Two nights wildcamping + Helm Compact review

Welcome back!

When I go wild camping now, I can hear dozens of hidden birds chirping happily in the bog while the sun shines. Like Dolby Digital in real life. They begin at 4am with the first light and switch on and off throughout the day with the sun. They are great company.

To make up for missed opportunities I’m heading for two nights and taking a two person tent with me, the Helm 2 by Wild Country.

It’s a beautiful chance for me to completely relax on the hillside beside the sea. I have it all at my finger tips now!

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Luckily I managed to squeeze all the usual essentials into my 50 litre pack, plus a handful of luxuries and additional food supplies. Double rationings! Double chocolate! Double beer! Other luxuries included two small books and a magazine, and a larger tent. The tent was well worth it, I say, despite the compromise of it taking more space and weight. My new theory: One night = one person tent, two nights = two person tent.

The Helm 2 Compact (reviewed at the end) hasn’t had a lot of use. I bought it for a trek in Iceland but, due to Covid and persistent personal injury it never happened (yet). I didn’t sell it mind, because I know there are many people out there who prefer a larger tent and I don’t know if I’m one of those people or not just yet. So – I’d presently rather sacrifice living space for lower pack weight… but that could change after I test this tent out properly!

Turns out that all my gear this time is… GREEN! My favourite colour!

GREEN GEAR:

• I’m still using the Paria quilt, its rated to -10° but I reckon I’ll be able to get away with it for summer as well because the baffles are quite large and the down easily pushes to the sides, and it completely unzips.
• I’ve switched my pillow back to a Thermarest pillow again, but sometimes I find it gets a little bit too squashed and feels hard and flat.
• I’m really happy with the Thermarest All Season sleeping mat and I’ve just managed to find an inflating sack for it since I don’t really like the battery operated pump so I’ll be selling it. Literally the only gripe I have with this mat it the long deflation time.

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Forecast for day one was a slight breeze with a few gusts overnight, plus some light-medium showers. And of course, plenty of sunny spells. Day one was ideal for sleeping in with the morning showers (and I didn’t have space to pack my waterproofs). Helm 2 was totally luxurious for living in compared with what I’m used to.

There is a door and alcove on each side!

That morning, I opened the door facing away from the weather and toward the sea to watch the happenings of the wild and weather. I promise, there is nothing more blissful.

Breakfast was prepared after the rain finished, on the Trangia – which is also a bit of luxury.

Coffeeee!!!!

I tried a little experiment with the coffee brewing this morning! The idea was from Youtube video and it claimed no filter is needed to brew your coffee: full stop.

Instead, all the coffee needs is (1) hot water and a little stir. Then, a short wait and (2) another little stir. During the First Stir, the the flavour is extracted from the grinds and the Second Stir somehow causes the grinds to fall to the bottom of the cup, resulting in fresh, clean coffee.

Voila… Stir – Sit – Stir. Drink. Easy peasy.

But when tried it, I didn’t leave the ‘sit’ step long enough and ended up with a mouthful of chewy grinds that hadn’t fallen to the bottom. Ruined. By the time my brewing coffee had completed the ‘sitting’ stage, it was nearly cold anyway so I wouldn’t try again without an insulated cup to keep the drink warm while the magic is worked.

Floating around…

The next two days I spent doing lots of nothing in between walking the shore, identifying wild flowers, walking the hillside, reading about gardening, hunting for fresh water (because I ran out) and cooking and sleeping. There was more than enough food and after two days the only things I wish I had was a toothbrush and I hadn’t taken two beers! Believe it or not, the second beer was totally unnecessary since I was already 90% blissed out from being outdoors all the time in such a beautiful area of Earth.

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Wild Country Helm 2 Compact review

You’ve heard it before and you’ll hear it again: Wild Country’s Helm was once the tent to beat all tents, hands down, in my opinion. As production had actually stopped (temporarily) by the time I arrived at this decision, I was delighted that the company was introducing a new version, Helm Compact – a series of compact tents to better suit bike packers because of the shorter alloy pole sections which can be carried easier between handlebars. That didn’t matter to me and I went and bought one immediately.

Weight and design

2.35kg is an average to slightly heavy weight for a 2p tent. It is possible to get some 400g lighter without sacrificing much durability in materials and many are heavier, up to 3kg or more. But the tent gives back: you are spoiled with a very liveable space. 2.25m x 1.2m, with a maximum height of 1m at the peak of the inner – its a little more comfy than many 2p tents, and thanks to the two vestibules at each side, two people can enter and exit the tent during the night with no disturbances to each other. The vestibules are large enough to store a rucksack, kitchen and boots, as well as make a coffee.

Strength of design

The integral pitching style makes the Helm 2 Compact a very simple tent to set up: geodesic, semi-free standing and requiring only 4 pegs for a minimum pitch, it can be ready for shelter in a matter of minutes. 4 guy ropes and an additional 4 more pegs create a storm worthy structure that can withstand a night of strong gales from any direction. A bonus of choosing a two person tent with opposite doors (as opposed to one main door), is that if the wind is howling in one direction straight at one door, there is no problem entering and exiting from the sheltered door on the other side.

Specs

Even though the tent is only rated 3-season – I imagine this is mainly due to 1, the thickness of the 8.5mm alloy poles, 2, the fact that the (only) mesh ventilation on the inner, the top half of the doors, cannot be sealed off and 3, the ventilation cannot be closed off – it comes with 4,000mm HH green polyester fly and 5,000mm grey polyester ground sheet. I don’t use a footprint but its possible to purchase one.

Ease of use

Build quality is excellent: Two strong zips seal the fly doors and Velcro keeps the storm flaps in place. All the zip tags, pegging points, tension points and guy’s are made from a soft yellow dyneema fabric. Poles are colour coded and webbing straps and sewn in securely and accurately. V-shaped alloy pegs are comfortable to push thanks to a smooth moulded top – that doesn’t really have to be there, but I like that I didn’t have to chose between imprinting the shape of the peg into my hand or needing to push the peg in twice: a little bit by hand, the rest by foot. They were also easy to remove because of this.

Results

So all in all, I had a really comfortable stay in the Helm 2. It’s definitely a keeper, yes, but a go to…. well, no. I just can’t justify the extra weight and packing space with my minimalist nature, and would also have issues with all that living space! Typically I go wild camping to spend time outdoors, not in my tent. Of course there are the times when the rain just wont let up, and this is the kind of tent I’d be grateful for if that were the case.

There are those occasional occasions too, when I’m in a mood where all I feel like doing is laying in a tent listening to the wind and rain. This tent, is perfect for that.