It’s no secret that I really like my Tentipi Olivin. It was love at first sight, and I don’t regret buying it. It is however a lot heavier than my the Hyperlite Mountain Gear Ultamid 2 that I owned before I bought this shelter.
The Ultamid, with pegs, all the guylines attached, polycro groundsheet and polestraps weighted just under 1000g.
My Tentipi Olivin with the 3F UL Gear floor weighs 2325g.
The gram geek in me just couldn’t let that stand, so I looked at ways to reduce weight.
There are 12 perimeter anchor points, and 6 guylines. I had 18 Y-pegs, but changed 6 of them to Toaks Shepard Hooks. They weigh less than half of a Y-peg.
I also ordered Hyperlite Mountain Gear polestraps to use my trekking poles instead of the dedicated center pole. The centerpole with its bag weighs 484g. The polestraps weighs 36g.
I’ve switched the original tent bag for my Luxe Outdoor stuff sack that weighs 22g instead of 67g.
I’ll also skip the bag with the repairkit and the pitching aid, which saves me 29g.
With this setup my shelter weighs a lot less:
- Tentipi Olivin fly: 1161g
- HMG polestraps: 36g
- Pegs + bag: 214g
- 3F UL gear floor: 320g
- Tent bag: 22g
- Total: 1753g
I could save 220g more if I use my polycro groundsheet instead of the silnylon floor.
That’s it. With a few simple moves I could reduce 572g from my shelter system, with another 220g easily removed if I want to.
It still not a UL shelter if you count it as a one person shelter. But it’s still quite a lot lighter than before. I’ll try this new setup the next time I’m out.
Other than that I ordered a Hyperlite Mountain Gear stuff sack pillow when I ordered the pole straps. The stuff sack pillow weighs the same as the old stuff sack that I used to store my down jacket in, but I can skip the inflatable pillow, which sheds another 49g of my base weight. Hopefully it’ll also improve my sleep, as the air pillow isn’t that comfortable.
Over and out from the gram geek.
Småland Outdoor 
Well done with this gear tweak!
Though, I have the following question: If the HMG Ultamid 2 is very similar and much lighter shelter compared to Tentipi Olivin, why don’t you prefer to go into the woods with the first one?
Is there any particular advantage of Tentipi Olivin compared to the HMG Ultamid 2?
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I’ve gotten many questions about this on Instagram actually.
I guess much of it comes down to a subjective feeling and personal preference. There’s nothing wrong with the Ultamid, far from it. But it just wasn’t prefect for me. The Olivin “felt” perfect from the start. No other tent has done that before, but I’ve still been looking for another, better one. This is the first one that felt just right from the start.
It feels a lot more cozy, I like that the fly goes all the way to the ground but can be rolled up for ventilation. I also like that I can adjust the top vent from my sleeping bag and that the tent is somewhat fire retardant so I can have a small open fire or a stove inside.
I’ve planned to buy a small stove next winter and try some hot tent camping.
I like the Sil poly too, as it doesn’t sag as much as silnylon. It’s not as good as cyber fiber though.
In terms of high protection for the least weight I don’t see much that competes with the Ultamid, and I’d still recommend it to people. But I guess in some ways, just like with backpacks, how well a shelter suits you comes down to a lot of individual aspect, where one great shelter isn’t the best for everyone.
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Thanks for the clear and very detailed reasons on why you prefer the Olivin over the Ultramid! Much appreciated.
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I am in love with tentipi olivin and use it in winter and thank very much for comments
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