Hi Everyone,
My Hubba Hubba has not got long for this life. (The usual MSR sticky fabric issues.)
I really like the look of the FA Peak which will likely be its replacement.
Has anyone used it in angry weather?
Kind regards, Kevin
Hi there Kevin,
This might answer your question: Review: First Ascent Peak Tent - Hiking South Africa
By looks of the construction as well as the materials involved, I’d say it looks quite bombproof.
Regards,
Excellent, thanks!
hi kevin
i’ve got a FA Peak Tent - my impression is that its really built solid
its a 4 aluminium pole somewhat geodesic dome tent
there are not to many tents locally that use 4 poles or more in the design
most go for a 2 pole or single pole yokes and in bad weather they sometimes flatten out.
So back to the 4 pole design they create a really sturdy tent frame, with the poles running through sleeves rather than pole clips, this for me really helps to spread the load across the inner tent, and with crossing or intersecting poles at something like 9 points along the entire structure of the tent.
In my opinion this design really beefs up the structure and i rate they are the most reliable type of tent for harsh weather conditions. Also with the intersecting poles in sleeves they greatly reduce the risk of a tent pole snapping in the wind.
The design of the peak, being a dome tent is going to give you that structural integrity weather its rain, snow or wind or a combination of them ie it being designed as a 4 season tent.
it also has snow skirts along the bottom edge of the flysheet that will help in harsh weather conditions.
The tent design with its four poles also allows for it to be used somewhat freestanding meaning you aren’t reliant on having to peg in down to hold shape, where as with most other tents require pegging it down which is crucial to the design.
i’m not saying don’t peg it down - no one wants a beautiful expensive tent to go kiting away in the wind, though when u peg it down this will further add to the structural integrity of the tent.
it has 16 - yep sixteen triangular aluminium pegs, which is a great shape for sometimes soft sandy areas though not great for rock surfaces, which is why the freesanding quality of this tent can be usefull where one struggles to peg it fully
one thing that does bother me is that this tent does not come with a protective footprint, which kinda sucks, the groundsheet FA sells will suffice though it doesn’t quite fit the full footprint of the tent floor cause this tent is quite long, so theres space to put your gear at your feet easily.
and lastly this tent is weighty it comes in at about 4ish kilograms, which may put allot of people off purchasing this tent. Though if you are sharing a tent with your partner the weight comes in at about 2kg per person and mind this is going to be way more comfy and have allot more space going with with a really solid bombproof tent which i would say will survive most of our South African conditions.
And if you use it between 3 people will come in with a carry weight of about 1400g per person to me this is still a win situation as most other tents come in at about +/- 2.5kg mark and will not provide as much stability as this one will.
oh and i had the opportunity to choose an eclipse tent, i chose not to take the peak because the peak has a higher water column rating 3000mm for the fly and 5000mm for the floor vs eclipse with a 2000mm for the fly and 3000mm floor rating and also being 4 vs 3 season.
hope this helps you
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Thank you Delwyn! That was a brilliant review. In fact, although I ended up getting the Eclipse a few weeks ago, I might have to find space for the Peak as well! 
I will only really be car-camping so weight is not too much of an issue. Mainly the weather resiliance. The only thing that worries me slightly are the 8.5mm poles. My HH has slightly thicker ones, but I haven’t been out with it (the eclipse) yet.
may i ask if you’ve had any issues in summer getting too warm in the Peak?
hey there yes thats also something i wondered about - with regards to the peak getting warm during summer - the tent has a material inner vs the usual mesh inner on most tents.
on each door there is a section that you can unzip which reveals a mesh piece which allows for ventilation.
i do feel it has the potential to get warm in summer as it is after all designed as a 4 season tent.
and those are the tradeoff’s that come with owning such a tent. its that it may not be great in summer
but in winter or even when it snows its going to keep you warm, where as other tents that have mesh inners wont keep you as warm in winter.
i think once you know these “paramaters” of your tent and equipment - you can then understand what it its you can do to make it work for you.
eg if the tent is gonna keep you warm in summer
- if the weathers good then to sleep with just the inner and ditch the fly sheet
- to sleep with the doors open at night and the fly sheet over if you like
- you can get away with just using a basic lightweight sleeping bag in summer or just using a inner liner to sleep with also
and when used in mountains with the altitude those areas generally tends to be cooler at night which might negate the warmth factor.