One of the all-new members of Snow Peak's 2022 camping collection, the Zekka has launched as part base camp tent, part sun shelter and part observational lookout point. Snow Peak has covered the entire front side of this expansive tent with windows and openings so campers can position it in the direction of the best scenery and enjoy the view while lying in bed, sipping a cup of coffee or tea in the early morning, or escaping the heat of the midday sun.
One of the best parts about voyaging deep into the wilderness to spend a night or more is enjoying beautiful natural scenery quite distinct from one's everyday surroundings, whether that means towering evergreens, rippling whitecaps on the endless ocean blue, or a far-reaching panorama of fiery autumn foliage. Snow Peak has designed the Zekka to better exploit this coveted attribute of the camping trip.
Snow Peak started by curving the Zekka slightly, giving it a subtle crescent shape that widens the field of view at the front. It then sheathed that gentle curvature of the front side with more windows and doors than fabric. The massive inverted trapezoid of an entry door gets flanked by three large, triangular window panels on each side. The door itself and the triangular panels directly to the left and right can also be rolled completely out of the way, creating a breezy sun shelter with a large front awning. A transparent hard panel overhead provides a view up to the stars.
The rear side of the Zekka isn't quite as broadly windowed as the front, but it does have its own large central door and side windows. The ends of the 28.9-foot-wide (8.8-m) tent are also capped with large windows.
Along with mesh, all the windows and doors include weatherproof panels that can be closed during inclement weather.
The main Zekka shell is a floor-less design, and to give campers overnight protection from the crawling, slithering parts of nature they'd rather not jump in bed with, Snow Peak has packaged in an Inner Room that secures inside the Zekka's left or right end section. Campers can use the single enclosed, tub-floored Inner Room or add an extra and have one at each end. Each frameless room secures to the Zekka frame, its windows lining up with the outer Zekka windows to maintain clear views outside.
With a wide, full-height entry door and windows on the three other sides, the Inner Room promises to be as airy and free-breathing as the greater Zekka tent surrounding it. In stormy weather, users can batten down the hatches on the outer Zekka tent while the inner room breathes away condensation through windows spaced generously from the outer Zekka tent fabric.
Each Inner Room sleeps up to three people, so a pair of rooms gives the Zekka the ability to sleep up to six in fully protected comfort. The large space in between those rooms under the Zekka roof can be left empty or used for cots, a dining set, camping chairs, etc. Factor in the space below the front awning, and campers can pretty much set up their entire base camp below the vast Zekka canopy.
Along with nearly 29 feet of width, the Zekka has a front-to-rear depth of 13.8 feet (4.2 m), not including the awning, and an interior height of 7.2 feet (2.2 m). The Inner Room rises 5.6 feet (1.7 m) high. The complete Zekka outer tent and inner room package weighs 66 lb (30 kg).
After previewing the Zekka in early 2022, Snow Peak launched it in Japan last week. The main tent (with single Inner Room) retails for ¥288,000 (approx. US$2,210). The additional Inner Room is available separately for ¥49,500 (US$380), and Snow Peak also offers cushioned sleeping mats cut to Inner Room floor size for ¥27,500 (US$210) apiece. That isn't exactly "roughing it" pricing, but with all forms of camping, glamping, overlanding and festival-going running red hot, we suppose now's a good time for this grade of pricey-but-pretty tent ... and worth noting, the Zekka is listed "out of stock" after just a week on the market.
No word on if the tent will make it beyond Japan, but Snow Peak has published an English version of its 2022 Zekka/new product introductory video on its global YouTube channel and English instructions in a Zekka manual that ends with a listing of both Snow Peak US and Japan contact info, so that's encouraging ... at least for American campers wealthy enough to buy the Zekka without a lifetime of guilt.
Source: Snow Peak (Japanese)