Crua Duo Review – Rugged Tent for 2 People
The Crua Duo is a 2-Person tent which is allegedly “built for anything”. That’s a pretty bold statement to make in our opinion. Is it as rugged as Crua makes out…
What we like about the Crua Duo: Well-made high-quality fabrics; very easy to set up and put away.
What we don’t like about the Crua Duo: The small gap either side of the porch area adds risk to rain ingress.
Introduction to the Crua Duo tent
When the weather turns cold and wet, having a reliable shelter is crucial for enjoyable camping. Irish tent manufacturers Crua have only been around for 8 years or so but have already made a splash in the world of tents.
The Duo is a two person dome tent which looks strong and ready to take a thrashing. We decided to test it out in real-world conditions to see if it lives up to its claims.
For this review, we took the Crua Duo with us on a late November camping trip to the beautiful Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire. We chose a forested campsite, pitching up on a typical grass pitch similar to those found on campsites up and down the UK. We wanted to evaluate how easy the tent was to set up on the soggy ground and how well it handled the persistent rain and near-freezing overnight temperatures.
Let’s first dig into what makes the Crua Duo special and what we think about it compared with others on the market…
Key Takeaways of the Crua Duo tent
Quality fabric: Ripstop, 210T, 70D Polyester, PU coating 5000MM, rugged and lightweight
Easy to set up: All in one tent, sewn in groundsheet
Modular: Can be used with Crua Culla insulated tent and/or Crua Core as a sleeping pod
Specifications
| Tent Outer Dimensions | |
|---|---|
| Width: | 4.9 ft / 150 cm |
| Length: | 7.5 ft / 230 cm |
| Height: | 4.4 ft / 136 cm |
| Tent Inner Dimensions | |
|---|---|
| Width: | 4.5 ft / 140 cm |
| Length: | 7.2 ft / 220 cm |
| Height: | 4.3 ft / 132 cm |
| Porch width: | 4.9 ft / 150cm |
| Packed Dimensions | |
|---|---|
| Packed size: | 20.8 x 5.5 x 5.5 in / 53 x 14 x 14 cm |
| Packed Weight: | 6.6 lbs / 3 kg |
Product Materials
- Outer Fabric: 210T, 70D Polyester, PU coating 5000MM
- Inner Fabric: 210D Polyester PU coating 5000MM
- Bug Mesh: B3 Polyester
- Colour: Green
- Flame Resistant: Yes
- Certification Standard: CPAI-84
What’s Included?
- Duo tent x 1
- Carry Bag x 1
- Poles: 1 x Porch Pole and 2 x Main Tent Poles
- Tent Stakes x 15
- Guy Lines x 6
- Porch Footprint x 1
- Instruction Manual x 1
- Tent Repair Patch Kit x 1
Setting Up the Crua Duo
The Crua Duo tent is a straightforward to erect. This is partly due to the tent being all one piece with a sewn-in ground sheet. There’s no messing around trying to figure out which way round anything goes like you have to do with some other two-man tents (i.e. the ones which consist of separate layers for the outer, inner and ground sheet). All we needed to do was locate the front door and peg the four corners in the orientation of our choosing.
The other thing that makes the Crua Duo tent easy to erect is that it has a fairly common cross pole configuration that you see on many tents and the shape of it is very simple and makes sense. On our first trip we did this predominantly in the dark and it was not difficult. The cross poles provide a nice height at the apex with an additional pole providing a large arched doorway through the porch entrance.
Pegging Out
We simply pegged out all 4 corners of the Crua Duo tent so that the base was nicely taught and smooth, then located the two longest (of the three) poles and inserted each pole through its pole sleeve to create a cross.
Top tip: Make sure the tent fabric is centralised on each pole and that the tent fabric around the poles is smoothed out to give maximum bend radius to be able to fit the ends of the poles nicely into the holes at all four corners of the tent.
Once the two main poles had been inserted and the ends correctly placed in their respective holes, the tent soon took shape. The tent fabric has additional clips that just need clipping onto the poles for additional support.
The porch pole was very straightforward to insert into its sleeve and arched nicely so the ends fitted into the holes at the two front corners of the tent.
Side note: Around the porch’s outer edge is a zip that is used when the Crua Duo is used as a modular sleeping pod so that it can be attached to the Crua Core Tent.
The guy ropes were pretty quick to peg out. There are just six main guy ropes and three smaller ropes for the air vents. The tent felt very secure once it had been pegged out. We made sure all the vents were left open as we didn’t want any condensation building up during the night.
Lastly, there is a separate ground sheet that is for the porch area. It is a 1 minute job to attach this to the main tent using two velcro sections. I love the fact that it detaches as this made it very easy to clean all the mud off when we got home after the wet muddy camping trip.
The downside of the porch groundsheet not being sewn in is that water can get onto the ground sheet through the sides of the tent porch if it is very wet and windy as the groundsheet is not attached to the tent at the sides. Not a problem so much for shoes and boots left sole facing downwards but any bags with absorbent material may get a bit wet. I think this is fairly typical from other two person tents we’ve tested – to be honest, a plastic carrier bag or bin liner can be used if this is a risk to your prized possessions or items that can’t fit into the main tent area.
