Hi Gear Lavvu Airlite Tent review: Spacious and well-designed

The Hi Gear Lavvu Airlite Tent is an intriguing hybrid, employing both a pole-style bar and an air beam to create a high, roomy tipi-style shelter. It’s designed for three people but its sheer size means you’d be forgiven for thinking it should sleep more.

The air beam rises to a towering 2.5m – that’s 8.2ft for imperialists – creating substantial headroom in what is easily the loftiest tent in our test of the best inflatable tents.

Structurally, it’s a cross between the usual tunnel tent and a tipi. Its rectangular porch widens into a spacious hexagon, the rear half of which is taken up by the bedroom area, divided from the main tent by an innovative magnetic closure.

It's the more affordable cousin of the Lavvu Air Elite Tipi Tent, a shelter that oozes glamping appeal. While I wouldn’t go as far as to describe the Airlite as a glamping option, the space it affords three friends makes it a good option for a week away.

Unlike a traditional tipi, there’s no central pole to bang into after one too many glasses of vino, which only adds to the sense of space within (that is, the lack of pole, not inebriation). Add some impressive waterproof statistics and it’s clear we’re dealing with a very decent tent.

It's certainly got charm, though it’s not without a few qualms. Advocates of blackout fabrics for the morning lie-in will be left wanting, while there are no storage options within the tent.

At 17.5kg, it’s hardly heavy for an air tent, though it is very heavy compared to most three-person tents – but then again most three-person tents wouldn’t dwarf a Premier League goalkeeper.

Shape, structure, pitching and internal liveability

Its shape, structure and internal liveability is what the Lavvu Airlite is all about. Its unique design and shape provide a different kind of camping space for couples or parties of three.

It’s a whopping 590cm long, which is comparable to the eight-person (supposedly) Eurohike Genus 800. And, rising to 250cm at its highest, is easily the tallest tent in our 2025 inflatable test.

However, I’m not sure if the way it widens and narrows is a good thing or not – I can’t work out if it creates the illusion of roominess in what is arguably quite an awkward space, a bit like one of those attic bedrooms where the sloped ceiling cuts out the liveable area. More on this in a mo…

Unlike the other large air tents in our roundup, it uses just one air beam, inflated using the same pump and quick-to-use, spring-loaded valve duo as seen in the Berghaus Air 400. Fitting the pump to the valve and pumping the beam up was as straightforward as it can get.

Holding the porch aloft is an arched bar, which assembles like a traditional tent pole. I wonder if this could have also been an air beam, as it would have made pitching a little easier. As it is, the bar takes a bit of wrestling to get into the ring and pin attachments on either side.

The bar’s eyelet is only a small hole, only slightly larger than the head of the pin, which makes the margin for error while straining every sinew to fit them together pretty small. This was easily my least favourite part of the setup process.

Hi Gear states that it should take around 20 minutes to pitch, which I found to be fairly accurate. I could get the tent to a liveable state in just over 10 minutes and then fully setup in 23 minutes – the joint fastest on test along with the Berghaus Air 400.

However, the Lavvu Airlite took longer than the Berghaus to pack away – 14 minutes and 30 seconds as opposed to just over 11 minutes. This was possibly partly due to the extra time spent disassembling the bar.

The living space comprises the entrance porch and half of the tipi’s hexagonal footprint, and is 270cm long in total. At its widest, it’s 440cm, but this quickly tapers down to 250cm, making it a less spacious area than it first seems.

It’s at once wider than most air tents and narrower, depending on where you stand. For a camping table and camping chairs, the best spot is undoubtedly towards the centre of the hexagon, but this is where the door to the bedroom is.

The main door forms the entire end wall of the porch, while there’s also a large side entrance on the right. It’s a bright and breezy space when both doors are opened and when the mesh window is also revealed.

Then, there’s the bedroom, which occupies the back half of the hexagonal footprint. Again, it’s 440cm wide to begin with, but quickly tapers to 250cm.

Even at its narrowest, it’s wide enough to take three standard single camping mattresses, while the extra floorspace back towards the door is handy for belongings. This is a good thing too, as there are no storage pockets for keeping things off the ground here, which seems a shame.

My other qualm with the bedroom is that there’s no additional inner tent here, just a screen that can be tied off if you wanted to open the bedroom up to join forces with the rest of the tent.

While this has certain advantages, it means that there’s no blackout fabrics here. If you’re someone who’s gotten used to avoiding the glare of the sun through the flysheet in the mornings, beware.

On the positive side, the dividing screen features the same silent magnetic closure as seen in the Outwell Colorado 5 Air, meaning you can move between bedroom and living room without making (much of) a sound.

The lack of little touches like separate inner fabrics and storage pockets makes the Lavvu Airlite feel a bit feature-light. It’s a beautifully designed and spacious shell, but a shell all the same.

