Chinook 1P tent, 5 stars.
Here are my thoughts and observations on the Chinook 1P tent, after 7 years of ownership.
I have put this tent through 'the works'. It's been through sustained heavy snowfall in Southern Tasmania, a raging wind storm on Mt Nelse where local wind gusts were recorded at 127 km/h and incessant rain where I was sure an Old Man would soon be herding the animals, two-by-two into a massive wooden boat.
That's if I didn't float away first.
The Chinook 1P has handled all this in its stride and with ease. There's not a mark or scrape on it, and not a hole or tear anywhere, despite me camping in many dubious spots.
Rain and snow are self-explanatory. The Chinook did not buckle when snow had it buried to 60%. And that was wet snow, too.
There was no misting during sustained heavy rain and with the top vents open, there was minimal condensation. It wasn't bone dry- but it never warranted a wipe down.
The wind storm was a whole different beast. I went to sleep on a mountain top on a clear, windless evening. At midnight I woke up to what sounded like a helicopter landing and rotor-wash level wind.
Perhaps another Chinook (helicopter)?
The left zip was over my right shoulder as I was lying down. I hadn't pegged the tent nor used any guylines.
I have over 40 years of extensive experience hiking in ugly conditions, and this was just "it", in terms of wind intensity.
My thoughts turned to "how to exit".
With the tent not pegged down, and without my 130kg self holding it down in the wind- I was starting to imagine all sorts of things would happen if I crawled out. The frame was flexing- heavily. I was waiting for "the bang" of poles snapping through fabric.
At the same time, I didn't care. All I wanted was a safe exit and to keep as much of my gear as possible, without it getting taken by the wind if the tent ripped to shreds.
So I packed up as much as I could and just lay there. The air temperature wasn't too cold- around 9c and fully dressed in a windproof tent, this was ok.
Around 9am, the wind backed off to around a steady 20kmh with 30kmh gusts. I dragged my pack out of the tent, collapsed the tent and inner and packed up the lot as quickly as I could.
I was met with driving rain but less wind on the walk out.
When I got home, I set the tent up to dry it out and noticed that none of the poles had lost integrity. Although they flexed like crazy during the storm- nothing snapped and nothing buckled.
In total this tent has done 130 nights' work with me in the 7+ years I have owned it. I have other tents in my quiver. Some lighter, some heavier- and others much more airy... but the Chinook is "the one".
The advantages of the exoskeletal design can't be overstated.
To have the tent go up and pack down so quickly when needed- especially in bad conditions- really makes a difference to your overall comfort. That's because you get out of the weather much quicker than you would with most other tents. And packing up the Chinook sees you get on your way in less time too.
The moisture management- well- there hasn't been any internal moisture worth worrying about because the ventilation can be dialled in so perfectly using two way zips on the vestibules, a separate mesh panel on each door of the inner, and the vents in the roof of the fly itself.
No rain ever comes in.
In particular, in the Au mountains where some spots are so rocky you could spend ages trying to put stakes in the ground- the three pole setup is fantastic.
It means your vestibules maintain full integrity without needing a single stake. The poles tension the fabric just perfectly. There's no strain on the zipper(s) and within minutes, you have a safe haven from the wildest storms.
Twin usable vestibules mean you've got one side for gear storage, and you can exit out of the other side without letting rain in on your gear.
I bought a replacement - a 1 plus Chinook only because I wanted the Forest Green color. My 1P Chinook is Marigold yellow. Given that I am older and prefer quiter solo stealth camps, I wanted a green Chinook that would blend in more.
There will be separate review- but I notice already that there are engineering and design improvements in the current [latest] Chinook.
