New ultralight 1 person tents for 2009?

Shane,

I'm not sure what you mean by the "big guns" but two of my favorites are Henry Shire's Tarptent line and Ron Moak's SixMoonDesigns tents. They may even be considered "big guns" in the ultralight tent category.

http://www.tarptent.com/index.html

http://www.sixmoondesigns.com/

Happy Trails,

-Mark

Shane,
IMO, any of the "lightweight tents" from the big guns are too heavy :). There are lighter options. If you are looking for something in particular, post some info and perhaps someone can recommend something.

Edit:
"Lighter options" being what Mark linked to above.

I'm rolling my eyes here, guys. I am asking about new lines from Big Agnes (Seedhouse SL1 replacement), MSR, etc, all of which are supposed to be lighter and better. It's kind of pointless to tell me to check out tarps when I'm asking about tent shelters. I've read a lot about tarps and my severe issues with bugs (and other things) make them uninteresting to me at the moment.

I'll check out the Sixmoon website, though.

Right now I am just asking about upcoming lines in 2009.

Shane apparently you aren't familiar with Henry Shire's Tarptent line, or Ron Mauk's Six Moon Designs. These aren't tarps; they are tents which are significantly lighter than anything from the 'big guns'. Steven is right, the big boys' tents are just too heavy, they are not UL regardless of what the builders label them as.

MSR Hubba: 3 lb, 3 oz
BA SL1: 2 lb, 15 oz

Now for really light:

Tarptent Contrail: 1 lb, 8.5 oz
SMD Lunar Solo: 1 lb, 7 oz

Or how about really, REALLY LIGHT?:

Tarptent Sublite: 1 lb, 2.5 oz
Gossamer Gear the One: 1 lb, 1.1 oz

Don't know about new models from the big boys, but they aren't gonna be building anything this light. If you must have a double-wall tent, try Hilleberg or Terra Nova; they build 4 season tents with weights more like 3 season "superlight" tents from the big boys.

I see you're a member; check out the reviews on these tents to see just how well the editors like them. I will say, I gave up on tents long ago because they were too heavy. I'm now considering buying a tent for the first time in about 10 years because the weights aren't much greater now than my tarp.

Rolling your eyes? Lovely. How about this? Biting my tongue….

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/orsm08_lw_shelters.html

Everyone on the site is now rolling their eyes..at YOU. Tarptent and SMD and Gossamer Gear make the lightest tents on the market. There's also one being sold over at prolitegear.com (though I can't recall what it is called), that is marketed as the lightest single-person tent in the world.

Shane,
My Refuge X (made by Six Moons Designs) is a two person fully enclosed shelter that weighs 15.9 ounces with the stuffsack…that's less then a pound! I weighed it, and I'm still having trouble believing it. :)

Big Agnes Fly Creek will be available in early 2009. It's a double wall, freestanding tent that's similar in configuration (sq. footage, height, width) to the Seedhouse 1 SL — but it weighs just 1 lb. 14 oz. I believe BA managed to squeeze out weight from the Seedhouse by decreasing volume from the midsection down to the foot end (space that's not used anyway) — and maybe lighter materials as well.

Not a bad contender at all — considering the advantages of a double wall tent with relatively little weight penalty. With the tent name, you can google for more info. And if you are a member, you can click over to Practical Backpacking forum for tons of photos and detailed info.

I guess I should mention that I'm primarily interested in a double-wall tent. I've read reviews of plenty of single-wall ultralight single-person tents and nearly all of them fail in some fashion, while succeeding at being light. My main interest in my shelter isn't cutting as much weight as possible, it's being comfortable (which means no moisture, no bugs, enough room to move a bit) while being lightweight – I don't expect ULW in a double-wall tent.

Thank you, this is exactly the kind of information I was hoping for – I wasn't trying to get into a tent argument… :(

Well tarptents certainly are not tarps in that they do have bug protection and waterproof floors, but–I want to say that they are not exactly tents either because they are going to be more prone to condensation, but in reality all tents are prone to condensation, just as all tents have design features built-in to vent off the condensation. In the case of tarptents, though, you can get wet on a humid night just by brushing the inside of the "tent" and some people might simply not like that.

Still, Shane, you probably should have known better than to ask about "tents" on this forum ;).

True, true, but I know the gearheads here would certainly be tracking everything, even if it wasn't truly ULW.

Shane,

They're just having fun. Tents are regularly discussed here. Sure, we all like UL, compact and simple; but many here also gravitate to heavy, awkward and complicated — like caldera cones and Jetboil stove/pots.

We're gear heads, schizo at times, and we can never make up our minds — but we enjoy it all. :)

Shane,
Don't forget to check out Big Sky.

http://bigskyproducts.com/Big_Sky_Evolution_1P_shelter.aspx

I'm not on top of their newest stuff but I recall that they have a new 1P tent for 2009. There was a time where they had (some of) the lightest freestanding double wall tents – somewhat customizable aswell.

Looks like the mob has dispersed ;-)

Shane,

For light double wall shelters you should take a look at the offerings by Terra Nova.

Ben, my mind is made up…. I'll have one of everything!!!!

Shane:

Looking is free — but don't actually buy anything from Big Sky before you do a search through this forum. Tons of complaints.

If ANYONE has made recent purchases from BS and received delivery within BS' stated timeframe — please post your feedback so we'll all know.

Jonathan………You don't already?

Jonathan:

Buy one of everything — that's one way of approaching it. And propping up our economy is a good thing.

nm

Another to check out might be the Scarp 1 from Henry Shires. Double wall, looks like the living space is good, and lots of nice features for 4 season use. The twin entry design is great in the rain; you have one area to cook and one to store wet gear. The optional crossing poles look like they would lend lots of strength for high winds or snow load (I know the Hilleberg Akto failed under heavy snowload and I think the same might happen with the Terra Nova Hoop tents). I also like the corner struts, as they create a more open feeling along the floor. The weight is 2 lb, 12 oz; the crossing poles add 12 oz. It's much heavier than the lightest offerings, but has lots of features and versatility.

Ah yes, Sierra Designs was one of the companies I heard/read was doing even lighter tents for 2009.

Thanks for the info so far, guys.

In case you haven’t seen it yet, MSR’s new Carbon Reflex looks interesting.

Jonathan-

We all saw the pics of your gear room/warehouse. Don't you already have one of everything?!