Review Hilleberg Soulo

More or less 900 euro, the Hilleberg Soulo is a great one person’s tent. It withstand fierce winds, it adds about 4 degrees to the outside temperature and it has enough space not to feel imprisoned.

I feel cozy and warm in the Soulo. And I am not going to praise all the goodness but the minors, as the Soulo has those too. It’s an expensive tent so one may expect the very best. However, with buying a Hilleberg, the company will never leave you sit in the cold: not literally nor figuratively. Their service is outstanding!

September 2023: repair of insects holes. The swatches send by Hilleberg are definitely a fantastic service of them. Now I was able to fix the mesh doors with the exact same fabric.

March 2021: I received another little envelop from Hilleberg. Thank you guys for the outstanding service. New eleastic for the tent poles was send out.

Update Winter 2020: Compared to a continuous cycling lifestyle I have used the Soulo to a lesser extent. When I was not camping the tent was always stored loosely and inside a house. It could not have had a lot of wear and tear. Unfortunately however, the elastic in the tent poles got hardended and lost its elasticity, which meant that setting up the tent was a hassle as the poles would slide loose.

To open the ends of the poles, where the elastic is attached on, can be extremely difficult. I used W40 oil to loosen them and still the endeavor bruised me when trying to detach. This has to be done carefully in order not to deform the pole.

Update August 2018: After the sliders had to be renewed again, I decided to make a manual on ‘How to repair a zipper’.

Update November 2017: I have fixed a few tiny pin needle holes but also bigger ones. The pin needle holes were closed by pressing the textile closer together and glue a dot of SeamSealer on to. The bigger holes, as instructed by Hilleberg, were closed by patching the original fabric on to.

The inner door zipper is replaced. The photo below clearly shows wear.

Update September 2017: The sliders have worn out again. Previously it were the inner door sliders, while now it are the outer door sliders. Since I had received a package with new sliders, I started the job to change the sliders.

Opening the end, or beginning, of the zipper is easy. Closing it is easy too. It need some wriggling with the new sliders, but it goes all quite easy.

I made a drawing to be sure not to replace the slider up side down.

I use dental floss as threads, as this is super strong.

By seeing the difference in old and new sliders I am convinced that more cleaning is very important. So besides brushing the zippers daily, I also run a wet, clean cloth over the zippers. I have washed the tent too, something I can advise to do more often than once every 6 months!

A huge difference in new and old sliders. It is no wonder that the zipper derails!

Warm water wash without detergent. About 5 rinses, then dried and finished with a warm wet cloth from the in- and outside to clean it sufficient.

I have opened both sides of the zipper, but it is to advise to open only the upper sides, as there is less bulk to go through with a tower knife, or scissor. Closing the upper side makes the new stitches invisible from the outside.

Flaws

In the first 14 days of using the Soulo one of the stitches came loose. I fixed it with dental floss.

After about 3 months of intensive use it gathered 4 holes, which probably are due to packing and shaking of the content.

The fabric keeps flabby.

After 6 months the zipper derailed/split. BIG DISAPPOINTMENT! I hoped with buying a Hilleberg I would be well off for at least a few years (secretly; forever).

Auracania trees at 2000 meter altitude with incredible forceful winds coming from the Chilean ocean, Argentina 2017.

Atacama desert where is always a fierce wind, I had to stake the Soulo down with all 12 pegs, every day. Chile 2017.

Unhandy

The zipper of the front inner door keeps biting into the green outer door fabric if you not tie the green outer flap securely with it’s elastic.

The zippers have none, but one, fortified holding to grip onto when closing the doors. This means you need to hold the tent fabric in order to close the zipper. You can just pull  it by the zipper, but this is not beneficial for the tent fabric nor the zipper.

The tent has rather much cords and differently designed straps which makes it stable but also a mess sometimes.

The zippers are strong and of good quality but need to be brushed regular in desert alike environments. The design of the door is shaped like an upside down T; Ʇ. The flaw with this is that there is a tiny opening at where the tree zippers come together. I contacted Hilleberg in Europe where they put me in touch with Hilleberg USA, and one of the best sorts of help, prompt and trustworthy, came my way.

The problem is solved and I got a set of new zippers, a personal note on how to maintain the tent, and many samples of fabrics in case something goes wrong.

A tip worth considering: when buying my tent I think it was used as a show model, as the fabric was flabby and the tent was definitely not in its original shape rolled into the bag. More so, check the tent thoroughly as seams are not always perfectly stitched.

And I brush the zippers every day!

Note: I was advised by Hilleberg team to rather have bought the Black Label tent-line instead, as they are better suited for a trip like the one I am experiencing.