The whole setup took less than 10 minutes and the main time was taken unraveling the guy ropes from their neatly tied knot. The nylon ropes seem to snag quite a bit due to the tightness with which they had been bound or maybe there had been a twisting action but I am pretty sure that once they are unraveled and straightened this problem won’t occur again.
I personally liked the height of the tent as it was plenty tall enough for us to sit up in. My husband is 6’3″ and I’m 5’8″ so space is fairly important and this had enough for us. When lying down there is still a small amount of space for bags and other items but not loads.
We used the porch to store our boots but would not liked to have left out anything else because, with the heavy rain, we thought it might have soaked up some of the wetness.
Inside the Crua Duo tent
An essential feature for any tent is a hanging hook for a lamp – being able to position a proper light up above makes the world of difference. The Crua Duo tent certainly delivered on this score and we soon had our Quechua lamp hanging up providing us with a beacon of light.
There are two sets of storage pockets placed one on either side at the head end of the tent making them accessible and useful even when lying down. These are just big enough for a mobile phone, wallet, Kindle, charger etc. There was just enough space for our most used items.
Inside the tent felt quite safe in terms of the elements. The groundsheet was sewn in so no nasty drafts were felt and lying there with the knowledge of the 5000 hydrostatic head tent fabric gave assurance that we would not get wet.
Crua also makes an insulated inner tent for the Crua Duo tent called the Culla which acts like a thermal lining to keep you snug as a bug. We tested this out too on a different trip and were very impressed. See our review of the Crua Culla insulated tent here.
Ventilation
The ventilation on the Crua Duo was good. There are two vents at the top of the tent and three at the bottom. Having all of these open meant that the air could circulate nicely while we slept meaning there was only a small amount of condensation in the morning. When it was so cold outside, this was a good sign that the vents were doing their job. The vents are covered over by a fly mesh so no nasty beasties can make their way inside.
Waterproof Material
The Crua Duo tent boasts a 5000mm hydrostatic head rating which is a great indication that you can rely on this tent to keep you dry. 5000mm hydrostatic head means that the tent should withstand a column of water pouring from a height of 5 meters above the tent without any of it penetrating through the fabric. It certainly kept us dry over the two days of torrential rain.
The tent fabric feels thick and of good quality and is made from 70 denier polyester (210T) with a PU coating. It also uses rip-stop material, a material that has been woven in such a way that any tiny hole, snag or cut will not continue to increase in size and cause an even bigger rip or tear. This enables the Crua Duo to handle the rough and tumble of typical camping life or something more adventurous with confidence. It definitely felt rugged for a polyester tent and being made from a manmade fibre as opposed to canvas means that it is fairly lightweight weighing in at just under 3kg.
Conclusions
To sum up, the Crua Duo 2-Person Dome Tent is a high-quality tent that is easy to use and pack away. It can be used all year round and certainly kept us dry and protected from the harsh November elements. It feels good quality when you touch the fabric and during the setting up there was nothing that seemed weak or poorly made. I feel that you can definitely trust the workmanship on offer. In combination with the Crua Culla it becomes a very snug insulated tent for winter camping, and that would be our recommended arrangement.
The weather we had during our trip gave the Duo outer tent a good test. Two days of rain and then thick mist settling on the lower fields for the final day provided very damp cold conditions. Although the wind speed was low for us on our trip, I got the impression that the Crua Duo tent would not have had an issue with stronger gusts. This is due to it having a secure arched support from the cross over poles together with a large number of guy ropes providing stability. This gave us peace of mind that we were not going to get blown away. Well at least not from the weather!
For the two of us, the size of the tent was just about right. We managed to fit the both of us and all our gear for a two-night stay. I find that if a tent is too big you can get cold because it takes longer to heat up from body heat and breath but if a tent is too small, you and your belongings don’t fit inside very well and it becomes awkward and uncomfortable. The Crua duo tent got the balance perfect.
Spot on and a big thumbs up from us.
Pros
- I really liked the sewn-in groundsheet which helped with the ease of setting up. Not having to put together multiple layers or complicated pole systems like some two-person tents have was a massive bonus. It was quick and intuitive to set up.
- The Crua Duo tent comes with a 2 year warranty as standard and customer reviews show that their after-sales service is good for added assurance.
- Pair the Crua Duo tent with the Crua Culla insulated tent for the added insulated luxury that the Culla provides. The Culla is pretty unique and can be used in other tents too to help keep you warm and toasty on those colder month trips away.
- The Crua Duo tent is modular and can be zipped onto the Crua core tent to make an additional sleeping pod. Great idea.
Cons
- It is not the lightest two-man tent at 3kg so if you are a backpacker you may wish to consider a lighter tent but the Crua Duo tent will definitely add additional comfort with its extra height and overall size, plus not forgetting the 5000mm HH for the ultimate weather protection. Great for any type of camping spot.
