SwiftyPaddler's Reviews & Views

Thew New WindQuester Horizon Lite 2 Pro Last year, out of the blue, WindQuester sent me a tent to review, the Horizon Lite 2.   Even though the apparent target audience was backpackers concerned with weight, I gave the tent a try.   Quite unexpectedly, I’ve come to love it!   It looks great, has taken care of me on a half dozen trips (~30 nights), and is a breeze to carry. Despite my positive experience so far, I was still a bit concerned that my style and frequency of rough backcountry travel would turn out to be a bit too much for this fine, ultralight tent.   While that concern hasn’t come to fruition yet, I was both surprised and excited when WindQuester told me they were coming out with a “Pro” model of the same tent, and that it was based on the real world experience and feedback of people like me who used the original Horizon Lite 2. If you're the kind of person that doesn't want all of the details, and is just interested in my honest summary, well here you go...

The WindQuester Horizon 2 Lite A new company based in British Columbia called WindQuester reached out to me in July, offering me one of their tents for review.   “What’s the catch?” I asked.   None!   The tent was mine to keep in exchange for me providing my personal review.   WindQuester wouldn’t see my review in advance, or have any input into it whatsoever, i.e. I would be providing my unvarnished feedback without reservation.   “Awesome” I said, let’s do it!   Of the two tents they offer, I selected the WindQuester Horizon 2 Lite, an ultralight 2 person tent. Horizon 2 Lite In It's Top Loading Stuff Sack The tent arrived a day later, and I immediately began checking it out.   It wasn’t that long ago that I was in the market for a new two person tent for car camping and short portage trips, so I was already primed on what to look for.   I’ve since set it up multiple times, and have taken it with me into the backcountry.   A short review of...

As someone who frequently travels in backcountry, I’m occasionally faced with the challenge of finding a suitable campsite to set-up my tent and spend the night.  While I usually manage to make things work, in these circumstances I’m envious of hammock campers who have much greater flexibility in where they camp, requiring only two trees which are more or less 3m apart.  For this reason, I’ve been thinking about purchasing a camping hammock for several years, and finally pulled the trigger this past Spring. Hawk Nest Hammock Inside Included Bag There are many camping hammock options on the market to choose from.  Some look like traditional hammocks, some look like a tent suspended on a rope, another looks like a sleeping pad hanging at a right angle between trees!  Most of these options are fairly expensive, falling into the range you’d expect for a mid to high end tent. Hawk Nest Hammock Without Rainfly One of the reasons that I held back on purchasing a hammock is ...