Some things were meant to go together. Peanut butter and chocolate is a prime example. Other things, while sounding good on paper, just don’t work as well when it comes to the final product. The JakPak Tent Jacket is one of those products. Extremely niche’ in its approach, the JakPak is really more novelty than practical in all reality. Learn about the Key Factors in a tent so that you can pick the best tents.
To start things off, the JakPak is a nice looking jacket. That isn’t always the case with outdoor gear. Bare bones when it come to pockets and features it is largely a shell in its most basic form. The tent portion is stuffed into the back of the jacket on the outside in a large pouch. If you want a tent that’s similarly convenient, take a look at one of the best rooftop tents to compare. The sleeping bag portion is packed into the inside back of the jacket. Setting the tent up is pretty simple but I found it difficult to repack smoothly into the jacket. From there it felt uncomfortable as I could easily feel the tent pole pieces against my back. If you want a camper you can take with you on your next biking trip, take a look at our Kamp Rite Bushtrekka Bicycle camper trailer.
Sleeping inside the tent required you to pretend you were a vampire inside a coffin. I know that being a sexy vampire is all the rage these days, but I tend to roll and shuffle about when I sleep, allowing for maximum “comfortability”. Since you are basically wearing the tent, moving about doesn’t really work. There’s room inside the tent-bed for a sleeping bag and as a tent, it is pretty cool, but also really small. There’s also a little bug netting and if you are ok with sleeping coffin style you may really enjoy the JakPak and what it has to offer. Do you want to check out one of the best two-person tents? See our Hilleberg Tarra review.
My main issue with the JakPak is that I don’t understand who it’s really aimed at. Priced at $250, I don’t see who is going to buy this. You can get a really nice tent for that price and if you are an outdoor enthusiast you probably already have a decent jacket to begin with. The other thing is that if you are setting off to go camping you will definitely be bringing other gear with you, presumably in another backpack. Are you a backpacker or a camper looking for a packable and spacious tent? See our Kelty TN2 tent.
Squashing another backpack against the tent and your back doesn’t sound like a good idea unless you have a really soft fleece to shelter some of the baggage. Homeless people could use the shit out of this thing since they usually have a cart for the rest of their belongings but they’d obviously never have the funds to buy one.
My best vision for the JakPak is for an organization like FEMA to buy a whole bunch and hand them out in disaster stricken areas. That or make the JakPak way, way cheaper. Good idea by all means but the execution is questionable at best.
You can buy one now at the JakPak website and supplies are limited as this product is brand new. You can get one in two different colors and several sizes. From the looks of the website, their is a new version that adds some new features that will definitely make this product more appealing.
Pros:
- Interesting concept
- Waterproof, breathable
Cons:
- Hard to repack with accuracy
- Confined
- Way too pricey
Buy the JakPak here for $250!
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