Which Highlander Solo Shelter? All Five Compared

Highlander make five different shelters for one person, and at a glance they look like a ladder: pay a bit more, get a bit more. They are not. Two of them are built from completely different fabric to the other three, one of them is not a tent at all, and the lightest one in the range is also the most waterproof. If you are choosing between them on price alone you will probably pick the wrong one.

This guide puts all five side by side on the numbers that change how a night out actually feels: what you can do inside it, where your wet kit goes, what it weighs, and how it copes with sustained British rain.

The thing the price list does not tell you

The five shelters split into two families, and the split is not where you would expect.

The Blackthorn 1 Gen2 and Blackthorn 1+ Gen2 use a 190T polyester flysheet rated to 2000mm hydrostatic head over a 3000mm groundsheet, on 6.9mm fibreglass poles. That is a proven, perfectly capable three-season build, and it is what keeps them light and compact.

The Falcon, Respite 1 and Refuge 1 use a 75D 210T polyester ripstop flysheet rated to 4000mm over a 5000mm groundsheet, on aluminium 7001 poles with aluminium pegs. Double the fly rating, a ripstop weave, and alloy poles instead of fibreglass.

So the Falcon, which is the lightest and smallest-packing shelter Highlander make for one person, is also in the higher-specified material family. It is not the entry-level option in the range. It is a different shape of answer.

Fibreglass versus alloy is the other half of that split. Fibreglass poles are heavier, and they get brittle in hard frost and can splinter rather than bend if you really load them. Alloy poles flex and recover. For spring to autumn UK use either is fine, and thousands of Blackthorns go out every year without incident. It is worth knowing which you are buying.

All five, side by side

All five have fully taped seams, fully sewn-in groundsheets, fire-retardant fly and groundsheet, and a one year guarantee against faults in materials and workmanship. None of them need seam sealing.

Height: the number that decides everything else

Before weight, before price, work out whether you need to sit up. It changes what the shelter is for.

The Falcon is a lie-down shelter and makes no pretence otherwise. The two hoops lift the fly clear of your face and off your sleeping bag, which is the entire point of a hooped bivvy over a flat one, but you are horizontal for the duration. You get in, you sleep, you get out. For a summer night on a bike trip or a stop on a long route, that is often exactly right and the weight saving is enormous.

At 68cm, the Blackthorn 1 Gen2 is also a lie-down tent, but with a separate inner and a covered side area for your kit. You can prop on your elbows and sort a pack. You cannot sit upright.

At 80cm, the Respite 1 gets you sitting up hunched, with a proper porch in front of you.

At 83cm, the Blackthorn 1+ Gen2 is similar, in a wider inner.

At 90cm, the Refuge 1 is the only one of the five where an average adult sits up more or less properly. If you expect to wait out a wet afternoon inside, this is the one.

One caveat that applies to all four tents: peak height is measured at the highest point of the arch, not across the whole shelter. The walls slope away towards the ends, so the useful sitting-up zone is the middle. That matters more the lower the peak.

Pack size, and why 37 x 10cm is not the same as 29 x 14cm

The Blackthorn 1 has the shortest pack length in the range at 29cm, and on a spec sheet that reads like the most packable option. Run the numbers as volume and it flips.

Treating each packed shelter as a rough cylinder gives you an approximate packed volume:

The Falcon takes up roughly two thirds of the space of the Blackthorn 1 and well under half the space of the Respite 1, despite being the longest of the three in one dimension. Ten centimetres of diameter is the reason: it is a thin baton rather than a fat roll.

If you are bikepacking, that shape matters more than the volume. A 10cm roll goes places a 14cm or 15cm roll does not, including inside a frame bag alongside other gear, down the side of a seat pack, or in a handlebar harness without dominating it. A 44 x 15cm roll is a rear rack or a large bar bag and not much else.

If you are carrying on your back, volume is the useful number and the ranking above is the ranking that matters.

Where your wet kit goes

This is the difference the headline specs bury, and on a multi-day trip it can matter more than height. Compare the inner footprint against the outer footprint and you can see exactly what each one does with your gear.

Falcon: nowhere, and that is the deal

The Falcon has no porch, no vestibule and no covered side strip. Its outer dimensions are its inner dimensions. Boots, pack and anything soaked either come in with you or stay out under a drybag. On a fast overnight that is a non-issue. On a wet five-day route it is the thing that will wear you down, and it is the clearest reason to choose something else.

Blackthorn 1 and 1+: storage at your side

Both store kit alongside you. The Blackthorn 1 is 170cm wide outside against an 85cm inner, and the 1+ is 180cm outside against 105cm. In both cases the fly extends well past the inner on the door side, giving you a covered strip of ground for boots and a pack. It keeps wet gear out of your sleeping space, which is the main job, but it is not a sit-in porch.

Respite 1: an actual porch

The Respite is 290cm long outside against a 210cm inner, which leaves a genuine front porch. That is the difference between stashing wet kit and being able to crouch under cover and get a brew on with the inner door shut. Of the five, it is the one built around living outside your sleeping space.

