Review: Naturehike Mongar 2 Two-person Hiking Tent

After a recent camping trip in 30 degree heat and 90% humidity that was so ghastly that we had to abandon it two days in, I decided what I needed was an inner-pitch-first tent. While a lot of people don't like this design due to the fact that it isn't ideal for pitching in the rain, certain implementations of this design allow for leaving the flysheet off, and that's exactly what I wanted.

It didn't take much investigation before I came across the Naturehike Mongar 2, a free-standing inner-pitch-first tent that also ticked a lot of other boxes. 

As always, the first thing I did when my Mongar 2 arrived was get it on the weighing scales. Naturehike advertise its weight at 2.2kg all-in, including the supplied footprint (yes, the footprint comes included - other manufacturer's take note!). My scales said 2.157kg, so we were off to a good start.

While my current go-to hiking tent - the Wild Country Zephyros 2 - weighs in at 1.854kg, I'd surprisingly never weighed it together with the footprint, and here's where things start to get interesting; excluding pegs, the Zephyros 2 and footprint have a combined weight of 2.209kg. Remove the pegs from the Mongar 2, and the total weight is 2.031kg! Despite being much larger, the Mongar 2 is the lighter tent.

Pitching is ridiculously quick and easy - on my first time pitch, I single-handedly had it up in a fraction over 4 minutes - the fastest pitch I think I've ever achieved. Naturehike quote 5 minutes for a first-time pitch, though to be fair I didn't peg out the guylines so this is probably about right. Though instructions are included in the bag they are unnecessary. Simply peg out the four corners of the footprint, pop the ends of the double-Y-frame poles into the footprint eyelets, then clip the inner to the poles. The inner also has pole eyelets at the corners, which you can then pop the poles back through, and this also allows for pitching without the footprint. The fly then gets draped over the poles and clipped via a simple buckle system to tapes at the corners of the inner. If not using the guylines, pitching is completed by pegging out the front and back of the fly and the two doorways. 

Though billed as an inner-pitch-first tent, attaching the poles to the groundsheet first means you can actually put the fly over the poles before suspending the inner (albeit with a bit of contortionism), but of course you do have to do the latter with at least one door of the fly open, so if pitching in inclement weather the inner could still get wet. It does however give you the option to pitch without the inner if you just need to get some quick shelter from the rain.

The free-standing, double-Y-frame design allows the tent to be pitched inner-only - great for some stargazing!

The Mongar 2 has an internal footprint of 210 x 135cm - for reference, that's the same width as a standard UK-spec double bed, so it's a comfortable size for two people. 210cm seems to be a common internal length for tents, and as I stand at 6'3" (190cm) it should be ample, however the several tents I've been in and/or owned at this length have generally seemed cramped, and I've usually found I've had to put myself on a slight angle to lay out properly because of the way the inner fabric tapers in towards the apex. Not so in this case; the lower end panels of the inner extend upwards more-or-less vertically, so I can comfortably use the full length of the tent. The pole system incorporates a crossbar which serves to hold the side walls in a near-vertical position too, making this the most capacious two person tent I have been in to date - two people can comfortably sit upright at the same time.

The tent boasts two side doors, and the entrances of the fly can either be fully opened or half-opened with toggles provided for holding all door panels (inner and fly) open. Inevitably one half of each fly opening will need pegging down to maintain the tent's shape when closed, but the fact that both sides can be left fully open during the day is a bonus in terms of access and ventilation. Speaking of - there is a vent at each of the tent as well. Once closed, the outer doors form two vestibules for gear storage, though (and this isn't uncommon) the footprint doesn't extend into these areas, so in wet weather your gear will still be sat on the bare ground. If used as a one-person tent however - and given the weight of the tent that's more than viable - there is ample room to get your gear inside with you.

The Mongar 2 has a symmetrical design with two side doors, and on the flysheet these can be either half opened (as shown) or fully opened.

Inside the tent there are storage pouches at each end, plus a suspended (and detachable, should you want to shed a bit more weight) ceiling storage "shelf", plus a lamp hook.

In order to keep the weight down, the bulk of the Mongar 2 (groundsheet & flysheet) is constructed of 20D silicone-coated ripstop nylon with a hydrostatic head of 4000mm. All seams are taped and double-stitched, the stitching is consistent and even, and the whole tent has the feel of a quality product. Now it's rare to get rain in our part of Spain at this time of year, but out of nowhere, several hours after pitching up, a storm came over. So for once I can actually testify that it is, as you would expect, waterproof!

The vents at each end should provide ample ventilation

20D nylon is of course quite thin (a necessary trade-off if you want to keep weight down while maintaining size/capacity), and while fine for the flysheet it does feel a little on the thin side for the groundsheet, though I don't see this being a problem when used in combination with the footprint. The poles are 7001 aluminium which flex nicely when erecting and don't ever feel like they are being forced into place.

