Hey all, back again with another review. This time it’s for my Eureka ICS 2000 Improved Combat Shelter one man tent. NSN 8340-01-535-0134 (woodland).  I picked mine up on ebay this past winter. My plan for its use is to take with me on solo overnighters, canoeing or longer solo trips.  In the past I have been basically a “tarp tent” camper. Basically I used a GI poncho stretched out as a cover and lay under it with my gear. In the military we call this a "hooch". It worked for me all during my Military career and so I took the skill with me. What this tent gives me is the portability of a tarp set up with the option of element protection that comes from a full tent/rain fly combo, a well as a bonus I will get in to at the end.

Here is what you get in the set: You get the ICS 2000 one person tent, a rainfly big enough to give room for gear, 3 collapsable aluminum poles, aluminum tent stakes, a ground cloth and a repair kit. This all fits in one stuff sack, with the repair kit, poles, and stakes each contained in their own stuff sacks. The stuff sacks (4), tent, fly and ground cloth are all made from thick nylon.

The facts:

Tent: 2lbs 9.9oz, fly 2lbs 9.1oz, frame 1lb 2.5oz, total weight 6lbs 6.7oz.  Total square feet is 27 feet. Floor measures 100" x 40".

 

The thick nylon is labeled 70D, 90P, polyurethane coated ripstop nylon. It’s thick durable stuff and should hold up to normal wear for a good long time. Remember these were designed for the military so they have to be tough. The inner side of the fly and the "front door" side of the tent are coated in a black out material that helps keep the tent dark enough to sleep in even during the day. Plenty of ventilation is provided by lots of no see um mesh. You can see in the pics my 3 hooligans looking out the side of the tent behind a layer of the mesh. There are also mesh panels on the roof of the tent as well, which should help minimize condensation under the fly. The height of the tent is 32.5” +/- 1 inch, the peak being right in the middle of the structure. Windows and entry points on both sides of the tent body and a bath tub style floor.

Thanks to clip hooks the cross pole set up is fast and easy. You can see them a little bit in the bottom 2 pictures.

 

pic above is the "back door"



 

Now for the bonus…I can still tarp tent it if I choose! Nothing beats the ventilation and closeness to nature you feel under a tarp set up except sleeping right out under the stars. By using the ground cloth and the rainfly and tent poles I can bring about half the set out and have a very light weight shelter to set up quickly and spend the night. Adding the tent stakes will make it very stable and free standing. In the picture below I think I didn’t quite have the poles set right but you can get the idea of what it would look like.

rain fly and ground cloth set up as a "hooch"

You can see how small it packs down to. I used the same 32oz. Nalgene I have used in other reviews to show scale. I also have added my Platypus gravity water filter in the pics to add further size comparison. It looks kind of big but it really isn't. I can get it and my summer MSS sleeping bag in an MSS carrier easily.

 

Hope you enjoyed this review, as always comments welcome!