carrying previously. There are no poles to this system, so that is it. That weight includes the stakes. So, I held it, threw it on the scale, no what? Into the backyard I went to set this baby up for the first time!
Every time that I get a new shelter, I feel like I am walking on eggshells when I open the thing up. I carefully try to take note of how it was folded up, so that I can get it back into the stuff sack with ease. This was something that turned out to be incredibly easy with the Spike Storm. Fact of the matter is, there really isn’t a whole lot of material, so folding it back up the “right way” isn’t a concern for the most part. The simplicity didn’t end there either. This shelter is a dream to set up. Stake out all of the corners/vestibule, and raise up the trekking pole in its intended location. Done. That’s it. You are ready to rock.
Once I got it set up, I admired how durable the material looked that Nemo used. The whole thing is made with 30D Sil/Sil Nylon Ripstop. Just looking at it and feeling it, I could tell that it was built to last. This was different than feeling most other ultralight set ups. I often feel as though I will rip those. That wasn’t the case here.
The maiden voyage of the Nemo Spike Storm would be a backcountry spring bear hunt here in Arizona. The hike in was about 5 miles and I was looking forward to carrying in less weight than previous trips back there. I loved how little room the shelter took up in my pack. When we got to camp, my hunting buddies’ comment was, “That’s it?” They couldn’t believe how small it was compared to others. Right off of the bat, after arriving in camp, I could tell that I was going to need to guy out the tent. Doing this would add a great deal of stability and hopefully ensure that I wouldn’t wake up in the middle of the night with the shelter laying on top of me. It ended up working just fine and even exceeded my expectations. We had some wicked winds up in that country and the Spike Storm held up great. I indeed went the whole night/nights without having to set the tent back up. For how top heavy the shelter seems, this was pretty impressive.
One of the first things I noticed after I set this up in the field and started putting my gear in, was how confining it was. This was compared to my previous shelters of course. I still had room to put my cell phone and some other random things down next to my pad, which was nice. The vestibule is just big enough to fit my pack, but I have an issue fitting my bow in there, like I can in the Hornet 2P. This was slightly concerning to me, but not a deal breaker. I know there are plenty of folks who leave their bows out in the elements, I had just never done that myself. So, personally I wish the vestibule was a shade bigger. I guess that is the price you pay though for going ultralight. You are going to give up somewhere.
While I didn’t have any issues with the shelter holding up to the weather, I did have issues with condensation. I guess this is expected with a single wall design like the Spike Storm, but it was definitely not something that I was used to. There is probably a way to set this up to get the least amount of sag in the walls, so that you can avoid contact. I haven’t messed around with that too much though. There was quite a bit of condensation, but all I would do is leave my vestibule open when I’d leave in the morning. After a few hours, everything would be dry again. I could see this possibly being an issue though, if the weather was bad. I definitely wouldn’t want to leave that open and have it rain while I was gone. With that being said, I never had any issue with my down getting wet in my quilt. It seemed that the condensation rested on the outer layer, rather than seeping in.
The Nemo Spike Storm 1P is definitely a shelter that I will keep in my arsenal. However, it might not be my first choice, unless I am trying to go in super lightweight. The condensation issue was the biggest thing for me. Maybe, that is because I am just not used to that. If you have any tips for dealing with that stuff, I’d love to know. If it weren’t for that, I’d probably be using this bad boy a whole lot more. Between the weight, durability, and packability, this shelter is pretty awesome. It offers a sense of efficiency being able to use your trekking pole to set it up. Efficiency is king back there and the Spike Storm is all about it. Interested in picking one of these bad boys up for yourself? Head over to the link below!
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