Refuge 1: wide cover, short footprint

The Refuge is the odd shape in the group: 220cm long outside against a 218cm inner, but 180cm wide outside against 90cm inner. Almost all of its covered ground is at the sides rather than the ends, so you get generous kit stowage flanking you, plus the highest ceiling in the range, in the shortest overall footprint. That last part is worth noting if you pitch on tight or awkward ground.

Weather, and what 4000mm actually buys you

Hydrostatic head is the height of a column of water a fabric holds before it lets water through. Higher is more waterproof, but it is not the only thing keeping you dry. Taped seams and a sewn-in groundsheet matter just as much, and all five have both.

A 2000mm fly is the accepted baseline for sustained UK rain, and the Blackthorns sit on it. They will keep you dry through a normal wet British weekend. A 4000mm fly gives you headroom above that: prolonged rain, heavy driven rain, and the kind of week where nothing ever really dries. The 5000mm groundsheets on the Falcon, Respite and Refuge do the same job from underneath, which is where most people actually get wet, usually from lying on saturated ground and squeezing water through the floor.

Treat all five as three-season shelters. None are built for heavy snow loading or sustained winter mountain use.

Which Highlander solo shelter should you buy?

Choose the Falcon Bivvy Tent if pack space is your real constraint and you are content to sleep in your shelter rather than live in it. One kilo, the smallest packed volume in the range, the highest waterproof ratings, and alloy poles. It is the obvious answer for bikepacking and for anyone who wants a shelter that disappears into a pack. Go in knowing you cannot sit up and there is nowhere to put wet boots.

Choose the Blackthorn 1 Gen2 if you want a proper tent with an inner and covered kit storage at the lowest weight. It meets the one-person tent requirement on most DofE and school expedition kit lists, which the Falcon does not, and it comes in HMTC as well as Scarab Green for cadet and field use.

Choose the Blackthorn 1+ Gen2 if you are tall, carry a bulky sleeping system, or want the widest inner in the solo range. The 255cm length is the longest of the five and the 105cm width gives you room to keep dry bags beside you rather than outside.

Choose the Respite 1 if you want a porch. It is the only one of the five with a front vestibule you can genuinely use, on the higher-specified fabric, and it is still under 2kg. The trade is the largest packed size in the range.

Choose the Refuge 1 if sitting up matters most. At 90cm it has the highest ceiling here, with a breathable DWR-treated inner and a short 220cm outer footprint that pitches on ground the tunnel tents will not fit. Best of the five for waiting out weather.

Common questions

Is the Falcon a tent or a bivvy bag?

Neither, exactly. It is a hooped bivvy: a waterproof shelter with poles that hold the fabric off you, sitting between a flat bivvy bag and a solo tent. It pitches as a complete unit or flysheet only, and it has a zipped mosquito mesh door. It gives you far more comfort than a bivvy bag and far less room than any of the four tents here.

Will the Falcon do for a DofE expedition?

Usually not. Expedition kit lists generally specify a tent, often shared between two or three, and a lie-down solo shelter with no porch does not meet that brief. For DofE and school expeditions look at the Blackthorn 1 Gen2 for a solo pitch, or a two-person tent shared.

Why is the Falcon more waterproof than the Blackthorns?

Different fabric families rather than different quality tiers. The Falcon, Respite and Refuge use a newer 75D 210T ripstop fly at 4000mm with alloy poles; the Blackthorns use 190T at 2000mm with fibreglass poles, which is what keeps them light and compact. A 2000mm fly with taped seams handles UK rain perfectly well. The higher ratings give you margin, not a fix for a problem.

Which is best for bikepacking?

The Falcon, on pack shape as much as weight. Its 10cm diameter fits carry positions a 14cm or 15cm roll will not. If you want a tent rather than a bivvy, the Blackthorn 1 at 29 x 14cm is the next best fit, and its roll-top waterproof drybag means you can strap it wet to the outside of a bag without soaking anything.

Can I cook in the porch?

In the Respite 1, carefully, yes. On the Blackthorns and the Refuge the covered area is shallower and suits a stove right at the entrance with the door open. On the Falcon there is no porch at all, so cooking happens outside. Whichever you have, keep the stove away from fabric, never run one in a sealed shelter, and make sure air can move. Fire-retardant fabric slows a fire down, it does not prevent one.

Do any of them stand up on their own?

No. All five need pegging out to hold their shape, so soft ground or good pegs are part of the plan and rocky pitches need thought. In exchange you get low, aerodynamic profiles that handle wind better than a tall dome of the same weight.

The bottom line

It is not a ladder. The Falcon is the smallest and most waterproof and gives you the least room. The Refuge is the tallest but the shortest on the ground. The Respite is the only one with a real porch. The Blackthorns are the lightest proper tents and the only ones in camo.

Answer two questions and the choice makes itself. Do you need to sit up, and do you need somewhere sheltered to put wet kit? If the answer to both is no, carry the Falcon and enjoy the space you saved.

See all five alongside the rest of the range in our Tents & Accessories collection, and read our Highlander Blackthorn Gen2 comparison if you have narrowed it down to the Blackthorns and want the two-person option in the mix.