Nordisk Thrymheim 5 Review – A Feature Packed Hybrid Tipi

The Nordisk Thrymheim 5 is a modern design hybrid tipi with a spacious poleless interior, large entrance and versatile indoor/outdoor living configuration.

Overland roof tent or ground tent? We wrestled with this choice for quite some time before choosing the Nordisk Thrymheim 5, there are many advantages to both and also quite a few disadvantages too. Eventually we settled on going to ground and snapped up the Nordisk tipi on a good deal. Here are our first impressions and initial review of the tent including first time set up.

Why we chose the Nordisk Thrymheim 5

A good quality tent is a big purchase and for us it had to deliver quality and features to allow us to enhance our camping experience. The three of us were never going to go camping for a week in the Pyranees in the Darwin 4 but in the Thrymheim it would be a smoother ride altogether. There is a vast difference between a €150 euro tent and one that costs four times that.

The Thryheim is 100% polyester and was an outside contender up against cotton canvas tents on our list, cream coloured canvas on dusty Andalucian campsites? Maybe not, especialy if it rains and the dust comes down with it. The Thrymheim also has a large area at the front for kicking off your boots and storing your gear and it is of course Nordisk quality.

Who is it for?

The Nordisk Thrymheim 5 is for adventurous groups and familes of up to five people who enjoy camping with that little bit of extra space. Ideal for those who need plenty of gear storage out front but still secure and undercover. The Thrymheim is also an ideal modern tipi tent for those who like enough space to stand up and where headroom is important both inside and outside the sleeping area.

Key features

For us, we were looking for a tent with some key features, these included:

Front porch area: A large area to store gear such as the cooler, boots etc as well as having enough room to store our table without dismantling it and folding away. The front inside area of the Thrymheim delivers enough space to store everything we bring with us and there enough useable space to sit and work/do some editing etc at the table while still being ‘in the tent’.

Ventilation: Crucial for camping in warmer climates this was a big one for us. The Thrymheim has a substantial number of vents which include:

• Large rear vent at floor level
• Large vent in the roof
• Doors can be set up as flyscreens only
• Two windows left and right in front area
• Main door can be set up as flyscreen only

Essentially when it gets hot this tent can be configured in a number of different ways to allow increased airflow, this in turn helps with sleep and makes life in the tent more comfortable.

Headroom: There comes a time [usually with age] when crawling in and out of a tent is no longer that much fun, it’s okay when you’re young and can scurry in and out like a rabbit and contort yourself like a gymnast to get your pants on in the morning but once you reach your fifties a bit of extra headroom makes life a bit easier.

This tent delivers ample headroom and offers a great feeling of space due to the tipi design, at 6ft 2″ I can walk in and out of this tent no problem at all.

Sleeps 5: Tent manufacturers are always ambitious with there tent ‘person sizes’, a four person tent for example is more often that not only suitable for three people and what about the gear? The Thrymheim comes as a three and a five person, we have the latter and can say that it will fit five at a push with the added advantage of ample gear storage outside the sleeping area.

In reality this tent is a great four person tent, we are three persons [probably soon to be just the two of us] so the Thrymheim is the perfect size [for us] in all situations, nice and spacious but not too big either.

Spare parts: It’s always good to know that once you’ve spent your money that there is some kind of after care service and supply of spares should you need them. The Thrymheim comes with two repair patches [one for each colour of the tent] but there is a huge array of spare parts available from Nordisk including some good upgrades too on the Nordisk website.

Specs:

At a hair under 5m in length and 3m in width the footprint of the Thrymheim is large, couple that with the height of the tipi in the sleeping area and you have a great space.

Pitching the tipi

This is the fun part… You know when you get a new tent and you’re just busting to get out there and get it up? This offering from Nordisk requires a few Youtube videos to be watched first. The instructions are better than most I’ve seen but the realities of each stage of erecting a tent to correspond with what is on diagrams is quite different.

Being honest it’s not that bad, it may look quite complex at first but the procedure is pretty simple, the hard part is in the adjustments that needs to be made to get this tent to ‘sit right’ and have everything line up straight with no sagging fabric – there is a sweet spot, it’s just a matter of finding it and our top tip is to get the groundsheet pegged out straight, from there the rest should be easy…

Note: When this tent is new it’s harder to get the main tipi poles into place as the ‘pockets’ [at the point of the tipi] where the poles slide into are a bit rigid. After the tent has gone up a few times though these pockets flex out a bit and supple up making it easier.

Quality

The moment you unbox this tent you get a feeling that you’ve made the right decision as far as quality is concerned. Open up the oversized bag and pull out the contents and you know where your money has gone – this tent is in a different league.

The first thing you’re probably going to notice are the aluminium poles, they are substantial poles and lightweight at the same time. Pegs are also light, in fact holding one aluminium ‘hexagonal skewer’ and it’s hard to believe it weighs anything at all. Everything is light, strong and a great colour too.

Small finishes like the aluminium sliders on the guy ropes are premium, the zippers are robust, fabrics appear strong and points of stress for example where poles attach to the roof are reassuringly thick.

Does this tent fit in with overlanding?

Of course. In reality any tent is a suitable overlanding tent, it all depends on what you prefer, what kind of trip you’re having, how many people etc etc. The Nordisk Thrymheim 5 is a top of the range hybrid tipi and is suitable enough for most hardcore overland adventures, if you insist on quality then you can’t go far wrong with this tipi.

It takes time to set up, being a larger tent with a unique design it has plenty of features – and it’s big so it’s no pop up tent. A flexible tent for family overlanding/camping and ideal for ‘basecamp’.

Final thoughts

Are we happy with our purchase? Yes, for sure. If you can get a good deal on the Nordisk Thrymheim 5 then snap it up, you wont be disappointed. The tent ticks pretty much every box on our list and delivers premium quality in a design that is unique being a hybrid tipi.

Trymheim is the residence in which the Giant “Tjasse”, from Norse mythology, inhabited, later being passed on to his daughter “Skade”. Later it is told by “Snorres Edda” that “Skade” and her partner “Njord” resided in Trymheim.

– Nordisk

For family camping and overlanding the tent delivers great space and functionality as well as boasting quite a few features that show Nordisk go the extra mile when it comes to well thought out design.

Bits we don’t like: There isn’t much to not like to be honest other than…..

Resources

• Pitching instructions [Download PDF]
• Choosing a Nordic Tipi
• Nordisk
• Camping Jaen