Bugproofing a Golite Hut 1

[Rog Tallbloke]

Summer is comin', allegedly, so it's time to bugproof this year's tent. My current favourite is the Golite Hut 1. It starts out at a svelte 17oz, which for a storm worthy tent is pretty good. But you need a groundsheet of some kind, ok polycro will do, but if you want your inflating pad safe from gravel and pine needles, Tyvek is a better bet. Add in some no see-um and a bit of help at the sewing machine from my lady Kath and here we have it:

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Weight has increased a reasonably thrifty 209g or 7.3oz. I'm using a 2oz carbon fibre golf club shaft at 47" for the front pole, and a 1/2oz carbon fibre fishing rod section for the rear. This makes the tent high enough for me and Kath to sit up together while we cook. I like being able to cook away from the mozzies. :-)

In windier conditions or heavy rain, I can just angle the pole over and drop the tent about 6" at the front in a minute or so.

[John S.]

Very cool Rog…

[Steven McAllister]

Hi Rog,

I am a fan of the "Hut 1" for solo trips, but have become a bigger fan of the almost identical Spinnshelter for weight reasons only.
I now own your old Spinnshlter. I do understand why you like the design, but wonder why you decided to go back to the heavier "Hut1"? The color attracting midges? Durability? Not stealth enough?

I use an SMD Meteor Bivy inside the "Hut 1" and "Spinnshelter", only because it protects from bugs and acts as a ground cloth at the same time.

[Rog Tallbloke]

Hi Steven,

Glad to hear the spinnshelter is going strong. It was visibility and bug attraction which put me off it. I moved on to a green gatewood cape, which was great, but a bit tight for room. I picked up the hut 1 good as new here for $50, and really like it's bombproof feel and perfect size for me and Kath. I couldn't draw up my knees while lying in the spinnshelter when it was hunkered down in storm mode. It's a lovely shaped tent for shedding wind though, and I'm sure you'll be fine with it.

With two of us, a tough tyvek groundcloth plus heat sheet is lighter than seperate bivvies, and anyway, our sleeping bags zip together. :-)

[Mark McLauchlin]

I really like that, well done.

Cheers

[Rog Tallbloke]

Cheers Mark. It was a tough one deciding whether to put a seperate mesh door in, but you can see quite a lot once you are laying down, so we decided not to. It would have added another couple of ounces and taken me over my target weight for the project.

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