Our flagship tent, the Keron is, arguably, the one most often associated with the Hilleberg name. When we introduced the Keron in 1981, it had not only that hallmark linked inner and outer for simultaneous pitching, but also an exceptionally strong silicon coated outer tent fabric – one only slightly less strong than the fabric we use today. And that first Keron was built to the same demanding standards that characterize today’s Kerons and all other Hilleberg tents.
With its spacious interior, two entrance design, and easy-to-pitch construction, the Keron was an immediate success, adopted by backcountry travelers of all kinds. It was followed quite quickly by the single entrance Nammatj, which had the strength and ease of use of the Keron, but in a lighter weight package and with a more compact footprint. During this time, Bo was doing quite a bit of winter trips with dog sleds, and one of his friends had a homemade tent with a longer vestibule to cater to the needs of mushing. Immediately seeing its utility for mushers, Bo created what would become the Keron GT, with one standard and one extended vestibule. A Nammatj GT, with a single extended vestibule soon followed. Both did become immediately popular with mushers, who found that they could easily put all their gear into the larger vestibules, but they attracted other users as well: foresters, special military units, and polar expeditions, and anyone else doing gear-intensive trips in all conditions.
By design, the Keron’s appearance has changed very little since its introduction. With its vertical inner tent entrances and near vertical walls, it provides the most useable amount of interior space of any other practical tent design, so we have stayed with it. We have improved its overall strength by taking advantage of the latest fabric and other material technologies, and we have continuously updated its construction to match those materials. But what we have not done is sacrifice any detail towards making the Keron the highest performing tunnel tent available. The Keron is the foundation for all of our tunnel tents, including, of course, the extended vestibule Black Label Keron GT and the Nammatj models, but also for the Red Label Kaitum and Nallo tents, and for the Yellow Label Anjan models – and even for the Red Label Akto and Yellow Label Enan one-person tents. All have Keron genes – vertical inner tent entrance (or entrances), near vertical side walls, spacious vestibules, and, most importantly, that exceptional weight to space ratio and that ultimate reliability.
Our flagship tent, the Keron is, arguably, the one most often associated with the Hilleberg name. When we introduced the Keron in 1981, it had not only that hallmark linked inner and outer for simultaneous pitching, but also an exceptionally strong silicon coated outer tent fabric – one only slightly less strong than the fabric we use today. And that first Keron was built to the same demanding standards that characterize today’s Kerons and all other Hilleberg tents.
With its spacious interior, two entrance design, and easy-to-pitch construction, the Keron was an immediate success, adopted by backcountry travelers of all kinds. It was followed quite quickly by the single entrance Nammatj, which had the strength and ease of use of the Keron, but in a lighter weight package and with a more compact footprint. During this time, Bo was doing quite a bit of winter trips with dog sleds, and one of his friends had a homemade tent with a longer vestibule to cater to the needs of mushing. Immediately seeing its utility for mushers, Bo created what would become the Keron GT, with one standard and one extended vestibule. A Nammatj GT, with a single extended vestibule soon followed. Both did become immediately popular with mushers, who found that they could easily put all their gear into the larger vestibules, but they attracted other users as well: foresters, special military units, and polar expeditions, and anyone else doing gear-intensive trips in all conditions.
By design, the Keron’s appearance has changed very little since its introduction. With its vertical inner tent entrances and near vertical walls, it provides the most useable amount of interior space of any other practical tent design, so we have stayed with it. We have improved its overall strength by taking advantage of the latest fabric and other material technologies, and we have continuously updated its construction to match those materials. But what we have not done is sacrifice any detail towards making the Keron the highest performing tunnel tent available. The Keron is the foundation for all of our tunnel tents, including, of course, the extended vestibule Black Label Keron GT and the Nammatj models, but also for the Red Label Kaitum and Nallo tents, and for the Yellow Label Anjan models – and even for the Red Label Akto and Yellow Label Enan one-person tents. All have Keron genes – vertical inner tent entrance (or entrances), near vertical side walls, spacious vestibules, and, most importantly, that exceptional weight to space ratio and that ultimate reliability.
2016
Today the Keron continues to be a stalwart choice for any use.
Ida Nordin and Mimmi Person live in Östersund, Sweden, where Ida is a teacher and Mimmi works in the woods. Both love to get out and travel and camp in the mountains and forest. Avid hikers, bikers and paddlers, they both also had, for many years, a longing to do a long trip and experience the winter in the Swedish mountains. So it seemed natural to challenge themselves with the White Band, which is what a ski tour of the full length of the Swedish mountains is called (if done in the summer, it’s called the Green Band). To earn the White Band certificate is simple (but far from easy): ski from Grövelsjön, Sweden, at the southern end of the Swedish mountain chain, to Treriksröset, the “three country cairn,” where Sweden, Norway and Finland’s borders meet (it can also be done north to south). A roughly 1300 km (807 miles) trip, the traveler must do it completely under his or her own power, in its entirety, and be fully self-supported. Ida & Mimmi left Grövelsjön on March 2, 2015, and reached Treriksröset on May 4. “We decided to ski the White Band because it felt exciting and as a fitting challenge for us,” they say. “It is definitely the best thing we’ve ever done! Do not think about it, just do it!” They relied on their Keron 3 for the trip. “The tent took good care of us during our two month ski adventure through the Swedish mountains,” they say. “Thanks to the dual vestibules and spacious inner tent, we and our dog, Asta, had plenty of elbow room, and it was easy to organize all our equipment. Our favorite accessory is the Sled Bag, which made it incredibly easy and fast to set up the tent to get out of the wind for lunch…and when we would camp for the night. We slept calmly and confidently in all the different weather conditions we encountered on our 2015 winter trip. All the nights we spent in our Keron 3 has made the desire for more nights out even greater. We will continue to turn to our Keron 3 when we’re out on new adventures.” (For more information, see
facebook.com/Fjellkullorna. For more information of the Green and White Band, see
vitagronabandet.se)