Discover the pros and cons of the OEX Hyena II Tent in our detailed review. Is it the right choice for your next adventure? Read more to find out!
A bit of a confession to start off this OEX Hyena II tent review – before I managed to get my hands on this tent, I had never tried any OEX gear out before. So I went into this not really knowing what to expect, and as this is one of the cheaper two person tunnel tents around, I have to admit that I was little worried about the quality – it’s always the risk when you go with a brand you’re not particularly familiar with.
But we like to keep an open mind when reviewing camping gear at Campsters Paradise, so I put my concerns to one side and just focused on the facts and our experience using the Hyena II tunnel tent when my wife and I took it one a wild camping weekend trip around the Welsh countryside. In this tent review I will detail exactly how we got on, as well as a look at the key features of the OEX Hyena II, before we deliver our verdict at the bottom.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Easy Setup
- Light pack weight
- Durability
- Excellent Ventilation
- Waterproof
Cons
- Space Constraints – but understandable with a lightweight two-person tent
About The Brand
After doing some research, it seems that OEX is the brand of the camping outlet Go Outdoors. This was news to me, which probably highlights my inexperience in this field. (Long-term readers will know that we are relatively new to camping – post-pandemic – and created this website to help make it more accessible to others, so please do forgive my naivety here).
This was more reassuring. We buy a lot of stuff from Go Outdoors, as a family, and I have always found them to be a very reliable company to deal with. OEX as a brand, it turns out, are aimed at the more adventurous campers – your wild campers and mountain explorers. Incorporated into that is their range of wild camping tents, of which the Hyena II tunnel tent plays a prominent role.
So even though I had no experience of OEX tents before, I was quite excited to give this one a go. Can the OEX brand live up to the excellent reputation of Go Outdoors?
Specifications
Before we get into how we got on with this tent, let’s look at the theory – the specifications and features. Let’s start with the size:
This is a two man tent, with dimensions of 3.1 x 1.3 x 1.15 metres. The emphasis here is not on providing you with a large, roomy space – it’s all about practicality. Weighing in at only 3 kilograms, it’s light enough to carry on hiking trips and move from site to site. You should be able to fit two people to sleep in it comfortably. On top of that, there are internal storage pockets for you to store gear, and designated spots for you to hang a lantern, which seems like a nice touch.
There is a small porch area which stretches out a meter from the entrance to the tent. There are a couple of windows in the side (not really sure what these are for, so hedgehogs can see in?), but the area would be good to leave dirty (and smelly) shoes after a day out and about.
One of the headline features is its 5000mm Hydrostatic Head. This level of water resistance means that you should be able to trust it to keep you dry even in heavy downpours. The tent’s compact tunnel shape is designed with wind resistance in mind, which should add to its durability in variable conditions- when you’re wild camping, that is really important. Finally, it comes with essentials that you would expect, like tent pegs, guy lines and a tent floor, which should make setting it up straightforward.
That’s all what it is designed to do – let’s put it to the test in real life!
Using the Product
I had to wait for the opportunity to take this one out for a spin. This tent does not lend itself to family camping trips, which make up the majority of my trips, so I had to wait for when I could take it out with a friend for a weekend away in the wild. The plan was a lot of walking, some lovely drinks, and very little worrying.
The Hyena II was great. Before we’d even pitched it for our first night, I’d already started to like it. We parked our car and started our walk to find a place to stay for the night, and I was in charge of carrying the tent. The tent weight, just 3kg, made this quite a pleasant experience.
When we found our spot, we managed to pitch the tent in just under ten minutes, which was a pleasant surprise. There are only two poles, so it really is simple. The sun was just beginning to set, so I was worried we’d end up losing the light, but the speedy pitch time meant we were actually sat down, drink in hand, to watch the sun set. It would have been quite romantic if I had been with my wife, rather than a hairy fella in his early 40s.
On that note, when bedtime rolled around, it was the biggest test of the compact size. I’ll be honest, I was a little worried that it was going to be difficult to get comfortable in there with two fully grown men in there. But I was pleasantly surprised! I’m only 5 foot 6, so not exactly massive, but we both got a decent night’s sleep. Whether I would want to spend more than a night or two with two people in, I’m not so sure. For one, you’d inevitably need more stuff, and that would take up more room, and the novelty would probably wear off pretty quickly. For a short wild camping trip, though, it was fine in terms of space. Any longer and I would probably opt for one each.
The porch area came in handy, just for storing our wet and dirty gear after a day out walking. It’s not huge, but it does the job on a short trip like this.
We experienced some rain over the weekend, and we had windy conditions (not gale force winds, but a decent breeze) and the tent’s 5000mm water resistance held up perfectly with no leakage. The three ventilation points ensured we had excellent air circulation (very important) so we could enjoy a fresh atmosphere inside. It was good to test it out in some bad weather, but I’d like to put it to the test in some more harsh weather conditions. From reading other OEX Hyena II tent reviews, it sounds like it performs really well in cold weather, strong winds and heavy rain – better than most tents in this price range, and some more expensive.
The lantern hanging points came in handy, just for knowing where they were at all times, and also for keeping space clear in the tent. The groundsheet did its job, as did the outer layer. Honestly, I can’t really fault this tent, other than wishing it had a little bit more space. But then again, the weight was such a bonus, I’m not sure I’d want to compromise that, just for a bit more space.
Verdict
The OEX Hyena II tent is a very good tent, especially for a budget tent – and make no mistake, at the price, this really is a budget tent. It’s a great tent to keep handy for a spur-of-the-moment outdoor adventure. It’s lightweight, doesn’t take up much space, easy to put up and copes really well in a wide range of weather conditions.
There will be times when you need a more spacious option, and this won’t be suitable if you are on a family camping trip, or you have loads of gear. That’s not what this is designed for – it’s a lightweight tent for wild camping, or moving from place to place when you use your tent for sleeping in and not much else.
You can see why this is such a popular tent though. It just ticks all of the boxes, and does it all really well. We will definitely be taking this on our next outdoor adventure.