LW tents from Australia

>Australian and lightweight are two terms seldom seen in the same sentence

Unless we are discussing Roger's tents!!

Those tunnel tents will never take off. My Lighthouse did once, I managed to catch it before it crashed into some very spiky scrubs ( I was having a full wash at the time, it could have been an interesting UTube clip)
Franco

>Those tunnel tents will never take off.

???

It was just a double entandre quip for my "Lighthouse" chase bit.
Nothing to do with Roger or Bo.
Franco

nm

>Isn't this a similar design to the MacPac Microlight

Yeah, that was my first thought, but on closer inspection, the Microlight has the pole run diagonally acroos the tent (from corner to corner), whereas the One Planet tent had the pole symetrically across the middle of the tent, and is at least 500g lighter.

>Isn't this a similar design to the MacPac Microlight

Yeah, that was my first thought, but on closer inspection, the Microlight has the pole run diagonally acroos the tent (from corner to corner), whereas the One Planet tent had the pole symetrically across the middle of the tent, and is at least 500g lighter.

The MacPac Microlite is considered suitable for Tasmanian conditions (wet and windy) I will be interested if the Gunyah can hand similar conditions.

Tony

Wow, interesting. Unexpected from an aussie manufacturer. The 2 person tent is very light too… 1.37kg. A rather unusual design with the vestibule at one end of the tent, but the main entry from the side. You can access the vestibule through a smaller opening from within the tent, and it can be used as a second exit in a pinch.

Personally though, I would have rather they added an extra 200g and given it another side entry for the other person.

nm

>The MacPac Microlite is considered suitable for Tasmanian conditions (wet and windy) I will be interested if the Gunyah can hand similar conditions.

From a wind-shedding standpoint they don't look very different, but I do wonder about the difference in hydrostatic head between the two tents (ie is the Gunyah's 15 denier fly really up to holding back long deluges??). I know from first hand experience that the fly material used in the Microlight is almost totally impervious to water:

"Our trusted floor fabric is made to stand up to nights on gravel, spiky or boggy ground – and the UV30™ fly resists years of wind, rain and harsh sunlight".

All true!!

nm

>how does the Microlight do with condensation

It's OK, though not the most brilliant design in terms of venting.

>also, shedding the odd summer snow storm in the mountains?

Again, it's OK, but if you get a lot of snow windblown from the side, you will need to shake it off occassionally as it can pile up against the fly. And like most tents, it sags a lot when it cools or gets wet. If you don't get out and retighten the fly in the night you will have a very sorry tent by morning (the fly can sag and touch the inner walls making for a very wet morning and potentially heavy snow load).

Disclosure: I know the owner of One Planet.

Yes, OP is gently testing the waters of the UL market here in Oz. They also do a light pack – not UL, but a bit lighter. The lightweight range (pack, tent and SB) can be seen at the inside back cover of the latest issue of The Bushwalker magazine, at
http://www.bushwalking.org.au/bushwalking/BWSpring08.pdf

Further disclosure: I am the Editor of the magazine.

Cheers

>From a wind-shedding standpoint they don't look very different, but I do wonder about the difference in hydrostatic head between the two tents (ie is the Gunyah's 15 denier fly really up to holding back long deluges??). I know from first hand experience that the fly material used in the Microlight is almost totally impervious to water:

"Our trusted floor fabric is made to stand up to nights on gravel, spiky or boggy ground – and the UV30™ fly resists years of wind, rain and harsh sunlight".

All true!!

Thanks for that information Allison, MacPac are opening a store in Canberra any day now, I am seriously thinking about getting a MicroLite to replace my Betamid as my 4 season tent.

Tony

Tony, just make sure you have a lie down in the Microlight. It has less than half the floor area of a Betamid, is a lot shorter, and almost twice the weight…

Microlite
A 6' friend of mine found that he had the inner touching his face whilst laying down, those inner walls tend to close in. Not much headroom either ( sitting up) but it is definatelly storm worthy ( Tasmanian rain storms)
I don't expect the inner of the Gunyah to sag any further in than illustrated.
Franco
looking at Roger's comment, I could have added that at 171cm it feels too small for me…

We had a Microlight but sold it.
Condensation was a problem for us, and the head and foot room was not adequate for us. I'm not that tall.

Cheers

Hi Allison, Franco and Roger,

Thanks for your advice, I am 183 cm tall so I will lie down in one before I buy. I will also check the Gunyah out. Last time I used my Betamid in snow I had difficulty pegging it in soft snow so it would stay up and that was with no wind, I do not have a lot of faith if we where hit with a wind storm.

Tony

OK, I have the missing measurements for the Gunyah 1 (sorry I did not ask for the others)
2570x970x1100 mm ( 101x38x43")
The RRP will be $519, $469 at Snowgum.
Franco

What were you using for pegs?

I've found that 12cmx12cm ali plates work pretty well, or even better and lighter are silnylon stuff sacks filled with snow and tied around the middle. I use these for my Megalight, even in a howling wind.

Rod

Hi Rod,

>What were you using for pegs?

I am using some snow/sand pegs that I got from my local camping shop, they are about 200 mm long and about 30 mm wide and they are concave.

>I've found that 12cmx12cm ali plates work pretty well, or even better and lighter are silnylon stuff sacks filled with snow and tied around the middle. I use these for my Megalight, even in a howling wind.

I will try some plates and sacks thanks for the tip.

Tony

nm

This may have been mentioned above but I didn’t see it on a quick glance but the photo in Franco’s original post looks just like an old tent manufactured here in the U.S. by Moss. I believe it was called the Solis and came in both solo and two person models. It was a good tent. My only problem with it was the number of stakes (10) it took to get both the tent and the fly in a decent pitch. The guys I was hiking with back then were fast packers and I didn’t have the time to mess with excessive time it took to put up and take down in order to keep up these guys. Plenty of floor width, as I remember, but shoulder and head room when sitting up were less than adequate and the length was tight.

John, did you have the Helix in mind ?
Yes, David, having only one longitudinal pole you end up with a bug net type set up, not my cup of tea (blame Henry and those tall guys)
Call it a bivy for claustrophobic hikers ….
Franco