KROKO 051 - novi univerzalni šator za 1 osobu / mega review

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Ovaj review sam napisao na engleskom i s obzirom da ima 7 A4 stranica, ne bih ga baš prevodio na hrvatski. Nadam se da svi više-manje razumijete, a ako zapnete - Google translate će pomoći

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KROKO 051 – universal tent / Croatian special forces 4 season bivy tent / bivy bag



Manufacturer: Kroko International

Used by: Croatian Army Special Forces Battalion on clandestine missions

Design: freestanding triple hoop (should be additionally supported with stakes and guy lines)

Manufacturer instructions tag:
Upper and bottom inside material is triple layer Sympatex with breathable membrane. Bottom outer material is Cordura. Produced in 2008. The tag specifically states that the tent provides protection in all climate conditions and that the durability of color and material is "at the highest level". The tent is waterproof and breathable. Should be set up away from fire or high temperature.

Washing the tent in the machine renews the waterproofness level. Tent can be machine washed at low temperature setting with mild detergent, then washed with clean water and promptly dried. Bleach or starch should be avoided. The item can be air dried or machine dried for 10 minutes at low setting.


My aditional information:



Dimensions:

erected size:

length: 245 cm / 8 feet
front area: 45 cm high, 90 cm wide / 1.5 ft high, 2.9 ft wide
end area: 40 cm high, 80 cm wide / 1.3 ft high, 2.6 ft wide

packed size: (could be slightly further compressed)

length 37 cm / 14 inch
height 18 cm / 7 inch
width 20 cm / 8 inch

Packed size comparison with USGI modular sleep system

Weight:
complete kit (without compression sack): 3,5 kg / 7.7 pounds
just the bivy (no poles or stakes): 2,5 kg / 5.5 pounds
aluminum poles: 600 gr / 1.3 pounds


Cordura on the bottom, Sympatex on the top and bottom inside

Upper shell material: 3 layer laminated Sympatex with hydrophilic 100% waterproof and windproof membrane, fully recyclable. Membrane is stretch-proof up to 300% and has a "Smart dynamic Membrane Technology" system, allowing more vapor to escape as humidity inside rises.

Bottom outer material: Cordura Ballistic fabric (comparable to 3500 denier nylon) + inner Sympatex layer

Water column resistance: extremely high 45,000 mm (bottom area probably even more)

Breathable membrane: yes, RET value of 1,7 up to 0,5 (0-6 considered extremely breathable).
"Resistance-to-evaportransportation" values are measured in simulated perspiration laboratory tests but also measured with human subjects. Together, these values are known as "Comfort Rating System". Comparably, Gore Tex Pro membrane has RET value between 4 and 6 – lower value is better.

Insect protection: two Spacer mesh windows




Seams and zippers: all seams have been factory taped and sealed, storm flaps and waterproof & windproof guards on all zippers. All zippers can be accessed both from inside and outside (except the chest ventilation opening).

Openings:

L shaped zippered main entrance (full length) with velcro patches
zippered "sniper" window at the front with spacer mesh and drawstring in the storm flap
zppered chest ventilation opening with spacer mesh and velcro patches
aditional ventilation tunnel on the feet end with snow flap and double draw string closing system (no mesh)

Color: Croatian Army version of standard woodland camo

Price: unkown / not available for civilian purchase



DISCLAIMER:
This is the first time this bivy tent is making a public appearance anywhere! That's the reason I am doing my best to provide as much detailed information as possible, in case that in time there may be other tents leaking into the public market. All the measurments of size are my own and therefore may not be 100% accurate. Weight was measured on 2 separate digital scales. Please allow for 5% margin of error. I am in no way connected to Kroko or Croatian army. The information about RET values and Sympatex / Goretex / Cordura was found on material manufacturer's own web sites. I will compare the tent to it's obvious competition and I will also be comparing materials. I own several Goretex products and have been more then satisfied with them. Everything is written in good faith and any possible mistakes are unintentional.



Introduction

For years I've been drooling over the fantastic Carinthia bivy tents and bivy bags, and have spent many days reading and watching the reviews online – unfortunately, the price was always a show stopper for me. I just couldn't justify the 600 euro / 800 US$ price tag for the Carinthia Observer Plus, and especially not the Carinthia Micro Tent 720 euro / 950 US$ price tag. Of course, I have also spent a lot of time exploring other cheaper popular military bivy tents, such as the Dutch army bivy tent, the British SAS bivy tent, the Snugpak Stratosphere and Ionosphere or Ecotat Freedom shelter. I also own two complete USGI MSS sleeping systems, so it was always hard for me to justify getting yet another bivy, just for a marginal upgrade over what I already had and have been using.

