Tramping Equipment: Orson Indie 1P UL Tent

 Another tent for the tramping equipment cupboard

Over the weekend I brought myself a new lite weight tramping tent to add to my already extensive stable of shelters. It is the one person Orson Indie 1P UL Tent which is another lite weight shelter for use on my tramping and back country adventures. 

The Orson Indie 1P UL tent

Orson tents are made in conjunction with Intents Outdoors an Auckland based importer of outdoor equipment. Orson is their new in house brand manufactured overseas to NZ specifications. Intents Outdoors have existed from the mid 2000's and provide a range of outdoor gear including tents, shelters, camping gear, camp kitchen and car camping items. 

The Intents Outdoors website

The Indie 1P UL is a tarp shelter which means it can be erected with a treking pole or optional tent pole. I always carry a set of trekking poles so it makes sense to use a tarp tent as a lite weight shelter. The Indie 1 weighs in at just over 1 kg and is long enough, wide enough and tall enough to provide space for myself, my sleeping pad and my gear. 

Dimensions of the Indie 1P

The Indie 1 is a pyramid style tent with a outer fly with a 4000mm water rating and a 8000mm rated floor. It will have significantly more water protection than my Big Agnes tent which will allow me to camp further into the summer shoulder seasons. 

Indie 1P UL tent in green...side view

The tent is available in either bright orange or a mid green color (mine is green) and they are a combination of sil nylon, polyester and netting material. It has one vestibule and one opening and needs to be pegged to the ground to erect. The outer fly and inner tent can be erected separately, together or outer first so the inner can be kept dry if erecting in rain. 

You can also buy the Indie 1P in this bright orange color

The tent packs down to a relatively small size and has its own waterproof stuff sack for storage when not in use. There is a set of 9 Y shaped aluminium pegs and I will replace 2-4 of these with longer V stakes for the foot and head. 

The Indie 1P comes with a waterproof drybag

The inner dimensions of the Indie 1P are roughly the same as my Copper Spur UL 1 and like that tent this is a single person shelter. The Indie is a little bit taller so I will have to take some care when pitching as it will probably be more prone to wind.  This is a minor problem for me as I do not often pitch my tent on exposed hills. 

I have seen a number of other people using this tent here in New Zealand and it is the main shelter of one of the tramping vloggers I like to watch. I brought this tent from Hunting and Fishing at Tower Junction and it cost $350 NZ Dollars. This is the first time I have seen these tents here in Christchurch and H & F had a good selection of the Orson tent range in stock. 

There are two optional additions to this tent with either a metal or carbon fiber pole available and a ground sheet cut to the correct dimensions for the tent. I have ordered a metal pole for the tent but I'm not sure if I will order a ground sheet to go with it. The pole cost $30 from Intents Outdoors an online store here in New Zealand.

I have already ordered one of the optional Indie metal poles

I usually cut some plastic sheeting to size for a footprint and use this as it it is lighter and more durable than a nylon groundsheet. I have also used Tyvek and space blankets for ground sheets in the past so I will have to decide what I want to use with this shelter. 

Optional Indie1P footprint is about $60 NZD

 I am looking forward to getting this out and into the backcountry to see how it performs. 

The Indie 1 in use...

There is nothing to see here yet as I have not had the opportunity to pitch the tent. 

Here are a couple of photos I found showing the tent pitched. This particular instance is using the optional metal pole you can purchase for this tent and a treking pole. I have already ordered one of the poles from Intents Outdoors and I expect it to arrive in the mail sometime this week. 

Side view of a pitched Orson Indie 1P using trekking pole

Another view of a pitched Orson Indie 1P with metal pole

I will be taking this outside and pitching it as soon as we have some dry weather so I can practice raising and lowering before I need to use it on a tramp. I will add some photos to this post when I have been able to do so.