The Lightwave T20 Hyper XT tent is a 2 man, 4 season tunnel tent weighing in at a respectable 2.25 kg. The T20 Hyper XT as the XT in its name suggests has a large extended vestibule with plenty of room for storage, to cook or just hang out. Designed for 4 season use, it will come as no surprise that T20 Hyper is solidly constructed and able to handle what nature can throw at it.
Built-in Flexibility
The Lightwave T20 Hyper XT is versatile and can be pitched in 5 different ways: fly only, fly first, inner first, inner only or all-in-one. Clever design makes it easy to pitch using any these methods and in a short time too. As with all tents though practice makes perfect so set it up in your garden a few times before you head off camping.
The built-in flexibility of the T20 Hyper XT means that you can make the most of the weather conditions around you, whether you need complete protection (all in one), to shelter from the rain (fly only) or indeed are ultralight camping (fly or inner only). The Lightwave T20 Hyper XT is a truly versatile tent, and as you would expect with the Lightwave brand, it is well engineered.
Quality on the Inside
One of the first things we look at when reviewing a tent is the size of the tent both in general and compared to the number it claims to sleep. The T20 Hyper XT is rated as a 2 man tent and felt much roomier than the Snugpak Scorpion 2 we recently reviewed, there was more height to the T20 Hyper XT too! Another nice feature of the multi-pole configuration of the T20 Hyper XT is that it means there is more room at the foot end, something the Scorpion 2 was lacking.
There is ample room in the vestibule due to this being the XT model, unsurprisingly there is enough room to easily fit two rucksacks, plus room to cook.
The tent itself has three vents, two at the head end and one at the foot. These have fabric poles to hold open and ensure good ventilation, even when there is little wind. On the inner there is a vent around the foot area and at the top of the door. The door is dual fabric, with mesh at the top and solid fabric below. It is a single zip door and opens to the side like other Lightwave tent models.
Inside the T20 Hyper XT there are 2 sets of pockets, made up of one large and one small pocket. We found that because of the angle of the pocket the small one was a little inconvienent, though the large one was very handy. This said it’s not a huge amount of internal storage for a 2 man tent, if we are being honest we would like a little more – for example like the T10 Trek which we recently reviewed.
Durability as Standard
Having previously reviewed at Lightwave T10 Trek we know that Lightwave are a company which build quality into each product they produce. The T20 Hyper XT is no different to this. For example, the ground sheet felt thick and durable as did the inner and fly fabrics.
The flysheet is made from lightweight 70 g/m2 ripstop fabric woven from 40-denier nylon and is coated on both sides with silicone to 5000 mm hydrostatic head. All of these materials helps to make the fly durable and the tent usable all year round.
The poles are 8.50 mm DAC 7001-T6 Yunan poles with insert connections. The designers at Lightwave have kept the weight down in the poles by not having a shock cord running the entire length of the 3 poles but rather just across the joints. The 3 poles, like many, are colour coded which make it really easy to decipher which pole belongs at which section of the tent – something we sometimes struggle with on some tent models.
As with the T10 model there are a number of types of pegs, 4 in this case. A spiral type, 2 needle stake type pegs and an ultralight V shape peg type. They are all lightweight pegs and designed for specific use with the tent, though are clearly for all year usage.
An Excellent Tent
The Lightwave T20 Hyper XT has an RRP of £599 (sept 2012) which is comparable to other tents in its class.
All in all the Lightwave T20 Hyper XT is an excellent tent with it’s extended vestibule ideal for extended trips and hikes. The tent weighs in at 2.25 kg, which is just 250g more than the ordinary T20 model.
We give this tent a CheapTents 4 star rating.
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