Then last week, during one of my multi-hour internet browsing sessions about bivy tents, I decided to check a local croatian online trading portal for some used military tarps. Since Croatia had an independence war 20 years ago, it's no surprise that the military surplus market here is very active. Among those items I noticed a simple ad about a "Universtal Croatian Army tent for one person". There was no information at all, apart from the photo of the manufacturers info tag and 2 poor photos of the tent. My first reaction naturally was to go and Google it, but the mighty search engine returned zero results. I tried mixing and matching the keywords without any luck. Finally I found a discussion about Kroko, the contract manufacturer for Croatian Army, that among other things mentioned that our special forces were getting a full set of new gear, including a personal tent. And even though almost every piece of equipment was showcased in croatian military magazine Hrvatski Vojnik, the photo of the tent was nowhere to be found. All I knew was that there was a new bivy tent issued and that this ad was the only instance it ever appeared online. I decided to contact the seller to try and find out more and I soon learned that this was indeed the tent issued to special forces to be used on missions abroad, that it had mesh screens inside and a "long door". The seller also said that the tent was new and unused, did not have a bag, but he was willing to throw in a British army compression sack into the package. We settled on the very affordable price and few days later it arrived.





First impressions and setting it up

My initial reaction when I unpacked it and rolled it out was... Wow!

First of all let me just say that every single detail is oozing with quality, I kept opening the doors, the zippers, the velcro patches, I was checking the seams, the storm flaps... You name it. I just could not find a weak spot. It's also really big and spacious. Compared to the USGI MSS bivy bag, this is a luxurious bivy tent.

It takes about 2 minutes to unpack and set the tent up (without staking it). I'm pretty confident that with some practice it can be fully set up, pegged out and guy-lined out in under that time. My main time sink was figuring out which tent pole goes where, since they're not color coded. I've now gone and color coded thm myself with some electrical tape by adding 2 lines for the long pole, 1 line for the middle pole and no lines for the end pole. The poles can only be set up one way, so there's no way to mess it up. The tent poles are shock-corded 9mm thick aluminum and they snap one into another almost automatically. Poles slide into dead-end pockets at the bottom and these pockets seem to have the function of reducing the chance that a pole may get discolated during night shuffling or under high wind. Personally, I find it strange that the tent poles have been left in their original silver color, considering this is a military tent and camo is high on the priority list. I will probably paint them in olive green myself. The tent arrived with standard 5 pegs, which I will probably exchange for wider spade aluminum poles for use in snow.







Design & features

The Kroko bivy tent features a unique design with a combination of double hooped front dome and an addional hoop at the end. It's almost like a combination of Carinthia's Observer Plus and Micro tent bivy.

The front part of the bivy tent is freestanding, meaning you can pass on the end side single hoop pole if you're saving on weight – and that's something I will discuss in detail later on. However, the design of the tent obviously intended it to be staked out and guy lined with a single rope on the back and front ends (using guy lines on the front is not necessary though, and can also be a annoying if you plan on using the front side entrance). Guy lines are not included and I have made my own from paracord, but I have a feeling that using shock cord may be a better choice. You should also note that it's not really possible to tighten up the tent cover to 100% in order to form a tunnel shape. If it was, opening and closing the main door would be very hard because of the surface tension. Instead, there's some sag in the middle area and it's more then obvious this is intentional.





Starting at the very front, there's a "sniper" window that can be unzipped and rolled inside. Around it is a generous storm flap with draw string and the position of the tent's roof is such that the chance of rain entering is drastically reduced even when the window is fully opened. Depending on wind direction and the tent's position, it seems that you could keep the window fully open even in moderate to heavy rain. The window can be used to exit the tent, which can be handy if you need to go out while it's raining and you don't want to get the sleeping bag or the interior wet. Also, it would allow for cooking without leaving the tent.


Spacer mesh insect bug - not your ordinary no-see-um mesh

The sniper window also has an inner mesh to keep the insects out, but to my surprise I realized that this is not the standard no-see-um mesh that pretty much all other tents use. The moment I unzipped the outer Sympatex cover, I realized there was something strange about the bug net and sure enough, after some digging around my other equipment and some internet searching, I figured out that this was actually a Spacer mesh fabric. This is the sort of fabric you would see on military backpacks paddings – 3 mm thick mesh, with an additional highly breathable membrane on the inner side. Quite a cool feature, considering this type of fabric is way, way more robust than the classic no-see-um mesh.


Spacer mesh from both sides

Moving on across the head area that is also the highest point of the tent, we arrive at the main entrance door. The L shaped door opens by unzipping the two waterproofed and windproofed zippers (one for vertical line, one for horizontal). Each zipper can be opened or closed separately from both inside and outside. The zippers are additionally protected by wide stormflaps that attach securely to the tent's shell by evenly spaced velcro patches. Theoretically, one could use just the velcro patches to close the door and stay dry in vertical rain conditions. Still, zipping it up is probably the smartest choice.


