Nortent Gamme 6 initial observations

[Lionhound1975]

I recently purchased the Nortent Gamme 6. Nortent is a Norwegian company that a European friend told me has a good reputation over there. I purchased the tent from one of Nortent's distributors in Canada as it was cheaper than ordering it from Norway. I set up the tent the other day for seam sealing and took some photos. Below is an initial review of the tent and why I chose it in case it is of interest to anyone here.

As a product evaluation I watched a video of a Gamme 4 tent that Nortent left set up for 9 months in Norway and had a camera take a photo every day to see how it stood up.

I am being deployed to Kyrgyzstan in September for a 3-year assignment with the USG. I plan on hiking/snowshoeing on my free time and wanted a base camp tent to use up in the mountains with the following characteristics:

• Be tall enough to stand up in (I'm 5'8)
• Sleep 3 people comfortably with a stove
• Stove jack to run a titanium stove (SO Large and Winnerwell folding titanium)
• Weigh under 20 lbs
• Floorless but nest compatible
• Dome style tent pole structure that can take high winds, heavy snow load and general extreme mountain weather

I already have several tipis but am concerned about their suitability for heavy snow load. So I discounted any tipi build. I looked at tents by Stone Glacier, Arctic Oven, Sling Fin, Mountain Hardwear, Russian Bear, and a few others but could not find anything that met all of the requirements above, there are good options but all over 20 lbs or not tall enough to stand up in.

The Gamme 6 has the following specs per the company:

4 seasons.
Capacity: 6 persons. 4 persons with inner tent
Flysheet: Ripstop silnylon 70D, 3000mm
Tent fabric: Arcx-n700: Thread thickness 70
Plugs/ stakes: 24 aluminium Y-peg
Guylines: 10
Weight: Tent with stakes and poles: 7.6 kg
Height: 185 cm
Diameter: 370 cm

The tent arrived and the initial impression was on track with the above info. I don't have a digital scale, just a luggage hook scale and the tent was around 17-18 pounds. Still within my parameters.

The only disappointment was to see that the tent is sewn in China. Neither Nortent's website or the Canadian company's website listed the country where it was made. I know that many European and Canadian customers do not have the same concern with made in China as many of us here in the U.S. but I wanted to put that up front in this review for any readers where that is a game changer.

I don't like buying Chinese made stuff and will buy American made products at a higher price IF it is the same or higher quality than the Chinese made item. On some things like the Winnerwell folding titanium stove, it is made in China but I think it is built well and to my knowledge, no company makes a folding titanium stove in the U.S. So until a company makes a folding ti stove in the U.S., I will continue to use the Winnerwell.



I included the rest of the photos as thumbnails below. The materials and fit seems very high quality, much higher than Luxe and other China made stuff and the cut and stitching seemed comparable to my SO shelter and SG packs.. There is no sag and the 70D ripstop silnylon fabric is drum tight after an initial setup.

I really like the layout of the tent, 2 doors with inside screen doors, snow skirt, 2 mesh-covered closable floor vents on either side of where a stove sits as well as 4 zippered mensh vents in the ceiling. They are big enough that I can look out of the tent and shine a flashlight and get 360 coverage without opening the doors of the tent. There are 4 of them so during some recent driving rain I just closed the vents on the windy side and kept the other side open for ventilation.

The tent comes with a removable fitted (stove-cutout) floor than hooks into clips on the 360-degree interior skirt.

I also purchased the fitted nest which clips into the tent body. The nest has a back door and has removable mesh ceiling panels to allow for better ventilation.

The tent comes with a small repair kit, 2 spare pole sections and 2 sliding pole collars to stabilize broken poles in the field.

I look forward to testing this tent out in some extreme mountain weather this fall/winter.

.

 

[lifeisgoodsteve]

Have you had any nights in this tent? Follow up impressions?

Thx

 

[Lionhound1975]

Have you had any nights in this tent? Follow up impressions?

Thx

I have spent 5 nights in this tent during the last year here in Kyrgyzstan. It has held up great and is a solid mountain shelter for a base camp. 2 of those nights were blowing snow and high wind bursts and the tent was rock solid. 1 night was hard rain and the other 2 nights were cool temps but nice weather. From my observations it handles heavy wind better than my SO 8 main does. Ventilation is also better than the tipi due to the 4 vents up at the top of the dome. It is a little harder to heat than the tipi, maybe due to bigger internal volume to heat but also due to the stove jack being closer to one of the doors rather than in the middle of the tent. But it was not a problem and we stayed warm each time.

The other shelters I have here to compare it to are a SO 8-man tipi, a SO Guardian, and a Sling Fin Wind Saber. I used the SO 8-man a-lot this spring and summer and bent a pole during a May snowstorm at 11,500 that dumped 2 feet of wet snow overnight. I should have brought the Gamme 6 on that trip. To be fair, the SO held up all night and SO replaced the pole so i am still a big fan of their gear but if I am relatively close to the truck, I will take the Gamme 6 for any Oct-May trips into the high country. The tipi is obviously lighter so I will pack that in unless i am going up high where it is just exposed rock where I will take the Wind Saber. I have been seriously impressed with that tent. The Guardian is mostly just carried with a small stove as an emergency shelter on winter day hikes.

I have no regrets about buying or using this tent and consider it a great purchase. I'm sure an Arctic Oven Igloo or Sling Fin Arctic 6 are probably even better in heavy snow load, but both of those shelters are twice as heavy and more than twice as expensive as well.

 

[lifeisgoodsteve]

Thanks so much for sharing your experience.

How much of an internal volume, comfort difference is there between the SO 8 man tipi and the Gamme 6?

I've come to not love my head and feet being so close to the steep angled sidewalls of my 9'x9' Supermid tipi, so am a little wary of the usable space of tipis now. With the much larger 8 man footprint, what's it like inside?

Are you taking the SO 8 man simply because it's more convenient for weight/setup when not above treeline? Assuming these are all base camp setup from the truck.

Thanks,

s

 

[Lionhound1975]

Thanks so much for sharing your experience.

How much of an internal volume, comfort difference is there between the SO 8 man tipi and the Gamme 6?

I've come to not love my head and feet being so close to the steep angled sidewalls of my 9'x9' Supermid tipi, so am a little wary of the usable space of tipis now. With the much larger 8 man footprint, what's it like inside?

Are you taking the SO 8 man simply because it's more convenient for weight/setup when not above treeline? Assuming these are all base camp setup from the truck.

Thanks,

Per the specs, the SO 8 tipi has a 16-foot diameter while the Gamme 6 has a 12-foot diameter. Also, the tipi is 8'6 tall whereas the Gamme is 6' tall. That said, I felt they had comparable usable space. Not having a middle pole helps the Gamme feel bigger. Also, the near vertical walls also make the whole floor space usable. The tipi walls will sag more than the Gamme 6 when it rains so you will likely brush up against the walls more with the tipi despite it having a larger diameter. But all in all, they are both plenty roomy for my wife, myself, and a large dog. I can fit a small table, 2 chairs, a stove, wood, 2 bedrolls, and a dog and not be tripping over each other in either shelter.

Since the tipi is taller, it is easier to hang wet clothing. I think the Gamme 6 vents better due to 4 roof vents vs 1 on the tipi. But I still prefer the tipi in hot bug weather since it has a taller ceiling so most of the gnats and mosquitos are up in the cone, whereas in the Gamme's 6-foot ceiling the bugs are right where my head is.

I will pack the SO tipi into the backcountry, especially if i am staying a few days. I know it is overkill for 2 people and a dog but I like being able to stand up, especially if I am waiting out a storm. The Gamme 6 stays near the truck unless we are on horses.