SAMAYA ALPINIST2 ULTRA TENT REVIEW. THE NEW STANDARD

THE ALPINISTS CLASSIC DESIGN TAKEN TO IT’S FURTHEST EVOLUTION.

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IN 2024 WE WERE SENT A PROTOTYPE ALPINIST2 ULTRA BY SAMAYA, ALONG WITH OUR OTHER EXPEDITION TENTS FOR A WINTER IN TIBET AND XINJIANG. AS ALWAYS, PROTOS FROM SAMAYA ARE MET WITH HEIGHTENED EXCITEMENT, BEING DRIVERS OF SERIOUS INNOVATION, AND THEIR TAKE ON THE ALPINISTS ARCHETYPAL TENT WE KNEW WOULD BE A BIG DEAL IN THE TIMELINE OF MOUNTAIN TENT DESIGN.

OVER THE 24/25 WINTER WE GOT 29 NIGHTS IN THE ALPINIST2 ULTRA, HALF OF THAT ABOVE 5000m IN TIBET, WITH SOME NIGHTS GETTING 90kmph WINDS, EVERY NIGHT COOKING INSIDE, AND USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE FULL GAMMUT OF EXPEDITION GEAR. THE TENT WAS USED EXACTLY HOW WE NORMALLY DO – STUFFED INTO PACKS WITH NO STUFF SACK, DEFROSTED IN THE SUN DURING THE DAY AND PUT UP AND TAKEN DOWN IN CONDITIONS AS TRYING AS ALWAYS.

WE ADMIT, WE WERE INITIALLY NONPLUSSED ABOUT THE CLASSIC DESIGN, HAVING BEEN THROUGH HALF A DOZEN ITERATIONS GOING BACK TO BIBLERS IN THE 90s. WE HAD LONG GROWN TIRED OF THE PSEUDO-SIMPLICITY THE CONCEPT RAN ON – THE IDEA OF MINIMAL PARTS MAKING FOR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE – WHEN THE REALITY WAS USUALLY AWKWARD, FRAGILE AND ANNOYING. FOR OVER A DECADE WE HAD NOT MISSED THE DESIGN, ESPECIALLY AFTER MOVING EXCLUSIVELY TO SAMAYAS TENTS AND FINDING ALL OUR DEMANDS FULLY MET WITH DESIGNS LIKE THE ASSAUT, THE 2.0 AND OUR NEW XPs.

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IN USE

THE ALPINIST2 ULTRA IS MADE FOR SMALL SPACES ON STEEP TERRAIN, FOR SHORT STAYS WITH MINIMAL GEAR. IT IS THE ROLLSROYCE END OF THE SCALE OF ALL TENTS THAT SHARE THE BASIC DESIGN, AS THE STRONGEST, EASIEST TO SET UP AND TAKE DOWN, BEST VENTILATED AND MOST IDIOT PROOF OPTION. COLD HANDS, HIGH WINDS, DEMANDS ON COOKING AND PEACE OF MIND IN HARD CONDITIONS, THE ALPINIST2 IS ABSOLUTELY FOR ALPINISM WITH NO QUARTER GIVEN TO SUPERCILLIOUS USE.

AT 810g THE ALPINIST 2 IS LIGHT, EVEN WITH SAMAYAS SIGNATURE ABILITY TO STILL FIT IN EVERY NECESSITY AND A FEW EXTRA DETAILS. NOTHING GETS LEFT OUT FOR THIS WEIGHT AND THERE IS CERTAINLY NO FEEL OF BEING FLIMSY OR SPARTAN, AND EVERYTHING WORKS FULLY WHICH COULD NOT BE SAID OF ALL PREDECESSORS. FOR REFERENCE THE ALPINIST2 IS NOT MUCH OFF HALF THE WEIGHT OF THE BLACK DIAMOND FIRST LIGHT, THE LONG TIME (AND LONG OUTMODED) EXAMPLE, AND IS 15% LIGHTER THAN THE SIMOND MAKALU ALPINE, THE USUAL GO TO FOR WHEN WEIGHT REALLY MADE A DIFFERENCE.