L shaped main door


Chest ventilation - with extra wide storm flap, velcro patches and zippers

Right under the vertical main door zipper is a trapezoid shaped ventilation opening with the same Spacer mesh fabric. The mesh cannot be unzipped (it would be pointless, since the main door zip is basically few centimeters away). This ventilation window is covered on the outside by a large piece of material that can be zip closed and the zip itself is again additonally protected by yet another storm flap with velcro patches.

The bottom zip of the L shaped main door runs down the full lenght of the bivy, all the way to the end loop pole. Behind the end hoop, the bivy tent changes into a triangle shaped area, the tip of which has a thick Cordura stake out loop. There are additional 6 stake out loops, 4 at the front and 2 at the end.


An extra ventilation opening at the end with generous snow flap and double draw strings

Suprisingly, opposite of the main door, there's a 30 cm long tube-shaped ventilation opening, obviously inspired by the ventilation snow flaps on alpine expedition tents. This 15 cm wide tunnel has two drawstrings, one at the begining and one at the end, so you can fine tune the size of the opening, and also guy line it if needed.



Ventilation wise, this tent definitivelly offers a lot and seems to be very usable even in warm weather. There are a couple of bivy tents that feature a full-hull inner mesh, so during summer can be kept completely open. That would obviously be more comfortable but if it's that warm outside, I guess you could open everything and use just a featherlight mesh over you to keep the bugs away.

The camo pattern is a Croatian Army variation of woodland camo, officialy called Woodland 02. It s a very similar pattern to NATO's woodland with just slightly tweaked color pallete.


Lot's of space available - Thermarest XL inside the bivy


Just for illustration, complete USGI MSS stuffed into the empty cargo space at the feet-end of the tent.

The interior of the tent provides a generous amount of space. For example, I can easily fit my XL Thermarest ridge mat inside, an inflatable mat, both USGI MSS sleeping bags and still have extra free space on both sides. Compared to the Carinthia observer, this bivy offers extra 15 cm / 6 inches of width and is 5 cm / 2 inch longer. Length of the tent and the endside hoop allow to comfortably accomodate one person, a full sleeping system, large backpack, a weapon and boots. One could probably fit even more stuff inside, such as food and water, especially at the end of the tent. Naturally, if there are bears around, it's not advisable to keep food in your tent. In a pinch, two people can sleep inside, but obviously either back-to-back or spooned.



Everything ready for a comfortable night sleep. Atop of Thermarest is an inflatable pad and I used both bags from the USGI MSS.


Build quality and materials

Imagine a top quality waterproof military backpack, as robust as possible and enlarged to sleep a single person with a substantial amount of gear, and this is what you get. The Croatian goverment contractor Kroko produces most of the NATO-standard equipment that the Croatian army is using, including among other shoes, uniforms, holsters, belts, bags and backpacks. And this tent shows a lot of that that legacy. It's a bivy tent in which no compromises were made and both the materials and design are absolutely top notch.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but this bivy tent may actually be an overkill for civilian use. I'm struggling to find the right comparison, but let's say it's like getting a fully decked and armed Abrams M1 tank, when all you really need to get to a location is a Jeep Wrangler. Speaking of overkills, this whole review is a bit of an overkill, but I'm going to disect this tent all the way so bear with me...

The Sympatex material really looks and feels reassuring and by everything I've been reading online, it's giving Gore Tex a run for the money. Here's some quotes from Sympatex about their membrane: "The molecular structure (hydrophilic components) of the Sympatex membrane swells in moisture and therefore provides space for water vapour transport and fast evaporation. This effect increases as the difference in temperature and moisture rises. The requirement for this function is a partial pressure gradient of the temperature and humidity from inside to outside."



What this means is that in conditions where higher moisture inside the bivy tent is expected, such as winter, when the air outiside is both cold and dry, the membrane will in fact have higher breathability and vapor transporting capabilities. Of course, every manufacturer likes to brag, and I will be very surprised if there's zero condensation inside the tent in extreme conditions. For example using the USGI bivy bag in snow usually results in Goretex material frosting up on the inside above your head but you shouldn't have to worry about waking up soaking wet.

Right now the weather here is unusually nice, sunny and warm, and in these sort of conditions there was absolutely no condensation inside the tent. I slept in both green and black USGI MSS sleeping bags and they were in direct contact with the Sympatex shell during the night. The bags were also totally dry. By the way, I used the tent completely closed off, trying to provoke condensation, but in the morning everything was dry, despite the high humidity and fog outside in the morning. The temperature during night stayed around 10 degrees C / 50 degree Farhenheit. Also, I had no problem with air supply, I slept normally through the night. I plan on testing it in rougher conditions as soon as the snow falls this year, and will try to update this review as I start using the bivy in different conditions.