The Mongar 2 has single-handedly replaced two of my other tents; lighter and yet massively more capacious than my current solo hiking tent, the Mongar also packs down smaller and has a more stable design than the former's tunnel shape. Likewise, for my two-person campsite trips, the Mongar's two-door design, bigger internal space thanks to the vertical walls, better waterproofing and considerably less weight and bulk than my existing tent means that has also been relegated to the spares pile.

I literally have nothing negative to say about this tent. Everything about it feels quality. Even the pegs - something which I normally have to replace straight away - are good quality Y-shape alloy pegs with cord loops for easy removal. It includes the footprint, which is a rare thing - normally the footprint is an excuse to squeeze a bit more money out of the customer. All these benefits should come at a cost, but in comparison to other options they don't in fact. Yes, if you were shopping purely for a campsite tent then there are cheaper - but probably not better - options available, but as a one/two-person hiking tent I just don't see how this can be beaten - not for this price and not without spending a considerable amount more. 

It isn't just lightweight, it's versatile; free-standing or fully guyed-out; it can be pitched inner only, flysheet only, inner first or, at push, fly first; it's lightweight enough to serve as a spacious one-person hiking tent, and spacious enough to use comfortably as a two-person tent. On top of all that, an additional vestibule is available to expand the tent further, giving additional shelter or gear storage.

While I can only make real-world comparisons to tents I've owned or used, I've done a lot of reading into and comparing other options, and in the sub-£200 price-bracket this should probably be your first choice. It gives many tents in the £200-£300 price-range a run for their money too. 

Naturehike Mongar 2

Camping in the Sierra de Castril Natural Park (Granada)

After our brief venture into the Sierra de Castril Natural Park on our day out in Castril (see here), I was very keen to get back there to camp and spend some time exploring the area. So, that's exactly what I did.

Janine and I loaded up the car and headed directly for the El Cortijillo campsite, where after booking in we discovered we could take the car directly onto the pitch which proved to be very handy indeed. The campsite was much bigger than I had realised on our first visit, and we picked a nice out-of-the-way spot at the far end of the site. The entire site sits under the shade of trees which was a blessing in the Spanish summer sun.

After pitching up we got our bearings of the site; an immaculate toilet & shower block with washing facilities; the bar and restaurant that I had briefly enjoyed on my previous visit and behind that a second bar and huge open-air, covered eating area. Beyond this was direct access to the river, and Janine was very quick to get in while I sat and watched from the bank - I wasn't quite ready to get in a freezing cold river!

Afterwards we decided to have a bit of a meander along the river in the direction of the reservoir. My original plan had been to walk alongside the river but we quickly realised this wasn't much of an option due to the terrain, so we walked along the road until we found a suitable spot to access the river, and having done so spent a good hour paddling and splashing about. It was cold, but after about ten minutes of adjusting to the temperature (me, not Janine - she launched herself straight in!) I plonked myself down and sat there quite happily, totally relaxed as I took in the beautiful surroundings and emptied my head of the stresses of day-to-day life.

Eventually we decided to head back to camp, where we chilled by the tents over some (rather warm) Tinto de Verano that we had brought with us, before heading up to the bar for the evening. We had planned on ordering food (incidentally, the bar is happy to provide food and drinks to take back to your pitch), but being in Granada the tapas was in ready supply, so we picked away at that all evening instead. I can only imagine the food is very good though - despite the campsite being fairly quiet, the outdoor eating area was packed at lunchtime; evidently people travel from far and wide to eat here.

The plan for day two was to hike down to the reservoir - an hour's walk according to google - so again we headed down the road, following the river. It's an easy and self-explanatory walk - no map required - and indeed an hour later we found ourselves at the reservoir's edge (passing, along the way, many Spanish families enjoying a Sunday out under the trees by the river, accompanied by their full kitchen and garden-furniture set up. It's a genuinely lovely sight to see).

Actually getting into the reservoir to a point where it was deep enough to swim was a much more tricky affair, and one that eventually proved fruitless. We criss-crossed along the ever-widening river, before doing some hill scrambling along animal paths to try and find a suitable access point, but to no avail; the banks were a lot steeper than the view from above leads you to believe, and while we may indeed have managed to get in for a swim there was a real danger we may not have been able to climb back out, so eventually we retraced our steps and plonked ourselves back in the river again, while also replenishing our water supplies.

The hike back to camp was an altogether more challenging affair than the outward trek, being as we were now at the peak of the midday heat, and within half an hour our ice-cold water had passed being warm and was on the brink of being hot; it was a joyous sight indeed when we came upon the old dam that signalled we were almost back at camp. The first port of call was the bar for some much-needed refreshment. 

The second evening mirrored the first, as we whiled away the hours over beer and tapas. Normally I'm quite keen to get packed up and off on leaving day, but neither of us were in any particular rush to vacate our idyllic little spot in the country, so we sat for several more hours outside the tents absorbing the views and the sounds of birds and the running river.

Camping El Cortijillo

Sierra de Castril Natural Park (more info)