Bonfus Duos initial review
Background
I had been on the hunt for a trekking pole supported 2 person tent for quite a while and had eventually decided on a Camo Duplex from Zpacks as the one for me.
As well as the Duplex I had considered the Tarptent Stratosphire Li as well as The Two by Gossamer Gear. After getting the required funds together I went to order one only to find that the camo version was no longer being produced!
back to the drawing board....
After much more searching I came across the Duos made by a new company called Bonfus. The Duos was of a similar design to the Duplex/Gossamer Gear The Two and as a bonus it was available in Camo. Yay!
Bonfus is a small UL company founded by siblings Niccolo and Stefana. Their gear manufacturing is based in Mexico City (stefana) and Niccolo is based in Norway.
Their website:https://bonfus.com/ and the Duos: https://bonfus.com/product/duos-2p-2/
After a few emails with the very helpful and informative Niccolo I decided to buy one. The cost was USD$629 and shipping was free on the agreement that I write up this first impressions review. The Duos is available in three different weights of DCF, .51 Oz white, .67Oz camo and .74Oz spruce green. I went for the camo one.
The Basics
The Duos is a two person, side entry trekking pole supported shelter. It was designed to be a little more robust in heavier weather for a tent this type. With that in mind the tent body sits a little closer to the ground and extends further away from the tent floor. There are four extra guy out points on the corners and two sealable vents at the top of the doors. The floor is sewn to the body in such a way that it is impossible for it to creep out from under the edge of the fly if camped on a slope.
The Camo version I have weighs 620G on my scale (tent only)
The tent body is .67Oz camo DCF
The Floor is 1Oz white DCF
The door is zipless to save weight. It closes with velcro tabs and has an elastic toggle mid way up for securing in bad weather.
Reinforcement Patches are 2.92Oz hybrid DCF
Noseeum netting with rainbow doors (#3YKK zips)
Guy lines are all 2mm UHMWPE core braided with polyester and reflective.
It comes with a square flat DCF stuff sack, some extra line locks and guylines (4 of each) and 30cm of DCF camo repair tape. No pegs or poles are included.
There are two vents at the top of the doors.
There are four extra optional guy out points.
There are two little stash pockets inside the tent and two hooks to string up a line inside
The optimal pole length is around 130cm.
In Use
I have so far only used the Duos on three trips. Each time I have tried to use it in challenging conditions where possible (condensation wise) to see how it would perform. Each campsite was situated next to water in a valley bottom.
Trip one was to Canoe creek on the Colo river. I decided to make life difficult for myself by camping on deep soft sand by the edge of the water in perfect condensation generating conditions. Pitching was a little tricky in soft sand but long sticks (instead of pegs) and some flat rocks buried under the pole bases sorted everything out. I slept with the doors sealed. It was a cool night with heavy dew. In the morning there was a reasonable amount of condensation on the inside but none of it made it to the floor or got my gear wet. After opening both doors and eating breakfast it had all gone.
Trip two I was camped on long wet grass beside the Grose river. Pitching was much easier on firmer ground and again I slept with the doors sealed. The night was not as cool and there was a light breeze. This time there was much less condensation inside the tent.
Trip three was to Erskine creek. This time I was still camped near water but on leaf litter. The night was still and pleasant and I slept with the doors half open. There was zero condensation inside in the morning.
The Duos is easy to pitch once familiar with it. I can get it pitched in around two minutes.
The things I like about it:
Light!
Roomy: The Duos has a surprising amount of room in it. There is a lot of head space and plenty of vestibule room. There is good airflow in this tent. it dosent feel stuffy and claustrophobic. It actually feels much more like a tarp than a tent.
Well made: The stitching is of high quality and there is a lot of attention to detail. Little things like the reinforcements on the side tie outs being attached with the DCF threads at a 45 degree angle to the threads in the tent body(increasing tear resistance). I feel like I got value for money in this department.
Vents: These give some extra ventilation at the peaks. They are particularly useful when the tent is hunkered down for bad weather.
Floor: I really like the way the floor is attached to the tent body. The noseeum mesh keeps it firmly in place. It is impossible for the floor to creep out from under the fly even if camping on sloping ground. I did have my concerns about the mesh sloping towards the floor (condensation run off) but in reality this has been a non issue.
Extra guy out points: These have not been used in anger but I really like the fact that they are there.
Flat stuff sack: Initially I didn't like the flat stuff sack it comes with. I thought surely a smaller more compact one would be better. In practice its been much easier to get the tent into than a smaller one and it fits perfectly in the mesh pocket on the outside of my pack.
Camo: I love the dappled light inside in the morning. The camo also gives a lot more privacy than the other variants (if you care about such things). It also blends in very nicely with the Australian bush.
Dries quickly: DCF absorbs no water and drys super fast
Things that I am not so keen on
I'm struggling a little here as I really like the duos but here goes...
Its a small thing but the Duos comes with the doors rigged in such a way that one half of the vestibule is always shut. this is easily fixed by cutting the continuous cord at the base and tying an extra loop in the cord making the doors independent from each other. I asked Niccolo about this and they are considering doing this as standard. I can also see a point in the future where the elastic used on the door closure will need replacing.
Door zips: I wish J type doors were used instead of rainbow doors. easier to keep the bugs out, harder to accidentally damage and easier to tuck out of the way but not a deal breaker
White DCF tie out reinforcements: all the reinforcements are white. This is because Bonfus mainly sell white DCF tents and reinforcements are laser cut.
Would I buy a Duos again?
Absolutely! I felt like I was taking a bit of a risk buying such an expensive item from an unknown(to me) manufacturer but I am glad I did. I might try out one of their packs next.
There is a review of it in German on youtube if you are interested :
https://youtu.be/wmjM3n1lbpw