New ‘Compact’ Trailstar

[Jason Elsworth]

Detailed long term Cricket review.

http://tramplite.com/2013/02/mld-cricket-review.html

[David Ure]

I am not sure why anyone would go for the Cricket tarp over the SoloMid.

[Mole J]

< I am not sure why anyone would go for the
Cricket tarp over the SoloMid.

Cricket has more sheltered entrance overhead? ( harder to get in and out of though…)

I had a solomid for a while. So small that rain comes straight down in on you when the door is open. Cricket has that beak.

[rowan !]

Dave U says:
"Having said that, if you are taller than about 5'10" according to Ron, the regular Trailstar would be the way to go."

Well, I'm 5' 2", so I don't have to worry about being too big for my shelter! The regular Trailstar would be comically large for just me, and I'm pretty sure I can't talk any of my hiking buddies into sharing it, because it's not a fully enclosed tent. Often I end up camping in locations that require you to use designated sites, and sometimes they are not very large, especially when you have 2 or 3 tents sharing one. For that reason also, smaller would be preferable.

Dave U says:
"I am not sure why anyone would go for the Cricket tarp over the SoloMid."

One thing I dislike about my current tent (an old Sierra Designs LightYear CD) is that I can't see out of it when I'm inside. That's why I'd go for the Cricket over the SoloMid.

[Jason Elsworth]

+ 1 to J Mole. I have always been put off the Solomid, because even in rain with no wind it looked like I would need to have the door shut.

[Peter Evans]

Ron changed my order to Trailstar instead of Cricket… I was having some doubt based on weather and my height, now I have both covered. I went with Gray Silnylon.
I can't wait to try it out.

[rowan !]

The 2' 6" entrance height could be difficult for a tall person, I imagine. I, however, am short enough to go through that entrance by duck-walking (I just measured!), which has to be easier than getting into the tent I have now. Plus, my understanding is that it's possible to bring the front corners in slightly, creating a steeper and taller entrance. I've also read that someone kept a small sheet of plastic film at the entrance, and simply unrolled it so they could crawl inside without touching the wet ground. It seems like there are various ways of working around the low door height.

[rowan !]

Jason Elsworth says:
"Detailed long term Cricket review.
http://tramplite.com/2013/02/mld-cricket-review.html&quot;

Thanks for the link! I finally read the review and it was excellent. I've searched quite a bit and was able to find very few reviews of the Cricket. I hadn't seen this one. It's made me think that perhaps a Cricket tarp would be a good choice for me.

Maybe some of you could give me a reality check with this. I've never used a tarp before so I can't draw on personal experience. My thinking is that neither the mini-Trailstar nor the Cricket requires a water-resistant bivy underneath, as they both offer good protection from rain on their own. I would use some sort of light ground cloth to minimize dirt and moisture on my gear. And I don't relish sharing my bed with ants and ticks, so my plan is to use a bug bivy (with a full mesh top) and suspend the head end from one of the mitten hooks inside the shelter. Then, if I want more space for changing clothes, etc. I can unclip the bivy and just sit on top of it. Does this sound like a reasonable setup?

[David Ure]

"I had a solomid for a while. So small that rain comes straight down in on you when the door is open. Cricket has that beak."

If you pitch the Cricket low enough during a storm (i.e. blowing rain), unless you are the aforementioned 5'2", you are going to have to snake to get into it and even then, still not be protected from blowing rain. I am a little confused by the comment because if you unzip the door on the SoloMid to the same height as the Cricket 'awning' then the entry / exit will be the same as will rain ingress.

The SoloMid is also a 4 season shelter, which is nice.

Horses for courses, I guess but the comment about views was kind of funny. One could just leave the door open on the SoloMid.

Of course, the better way would be to just buy the Tarptent Notch fly which can be purchased separately.

[rowan !]

Dave U says:
"Horses for courses, I guess but the comment about views was kind of funny. One could just leave the door open on the SoloMid."

It isn't about views at all. It's just that when I can't see at least a little of the outside world I feel rather claustrophobic.

If, as other people have said, a lot of rain comes inside a SoloMid when the door's open, it seems like that wouldn't be very practical. Suppose you go to sleep with the door open and it rains during the night. This might be ok if you're someone who'd wake up at the first raindrop, but I'd probably not wake up until I was completely soaked and freezing.

[David Ure]

"Suppose you go to sleep with the door open and it rains during the night. This might be ok if you're someone who'd wake up at the first raindrop, but I'd probably not wake up until I was completely soaked and freezing."

Yes, then the SoloMid is definitely not for you. Of course if you experience blowing freezing rain, the Cricket won't be for you either.

Mental note: Remember to close off shelter at night lest I wake up in a pool. I kid, of course.

[BlackHatGuy]

"If, as other people have said, a lot of rain comes inside a SoloMid when the door's open, it seems like that wouldn't be very practical. Suppose you go to sleep with the door open and it rains during the night. This might be ok if you're someone who'd wake up at the first raindrop, but I'd probably not wake up until I was completely soaked and freezing."

When I had a Cricket I had a triangular door made of cuben so I could clip it up to help with windblown rain, FWIW.

[David Ure]

"When I had a Cricket I had a triangular door made of cuben so I could clip it up to help with windblown rain, FWIW."

Bingo, Stinky.

[Stuart .]

Doug – Who made the cuben door for you? I had something similar for a while for the TrailStar made by OookWorks, but I wound up never needing it and sold it on. Now my Cricket tent is in the production queue, I'm wondering if I could source something similar domestically at a reasonable price.

[BlackHatGuy]

I believe Chris Zimmerman made it for me, he was doing a lot of one-off stuff for me back then.

[Stuart .]

Much appreciated, Doug. You had the cuben Cricket, didn't you? Tramplite seemed to think the silnylon versions are easier to pitch low. That's what I have on order, so my hope is I won't need anything extra. It's always good to know who might be willing to help out with a custom job, after I've used it for a while.

[BlackHatGuy]

"You had the cuben Cricket, didn't you?"

There was a sil version? :-)

[Stuart .]

Touche

[Stuart .]

Has anyone seen our Dundonian correspondent lately? A little tease is one thing, but this thread's been in search of an update from its originator for about 10 days now. How's the shortarse TrailStar working out?

[David Ure]

He's been a little busy testing the limits of his Mini:

[Stuart .]

Look Mum, no airbags.

From the title I was hoping to see a few Moggie Minors go airborne along with the minis, but I had to settle for a couple of totalled 2200s.

[William Chilton]

Stuart, if you have need of a rain skirt, ZPack's cloudkilt should work as a door, providing the dimensions are suitable. Otherwise, you could probably rig up something from polycryo pretty easily and cheaply.

[Stuart .]

Hi William, many thanks for that suggestion. I checked out Joe's site and see he's set up the Cloudkilt to be used as a beak on tarps, although not for the Hexamid. I'll take some measurements once I receive the Cricket and see if it might be a fit.

[Diplomatic Mike]

After my initial post, it was suggested to me that Ron didn't want too much info released until the new shelter was up on the site. As i'm a MLD fan, i don't want to step out of line.

[David Ure]

Nuts. I was just about to order 1,856 of them.

; )

Quite frankly I am more interested in the Mini Cooper. Have you received it yet?

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