01 — Where It All Started
HillZero began with a rainy hike in the fall of 2022.
Our founder, Nick, is a tent designer and a longtime backpacking enthusiast. Over the years, he has used, studied, and designed many types of backpacking tents, always considering weight an important factor when evaluating gear.
During a hike through the hills, the sky suddenly turned gray, and a steady rain began to fall. Nick set up his tent and went inside to wait it out, expecting the rain to pass soon. It didn't.
A few hours later, his hiking plans were put on hold. As the rain continued, he found himself spending most of the day inside a space originally designed for little more than resting and sleeping. At first, this didn't seem like much of a problem. But as a few hours stretched into a full day, small details became increasingly noticeable. The space felt cramped. Sitting up, stretching, and even changing clothes became awkward. Air had little room to circulate, moisture began to build, and the tent gradually felt more confined.
A tent that was meant to be a brief stop along the trail had suddenly become the place where he would spend the entire day.
That unexpected rain made Nick start to wonder: Is a lightweight backpacking tent really suited to every situation we might encounter?
02 — Rethinking Backpacking
Over the past several years, backpacking gear has continued to revolve around one central goal: reducing weight. Lighter fabrics, simpler structures, and increasingly refined designs have made it possible for hikers to carry less and go farther.
That pursuit matters. But the experience in the rain led Nick to a different question: Should a backpacking tent also be designed for the moments when we stop?
You carry it to the wild. Then you live in it.
When movement is interrupted by weather, terrain, or fatigue, a tent takes on a different role. It becomes a place to rest, sleep, organize gear, wait out bad weather, and sometimes simply spend more time there.
Going lighter makes it easier to move. Living better makes it easier to stay.
Nick began to rethink how we measure the value of a backpacking tent. If both moving and staying matter, what should a tent be designed to do?
03 — Looking at Backpacking Differently
With this question in mind, Nick began to look more closely at the Backpackers around him. At first, he thought his experience was simply the result of an unusual situation. But he soon realized that the need to stop and stay wasn't unique to him. Not every Backpacker is focused on going farther.
Some prefer short weekend hikes. They want gear light enough to make the journey easier, but once they reach their destination, they are in no hurry to leave. They may spend more time sitting, resting, cooking, organizing their gear, or simply taking in the landscape.
Others—photographers, painters, and nature lovers—intentionally spend longer periods outdoors. They may move at their own pace, stopping and starting as the landscape catches their attention or inspiration strikes. For them, backpacking isn't simply about getting from A to B. It is also about reaching a place and truly spending time there.
Nick began to see that different ways of backpacking create different needs for a tent.
For these users, the answer wasn't simply a tent that pursued the lowest possible weight. It was a better balance between ease of carrying and the experience of staying:
Light enough to carry.
Comfortable enough to stay.
Finding a better balance between the two became the design challenge Nick wanted to take on.
04 — A New Way to Design
This led Nick to a deeper question:
How can a backpacking tent be easier to carry, without making it harder to live in?
He called this design approach Livable Backpacking. Livable Backpacking starts with the lightweight principles of backpacking, while bringing the experience after arrival into the design equation.
For Nick, this meant asking a simple question: Within a reasonable weight, what is truly worth keeping?
More thoughtful use of space. Better ventilation. Easier access. Enough room to sit up, stretch, and change clothes naturally inside the tent. These details may seem small, but they become increasingly valuable when you are staying for longer periods.
05 — From Idea to Product
Following this design direction, Nick began putting Livable Backpacking into practice through tent design, eventually developing the first product: the Scott 2P. It wasn't designed simply to chase a lower weight, nor did it rely on adding more fabric to create more space.
Instead, Nick started with the experience of actually being inside the tent, rethinking the interior layout, freedom of movement, ventilation, and the details that shape everyday use.
Every design decision had to answer one question:
Does the added weight genuinely improve the experience?
The Scott 2P became the first result of that exploration. It was never intended to be the lightest tent. Instead, it was designed to find a more natural balance between carrying light and living comfortably, while staying within a reasonable weight for backpacking.
And with that first tent, HillZero was born.
06 — About HillZero
HillZero is a backpacking tent brand founded by Nick, built around a simple belief:
Backpacking isn't only about moving. It's also about knowing when to stop.
Sometimes, you stop because of the rain. Sometimes, you stay another night because you found a place you don't want to leave. Sometimes, you simply want to sit down and watch the clouds move slowly through the valley.
Those moments are part of backpacking, too.
And that makes a tent more than something you carry on your back. It becomes a small space of your own in the wild—a place to rest, cook, organize your gear, or simply do nothing at all while being surrounded by nature.
That is what HillZero wants to explore: not only how we move through the wild, but how we experience the time we choose to spend there.
Carry Less. Live Better.
HillZero. It starts here.
