TT Moment in moderate wind

[Stuart R]

http://tracksterman.tumblr.com/post/61665521042/waking-up-to-rain-this-morning-i-was-glad-to-be

This guy is almost a nomad for much of the year and knows his gear, but is not too impressed with the Moment in a moderate wind.

[Franco Darioli]

Tracksterman is comparing his S/H purchased Moment (850g) with the 2 person Luxe Tiger Moth, 2.3kg.
I happen to be familiar with the Tiger Moth, in fact I suggested one of the main features of that tent as well as smaller details, however I would rather carry and use the Moment instead…
BTW, value for money the Tiger Moth was a nice shelter for someone of my size. (5'8")

[Philip Tschersich]

I am also not thrilled with the Moment in windy conditions, though I do find the tent to be pretty spacious for the weight. This is my first silnylon shelter and I was also totally amazed at how much condensation would accumulate on the fly, inside and out, on calm nights. Like 2-3x as much as on a regular PU shelter. It just beads up and then sticks there. Weird. Good tent as long as you can avoid the wet walls and aren't out in a wind storm.

[Franco Darioli]

Do keep in mind that hoop and tunnel tents are designed to flex , so if you are used to a rigid (multi pole/freestanding type) shelter once they start wobbling they may appear to be failing but that it isn't so till they rip apart…
This is my Moment used by a mate of mine.

You can clearly see how the wind is deforming the shelter , still it did not fail.
The freestanding shelter in the distance also wobbled…
same trip, different spot (still windy…)

BTW, the current version has two walls with better air flow.

[Sam Farrington]

Stuart,
Seem to recall that you built an excellent silnylon tent with fabric from Extrem Textil in Germany, and live and trek in Scotland, where wind is more of an issue due to the open terrain.

So am kind of puzzled why you are concerned about the Moment. At any rate, I've camped considerably in a silnylon tent, but it is stretched over a dome frame, and has a dome-shaped net liner. In that setup, the silnylon canopy has never gotten me or my gear the slightest bit damp. I have the original Moment, but have not used it due to the sagging that can become an issue when silnylon is not fully supported.

I say "can become" because there are silnylons coming from the Far East now that have more water resistant coatings, like the ones sold by Thru-Hiker, and also sag less when the temp drops. I've comparison tested them stretched in hoops on my back deck in the fall, so am pretty sure this is the case.

I say "fully supported" because silnylon is probably the most elastic of tent fabrics, and that, coupled with the sagging, doesn't bode well for tents that have larger spans of unsupported material.

But this thread is the first I've heard that silnylon acquires more condensation than PU. The thinking on BPL seems to be that this has to do with 'emissivity.' I think by this is meant radiant heat loss, and it appears that surfaces with less of that acquire less condensation. A lot of tests have been done with fabrics with reflective surfaces, but don't know if comparison tests have been done with silicone and PU coats. I also would not want a tent that was coated inside or out with a reflective surface. I did try out a very light PU nylon canopy this summer, but since there was very little sagging and a net inner, there might have been significant condensation that I just didn't notice.

But you've struck a chord with me, because I've already decided to use either shaded Cuben or very light PU coated nylon for the canopy on my next tent project. The floor will be the more water resistant silnylon, though. For a floor, I think the elasticity and resistance to sticky gunk are a real plus.

For photos of the above tents, look at the recent thread that started out about Sierra Designs new quilts and soon turned to discussion about their new tents.
Will be interested to see what others say about this subject.

[Alex Wallace]

Interesting. I've had good luck with the Moment, and now Moment DW, in wind, but I've never had to deal with sustained strong winds like that. I've definitely had gusts that grabbed my attention, but probably had sustained winds less than 25mph? I'm not sure about this, but I set mine up without the crossing pole and tighten the heck out of the ends for a very taught pitch, which might work better?

I plan to continue to use the Moment DW on mid-elevation trips this fall/winter on the west slope of the Sierra, so I'm sure I'll be able to test this theory out. I'll keep you posted.

[Stuart R]

Samuel
I did make and still use my tent. It is supported by a single hoop pole and a smaller vertical pole at the foot, so I would not expect it to fare much better then the Moment in strong wind. On the other hand, it is excellent in the wet. It was subject to torential rain in a thunderstorm at 7000' and no moisture came thru the fabric at all, with none of the misting that some mention. The only water that came in was due to raindrops hitting the saturated ground with enough force to cause water to splash up under the fly and thru the no-seeum inner wall.

[Sam Farrington]

Stuart,
Thanks for your response. All clear now.
Because of the wide range of water resistance in silnylons, I think we will continue to hear totally different takes on silnylon tents in the rain.
Hope you hear more on this thread about how the Moment fares in high winds. From what I hear, those are often the conditions in the Scottish highlands.
Or, you could make another tent with more hoops, if you have or can obtain more silnylon like that you used on your current tent.

I should have mentioned that the other reason I don't use the Moment is that it is just not big enough for me and the two dogs. It may be fine for one person, if tensioned at the ends with elastic that will counteract sagging. I also like not having to deal with condensation, and no doubt that is why TT came out with the double wall model.

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