All the seams and stitches have been factory tape-waterproofed

A very strong point for the Sympatex is the fact that you can machine wash it and that normal everyday laundry detergents can be used, especially when compared to porous membrane materials that require special detergents and where frequent washing actually degrades the material's performance. Another plus is the fact that the Sympatex membrane doesn't have clogging problems with oil, various chemicals or salty human sweat, and especially important that it can be stretched more then 3 times, providing constant performance level and higher wear & tear resistance.

That waterproof rating is not a typo – Sympatex provides 45,000 mm water column resistance. Compared to average camping tents that usually have ratings between 3,000 and 10,000, or even Goretex that has 24,000, this is seriously impressive. The insane waterproof rating does come at a price of breathability, and from what I could gather from very complicated measurment methods, testing results and the usual PR department BS, Sympatex is (on paper) as breathable as Goretex.


Complete bottom side is covered with Cordura nylon. The stake loops run across the bottom as well, making sure you can't over tighten the tent

My biggest surprise is actually at the bottom side of the tent. I have never seen or heard that Cordura Ballistic nylon was used as a tent floor for tents of this size and type, and was really shocked to see it there. Cordura nylon is sometimes used as flooring in those huge "house-like" tents that are often used for base camps, or in Africa as permanent tourist accomodation. I'm sure that most people reading this will probably already know that Cordura Ballistic is the sort of nylon material used for toughest military aplication, so I will just say that this bivy tent can definitively be used directly on even the roughest surfaces without having to worry about puncturing the inner Sympatex material, while also providing aditional heat insulation.


The weight issue

And speaking of Cordura... I come to one and only issue I'm sure many will have with this bivy tent - the weight. All those nice, tough and durable materials come at the price of weight. At slightly over 3.5 kg / 7.7 pounds for the full set, this will be way too heavy for most mountain backpackers, especially considering there are bivy tent solutions that weigh half of that.

Obviously, military contractors rarely put weight on top of their priority lists. The main goals are that the items are tough, usable and reliable, and somewhere at the bottom probably comes weight. Also, it would be unfair to judge this by the same standards of modern mountaineering gear, considering this tent is intended for professional elite forces that are trained and used to hauling huge amounts of weight over large distances.


Compared to the USGI MSS goretex bivy

I'm pretty sure that the scale tipped high mainly because of that Cordura floor. After all, it's almost 2 square meters / 21 square feet of the heavy nylon material, with additional 2 square meters of Sympatex on the inner side. The long waterproofed and windproofed zippered openings with double storm flaps also surely contribute to the weight, and finally the 9mm / 0.3 inch aluminum poles are tough as nails, but also on the heavy side.

If there is ever an open market version of this tent, I have no doubt that removing the Cordura on the bottom, shortening the zippered openings, using thinner 6mm poles, maybe reducing the overall width and using single layer storm flaps would bring the total weight well under comparable Carinthia bivy tents. The question is would this be the same tent then, but it would definitively be a serious contender for people that traverse alpine areas.

In it's current shape, the way to shave off some weight would be to ditch the end hoop and stakes, and possibly exchange the 9mm aluminum poles for something thinner and lighter. With this, the weight could be brought to 3kg / 6.6 pounds. The bivy can also be used without poles at all, and could be just strinnged up with a piece of paracord threaded through included guy line grommets. The stakes can be made from branches. That would come to 2,5 kg / 5.5 pounds, and it's the lightest you can get.


The tent works just as well without the back hoop

The tent can be compressed to half the size of the complete USGI modular sleep system, which sounds great, but realistically it also needs to be said that there are many 2 person tents that pack to about the same size. Not to mention single person ultralight mountain trekking tents that can be packed to a size of a Nalgene bottle. Still, packed up as tight as I could get, it just about fits into the bottom compartment of my Pro-Force 99 litre backpack, from where it can be retrieved without disturbing the rest of the backpack.


It's not going to get a lot smaller then this...


Conclusion

It is what it is: big, bombproof, no-compromise, military bivy tent of the highest quality, for people that need no-fuss and no-worry solution to sleeping in toughest conditions. But also for people that are willing to haul the extra weight in return for the benefits.

Apart from the military, I see this being very tempting for hunters and wildlife photographers (because of the sniper window), car campers, preppers, airsoft, bushcraft or general audience that likes to spend their days in moderately hilly forrests, but prefers low profile and blending in. Mountain trekkers should probably look for something lighter.



