Naturehike - Cloud Up 2

Used a Naturehike Cloud Up 2 in stealth green for Patagonia, GDMBR and Baja Divide. Cheap as chips with plenty of room for gear and is a surprisingly solid tent for hunkering down for a day or two in very wet and stormy Wyoming weather. My most recent purchase for a different climate (cold/dry) is a 4 season 3FUL Gear Taiji 1 tent in a stylish khaki/coyote brown. I've only set it up in the backyard and not used on a trip yet, but the zips, poles and seams look to be a little bit of a step up in finishing quality than the Naturehike. But you can't go wrong with either brand. Both tents are about 1.8kgs including poles, pegs, guylines, groundsheet etc and can be reduced further by removing any carry bags. Anyone who tells you that you need to spend a lot of money on Western branded tents doesn't know that the Chinese tent brands are about 80% the quality of the high end premium western tents at 1/3rd to 1/4 the price due to economies of scale. I would even go so far as to say that they exceed the quality of a lot of Western branded mid range tents in the $500 USD pricing tier based on my experience of seeing colleagues with a couple of very well known and popular mid tiered tents struggling under stronger winds and wetter weather. The idea that Chinese = junk is simply not true. Usually the western brands have better marketing but they are generally all made in the same factory. The other thing to consider is that all tents lose their DWR coating after a while and if your pitching in very dry desert conditions the zippers will eventually need replacing even if YKK and regularly lubed.

Just about any $200 tent can pack down into a 2-3L fork bag if you compress it and put the poles elsewhere. Both my NatureHike 3p and 2p Cloud up fit in my fork bags

I have a Cloud up 2 in a 2L stuff sack then compressed to 1L.

I really like my nature hike cloud up 2. Nylon. Pretty light but holds up well so far. Comes with the fly and footprint. Only like $110.

I like my nature hike cloud 2, it’s about $110 and like 3.5 lbs

Love my cloud up Edit: also oml yeah I feel like the most unagile person who has ever lived getting in and out of it

My first tent was the naturehike cloud up 2 and honestly I loved it. I severed me well for many hikes and weighed around 1.8kg. There’s some modifications on YouTube that might be worth considering. I never had it in any severe weather, but there are plenty of YouTube videos where people have and it’s survived. I might suggest getting the 2 instead of the 1 as a lot of people say the 1 is too small, but it’s your call :)

I used the nature hike cloud up 2 and it lasted me a whole thru hike on the PCT without any faults. Cost about £100. Its my go to tent now, I would never bother buying anything more expensive

The cloud up 2 is a fantastic tent, highly recommend.

Also look at the Naturehike cloud up 2. Usual price is about £100, but I picked mine up for under £70 on Ali express, but you can pay a bit more and get it on Amazon if you prefer. If you want a bit more space a mongar 2 is similar in terms of internal floor space but its walls are more vertical so there is more width up to the top of the tent and a usable awning on both sides of the tent. Either one is fine for doe I would have thought. If your budget can stretch a little there ar lightweight versions. Also check out a lanshan 1 or 2 if you use trekking poles. It’s not free standing so needs a bit more certainty when you pitch it but it’s very popular for a reason, the lightest variation is only single wall and can suffer from condensation. If you are going to keep using the tent and want to buy once the Durston x dome 1+ looks like a dream tent for that sort of trip. Weighing about 1 kg it pitches very quickly in one cycle with ground sheet, inner and fly connected if you want. Plenty of space inside for one, large vestibule. Not sure where you can source them from in uk though and the US price is $ 379 though to be fair that looks good value for what you get. Customs duty may bump this up further though.

Naturehike Cloud Up 2 or Naturehike Mongar UL 2. I have the cloud up but like better the Mongas. There are various versions of the Cloud Up 2 with different prices but also weight. I have the cheaptest and heaviest of them all at around 2 kg, but it's fine as when I go with a friend I must go to his/her pace which slower. If you check the Mongar be sure to choose the UL version. The price of that last time I checked was very competitive. That's for freestanding tents, for UL trekking pole tents you can't go wrong with the Lanshan 2.

My first budget backpacking sleeping bag was a Kelty Cosmic 20. It was way heavier than I expected. A friend let me use their Naturehike Sleeping bag (not sure on specific type) and it was way lighter and more compact. I still use the Kelty for car camping, but it no longer goes on backpacking trips with me. My next upgrade will be an ultralight quilt. I got a used Gossamer Gear pack 55L off eBay that I love! I started with a Naturehike CloudUp 2 tent which was fine for the price, I have since upgraded to a Tarptent Double Rainbow (also used on eBay). Depending on the distance and weather, I will still take the Naturehike tent sometimes even though it is heavier. I like that you can use it without the rain fly on a nice night and just have the mesh top so I can see the trees and stars. My first pad was a Klymit pad from Amazon for $40. It works fine for warm weather. I upgraded to an Exped Duo 3R last year since I now usually backpack with my daughter or girlfriend and a 2P pad seemed easier. I also have two Nemo Switchback pads that I will carry on some hikes. I put them under my pad in the tent to prevent any punctures in my Exped and to give a little more insulation on colder nights. They are also great to pull out and use as a pad around camp when we are lounging before going to bed. Unfortunately, UL gear and spending an arm and leg kinda go hand in hand. All of my inexpensive gear was great to get me started, but over the last few years, I have been replacing them with lower weight, higher quality, and hence more expensive options. Along with being heavier, the cheaper stuff is just, cheaper. The biggest thing I have noticed is the zippers don't glide as easy on my cheap gear. This can be a huge annoyance when trying to zip your tent or bag.

To add to the buy from Amazon I got mine almost half price through Amazon resale same return rights. It wasn't in original packaging and I think it might be missing a tent peg . I haven't slept in it yet and am a complete novice but I am very happy with it ☺️