Hilleberg Anjan 2 GT weight loss - my experience

[JeffRaines]

Hey guys,

I was going to bump the old thread where Josh Boyd did a review of the tent, but decided to make my own in case someone does a search maybe it’ll come up.

I purchased this tent with the intent of it being a base camp style shelter in the high country. My wife was also pestering me for a floored shelter that doesn’t use trekking poles(because she hates them) so she could use it for hiking purposes as well.

I ended up on the GT and to be honest I don’t mind the small-ish weight penalty because it seems sturdier than the BA offerings. I also don’t mind the setup because I don’t plan on being in it for hours on end.

In any case, I wanted to try what Josh had mentioned in his review... I figured losing 8ish ounces would be great!

The newer iteration of this tent isn’t anything like the one josh had. They used more of those metal rings that were likely heavier on his. If you’re looking to buy this tent with the idea that you can cut 8oz - I’m gonna save you the time and experimentation and say you can’t. After replacing all but two of the metal loops and the zipper pulls I lost a total of about half an ounce. I could maybe push it up to 1-2oz if I chose to replace the guylines with 1.5mm... however, the juice isn’t worth the squeeze. Luckily I don’t mind the extra weight of the tent.

Hopefully I save some of you some time.

 

[Josh Boyd]

Jeff,
Thanks for an updated perspective on this tent. It is a great shelter and snipping those metal rings off seemed like an easy way to shed some ounces. Regardless of the weight savings I'd still think about replacing the zipper pulls with cord. It makes them easier to grab in low light or with gloves on.
-Josh

 

[JeffRaines]

Jeff,
Thanks for an updated perspective on this tent. It is a great shelter and snipping those metal rings off seemed like an easy way to shed some ounces. Regardless of the weight savings I'd still think about replacing the zipper pulls with cord. It makes them easier to grab in low light or with gloves on.
-Josh

Hey look it’s Josh!

I did actually go ahead and replace the pills with cord. I figured I was already there why not?

 

[TCUHunter34]

I don’t have any experience with Hille tents but have always wanted to get one. What would it be like to only pitch the outer shell when okay with going floorless? Have any idea what the weight would be for that?

 

[JeffRaines]

I don’t have any experience with Hille tents but have always wanted to get one. What would it be like to only pitch the outer shell when okay with going floorless? Have any idea what the weight would be for that?

Josh Boyd actually covers that in his review. It’s possible to do so, I want to say it saves somewhere around ~1.5lbs.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Dosent Hilleberg say that you should not replace zipper pulls as it can make the zippers wear out prematurely???

I could be wrong but I thought I read something like that.

 

[TCUHunter34]

Josh Boyd actually covers that in his review. It’s possible to do so, I want to say it saves somewhere around ~1.5lbs.

Awesome review and write up, Josh. Thanks for letting me know about it. Definitely something to think about for a do it all tent for what I need

 

[JeffRaines]

Awesome review and write up, Josh. Thanks for letting me know about it. Definitely something to think about for a do it all tent for what I need

It honestly seems like a nice 3+ season tent. I’m sure the burlier Hilles would handle winter conditions better.

The last shelter I had with it’s own poles was a Fly Creek and while it was quite a bit lighter it was also like a coffin. I didn’t buy this tent with the idea of spending copious time inside it, but honestly it would be worlds better than the fly creek.

It got a workout this past weekend in the wenaha - the ticks are terrible up there. I had a tick on the tent less than a minute after getting it up. Looks like it’ll serve its purpose well

 

[as.ks.ak]

I’m absolutely atrocious at documenting my actual accomplishments. So last year I did the same thing essentially. I traded all the guy outs, zipper pulls and even the stake pulls for 1.2 mm z line and micro line locks from z packs. Below are my weight trade offs. Of course I’m a moron and didn’t weigh the new and old guy lines. FACEPALM. It’s not substantial, but it’s less weight that I’m carrying. And if you skeletonize enough items that you carry it truly does make a difference.

I’ve also changed my sleep game. I’m trying something new this year, we’ll see how I like it. Instead of using my EE down quilt with a bivy like I have in years passed. I’m gettin rid of the bivy and switching to an EE synthetic quilt. Which will hopefully help me to get rid of the condensation I’ve been fighting within that bivy, and at the same time give me the ability to pull the inner out of this tent and run my synthetic quilt and not have a care in the world if any condensation drips off the rain fly into my quilt. Maybe it’s just me being anal retentive, not sure. But we’ll see how she goes.

Also, to note. By getting rid of the bivy, and switching to the synthetic. Yes I gain oz. in changing to the synthetic vs. the down. But I still dropped more oz. by getting rid of the bivy than I did in adding the synthetic.

Time will tell.

Old zipper pulls.

New zipper pulls.

Old stake pulls

New stake pulls.

Inner-less space comparison with helinox cot lite.

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