Habitent - cockpit enclosure - a quick new owner's review

[niccapotamus]

There have been posts on this before. However, having speaking to someone who had had one for about 4 years we took the plunge - it cost £360 so bear this in mind as a custom made enclosure is about £1500 or more We have many pressures on the sailing budget as we are improving and changing quite a lot on the boat so that sort of spend on a "luxury" is out of the question for a couple of years - but we wanted a cockpit tent to extend our living space

It took us about 45 minutes to put up the first time, but I recon we can get it down to a much shorter time frame - maybe 15 minutes now we know what we are doing. Overall impressions are pretty good. It fits fairly well - will be better once we sort out the best way of strapping at the bottom. What is good is the fact that we have three windows with zippable covers that lift up so we can go from complete enclosure to pretty much a bimini style cover in the summer or with light showers. The material isn't as flimsy as a tent but clearly not as heavy as a full canvas cover. I think it will last if treated well.

The guy we spoke to has had his up all winter (he is a liveaboard) for 4 years irrespective of weather so we recon to get a good few years out of this one.

Overall 8 out of 10 I think and for £360 I think it represents good value so I'd recommend one if asked. Again previous forum posts have been dismissive of the price but remembering that the company has to design, source, manufacture and advertise the product I think it is good value. The instructions aren't great and you'd need to watch the U tube video first but it becomes obvious pretty quickly.

here is a pic of us at Cowes.

 

[GrahamM376]

Appears to be value for money and will serve its purpose but, looks (from the photo) like it may not stand up to strong winds?

 

[ditchcrawler]

Before I bought mine I looked at one that a liveaboard lady was using at Foxs marina.She had used it full time over 2 winters and said it stood up to all the weather thrown at it.

 

[niccapotamus]

Appears to be value for money and will serve its purpose but, looks (from the photo) like it may not stand up to strong winds?

Guy I spoke to has had it up (as a liveaboard) for 4 full winters despite 60-70 knot winds it has held up well - starting to get a bit dog eared now though as you'd expect. So although I'd never leave it up on the boat on the mooring i'd expect it to be OK through normal summer weather although I think I'd take it down if the weather was looking extreme!

 

[mickywillis]

CanI ask when the OP bought their Habitent?
The price now has risen to £445 + £18 delivery.
Seems a big jump in production costs of £85?
At the recent Jersey Boat Show, they were offering the tents at £360 but we couldn't take one there and then, so best price they could offer was £400 + Del when we arrived home.

 

[niccapotamus]

Towards the end of March

CanI ask when the OP bought their Habitent?
The price now has risen to £445 + £18 delivery.
Seems a big jump in production costs of £85?
At the recent Jersey Boat Show, they were offering the tents at £360 but we couldn't take one there and then, so best price they could offer was £400 + Del when we arrived home.

 

[bogman]

There have been posts on this before. However, having speaking to someone who had had one for about 4 years we took the plunge - it cost £360 so bear this in mind as a custom made enclosure is about £1500 or more We have many pressures on the sailing budget as we are improving and changing quite a lot on the boat so that sort of spend on a "luxury" is out of the question for a couple of years - but we wanted a cockpit tent to extend our living space

It took us about 45 minutes to put up the first time, but I recon we can get it down to a much shorter time frame - maybe 15 minutes now we know what we are doing. Overall impressions are pretty good. It fits fairly well - will be better once we sort out the best way of strapping at the bottom. What is good is the fact that we have three windows with zippable covers that lift up so we can go from complete enclosure to pretty much a bimini style cover in the summer or with light showers. The material isn't as flimsy as a tent but clearly not as heavy as a full canvas cover. I think it will last if treated well.

The guy we spoke to has had his up all winter (he is a liveaboard) for 4 years irrespective of weather so we recon to get a good few years out of this one.

Overall 8 out of 10 I think and for £360 I think it represents good value so I'd recommend one if asked. Again previous forum posts have been dismissive of the price but remembering that the company has to design, source, manufacture and advertise the product I think it is good value. The instructions aren't great and you'd need to watch the U tube video first but it becomes obvious pretty quickly.

here is a pic of us at Cowes.
View attachment 50651View attachment 50652

would you please send /post a few more detailed pictures as I am hoping to make something similar.
Especially the attach points

 

[maby]

Even at £500, they would be excellent value provided they have a size to fit your boat. We first saw them at the Boat Show shortly after they launched and subsequently saw a couple fitted to boats in our marina. The design and build quality is impressive and I've seen them withstand some pretty strong winds. They didn't have a size to fit the boat that we owned at that time and we built our own cockpit enclosure using Sunbrella - the result was ok, but it was a lot of effort and the cost of the materials came close to the price of a Habitent which would have arrived ready to fit.

