Hyperlite Mountain Gear joins fellow ultralight backpacking gear makers like Durston and Six Moons Design in adding a little bit of extra usability and comfort to its lineup of low weight shelters. Introduced on Tuesday, the all-new Crosspeak 2 stands tall amongst the brand's offerings as its only freestanding shelter, a low-profile dome tent that still hovers near an even 2 lb (907 g) when packed and does so without relying on a single mandatory hiking pole or guy line. It doesn't do all that on the cheap, though.
Hyperlite has been working with Dyneema Composite Fabrics (DCF) since before the stronger-than-steel fabric family was even known as such, back when it was still called Cuben fiber or simply sailcloth. It's based some incredibly lightweight shelters around the wunder-material, including the Mid 1 shelter it dropped in 2023.
While the Mid 1 weighs just under half the new Crosspeak 2, it comes with some immediately obvious compromises, such as a steep-walled interior that's held in place by a pole smack in front of the doorway. And looking around Hyperlite's lineup, that same type of compromise exists throughout. The majority of the company's designs are hampered by inconveniences like mandatory use of guy lines and/or hiking poles to maintain structure and poles right in the center of the entry or floor.
There's nothing wrong with such compromises, of course, as they're integral to saving weight and keeping one's backpack load as light as possible, but Hyperlite now reaches out to a demographic that might not mind carrying a few extra ounces if it means adding some overnight comfort and campsite convenience. In fact, if users are bikepacking or simply backpacking without trekking poles, they might not even have to add all that much overall weight.
The Crosspeak 2 weighs in at 34 oz (964 g), right in line with the afore-linked 35-oz (992-g) Durston X-Dome 1+ freestanding tent. That's no small feat since the latter has a smaller, drastically tapered floor aimed more at a single person or two skinny lovebirds. Hyperlite further lightens the real-world load by splitting the 21.2-oz (601-g) tent body and 12.8-oz (363-g) poles into separate Dyneema stuff sacks so that each of the two campers can carry a part of it.
Freestanding tents tend to be easier to set up than non-freestanding shelters, and the Crosspeak 2 uses a common X-frame design that crisscrosses two poles diagonally to the corners. It also includes a roof bridge to lift up some of the roof fabric around a 42-in peak height that delivers room to sit up inside.
Hyperlite opts for sil-nylon pole sleeves in place of the exterior clips common across other tent designs, arguing that they create a stronger, more storm-worthy foundation. Similarly, it goes with DAC Featherlite aluminum poles, reasoning that they perform better in the field despite adding a small amount of weight over carbon fiber poles.
Impressively for such a lightweight design, Hyperlite squeezes in two individual zippered mesh doors, each with its own outer waterproof Dyneema vestibule. The separate mesh/fly fabric around the sidewalls also provides adjustable airflow and ventilation, and Hyperlite adds in magnetic door tiebacks for fast, easy adjustment.
Inside, the tub floor features a slight taper from 48 inches (122 cm) wide at the head to 45 inches (114 cm) at the feet, cutting out some fabric and weight while following the tapered form of lightweight sleeping gear. It measures a clean 88 inches (224 cm) long.
Other features of note include adjustable head and foot vents, two interior storage pockets, and reflective pole sleeves and bright-orange guy line tie-outs for improved visibility. The vestibules are also designed to be reinforced with hiking poles during particularly rough, windy conditions.
Dyneema fabrics and meticulous ultralight construction aren't cheap, and the Crosspeak 2 definitely isn't either. At US$950, it's well more than the Durston X-Dome 1+ and priced more in line with the $899 Zpacks Free Zip 2P and $1,100 Samaya Instant 2 freestanding tents.
Hyperlite plans to begin Crosspeak 2 deliveries in early May.
Source: Hyperlite Mountain Gear
