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Laser photon question


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  • #1233133
    Joshua Billings
    BPL Member

    @joshua

    Locale: Santa Cruz,Ca

    Calling all photon owners. I recently bought a used photon and it comes with a sleeve cover with guy attachments. It is supposed to keep the rain out. I was wondering why they wouldn't just seam seal (did I spell that right?)or recommend seam sealing the sleeve. Is there something else the sleeve cover does that I am not aware of.Thanks for the advice.
    Josh
    By the way, it is a great looking tent. Set it up as soon as I got it. Taking it snow camping this weekend with no snow falling.

    #1469088
    Franco Darioli
    Spectator

    @franco

    Locale: Gauche, CU.

    I think that TN made the detachable sleeve hood to save a few extra grams ( Guinness world record and all of that)
    Contrary to some reports, under heavy rain it will leak if you do not use it. I am pretty confident that seam sealing the sleeve will solve the problem but for some reason I cannot find reports of folk having done that with the Laser Competition or the Photon. Here I suspect that the Brits are averse at doing their own seam sealing.
    Note that the hood should allow a much better spread of the tensioning of the pole when it's guyed out. ( I am guessing this from the Akto)
    Franco

    #1469093
    Diplomatic Mike
    Member

    @mikefaedundee

    Locale: Under a bush in Scotland

    I have the older Laserlite Joshua, and was told that as Franco says, the hood guylines help to spread the load. I don't know if this is true or not.

    You're right about us hating seam sealing Franco. If i had a new tent to seal, i don't know when the next dry day will come to do it. My new tent might lie in a cupboard till April! :)

    #1469097
    Michael Cheifetz
    BPL Member

    @mike_hefetz

    Locale: Israel

    josh,
    if i guess correctly you beat me into buying this one form another BPL'r ;)
    I have a Laser and have seam sealed it. Having said that when i looked at the way that seam is stressed while the pitch is really taut – i got a bit scared RE how well the sema sealer will hold (since its silicone coated on both sides you need SilNet or similar silicone based stuff). I am afraid that if i try to weather a serious rainy night w/o the rain cover i might get some precip in. Moreover the location of this seam and its sheer size mean that if it leaks you will have no where to run (unlike say the seams at the edge where the small CF support struts are – which i also sealed since i am an anorak but if leaks you could curl up and avoid it.
    Besides that there is also the tension thing…but i would imagine that is minor.

    YMMV
    Mike

    #1469100
    Martin Rye
    BPL Member

    @rye1966

    Locale: UK

    I own a Laser and the hood cover not only keeps out the rain it adds to the stability of the tent. IT works. Used it in bad weather and high winds and been fine. For the weight saving you would get it is not worth it. Keep it on.

    #1469116
    Greg Mihalik
    Spectator

    @greg23

    Locale: Colorado

    The Photon's pole sleeve could, IMHO, be better.

    It appears to be a legacy standoff sleeve with a lot of force directed to the stitching. (top sketch). If it were constructed as in the bottom sketch, the dynamics from the fabric would be directed towards the pole, and into the ground. This is what is accomplished with the "hood", almost an afterthought.

    Photon Pole Sleeve

    So seam sealing the flatfelled seam with thinned, saturating, silicone is pretty straightforward and effective, but the integrity of the sleeve, without the 'hood' is still a question.

    #1469344
    Franco Darioli
    Spectator

    @franco

    Locale: Gauche, CU.

    Mike
    I should feel sorry that mould grows on you but it will be 37c (99f) in the shade in two days time with low humidity , and it will get hotter later on, here in Melbourne. I can't even water my garden and have to move around in the shower to get wet ( we have those water saving shower heads that make a lot of noise but dispense dehydrated water)
    BTW my comment "Note that the hood should allow a much better spread of the tensioning of the pole when it's guyed out. " was phrased like that not to sound too dogmatic but I already had done my research months ago ( same reason why I borrowed the Akto and the Vela)
    Franco

    #1469346
    Diplomatic Mike
    Member

    @mikefaedundee

    Locale: Under a bush in Scotland

    Hey Franco, that's not hiking weather, that would kill me!

    We Scots like our weather to suit our nature! ;)

    #1469520
    Joshua Billings
    BPL Member

    @joshua

    Locale: Santa Cruz,Ca

    Just got back from using my tent in the snow. What a nice tent. I will use the sleeve condom. Sorry about beating you on the sale Michael. It is sweet. Anyone ever use this tent in snow when it was snowing? How much snow can it handle?
    Josh
    P.S. Had a good laugh when I saw the fishing hooks they call stakes that were provided with the tent. Love to see Will Reitveld do a holding power test on these babies.

    #1469527
    Franco Darioli
    Spectator

    @franco

    Locale: Gauche, CU.

    I have the feeling that your wish will be granted soon…
    I spotted a comment from a Photon owner saying something like "surprising how strong they are considering the weight but not as good as the 2g version "
    That somehow appeals to my sense of humor. ( I like the absurd)
    Franco

    #1469543
    Roger Caffin
    BPL Member

    @rcaffin

    Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe

    Hi Greg

    Yes, the standoff sleeve **as drawn** has some stitching problems. They can be overcome by better design of the tube and seam – my tents use an external sleeve but the design is quite different, and it works very well.

    The lower version you show has some very serious production problems. Try to actually make that with any degree of accuracy and efficiency, and you will quickly discover why no-one uses it. Getting the edges aligned is a nightmare. Sewing through the bulk of the tent to create this is another nightmare. Yes, been there, tried that, gave up.

    Cheers

    #1469562
    Greg Mihalik
    Spectator

    @greg23

    Locale: Colorado

    Roger,
    Thanks for the comments. My experience here comes from Stephenson's Warmlight tent line, not from trying to sew in a production environment.

    I should clarify that their connection is a folded and doublestitched construction, looking like a flatfelled seam, and not the simplistic drawing above.

    It is good to know an external sleeve can be done well, and that hopefully this is one of them.

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