At this time I have no idea what could be the price if this ever officially hits the market. There are some products from Kroko that are legally sold in authorized stores, but the prices of items are sky-high. Some of their large backpacks can cost up to 600 € / 900 US$, so don't expect discount prices.   Still, if you're interested in buying one, I suggest you try contacting Kroko International. Perhaps they decide to offer some of these for the general public if there's enough interest. Another way to obtain it is to scan the internet. Kroko is making contract work for other countries, such as Kuwait, Montenegro, Sweden, Kosovo, Germany etc. so it's possible these tents are or will be used in other countries as well.


Waking up in the forrest next to a river, this is what you get

I am going to publish this review in two international forums and one Croatian – so it reaches the maximum of the interested public, but also to make sure it survives any possible web site crashes. I will also try and update this with more impressions and photographs as I begin to use the tent in different conditions.

On https://imgur.com/a/RuBKV#0 you can check the full gallery with high res images!

If you read this far - thanks! Hopefully it was not too boring


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U P D A T E S

Evo, kao što sam i obećao, dodatne informacije nakon korištenja će biti na hrvatskom...

Dakle, ovog vikenda šator je prošao kišno krštenje. Taman sam ga počeo postavljati kad je počelo padati, nabrzaka sam ga složio, potrpao sve unutra i pridružio se ekipici oko vatre. Idućih par sati je padala kiša puhao je jak vjetar, a kad sam došao na spavanje, evo kako je šator izgledao:




Kao što vidite, hidrofobni materijal odbija vodu i sva se tekućina skuplja u kuglice. Kad kuglice narastu dovoljno velike, jednostavno skliznu niz stijenku šatora i to je to.

Na lokaciji na kojoj smo spavali nije bilo nikakvog prirodnog zaklona, jedna velika čista livada, na obroncima "planine" Banska Kosa u Baranji. Što ćete, za baranjske pojmove, to je planina :)Temperatura noću je bila oko 10 C, a koliko je bio stvarni osjećaj ne znam točno, ali mogu reći da smo se mi na vjetru dobrano smrznuli, unatoč toploj odjeći. Vjetar je prema službenim podacima puhao između 50 i 60 kmh, iako mislim da je na toj nizbrdici bilo i puno jačih udara. Tijekom noći kiša je padala još nekoliko puta.

Kao i zadnji puta, šator se pokazao u najboljem mogućem svjetlu. Iako me brinulo hoće li voda imati kuda za otići i hoće li se po šatoru napraviti bare s vodom, ujutro na šatoru nije bilo ni kapi tekućine. Također, voda nigdje nije uspjela ući unutra, mada je kiša u kombinaciji s vjetrom bila kao da vas netko tušira s udaljenosti od par metara.

Kao i prošli puta, ni traga kondenzaciji - bez obzira što sam opet pozatvarao sve ventilacijske otvore. Htio sam ostaviti mali otvor za zrak, međutim vjetar je bio hladan i prejak, pa sam sve ipak zatvorio. Također, nije mi bilo ni najmanje zagušljivo unutra, diše se i spava najnormalnije. Ujutro sam provjerio cijelu unutrašnjost i pregledao vreće za spavanje i sve je bilo skroz suho. Nigdje nisam našao ni kap vode u šatoru.

Oko 5 ujutro sam se probudio jer mi je bilo pretoplo u flis jakni i s kapom na glavi, a morao sam i na wc. Totalno sam se iznenadio kad sam otvorio šator i ustao, jer je vani hladni vjetar šibao po livadi, a u šatoru se to uopće nije osjetilo. Tako da mogu potvrditi da je Sympatex membrana 100% vjetronepropusna, kao i svi oni zatvarači.

Što se tiče mokrenja, dovoljno je otvoriti šator, ustati i doslovno "pišati niz vjetar"! Naravno, pod uvjetom da se niz vjetar ne nalaze tuđi šatori

Ono što sam ujutro primjetio jest da su se aluminijski štapovi malo izvukli iz svojih džepova. Pretpostavljam da sam se ja vrtio u snu, pa vjerovatno udario u vrh šatora i izgurao ih malo van ili sam ih možda nategnuo kad sam se ustajao u noći, ali ću svakako pripaziti ubuduće na to. Ne vjerujem da je u pitanju vjetar, zato što su na zadnjoj strani šatora štapovi bili na svom mjestu.

Isto tako, ako se puno okrećete u snu, možda je bolje vreću koristiti samo kao prekrivač. Kad ufrčete zatvorenu vreću par puta u krug, teško se iz nje iskobeljati s obzirom na ograničen prostor. Ja nekad spavam k'o klada, a nekad se eto i okrećem k'o ražanj, ali mislim da ubuduće vreća ostaje barem donekle otvorena. Ovaj puta sam u šatoru sa sobom imao ruksak od 55 litara, Merrel čizme, dugačku vojnu jaknu / kaput, XL Thermarest, neki vojni samonapuhavajući madrac te dvije USGI vreće (zelenu i crnu). Imao sam naravno i hrpu sitnica poput naglavne lampe, mobitela, novčanika itd. Baš zbog toga sam poželio da su negdje naprijed ušili džep za sitnice. Nije da nešto posebno smetaju po šatoru, ali bi bilo zgodnije da se takve stvari mogu držati na jednom mjestu negdje pri ruci.