MOST THINGS SAMAYA HAS REAPPRAISED AND RESOLVED WITH SOPHISTICATED SIMPLICITY – THE SIGNATURE OF PROPER DESIGN. OUR PROTO HAD A FEW THINGS WE KNOW WERE REFINED FURTHER BEFORE RELEASE BUT WAS STILL STUNNINGLY SLICK, WITH SOME FEATURES LEAVING US WONDERING HOW OTHERS HAD NOT THOUGHT OF THIS OVER ALL THE ATTEMPTS AND DECADES BEFORE

PUTTING THE POLES INTO THIS STYLE OF TENT WAS ALWAYS A PROBLEM, AND KEEPING THEM THERE ALWAYS A TRIAL. THERE IS AN URBAN MYTH THAT THIS DESIGN CAN BE ERECTED FROM INSIDE IF CONDITIONS ARE CRAZY, BUT IT TAKES A BRAVE OR DERANGED CLIMBER TO GET INSIDE A LARGE FLAPPING SACK ON A LEDGE CHOPPED INTO A STEEP SLOPE. MAYBE IN THE SHOWROOM…

THE ALPINIST2 ULTRA HAS THE POLES INSERTED THROUGH LITTLE APERTURES, THEN FED THROUGH AND CAUGHT IN OVERBUILT CORNERS BEFORE BEING PLUGGED INTO GROMMETS AT THE FRONT AND CINCHED TO TENSION. IT’S SIMPLE AND IT WORKS AND YOU PROBABLY COULD FIT THEM IN AS PER THE FIRSTLIGHT WITHOUT TENSIONING, BUT THIS SYSTEM MEANS THE POLES CANNOT LOSE ORIENTATION AT THE FRONT SO THE WHOLE TENT CANNOT FLATTEN AND COLLAPSE IN HIGH WIND BECAUSE THE CORNERS HAVE SHIFTED.

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INSIDE SAMAYA USES VELCRO TABS TO SECURE THE POLES IN THE CORNERS, THE DYNEEMAS NEGLIGIBLE STRETCH PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE HERE BY NOT ALLOWING THE TENTS SHAPE TO WARP ITS GEOMETRY. ONCE ALL RIGGED INTO PLACE THE TENTS STRUCTURE HOLDS ITSELF IN POSITION, SEEING NONE OF THE CREEP AND DISTORTION THAT ARE A FACT OF LIFE WITH OTHER VERSIONS.

THE MAIN WEAKNESS IN OTHER VERSIONS OF THESE TENTS WAS ALWAYS THE GUYS, OR MORE SPECIFICALLY HOW THEY INTEGRATED TO THE MAIN TENT. AN OFT OVERLOOKED SUPERIORITY OF SAMAYAS TENTS HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE WAY THEY GUY THEM TO MAKE THEM THE STRONGEST IN CLASS, USING SOPHISTICATED MODELLING, TESTING AND EQUALIZATION ON TOP OF MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION THAT WON’T WARP, SEPARATE AND FAIL. RIPPING A GUY OUT IN HIGH WINDS ON A CHOPPED LEDGE ON A STEEP MOUNTAINSIDE IS VERY BAD NEWS, AND IS SOMETHING SAMAYA TAKES VERY SERIOUSLY.

VENTILATION IS ANOTHER WEAKNESS OF OTHER VERSIONS, WITH COMPANIES ALWAYS SOMEHOW CORRELATING LOW WEIGHT WITH TINY VENTS IN A BIZARRE FAILURE OF LOGIC COMPOUNDED BY SINGLE SKINS AND A DESIGN SYNONYMOUS WITH COOKING INSIDE OF. SAMAYA HAS DONE THE OPPOSITE, AND PUT MORE DETAILS AND MATERIALS INTO THIS FUNCTION THAN MIGHT BE EXPECTED, WITH A LARGE REAR VENT AND SHELTERED FRONT DOOR, BOTH OF WHICH HAVE MOLDABLE AWNINGS AND EVEN BUG MESH ON THE REAR VENT, BOTH FINE EXAMPLES OF SAMAYA NOT RESORTING TO AUSTERITY IN ORDER TO WIN THE GRAM WARS.

ONE OF THE SECRETS TO THE TENT IS THE NEW GENERATION OF CARBON POLES, THAT LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE HERE, DISPENSE WITH OLD PROBLEMS AND ADVANCE NEW ASPECTS OF PERFORMANCE. THESE ARE ABOUT 1mm GREATER DIAMETER AND YET WEIGH LESS THAN BEFORE, HAVING TAKEN THE LEAP TO FORGOING ALUMINIUM INSERTS TO BE 100% CARBON. THIS IS A BIGGER DEAL THAN IT SOUNDS AS IT MEANS THE POLES HAVE EVEN STRESS WHEN BENT, AND THE WEIGHT SAVED FROM THE ALUMINIUMS MASS CAN BE PUT INTO THE POLES DIAMETER. WIDER POLES FLEX LESS, CREATING MORE TENSION THAT HOLDS THE FABRIC WALLS TIGHTER, PLUS PRESENT A LARGER INTERFACE WITH THE FABRIC THAT INCREASES OVERALL INTEGRITY.

