About Terra Nova
Terra Nova is one of the most popular tent brands we have ever sold. They are a UK company, based in Derbyshire specialising in ultra lightweight and mountain tents.
The drive to surpass even our most exacting customers’ expectations leads to new developments being made throughout Terra Nova. Most recently we beat our own Guinness World Record for the lightest tent in the world with the Laser Competition, weighing just 940g complete or 860g at its’ minimum weight.
At Terra Nova our aim is to continually extend our horizons and our outdoor product range in order for us to achieve our mission to be ‘Best in Class’.
Terra Nova Voyager Superlite Technical Spec
The classic geodesic design remains, but the weight has been stripped away by using pole clips on the inner and lighter materials.
This Superlite version saves weight over its classic brother, without reducing internal or porch space.A minimum weight of 1.7Kg brings the benefits of a geodesic structure to the superlite range. Ventilation is improved by using clips instead of pole sleeves and introducing a large mesh panel to the inner door.
Destined to become a firm favourite with anyone who is likely to come across unstable ground, especially sandy or loose soils.
- Packed Size: 14cm x 52cm
- Weight: Minimum 1.7Kg / Packed 1.86Kg
- Person: 2
- Season Rating: 3 Season Backpacking
- Note: Due to the nature of the silicon fabrics used in this tent, the seams are not factory sealed. Silicon seam sealer is available though.
- User range: Ultra lightweight backpacking, Trekking, Cycle Touring
- Pitching: Inner first
- Titanium pegs, 5.5g each
- 8.55mm DAC Featherlite pole
Trail’s Review of the Terra Nova Voyager Superlite Tent:
Overall ratings on the Live for the Outdoors website, suggest that both users and professional outdoor gear reviewers regard it as the number one tent of choice…
This 2-person sub-2kg tent is a lightened version of the Voyager, a classic 3-pole geodesic that defines its class. By lightening the fabrics to those used in the brand’s Laser range, Terra Nova has reduced the weight by 400g (18 per cent). The beauty of the tent is that you still get an inner and outer, a three-pole geodesic design and a superb porch and front entrance with double zips for venting. The geodesic design is incredibly stable.
The pegs are the wire skewer type which do not hurt your hands and they are made from titanium to keep the weight down. But the outer doors do not get external stormflaps and the zips are particularly small, so you will need to treat them with a little care. To save weight the poles are held in place with clips rather than sleeves. Also this is an inner-pitched-first design, so it’s not ideal for pitching in heavy rain.
…this all makes it sound perfect as a 2 person backpacking tent or lightweight trans-European cycling tent even!
Outdoors magic Review of the Terra Nova Superlite
Another heavyweight reviewer of the outdoor gear world is Outdoorsmagic, here’s what they had to say:
The low weight - a mere 1.85kg when packed - doesn’t cost you too much in terms of comfort. This isn’t a minimalist adventure racer’s shelter with the canvas hovering millimetres above your nose. There’s plenty of space for two people and the stability of the geodesic three pole structure.
There’s a lot of attention to detail in this tent, to make sure that every possible gram has been stripped away. The outer feels like tracing paper and you need to pick up a few pegs at once to notice them, but neither was lacking when it came to keeping the tent in place in high winds.
…a positive review of the Voyager Superlite tent again, scoring 4/5 for value and 4.5/5 for performance. Read for the full review here.
Pitching Instructions for Voyager Superlite
To prove how easy it is to pitch too, here’s a video to make things a whole lot easier when choosing your next lightweight, quick-to-pitch tent!
Our thoughts…
A nice summary is that the Terra Nova brand is one of the best we feel for serving backpackers in a way of complete trust. When you’re away from civilisation and exposed to a variety of conditions, you simply want to know that your geodesic tent is one that keeps you protected and away from the weather!
The Voyager range of tents is one of our best selling tents and for good reason. it can sustain 3 season conditions comfortably, keeping 2 people away from the elements at a weight of under 2kg. It therefore makes a whole lot of sense to us why we sell so many.
Top 10 Tents
As you can see, according to LFTO, the Terra Nova Voyager is the number one choice of their visitors. And to be frank, readers of LFTO and Trail are certainly guys that know their stuff (we read both - hehe!). It’s also worth noting that Terra Nova are the only tent manufacturers to get 2 tents into the top ten tents category…good work!
And looking at what LFTO’s members regard as the best tents, I’ve got to say I’m pretty pleased that we sell 5 out of the 10 on there:
- Terra Nova Voyager Superlite Tent
- Terra Nova Voyager Tent
- The North Face Tadpole 23 DL Tent (and Nylon version)
- Vango Ultralight 200 Tent (along with 200+, 200 lite and 300+ versions)
- Vaude Taurus Ultralight Tent
…although I was suprised not to see the MSR Hubba Hubba HP up there or the Terra Nova Laser Competition.
The laser Competiton is quick and easy to pitch…the amazingly low weight of the Laser Competition - less than half that of the similar sized [Hilleberg] Akto…I had no concerns about it collapsing in 40mph winds.
You can read more Terra Nova tent reviews on their website.
Conclusion
Terra Nova really design and manufacture a great range of tents, and are certainly one of the best for lightweight backpacking tents…If you’re looking at buying a Terra Nova tent not many people serious about outdoor gear are going to put you off, that’s for sure!
But make sure you take a look at the full range of Terra Nova tents to learn more because they really are fantastic for a variety of purposes and weather conditions…choose the best tent for you. Otherwise, if you’re still wanting to look at other tent brands, such as MSR, Mountain Equipment and Vango head over to the tent section in the outdoor shop.
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