Over 10 years ago there was much chatter in the outdoors world about a one-man tent which had everyone raving both at the design and the value for money. The source for this cult piece of outdoor gear was that renowned specialist in the field -Argos…
This tent first appeared as the green “Tiger Paws” and was then inexplicably dropped by Argos, with many going on sale for as little as £5 if I recall correctly. I did have one of those which I foolishly got rid of when I upgraded to a North Face Mountain Marathon, which ultimately I found to be too low and cramped. The North Face tent was ditched, to be replaced by the Pro-Action Hike Lite, which was basically the Tiger Paws but in orange, the design being otherwise identical. Retailing originally at £50, it was often offered on sale, with the last batch clearing out for around £17. This is a whole lot of tent for such a paltry amount.
According to the manufacturer the tent weighs 2.2kg. Over the years I’ve refined the pegs slightly, and mine now weighs in at 2.0kg. The tent is compact and comes in a compression sack which is around 30cm long. The tent itself is fairly simple, consisting of an outer polyester fly, a mesh/polyester inner, two poles (one short, one long) and aluminium pegs. The tent pitches inner first, by laying out the inner and fixing the two poles into their respective grommet holes. The inner is then attached to the poles by small black plastic hooks. The outer then fits over the inner and is secured to base using quick release buckles before being tensioned off using pegs and guy-lines. Pitching takes around 5 minutes.
The tent is roomy inside, with great headroom and sufficient room to store gear. The inner has two small pockets inside, one either side and these are fine for small items which you might want to get at during the night such as a head torch. I normally use my rucksack as a pillow and there’s plenty of room to store a backpack inside. There’s also room in the porch for other gear such as boots and stove. The mesh inner is fine for keeping out midges and could probably be used on its own on fine nights or under a tarp purely to keep the midges off instead of a bug net.
The claimed hydrostatic head is 2000mm and I’ve had no issues with it. On the front face of the tent is a decent sized vent which is propped open using a foam insert. Well ventilated as it is, i’ve also had no problems with condensation.
Given that I’m writing this around 10 years after purchasing it, durability isn’t an issue. The only tear this has suffered was on the compression sack which tore slightly when tightened. The tent itself is still going strong and as a design I can’t fault it. I was looking to find something in a more subdued colour but found that some of the one man tents currently on the market to be rather claustrophobic and they fail the basic test of “can I change my clothing without my back out”.
These tents do pop up on ebay from time to time and if you can get a hold of one in good condition it’s worth trying one out, even though it’s likely be be at least 10 years old or more. For such a budget tent it also retains its value. Expect to pay more than the £17 that Argos took to clear them from their shelves.
The Airdrie Rambler 
That looks a brilliant tent! And a great review too. I like that you took photos of the pitched inner as well as the whole thing.
Shame they don’t still make them. But I haven’t used my tent yet which I bought quite a few years ago when I was still doing the Munros. In the end, I decided I’d either rather cycle a long track to the more remote Munros or use a bothy as I don’t like carrying much. I did find taking my fold-up bike to a bothy was very helpful in not having to carry the weight of my bothying gear so I’d probably resort to that in future.
I’ve been using bothies for a few years too (though I always carried the tent). With the closure of the bothies, tents have been given a new lease of life. Even old ones…
Thank you for your review. I unearthed my Hikelite from my son’s cupboard – he had used it for camping with friends and for TenTors. I was planning to purchase a Vango Banshee 2 man tent but it seemed smaller than the Hikelite although possibly would withstand more windy conditions. I have been warned that where I will be camping is very windy – what can you advise?
Hi Knobbs. Apologies for not seeing your response sooner, it was hiden away in a pending folder and I hadn’t seen it. The Vango Banshee 2 is a very similar design and I’ve heard good things about it, and it’s a robust tent which holds up well in the wind. I’ve had the Hike Lite out in most condistions, but couldn’t attest to it in extremely high winds, but I’d think that unless it was extreme wind it would be fine if pitched right.
Cheers,
Jim
I can confirm that after some waterproofing and additional clips and ties to fly sheet my little orange one person tent survived a North Easterly and kept me cosy and dry when storm bound on Lundy. Other more modern tents did not fair so well!
£15 well spent a few years ago!
Great stuff Valerie. I’ve noticed a few video reviews of this tent popping up on Youtube recently, and even after all these years they seem to be still going strong. I can’t recommend it enough, and if anyone gets the chance to try one out they should.
I got one of these back in the day, 14 years on down the line and it’s looking a little sun faded and could probably do with a reproof on the fly, but it is hands down the best value for money piece of gear I have ever owned. I more recently bought an MSR tent to replace this bit of kit and yet somehow I keep going back to using my little orange beacon, not that the MSR is a bad bit of kit, but the Hike Lite has just earned my admiration by so bloody good, I’m going to be genuinely sad when the day eventually comes that it’s past it’s prime.
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I’ve also moved to an MSR, but I’m sure that the Pro-Action will get the occasional airing. I’ve been doing some higher level camping of late, and I’d rather not expose it to the high winds which you tend to find on the tops. There’s plenty of life left in it, but I’d rather not push it to breaking point. Happy camping to you!