Terra Nova

Laser Compact 1

£550 1065g

lightweight, roomy porch

stretch pegging points, low ends

Flysheet: 20D nylon ripstop silicone, 3000mm HH Inner: 20D nylon ripstop Groundsheet: 30D nylon ripstop PU, 7000mm HH Poles: 8.7mm DAC NFL Pegs: 10 x 15cm Y Porches: x1, 50cm deep Inner dimensions: 220x93/62cm, 95cm high point terra-nova.co.uk

Terra Nova’s Laser series of tents are well-established.

I’ve reviewed several over the years and have always had a love-hate relationship with them due to one design feature, the separate sleeve protecting the flysheet door zip, which I always found fiddly. Thankfully Terra Nova has finally dispensed with this and replaced it with a factory-sealed main seam. Recent ultralight Terra Nova tents have also come with fairly useless thin needle pegs. With this tent, those have been replaced with decent Y pegs.

This is a single-hoop tent with short upright poles at each end for stability and height. It’s made from tough materials, the groundsheet having a high hydrostatic head. No need for a footprint here. The Compact in the name refers to the pack size, the pole folding down to just 30cm long.

The Laser Compact pitches quickly as a unit. The pegging points at the corners of the inner and flysheet are shockcord. Because of the stretch the tent does move a bit more in the wind than ones with non-stretch pegging points. The stretch does takes some strain off the fabric and I haven’t felt there was any danger of the tent collapsing, but I’d rather it didn’t move so much in strong winds.

There are covered vents at each end of the flysheet, and the top of the door zip can be left open for ventilation. Mesh panels on the inner also allow some airflow. Overall, this is a tent designed to keep out the weather, which it does well.

The porch is roomy and fine for cooking and storage – I measure it as 60cm deep rather than Terra Nova’s 50cm. The inner tent has good headroom, but the ends are low at just 40cm high. For that reason, I think the Laser Compact 1 is best suited to people who aren’t tall.

The Great Outdoors May 2022