Toliko za sada - šator je položio ispit na kiši s čistom peticom, ostaje još vidjeti kako će se ponašati u snijegu.

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U P D A T E S   2

Snijega još uvijek nema, ali temperature su pale ispod nule, pa jedan kratki osvrt na korištenje šatora u takvim uvjetima.

Vlaga zraka je bila 85%, temperatura noću oko -5 stupnjeva. Ujutro je bilo magle i mraza. Vjetra nije bilo.


Kampiranje u naplavnoj šumi - ovo je plivalo pod vodom veći dio ljeta

Kao i prethodnih nekoliko puta, šator ne pokazuje nikakve naznake kondenzacije. Opet sam ga koristio potpuno zatvorenog i iako sam tijekom noći u jednom trenu mrvicu otvorio onaj snajperski prozor, taman dovoljno da van gurnem nekoliko prstiju, ledeni zrak iz vana me brzo natjerao da sve opet zatvorim.

U kombinaciji sa pernatom vrećom spava se kraljevski. Dio oko glave se zagrijao u roku od sat vremena i bio znatno topliji od okoliša. Ujutro sam pregledao i vreću i šator i nigdje nije bilo tragova kondenzacije.


Tu se dobro vidi kako su složeni slojevi za spavanje

Zanimljivo, kao i prethodnih par puta, ako rukom dodirnete stijenku šatora, imate osjećaj da je mokra (i hladna!). Međutim baš ništa ne ostaje na prstima i ništa se ne prenosi na odjeću i vreću koja je u konstantnom kontaktu sa stijenkama šatora. Mislim da je taj osjećaj "mokrosti" zapravo membrana koja polako usisava vlagu iz unutašnjosti šatora i prenosi ju van.

Ujutro je šator iz vana bio skroz suh, iako je vlaga zraka vani bila vrlo visoka i iako je bilo i magle i mraza. Usporedbe radi, kolega je spavao u običnom McKinely šatoru za 2 osobe i njegova vanjska cerada je bila potpuno mokra, u tolikoj mjeri da smo morali brisati šator da se brže osuši.


Čisto da dobijete dojam koliko je zapravo velik Eberlestock Skycrane II - golemo čudo! Ono što strši je Thermarest, pozicioniran tako da ne zapinje o granje.

Ovoga puta sam u šator nagurao zaista rekordnu količinu stvari. Nisam htio ništa ostavljati vani zbog vlage, pa je sa mnom unutra išlo:
1. Thermarest Ridge Rest
2. izolacijski madrac 2,5 cm
3. pernata polu-vreća LINK
4. Eberlestock Skycrane II
5. Eberlestock Duffle bag
6. Merrel Moab
7. čutura
8. jakna + podjakna
9. hlače + podhlače
10. cijeli niz sitnica


Na povratku malo drugačiji način pakiranja, pošto smo prokrčili put.

Najveću brigu mi je zadavao ogromni Skycrane, ali ispostavilo se da čak i uz njega ima i više nego dovoljno mjesta za ispružiti se bez ikakvih ograničenja. Čekam snijeg, pa da vidmo hoće li se i u takvim uvjetima iskazati!

Izvrsna recenzija,dugo nisam pročitao bolju...bravo na trudu.  

Bravo kolega, pohvala za objavu i na inozemnim forumima tako prezentirajući naš kvalitetan i dobar šator.

U skladu sa svim do sad napisanim od novog nam člana, mladog i razboritog kolege Inshpektora. Svaka čast.

untisunpora, kaki rivju u 2 ujutro, bice se nisi naspal nešto!  
kolega, mega komplimenti!

Hvala ljudi A review sam polako pisao cijeli tjedan, svaki dan po jedan paragraf...

I od nas nešto dobro. 

Inspektore, ako ti svaku svoju inspekciju ovako detaljno obaviš, ne d'o mi Bog da mi zakucaš na vrata   A ako sad moderatori budu tražili da svaki review bude urađen na ovoj razini, onda ćemo gledati jedno dva do tri na godinu, akobogda. Zaslužio si brate da te Kroko gratis odjene, obuje, opremi i odvede na ručak, barem jednom.

