Meet the tester
Robens Pioneer 4EX: first impressions
The Robens Pioneer 4EX is a four-person tent from the brand’s Route range. These tents are built to deliver the best compromise between performance, packed size and price – all to deliver everything you need from a tent to encourage you to get out on your first adventure.
• List price: £239.99 (UK) / Currently not officially available in the US
• Style: Tunnel tent
• Weight: 3.8kgs / 7.9lbs
• Waterproofing: 3,000mm
• Rooms: One bedroom, one vestibule
• Compatibility: Three people and gear (advertized as four and gear)
That means that they’re not built to withstand a deep winter storm on a summit somewhere, and nor are they designed for fastpacking across the Sahara Desert. They’re here to empower campers to “take those first steps into an outdoor pursuit”, and alongside other lines such as the Arrow Head and Boulder series of tents, the Pioneer 4EX is here to be newbie group campers’ “passport to freedom”.
With an advertized pack weight of 3.8 kg, the Robens Pioneer is relatively competitive for a tent that promises to sleep four and packs down to a reasonable size considering the space inside.
Naturally, however – as any four-person tent will do – the Pioneer 4EX does take up a lot of room in your pack. But if you’re sharing with one, two or three other people, you can comfortably split the load to reduce not just the volume in your pack, but the weight you have to carry per person, too.
What’s more, thanks to the three-pole, tunnel-style design, the tent promises to perform well in a host of different conditions, ranging from driving rain through to heavy wind, with Robens’ own wind tests establishing that the Pioneer 4EX can cope with gusts up to around 140km/h. Just don’t expect a comfortable time.
But the most impressive thing about the Pioneer 4EX? Well, that has to be the price. When bought directly from Robens, the tent will set you back a super-reasonable £239.99. And for that you get a versatile shelter that can be used on a whole range of three-season family adventures – all for less than the price of many down jackets.
Robens Pioneer 4EX: in the wild
For a four-person budget backpacking tent, the Robens Pioener 4EX is an impressive bit of kit. Firstly, it’s a cinch to pitch. Even if you do this on your own, you can get this four-person palace up in under 10 minutes and you can pack it away as quickly the morning after.
In fact, without setting the guy lines, I was able to fully pitch the Pioneer 4EX in around seven minutes, which was a godsend in the rain. Unfortunately, however, it’s worth being aware of the fact that the inner and the outer don’t come pre-assembled out of the box. For that reason, it took me around 15 minutes to get fully set up the first time I pitched the Pioneer 4EX. The process of clipping the inner to the fly involves threading various latches through the loops fastened to the flysheet, which, despite being a simple process in itself, was pretty painful to do in wet, dark conditions. Thankfully, you only need to do this once.
To pitch the Pioneer 4EX, you simply need to thread the color-coded poles through the corresponding sleeves. As the tent isn’t freestanding, you then need to peg out either end to get the structural integrity necessary to allow the tent to stand up. All in, you need 12 pegs to fully fasten this thing to the ground and then a further six to lash out all of the guy lines.
Thankfully, Robens also graciously provides you with the precise number of pegs necessary for this straight out of the box: 18. Which may not sound like a big deal on the surface, but is something that goes against the current trend of not including enough pegs to peg out all the guy lines, as is the case with tents like the Trail Lite 2 from The North Face.
When the Robens Pioneer 4EX is pitched, the tent offers bags of space for multiple people and kit. Unfortunately, however, it would be a tad tight for four fully grown adults. To test this hypothesis, I kept adding sleeping pads until I ran out of room, and I maxed out at three. And while a fourth person could fit in here, a fourth inflatable pad couldn’t, so one unlucky bedmate is going to have to sleep either on a hard foam mat or directly on the floor.
If you managed to squeeze four bodies in here, none of you would have a particularly sound night’s sleep in any case. For that reason, I see the Pioneer 4EX as a super-comfortable two-person tent or a shelter that’s ideal for a family of four (assuming the kids are still small).
The vestibule, on the other hand, is absolutely gigantic. It offers more than enough space to store four mounds of kit while still affording you enough room to sit up and cook. That said, as the tent only comes with one door, I still think it would feel quite cramped in here.
Durability and condensation
Manufactured from a durable 75D polyester, the Robens Pioneer 4EX feels super rugged and immediately induces confidence in its performance. What’s more, as the inner comprises almost 100% 68D polyester panels, it remains remarkably warm on the coldest nights, even when you’re sleeping in here on your own.
For that reason, I’d be comfortable using the Robens Pioneer 4EX in light four-season conditions, providing there isn’t any snow forecast through the night. Inside the tent, two ventilation ports allow for a solid degree of airflow, which meant that condensation was kept at a minimum.
Overall, I think the Robens Pioneer 4EX is a phenomenal tent for the price. Naturally, as has become the convention, any tent listed as a four-person design is better suited to a maximum of three, and the Robens Pioneer 4EX is no different.
Were I to go camping with my family or head out into the hills with a friend, however, I think the Robens Pioneer 4EX delivers some of the best bang for your buck right now, and I’d bet that you won’t find a roomier, easier-to-use and more comfortable group shelter for under £300.
