Nigor PioPio Solo review

The Nigor PioPio Solo could be just the tent that taller solo backpackers have been looking for. The design is roomy, with an inside height of 105cm, meaning that there is plenty of room for sitting up, and nearly 2.5m of length to lie down in. The inner tent is pitched first, with a single green anodised DAC Featherlite 8.5mm diameter pole being clipped to the inner tent. There are three 33cm poles permanently attached to the inner, two at the head end and a single one at the feet, to increase living space within the tent, but they do make packing away the PioPio a little bit tricky. The groundsheet is made from a 20-denier nylon ripstop with a laminated thermo-plastic polyurethane coating. This type of coating has a greater bonding durability and better abrasion resistance than conventional liquid-applied PU coatings. The main body of the inner tent is constructed entirely of 15-denier breathable ripstop nylon with large no-see-um mesh to maximise air flow inside while keeping even the smallest insects outside. These mesh panels do help to keep the weight down, but at the disadvantage of not being as warm in cooler conditions. A two-way zip gives you additional ventilation should you need it.

The flysheet is made from GorLyn 10, which is an ultralight 10-denier ripstop nylon that has been coated by silicone in three steps to give a durable and water repellent finish. This finish feels slippery to touch, but means that the flysheet is significantly stronger than if it was treated with a PU coating. On the whole, the flysheet is easy to attach to the inner – throw it over the top and clip the corners to the buckles on the inner tent. The only fiddly bit is positioning the reinforced fabric tubes over the short corner poles. Entry is via a single side door that has just one zip, meaning you can’t open the top of the door to give additional ventilation – when cooking for instance – but the PioPio Solo does have a large wired vent on either side which alleviates this problem. A spacious porch extends down the whole side, which is great for accommodating a rucksack, with space to move in and out of the tent and still cook in the porch.