Waterproofing

The Lavvu Airlite’s flysheet is a durable, 150 denier polyester that boasts a hydrostatic head (HH) rating of 4,000mm. The HH rating describes a fabric’s ability to fend of water – the higher the rating, the more water it can withstand.

A rating of 4,000mm is typical in Hi Gear’s family tents and is a very strong rating indeed, higher than many backpacking tents designed for much wilder conditions.

It's flysheet also benefits from a polyurethane coating, the shield that makes rain bead and then run off the surface. High, steep walls ensure that there’s nowhere for water to coalesce into an unwanted pool for insects to enjoy a spot of wild swimming in – a quality no one really wants, not even the insects.

I found that the Lavvu Airlite was perfectly waterproof during the test period, though much of this was during a drier than usual British springtime, so it only had to fend off the occasional passing shower – a bit of a mismatch vs a 4,000mm HH flysheet. Nonetheless, I’d wager you’d have few issues camping in wet conditions based on the Lavvu Airlite’s intelligent design.

For additional shelter for items like bikes, hiking boots, rucksacks or just as a space to relax in, there’s a compatible tarp that Hi Gear sells separately.

Condensation

Like most of the best family tents, the Lavvu Airlite has a sewn in groundsheet, which is great if you’re not a fan of spiders scuttling in during the night. What isn’t so great is that this reduces the overall airflow in the tent, which can lead to unwanted condensation.

Thus, Hi Gear have armed the Lavvu Airlite with strategically placed ventilation points, both up in the gods and lower down. There’s a ventilated panel towards the back of the bedroom, notably lower down than on most tents, while there’s also an opening towards the apex of the tipi.

The main living space window is made of mesh, so provides some degree of airflow, while both the large doors can be stripped back to mesh too.

I found that by employing the above, I could create a nicely ventilated space regardless of the temperature outside. Obviously, the large interior volume of this tent is huge compared to a backpacking tent, where condensation can be much more of an issue.

Wind protection

I camped in some moderately windy conditions in the Lavvu Airlite and found that the tent remained stable throughout. As part of the test, I naturally had all the guylines tensioned and the tent fully pegged out, as is best practice.

Being a higher shelter than most, it stands to reason that the tent’s ability to catch gusts would be greater than some, yet I’d also assert that its hexagonal main profile should also make it slightly more aerodynamic than a tunnel tent with straight sides. Regardless, its sloped sides also act to drive gusts upwards and over the top.

Unlike some brands, Hi Gear doesn’t provide lab results on how the Lavvu Airlite performed when pitted against a wind tunnel, so there’s no official test to check my observations against.

I’d maybe avoid camping the next time you get a severe weather warning pop up on your iPhone but I’d be very confident of the Lavvu Airlite’s windproof credentials when it comes to 99.9% of campsite adventures.

Weight and packed size

At 17.5kg, the Lavvu Airlite is heavy for a three-person tent, but then this is like saying a Ferrari is low for a car. Just as a Ferrari is no ordinary car, this is not your usual three-person tent.

When compared to other air tents of this size, this weight then becomes comparable. It’s light enough for one person to carry for short distances but if the chosen pitch was any considerable distance from the transport, I’d be wanting some assistance.

In terms of packed size, it’s fairly standard for an inflatable tent you’d take car camping, measuring 74x42x38cm, however, I'm surprised to see these figures comparing similarly to some higher-berth air tents. It’ll occupy half the width of a normal car’s boot but there’d be plenty of space on top of it.

The stuff sack is well designed with a zipper running across its length and hallway down both sides. This made it relatively easy for me to stuff the rolled-up tent inside, before giving it a little jiggle and working the zip along. Not the most straightforward but certainly not the most arduous or frustrating either.

Features

As mentioned, beyond the elegant design of the main footprint, the Lavvu is minimalist when it comes to additional features. Barring the magnetic divider between the living space and bedroom, there’s nothing in here that makes you wonder: ‘ah, what’s this for?’

This divider can be removed – it hangs from a little carabiner attached to the ceiling and is also attached at the sides. There’s also a hanging loop towards the top of the tipi for installing an overhead lantern.

No tipi tent could claim glamping credentials without providing means for electrical hookup. The Lavvu Airlite doesn’t disappoint, with a discrete opening for this very purpose.

The mesh window in the main living room is revealed behind a zippered panel, which can be rolled up and stashed underneath using rudimentary tie backs.

Verdict

The Hi-Gear Lavvu Airlite is an intriguing hybrid air tent that springs into life to provide a beautifully high and liveable shell. It’s spacious inside and there are some lovely touches, like the magnetic divider into the bedroom and the quality of the air beam and valve.

However, it’s a little feature-light – I’d have liked blackout bedroom and some storage in an ideal world. All in all, it represents good value and is a good option for camping couples or a trio of friends.

About the author

As a qualified Mountain Leader, avid wild camper and a family man, Alex enjoys camping in all its forms. An expert on all things outdoor gear, he’s been testing and reviewing camping kit and tents – from solo backpacking shelters to palatial family car camping tents – for many years.