Pop-up tents are designed to spring into shape in a matter of seconds, sparing you the tedious task of setting up that goes against the camping spirit of escaping work. Cinch has now pitched the fourth generation of its solar-powered pop-up tents, refreshing the existing line with new features like integrated smart LED lighting and introducing the Cinch Pod, a portable "living room" that can connect several tents together.
Cinch first popped up in 2015 and since then we've seen the tents get roomier and smarter. Like their predecessors, the 2018 tents come in the usual two-, three- and four-person models, which can be unfurled in seconds and packed up in a minute and a half. For modern campers who don't want to completely disconnect, a solar panel and battery pack can squeeze all the juice you need from the Sun, recharging devices and powering the included LED lanterns.
New to this year's lineup is what the company calls the Cinch Hub (or the Cinch Pod, or simply the Cinch Pop-Up Living Area, depending on which part of the website you're looking at). This tent is designed as a kind of portable living room, with four wide doors opening into an airy space that's made to hang out in. It stands 6 ft 5 in (195 cm) tall and measures 7 ft 9 in (235 cm) wide, and squashes down into a disc-shaped rucksack with a diameter of 2 ft 10 in (88 cm) and weight of 18 lb (8 kg).
Popped up on its own, the Hub could make handy shelter for a day at the beach or at a music festival, but it's also designed to connect to the other Cinch tents, letting you build your own tent village around the Hub in the same way as the Logos Decagon or Modular Pod Tents.
The existing lineup has had a bit of a refresh too, and the company says it's integrated new features and general improvements based on user feedback over the years. The LED lanterns and tent pegs still come standard, but they've now got some backup in the form of integrated LEDs built into the tents' interior. These can apparently be controlled via smartphone and made to glint, sparkle or light up in 365 colors.
Among the other improvements are wider inner doors, double exterior doors, a redesigned protective pouch for the solar panel on top and mats and sewn-in groundsheets to keep the elements and the insects out. The optional Climate Control Canopy is now double-sided too, using the silver side to keep the tent cool or the black side to keep the interior nice and dim if you'd rather not wake up when the Sun does.
The 2018 Cinch lineup is currently seeking funding on Indiegogo, and it's already smashed its US$30,000 goal, raising almost $215,000 with a month still left on the campaign. Pledges start at $299 for the two-person tent or the Hub, $325 for the three-person or $349 for the 4-person model. The optional add-ons can also be thrown in from $30. If all goes to plan, the Cinch tents are expected to ship in June.
Check out the campaign video below.
Source: Cinch