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MATERIALS

OTHER BIBLER-STYLE DESIGNS CERTAINLY EXIST IN DYNEEMA, BUT ARE EITHER NOT BREATHABLE OR NOT HIGH ALTITUDE STANDARD STRONG, AND USUALLY NEITHER. IT IS FAIR TO SAY SAMAYAS ALPINIST2 ULTRA IS THE NEW STANDARD IN THIS SORT OF TENT, SURPASSING ANY METRIC THAT MATTERS AND DEBUGGING LONG STANDING PROBLEMS.

SAMAYA IS RIGHTLY RECOGNIZED FOR THE MATERIALS THEY USE, AS PROMINENT FLAGSHIPS OF DYNEEMA. AS TEMPTING AS IT IS TO BE BLINDED BY ALL THE WHITENESS THE REAL MATTER IS HOW THEY USE THE STUFF, PUSHING THE PROPERTIES AND STICKING IT ALL TOGETHER. WE THINK DYNEEMA NEVER REALLY TOOK OFF IN MOUNTAIN TENTS UNTIL SAMAYA BECAUSE MOST WE JUST ‘NYLON DESIGNS’, IT TAKING SAMAYAS ULTRA RANGE TO GET THINGS ONTO HIGH MOUNTAINS AND WORKING THE WEIGHT TO STRENGTH RATIO.

THERE’S NOT MUCH IN THESE TENTS THAT ISN’T DYNEEMA, ALL BONDED, TAPED AND PUT TOGETHER WITH SAMAYAS EXTRAORDINARY LEVEL OF WORKMANSHIP. FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN’T SEEN THESE TENTS IN THE FLESH, THE CONSTRUCTION IS EXTRAORDINARY, MORE LIKE A HIGH END JACKET THAN NORMAL TENT. THESE THINGS ARE CLEARLY THE RESULT OF PRECISION, LASER DIRECTED MACHINING, THAT LENDS ITSELF PERFECTLY TO THE PROPERTIES OF DYNEEMA.

THE WALL MATERIAL IS SAMAYAS NEW DYNEEMA_X, WHICH IS THEIR LATEST OF THE BREATHABLE DYNEEMA FABRICS. WE WON’T REPEAT WHAT CAN BE FOUND CLEARLY ON THE SAMAYA WEBSITE, ONLY COMMENTING THAT IT STAYS DRIER TO THE TOUCH.

THE DOOR FRAME, CORNERS AND OTHER DETAILS ARE IN SOME VERY RUGGED LAMINATE WE HAVE NOT SEEN IN THEIR OTHER ULTRA TENTS, STILL ANOTHER EXAMPLE THAT THIS IS FAR FROM THE SORT OF FLIMSINESS THESE SORT OF TENTS CAN BE ASSOCIATED WITH. THIS STUFF KEEPS ITS SHAPE WELL AND PROTECTS AREAS THAT SEE ABUSE, AND TURN THEM INTO PARTS OF THE DESIGN STRUCTURAL STRENGTH.

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SO WILL WE BE CONVERTING EVERYTHING OVER TO THE ALPINIST 2? WELL, NOT EVERYTHING, BUT WE WILL BE USING THEM SHORTER ASCENTS, WITH SHORTER NIGHTS AND LESS DEMAND FOR EXTENDED STAYS UP HIGH. THE ASSAUT ULTRA XP WILL STILL BE OUR MAIN TENTS FOR EXPEDITIONS DUE TO THEIR ADDED STRENGTH, SPACE AND VENTILATION (WITH NEW VERSIONS COMING SOON) BUT WHEN THINGS ARE AT THEIR FASTEST AND LIGHTEST THE ALPINIST 2 IS WHAT WE WILL REACH FOR.

IS IT WORTH THE 1400 EUROS IT GOES FOR? IT IS WHEN YOUR TRIP RUNS ON EQUATIONS AROUND WEIGHT. THE 500g IT IS LESS THAN THE COMPETITION IS A DAYS FOOD OR FUEL AND A DAY FURTHER, WHICH SPREAD OVER A FEW YEARS MAKES THE NUMBERS CRUNCH. IN HEAVY WEATHER, EXPOSED ON A MOUNTAIN WE KNOW WHICH TENT OF THIS ILK WE CHOOSE, UP TILL NOW HAVING WRITTEN OFF THE ENTIRE SPECIES IN FAVOR OF THE ASSAUT2 ULTRA. THE ALPINIST2 ULTRA NOW EXTENDS THE SAMAYA RANGE TO THE FURTHEST ALPINE TENTS GO, CONTINUING TO CHANGE THE SHARP END OF CLIMBING.

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