We subsequently upgraded to a larger boat - no question of fitting a Habitent - and paid for a professionally made cockpit enclosure - no change out of £8,000! If there is a Habitent to fit your boat, look very seriously at it!

 

[maby]

would you please send /post a few more detailed pictures as I am hoping to make something similar.
Especially the attach points

There are diagrams, instructions and a "how to fit" video on their web site.

 

[mickywillis]

OK, March this year or 2014?
Was that a "Boat Show" special offer deal then, as the price went up in January 2015?
If March this year, how comes only £360?
Thanks

 

[niccapotamus]

OK, March this year or 2014?
Was that a "Boat Show" special offer deal then, as the price went up in January 2015?
If March this year, how comes only £360?
Thanks

dunno, I have a feeling that I bought the last of the "old stock" and that the manufacturing costs of new stock had increased - I still recon that for under £500 it makes a well thought out solution much better than a bodge it boom tent and more economical than a full monty cover (that we all aspire to but can't afford at the moment). To be honest, given the shag and hassle of attending shows to sell it, running a website, getting a manufacturer to make relatively small quantities, and accepting that they are running a business and therefore trying to make a profit then it still very reasonably priced

 

[smert]

My wife altered an old camping tent we had to fit onto the boat. The whole caboodle (poles and tent) weighs next to nothing and takes up very little space. A couple of small brackets to hold the poles in position and some additional bungy attachment points are all that were required on the boat. I wouldn't like to leave it up for any great length of time or if there were strong winds, but to give us some more room onboard to overnight in the summer it is ideal.

 

[maby]

My wife altered an old camping tent we had to fit onto the boat. The whole caboodle (poles and tent) weighs next to nothing and takes up very little space. A couple of small brackets to hold the poles in position and some additional bungy attachment points are all that were required on the boat. I wouldn't like to leave it up for any great length of time or if there were strong winds, but to give us some more room onboard to overnight in the summer it is ideal.

That is how the first Habitent was developed. ..

 

[Vamoose]

Put ours up for the first time yesterday.

First impressions =

Fits well
Although very light tent type material it seems very robust
As someone else said, it took about 45 mins to get it up first time (as we are Habitent Virgins!) . But should be a lot quicker next time now we have got the hang of it. Getting in down is 5 or 10 mins at the most
It comes packed in a zip up bag. The people who pack it at the manufacturers must have a degree in packing skill's. Getting in back in again is not easy.

Quite pleased so far











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[Cantata]

I had one of these very early on, we bought one having done a review of it for an online mag. I think it serves its stated purpose really well.
It's not hard at all to re-pack it for the bag, so long as you have a pontoon or handy flat area on which to fold and roll it!

 

[Vamoose]

I had one of these very early on, we bought one having done a review of it for an online mag. I think it serves its stated purpose really well.
It's not hard at all to re-pack it for the bag, so long as you have a pontoon or handy flat area on which to fold and roll it!

I now concur. After a bit of a fight , a lot of very rude words and the proximity of a pontoon we got it back in the bag

 

[Mctavish]

How waterproof is it?

 

[neilf39]

Had our two years now, fully waterproof and very robust. Goes up in 15 mins and comes down in same time. Gave up trying to pack it back in its bag and use one of those blue rectangular Ikea bags so we can just roll/fold it up in the cockpit. Still plenty small enough to stash away. As it is translucent it is much lighter inside than having the full 'canvas' proper fitted jobs. I would recommend it if you don't want to pay vast amounts for a fitted tent.

 

[West Coast]

Having bought one a month or two ago, only just got round to trying it at the weekend. Was impressed, fits OK on a Starlight 35 - the leading edge is only 1/2 way across the sprayhood but this didnt seem to matter. Positioned this way, the tent covered the whole cockpit. Was windy and raining hard, but tent was excellent

Also used an IKEA bag to store as the provided bag is a very tight fit!

 

[Cantata]

Had one for several years, bought it after reviewing it for an online mag, I was so impressed with it.
The material did appear very thin to me but that's because I knew nothing of modern tent material. It is certainly waterproof, never had a drop through it.
We do manage to roll it up and get it back into its bag, but only if there's a handy pontoon.