Shangri-la vs Hex vs Megalight

While this doesn't completely answer your question, I called GoLite last week to find out if the Shangri-La parts were compatbile with the Hex 3 and she said they were identical, which leads me to believe there are very few functional differences between the two. You might call GoLite though and ask them to articulate the differences.

I'm pretty sure that the demensions have changed slightly. I think the square footage is lower in the shangri-la vs hex 3. I just purchased an older hex 2 and the hex 3 nest fits inside it. the hex 2 is slightly smaller than the hex 3 but I think its the same demensions as the shangri-la.
Basically its the same size an inch here or there.

The difference with the megalight is the square shape. This gives you more useable interior space but doesn't fare as well with wind (from what I've read).

Hi Kevin,

I've been down this road and settled on the Golite Shangri la- 3 for a few reasons.
First was price for me in Europe, and second was that I'll be using it for two people above the tree line and read the S3 is better in the wind- becasue of it's shape, you don't need to think about optimal pitching directions.
The second was that the S3 uses heavier fabric (1.76 oz/sq) and doesn't need seam sealing because Golite use hydrostatic thread which expands when wet. The tarp also doens't need retensioning if it is pitched in the rain becasue the fabric doesn't expand like 1.3 silnylon.
One other important thing is the S3 has great guys sewn in, which are adjustable, whereas the Megalight only comes with elastic guys which you need to replace if you want more flexibility with your pitching.
I looked at the Megalight lon and hard, and there are a lot of seams to seal.
I really like my S3- it's fantasic- I haven't tried the Megalite, others say they like theirs, but these reasons above made me swing for the Golite.
Hope this helps.
cheers, fred

One of my main gipes with some Golite products is their SilLite fabric. While it's similar to "normal" silnylon, albeit heavier, it has a coating on one side (polyurethane?) that can delaminate after awhile–something that I've never seen happen with standard silnylon. I've had this happen with several GoLite SilLite stuff sacks and two Dawn packs. Presumably this coating allows for traditional seam-sealers to be used, flame retardants to be applied, and is possibly why Sillite doesn't need seam sealing and doesn't stretch, but I'd worry about the longevity of the coating.

The same type of sil nylon seems to be used also by MSR and Sierra Designs, but *not* by Black Diamond, at least in their Betalite/Megalite shelters. I'd also not worry about the silnylon of the Megalite stretching–it will stretch a bit, but if you're inside, making the pole longer to compensate is simple enough.

I'd check with golite about their shelters using the same material as their packs and stuff sacks. My hut 1 shows none of that (or I have not noticed it), but my dawn and stuff sacks do show the "flaking" that you mention. I've never heard anyone mention material problems in any golite shelter for years.