Hahaha Francius, nikad ne reci nikad Ma dao sam si truda, jer sam u biti i sam pokusavao istraziti sto vise o satoru, posto nema nigdje ni jednog slova o njemu. A prava je steta, jer da Kroko ovo ponudi za civilno trziste, mislim da bi bilo puno zainteresiranih... U svakom slucaju, za rucak vise manje, ali ne bih se bunio da mi u znak zahvalnosti Djeda Mraz donese jedan kompletic Kroko opreme

svaka čast na trudu ali velika zamjerka na engleskom! nije mi jasno... tipkao si za neki strani forum ili kaj već pa ono idem zakaćit i na survival?
natipkao si revju za nešto što gotovo nisi ni koristio. opisao si matrijale, dimenzije... i neš malo osobnog iskustva spavanje jednu noč za ljepog jesenjeg vremena! gledajući iz mojih cipela, vjerujem da je pogled iz još podosta cipela forumaša isti, koga briga za matrijale ako radi....
imao sam priliku ovih dana razglabat o nekoliko modela podosta korištenih i detaljno pogledat 2 bivija.. uočavam iste mane i na ovom modelu. neču o njima jer se nadam nastavku recenzije kad ga malo izgaziš.
obzirom na tvoje iskustvo korištenja ovog modela imam samo jedno pitanje.. dal ti se stvorilo šta kondenzacije unutar bivija?
i još jedno pitanjce dal imaš iskustva sa drugim modelima ili ti je ovo prvi?
sori na iskrenosti, niš osobno

Hej Kengur, nema problema niti zamjerki. Ali moram se ipak malo obraniti... Stvar je u tome što o ovom biviju ne postoje nikakve informacije, a u usporedbi sa općepoznatim bivijima i materijalima koji se kod njih koriste, ovo je poprilično egzotično.

Zato sam toliko puno pisao o materijalima i njihovim karakteristikama, pošto svi više-manje znaju kakav je Goretex, ali sumnjam da puno ljudi zna išta o Sympatexu. Slažem se da je bitno da nešto jednostavno radi, ali isto kao što na automehaničarskim forumima ljude zanima zašto neki novi auto ima manju potrošnju goriva a bolje performanse, mislim da nije suvišno objasniti kako radi materijal za koji ljudi uglavnom nisu čuli. Ista stvar s dimenzijama i težinom. Ne postoje nigdje službeni podaci, pa sam skužio da nema smisla pisati review ako ga sam ne izmjerim i ne izvažem.

A dijelom sam bio jako opširan zato što puno review-a drugih bivija koje sam čitao uglavnom budu nedorečeni, puno toga se ne opiše ili se iz tekstova ne može shvatiti. A i ak ćemo najiskrenije, možda je to i neki domoljubni ponos, pošto se eto kod nas proizvodi jedan poprilično bad-ass proizvod za kojeg nitko nikad nije čuo

Pisao sam na engleskom, jer pratim i druge forume i znam da mnoge ljude diljem svijeta zanimaju ovakvi proizvodi. Napomenuo sam da se ispričavam zbog engleskog, ali vjerujem da svi više manje razumiju dovoljno engleskog da mogu pročitati review. Nitko me ne plaća za ovo, pa da sad prevodim na tri svjetska jezika + hrvatski.

Inače posjedujem i koristim američki USGI Goretex bivy, tj. cijeli Modular sleep system, a s time sam ga najviše i uspoređivao. Da novac nije upitan, rado bih u svoj komplet dodao i Carinthiu, nizozemski vojni bivi, GoGo lite ili neki od SnugPak bivija... Ali svi znamo kako je želja puno, a mogućnosti malo.

I ja bih volio da je sad vani snijeg i -10, pa da isprobam u takvim uvjetima, ali nažalost nije. Napomenuo sam da planiram nadopuniti review kako ga budem koristio u raznim vremenskim uvjetima.

Što se kondenzacije tiče, nije bilo niti jedne jedine kapi unutra. Dapače, unutra je bio suh k'o barut, unatoč gustoj magli i rosi kraj Drave.

ok, naime jedan od kolega forumaša je imao poplavu od kondenzacije u campovom biviju pa me zato zanimalo.. vremenski uvjeti slićni tvojima.

Čim sam oči otvorio, prvo sam počeo pipati stijenke šatora i nigdje nije bilo ni traga kondenzaciji. A spavao sam sa svim prozorima i ventilacijskim otvorima potpuno zatvorenima, baš da vidim hoće li se skupiti išta. Iduće bih ga volio isprobati po kiši, a onda u zimu po snijegu.

Izvrstan review,zanimljiv šator,nadam se samo da KROKO neće nabit cijenu do neba..

@kengur - važi, sve jasno!

@zippo - eh, tome se baš i ne bih nadao, ako su mjerila cijene koje se traže za Kroko ruksake... Imaš na Hrvatski Vojnik, 60-litarski ruksak po simpatičnih 4.370 kn...

