The Mini Peak II is lightweight, stable and well-priced for a tent with an inner. The main tent is rectangular (almost square in fact) with excellent headroom in the centre. There are two zipped doors so both sides can be fully opened for great views and ventilation. When the doors have to be closed there are two adjustable vents at the apex of the tent. The Mini Peak is easy to pitch, with a trekking pole if you have one long enough (145cm), two trekking poles plus a pole extender or the optional pole, which is really solid. There are guylines at each end and ample pegging points. The supplied pegs are quite short and while I had no problems with them pulling out I’d rather have longer ones for the corners.
There is ample space for two people inside plus space for storing gear and cooking. The tent is supplied with a mesh solo inner that clips to the corners and top of the tent and so can quickly be erected. It can be lowered to give more space. This inner fi ts into one half of the tent, leaving room for cooking and gear. The inner only has a door on half of one side though, rendering one of the outer doors useless when it’s erected and meaning that you can’t fully open the inner to match the open outer. The inner is also quite heavy at 438 grams. I’d be inclined to get an OookWorks groundsheet and use this most of the time, reserving the inner for insect season (or replacing that with an OookWorks one). Backpacking Light, the UK distributors, describe the mesh of the inner as mosquito proof but not midge proof. So far it has kept the midges out, but I’ve not camped where they are bad.
The Mini Peak II has stood up to strong winds and heavy rain well and given the steep profile should be fine in snow so this is a year-round backpacking shelter.
