Mountain Laurel Designs TrailStar Shelter Review
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I've learned a lot since the field testing that went into this initial review, and have now had the shelter in heavy snows and high winds.
This is a bad weather shelter. And a good one. More on that in future installments of the review.
At 17 oz, that's what you are paying for – weather protection gained by the use of a more robust and stretchy (highly tensionable) fabric.
The Cuben Version will not have the same benefits. Its benefit will be weight savings. The Silnylon version will be your version for seriously inclement conditions.
Now, about the 17 oz weight.
When I initially talked to some ULers about this, they balked at the weight, and why any "solo" hiker would bring that much weight for … a tarp without a door even. So, there's some education that might need to be communicated about the TrailStar, because if you compare it in a spec table to other shelters, it's not going to stand out.
Last weekend, in the Bridger Mountains, with fire to radiate heat into a big entrance. This pitch used a high door off one of the five "corners", the rest pitched square, like a 'mid. Center pole 46 inches, vestibule pole 51 inches. Tail into the wind. Gusts to 45 mph, piece of cake – deflection, of course, but no flapping. Can you imagine what the 5-corners-to-the-ground pitch at a 36 inch peak is going to resist?
It resists a lot. I have had it out in some very bad weather. Over 60 mph more than once. Last time a group of us camped. UK location.
One Stephenson's 2C with rear guylines, one 2R, Scarp 1 and my Trailstar. Come morning the 2R had a broken pole the 2C had been shaken about all night but held. Scarp had (with crossover poles) done well but porch was flapping lose from a stake pulling lose. Trailstar had not budged. Had it out in a lot of storms and bad weather. At 90cm its simply the best shelter I have ever used.
Used it on the 2011 TGO Challenge which was a very bad weather year and it was faultless. Others who used Trailstars on the event state the same. In the UK it is the must have shelter as for the weight there is nothing that has the space and ability to handle bad weather like it.
I'm enjoying the recent discussion of aesthetics Ryan.
Enjoyment of the wilderness is, at least in part, attributable to the beauty of the place, the stillness, the serenity. In my home, I fill the rooms with useful items; however, those items must also fill a secondary role as an extension of myself and my home. My couch is something I live with and I must be happy interacting with it on a daily basis. I have to like the way it feels and the way it looks and the way it resonates within the space it occupies.
I feel the same way about backpacking equipment. This is gear we expect to be useful; however, this gear must also fill a secondary role as an extension of myself and the wilderness in which I use it. My shelter is something I sleep under and I must be happy interacting with it on a daily basis. I have to like the way it functions and the way it makes me feel as it resonates within the space it occupies.
There's nothing that makes me cringe more than a campsite that looks like a garbage dump. I come to the wilderness for simplicity and beauty, and expect nothing less from the items I bring into it. I want to feel as at peace with the items in my backpack as the mountains stretched out in front of me.
The Trailstar is as useful as it is beautiful, and for that it deserves the highest of praise.
Cascade Pass, Uncompahgre Wilderness, Sept 2011 watching and waiting out a crazy beautiful fast-moving storm on our anniversary…
Great shelter. My biggest complaint is the large footprint makes finding a suitable site a little tricky at times, but worth it if you're expecting some weather.
>What happens if a heavy wind blows into the open side?
I had this happen in GNP. In the picture below, you can see our Trailstar in the far shadow, just below the snow patch. The storm ripped through Boulder Pass that night, creating a rockslide. We could hear boulders rolling down into the grass next to us (we were on a designated tent site).
The Trailstar was set in an open pitch, where one corner was elevated by a trekking pole. In the middle of the night when the storm hit, I had to get out and drop that corner. I re-staked that corner which gave me a flap of fabric from which I created a small door with the mid-panel tie out. It took only a minute. Basically, you just keep shifting the door as you re-stake. However, with the small door, it would take an awful lot of wind to cause an issue, so re-staking isn't a common thing.
Trailstar in the Porcupine Mountains this winter. With robust stakes, you can pound into frozen ground. It's not easy, but not any harder than the rock-hard tent sites we pitched on in GNP.
The TrailStar does have a large footprint but you can pitch any of the individual five points higher or lower than the others, like in a dense forest where having a to-the-ground low pitch is probably less necessary.
Here's a pitch in a Mt. Rainier campsite, pitched over a small log "table," and guyed out to a standing tree and a log:
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