OEX Hyena II Tent Review

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If you’re looking for a budget-friendly, lightweight tent that is great for weekend adventures or your first foray into wild camping, the OEX Hyena II might be just the thing you are looking for. It’s currently available for around £60 – £70 from places like Go Outdoors, Blacks and Millets, and as I found out on a rainy weekend in the Peak District, you’re getting a great amount of value for your money.

Spec

• Type: Tunnel Tent
• Capacity: 2-person
• Weight: 3 kg
• Packed Size: 50 x 15 x 15 cm
• Pitched Outer Dimensions: 310 x 130 x 115 cm
• Pitched Inner Dimensions: 210 x 120 x 80 cm
• Hydrostatic Head (HH): 5000 mm
• Pitch Time: 10 minutes
• Colour: Green

Is the OEX Hyena II Any Good?

I know what you’re thinking; ‘for £65 this probably isn’t very good’. But you might be pleasantly surprised.

Affordability

Let’s talk about that price point first. £65 is very cheap for a tent that could even be considered good for wild camping. At this price point, you are usually looking at larger pop-up tents, or budget-friendly tents that are heavy and bulky, designed more for throwing in the boot of a car when heading to a campsite than throwing into your backpack for a weekend in the wilderness.

For a decent lightweight, waterproof and durable tent that is suitable for wild camping, you are usually looking at a minimum of £100+. And that’s what makes the OEX Hyena II stand out.

Size and Weight

At 3kg it’s obviously not the lightest two-person tent on the market, but it is easily manageable at that weight and if you’re new to camping or if you’re looking to try your first wild camping adventure, this price point could make that little bit of extra weight worth carrying.

For the sake of comparison, the Vango Banshee 200, which is a very popular tent for wild campers, weighs around 2.4kg and costs between £100 and £150, depending on the retailer.

The packed size of the tent is 50 x 15 x 15 cm – which is a little bit too big to go inside most backpacks but is easily strapped to the outside of your bag while you hike.

Like most tents of this kind, it is advertised as a two-person tent but it would be quite cosy for two people and there wouldn’t be very much room for backpacks or any other gear. On the other hand, this tent is a great size for one person and will leave you plenty of room for your kit.

Ease of Setup

You can comfortably pitch the OEX Hyena II in less than 10 minutes. The poles are colour-coded to avoid any confusion and once the poles are threaded through it’s just a case of pegging it out and adjusting the ropes.

The outer pitches before the inner, which is a great thing if you’re caught in bad weather and need to get the outer up and keep everything else dry. Then it’s a simple case of hooking the inner inside the shell.

Waterproofness

The OEX Hyena II tent has an HH rating of 5000mm. In layman’s terms that means that this tent is going to be very waterproof and withstand even the most torrential downpours.

And I can definitely vouch for that.

Last weekend I camped in the Peak District, right next to the High Peak trail, and from 11 p.m. until the early hours of the morning, it was absolutely torrential. However, everything inside the tent stayed perfectly dry and there were no signs of condensation either, thanks to the large vent at the rear of the tent.

Durability

As I’ve only had the tent for a short while it is hard for me to say much about the durability of the tent. I can say that everything seems to be very well made and there is nothing that looks like it could cause concerns later down the line. It was relatively windy during the heavy downpours at the weekend, but the tent handled that well and felt stable during the biggest gusts.

However, that’s not to say that I would trust this tent on the side of a mountain in a proper gale. That’s just not what this tent is made for at this price.

Other Features

There are a couple of handy storage pockets inside the tent, including one that you can stuff the open door into. There’s the usual vented door so that you can allow air in whilst keeping the midges out. And there’s a hook right at the back of the tent for hanging a lantern on.

It’s not packed with features, but it does have everything that you need.

Is the OEX Hyena II Good For Wild Camping?

Is the OEX Hyena II good for wild camping? I’d say that it definitely is, so long as you’re not heading out into extreme weather and you’re happy to carry the 3kg.

This is definitely a tent that is aimed at those who are new to camping and in the future you may well want to upgrade to something lighter and smaller to pack. But for what it is, this is a great tent that is easy to pitch, light enough to carry and waterproof enough to keep you dry in a downpour.

At £65 the OEX Hyena II is going to be hard to beat and I’m already looking forward to my next night in it (although I’m hoping for better weather next time).