The engine's answer
Best 4-season tent for one person in frosty nights near −5 °C, under €1500
Exped
Venus II Extreme
A proper expedition dome, priced below the usual suspects.
- Genuine four-season strength
- Freestanding and stable under snow load
- High waterproof ratings throughout
- Over three kilos
- Far too much tent for three-season use
Find it at Bergfreunde · Trekkinn · Decathlon · Alpinetrek · eBay (used)
Why it wins, in numbers
Exped Venus II Extreme is the tent the engine picked for this trip: €700 and 3.30 kg, Season rating 4, a 100% match on the questions asked. The kit around it comes to €1,450 of the €1,500 ceiling, leaving €50.
What the engine asked for: a sleeping bag rated to −7 °C or lower, a mat with an R-value of at least 4.5, a pack of at least 49 L, and €1,500 for all four; anything that falls short of these is flagged beside the item.
The kit it belongs to
Four items chosen together, not four separate winners. Swapping one moves the others.
- ExpedVenus II ExtremeA proper expedition dome, priced below the usual suspects.Bergfreunde · Trekkinn · Decathlon · Alpinetrek · eBay (used)
- RobensGully 600Cold-weather down at a price that keeps its head down.Bergfreunde · Trekkinn · Decathlon · Alpinetrek · eBay (used)
- Therm-a-RestNeoAir XLite NXTThe default answer for three-season backpacking, and deservedly.Bergfreunde · Trekkinn · Decathlon · Alpinetrek · eBay (used)
- OspreyEja 58The Exos on a shorter, narrower frame.Bergfreunde · Trekkinn · Decathlon · Alpinetrek · eBay (used)
6.20 kg on your back · €1,450 of a budget of €1,500
- Tent
- Exped Venus II Extreme: €700, 3.30 kg, Season rating 4, 100% match. Strongest on: Weather.
- Sleeping bag
- Robens Gully 600: €260, 1.40 kg, Comfort rating -7 °C, 50% match.
- Sleeping mat
- Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite NXT: €230, 354 g, R-value 4.5, 50% match.
- Backpack
- Osprey Eja 58: €260, 1.15 kg, Capacity 58 L, 50% match.
What the runners-up gave up
Each of these still leaves a kit that closes — the budget holds and the pack shuts. This is where each one lost.
- Terra Nova Southern Cross 2A geodesic built to be left standing when the wind gets up.Terra Nova Southern Cross 2 — €600, 2.90 kg — gives up Waterproof rating: 4000 mm against the winner's 5000 mm. It scores 99% to the winner's 100%.
- Nemo Kunai 2PA four-season tent light enough to ski tour with.Nemo Kunai 2P — €650, 2.10 kg — gives up Waterproof rating: 1500 mm against the winner's 5000 mm. It scores 89% to the winner's 100%.
- Nordisk Svalbard 1 SIA solo four-season tunnel built for wind rather than for grams.Nordisk Svalbard 1 SI — €450, 2.00 kg — gives up Sleeps: 1 against the winner's 2. It scores 88% to the winner's 100%.
Questions this trip raises
- How much does the whole kit cost?
- €1,450 for all four items, €50 under the €1,500 ceiling. Prices are indicative euro list prices; the shops set their own.
- How much does it weigh?
- 6.20 kg base weight — tent, sleeping bag, mat and pack together, before food, water and clothes. The pack is rated to carry 18 kg comfortably.
- Does Exped Venus II Extreme have room for one person?
- It sleeps 2 and carries a season rating of 4; the trip was set for one person, which it meets.
Change an assumption
This page answers one trip. Yours is not that trip — adjust the nights, the budget or the company and watch all four re-rank.
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