Is it a tent? Is it a shelter? No, it’s both… kind of. The Naturehike Bear 2 tent (or Naturehike Bear UL2 as it’s also known) is a single skin dome tent that doesn’t have any vestibules. It makes a great summer shelter – ideal for enjoying the views. It reminds us a bit of the OneTigris Scaena that we covered recently, with its internal fly doors. The Naturehike Bear 2 is well made, spacious, and has huge doors that open right up… but will it work for you? Let’s take an in-depth look and see.
Is the Naturehike Bear 2 tent single skin?
Yes it is. This is a single skin tent with double layer doors – the outer layer being mesh and the inner layer being a waterproof nylon that zips up inside for privacy and to keep rain/wind out. On Naturehike’s website they talk about inner and outer, this and that – but that’s just confusing. Just to reiterate, the Bear 2 is a single skin tent with double layer doors.
This is a pretty unique tent design. We’re not quite sure what the benefit is of having the mesh layer of the door on the outside and the waterproof material on the inside. Having that the other way round seems like it would function better and would be more typical of double layer doors that you can get on many tents, particularly on tents aimed at campsite camping (this is because double layer doors weigh more, so they tend to be reserved for tents that are designed to be used car-camping, etc).
Is the Naturehike Bear 2 tent suitable for tall people?
Well we reckon it is, yes. This is a spacious shelter, that’s for sure. It is 225cm long and has reasonably vertical end walls meaning even when you’re on a sleeping pad there should still be plenty of room at the ends for all but the tallest of people.
Naturehike Bear 2 tent spec
Colour(s):
Forest Green or Navy Blue
Size (No of persons):
2
Dimensions:
L 225cm x W 144cm x H 105cm (89″ x 57″ x 41″)
Weight:
Approx 1.9kg (4.2lbs) Note: this does not include the footprint that comes with the tent.
Fabrics:
Main outer material including the floor is 20D sil nylon.
The huge doors have two layers made up of an outer B3 mesh layer and an inner 20D sil nylon layer.
The footprint is 210T polyester (this is a separate groundsheet to go under the tent for added protection, and is included with the tent).
Note: Naturehike call the fabrics on this tent “lattice cloth” and “check cloth” which we assume is some sort of ripstop fabric (which typically helps prevent tears).
Waterproof rating:
Outer/flysheet and floor – 3000mm HH
Footprint: 4000mm HH
Poles:
700D Aluminium. There are three poles. Two that cross over in the same way that the poles do on the OEX Rakoon tent or the Fjällräven Abisko View, for those that are familiar with those two tents. There is also a smaller pole that threads through and goes across the centre of the tent, side to side.
Number of entrances:
2
Number of vestibules:
None
Pack size:
Approx L 50cm x W 15cm (20″ x 6″)
Recommended seasons:
1-2 summer only
Pitching:
This is a single skin tent, and therefore pitches as one.
What’s included when you buy the Bear 2 UL tent?
Tent, footprint, 3 poles, 8 stakes/pegs, 4 guy lines, storage bag.
Naturehike Bear 2 tent price
CHECK PRICE and AVAILABILITY on Amazon UK
What do we like about the Naturehike Bear 2 tent?
- For a start, we like the colours. Naturehike can sometimes produce tents that are bright colours – not ideal for wild-camping or blending into your surroundings, but the Bear 2’s colours are more earthy, particularly the forest green colour.
- It’s really spacious – plenty big enough for tall people too – which is pretty rare for tents. Given this size, it is still an ok weight for one person to carry.
- It has two huge doors that open right up. For summer camping this tent could be pretty cool – literally. You can sleep with the doors totally open; you can zip up and just have mesh doors; and you can also zip up the inner nylon door layer for privacy and to keep the weather out.
- It appears to be well constructed from decent fabrics with an adequate waterproof rating.
What don’t we like about the Naturehike Bear 2 tent?
- The doors lean inward slightly which is one of our pet hates in tent design – it can result in water dripping all over your gear when you open the doors (during or after rain). There is a kind of hood bit that goes out over the doors, but that isn’t going to help much as it doesn’t cover the whole door area.
- The doors unzip so that they basically fall to the floor. This means they look scruffy, get in the way and provide a nice little hiding place for bugs. We much prefer tent doors that tie up with toggles to the side or top. However, we do appreciate that this design of door allows for massive entrances – which this tent has.
- As always with single skin tents, condensation could be a problem; however, the tent is well ventilated. There are the huge mesh doors plus two standard vents at the ends of the tent. There are neat little features like being able to open and close the vents from the inside of the tent.
- Another small niggle might be that the pole structure, rather like the OEX Rakoon, creates a flat top tent. This isn’t good for rain or snow as it can easily connect on top as we found with the Rakoon. However, the Naturehike Bear 2 tent is not designed for inclement weather or winter use. It is designed for warm dry summer nights, and for that it should perform well.
Naturehike Bear 2 tent – Summary
The Naturehike Bear 2 is an interesting tent. It will be fun to see how people find it over this summer and what the reviews are like. It could prove to be a fantastic shelter for summer camping, festivals and even for use on the beach. It would also be great, erected with a tarp over the top, to provide some extra protection from summer storms. Naturehike tents are generally good quality and the Bear 2 is no exception. For the quality and price the Naturehike Bear 2 tent is certainly one to consider.
If the Naturehike Bear 2 tent costs a little more than you intend to spend, check out our Budget 2 person wild-camping tents article, which has a range of great options for people on a budget. Also, check out our Naturehike tents article which takes a look at all their most popular tents.