Moram se složiti, definitivno dobar prikaz. Međutim ono što mi bode oči je njegova težina drugo cijena
koja, ako bude prodavan u dućanu sigurno ide nebu pod oblake, znači precijenjena i koliko ljudi si takvu stvarčicu zapravo može priuštiti kao i to dali im je zaista potrebna.Vidim da koristiš modularni sistem za spavanje američke vojske koji također ima popriličnu masu, plus sve ostalo u naprtnjači.Za vojne potrebe
sigurno dobra stvar a za to je taj bivi i namjenjen.Koristim šator za dvije osobe i njegova težina zajedno
sa klinovima i centralom iznosi 1900 grama.
nešto slično ovome:
Pozdrav
http://www.iglusport.hr/katalog/01FE%2099031/MTB[/url]

Nevene, u pravu si 100%, jedina prava mana ovog šatora je težina i vjerovatno visoka cijena ako se ikad nađe u prodaji. Mislim da je Kroko na mnogo mjesta koristio materijale koje su imali pri ruci i koji se inače koriste za ruksake, što je definitivno kumovalo tome da je kvaliteta na najvišoj razini, ali ja bih se rado odrekao npr. dna od Cordure za kilogram težine manje.

Američki MSS je težak k'o beton. Cijeli set 5,5 kg, ali opet ima i prednosti i mana. Baš kao i bilo koje drugo sklonište. Sve ovisi za koju se namjenu koristi, u koje godišnje doba, koliko je pouzdano i koja je cijena. A veliku ulogu igra i koliko je osoba u formi. Sumnjam da je itko od civilnih kampista u istoj fizičkoj spremi kao nekakav vojni specijalac.

Ipak, bez obzira na moja izmrcvarena leđa, ja sam od onih koji će radije vući više tereta i biti siguran da ću mirno spavati, jer ako si ikad doživio poplavu u šatoru, to je iskustvo koje ne želiš ponoviti. Pokušat ću iskombinirati razne vreće za spavanje, podloge i madrace koje imam i svesti kompletnu težinu opreme za spavanje na 5 kg za toplije vrijeme i 7 kg za snijeg. To mi je prihvatljivo za neke kraće rute, a naše slavonske šume su ionako uglavnom ravne k'o tepsija!

Inspektor je napisao/la:

@zippo - eh, tome se baš i ne bih nadao, ako su mjerila cijene koje se traže za Kroko ruksake... Imaš na Hrvatski Vojnik, 60-litarski ruksak po simpatičnih 4.370 kn...

Znam vidio sam ga,dobar je taj ruksak ali nije vrjedan tolikih para...Za te novce možeš uzet jednu ovakvu eberlestock ...

Za te novce se moze uzeti svasta toga Iskreno, ne vidim smisla davati tolike novce za ruksak, kad se izvrsni i kvalitetni ruksaci mogu naci za ispod 1000 kn. Naravno, ovo pricam samo na temelju isksutva sa ruksacima srednje klase, ako netko ima ove skupe varijante, rado bih cuo dojmove.

Evo opet mene i malo mog zanovjetanja !
Iskreno sam bivi mi se apsolutno sviđa, dobra stvar je onaj otvor za "snajperiste" i mrežica.Koliko sam
vidio duži je od ostalih bivija za dobrih 25cm što smatram solidnim prostorom za dio opreme, tako da je bar nešto unutra.Nizak profil i sam kamuflažni uzorak su također detalji koji su mi ok, kvaliteta materijala
i izrade isto tako.Ali kao što sam napomenuo prije, težina i cijena.Ok nemožeš imati i ovce i novce to mi je jasno.Volio bi vidjeti nadopunu recenzije kada se bivi isproba na kiši i snijegu.

Nevene, garantiram da unutra stane ruksak od 50-60 litara + odjeća i čizme, a prema potrebi i oružje. Naravno, pod uvjetom da osoba koja koristi bivi nije 2 metra i 120 kila žive vage Možda bi se dalo još ponešto nagurati unutra, uz malo bolju organizaciju ili odricanje komfora. Sve što je duguljasto ili se može smotati u duguljasti oblik (npr. jakne, hlače i slično) odlično paše uz rubove bivija gdje ima fina količina prostora.

Ja sam ga platio vrlo povoljno, tako da je za mene cijena bila plus, a ne nedostatak. Težina je jedina mana.

A koliko je to povoljno,gledam u Iglu sportu ima Ferrino bivi tent za nekih 900kn,nešto slabijih performansi nepromočivosti ali težine 900g.

Glock, platio sam ga manje od tog Ferrino bivija.

Ahem, ima li ih još za nabaviti po toj cijeni?

Hydra, da ima, kupio bih dva... Nazalost - nema.