LOCALadk Magazine
Issue link: https://localadkmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1133887
CRUA Outdoors Duo Lightweight 2-Person Hiking Tent Summer in the Adirondacks means camping—nights of star gazing, bon fires, peepers, loons, and cozy tent sleep- ing. Mother Nature takes care of making sure most of those things happen, but choosing a good tent is up to you. CRUA Outdoors was started by an Irish outdoorsman named Derek O'Sullivan. CRUA means "hard" or "tough" in Gaelic, which describes the tents designed by this young, partially crowdfunded company. We became interested in learning more about their products after seeing a few tents set up around Lake Placid and Saranac Lake. The company, although from Ireland, recently opened an office in Saranac Lake in hopes of introducing their products to a wider audi- ence. We reached out to Saranac Lake local Dylan Van Cott, North American Operations Manager, about testing a few products. We ended up choosing the CRUA Duo Lightweight 2-person tent, as well as the insulated tent know as the Cocoon. The Duo is a strong, waterproof, easy to pitch, and lightweight 2-person tent. It is ideal for many Adirondack adventures. It weighs 5 lb, and gives you a 48 square foot surface area. The tent was quick and easy to set up, and with 4 feet of height at the center, ver y roomy inside. Since our testing took place when it was still a little cold, we also tested out the Cocoon. Think puff y coat for the inside of your tent. Set up was pretty quick. but this is not the type of thing you would bring on a backpacking trip —it weighs 15 lb. We were camping close to the car so we brought it along. Simply put the cocoon in the tent and use a pump (pump not included but available for purchase) to quickly fill the baffle supports. Once set up we did notice how dark it was inside the tent, nice for at night, but a little dark during the day. The cozy factor is high, as by nature of its name, Cocoon, you fell ver y snug and warm at night. Night sounds could be heard, but did seem to be somewhat muffled by the insulation. The Cocoon is designed to be compatible with other similar sized tents. We are happy to have CRUA operating here in the Adiron- dacks, and recommend their tents for your next camping ad- venture. CRUA Duo 2 person tent $219 CRUA Cocoon $299 Staff Tested