New ultralight 1 person tents for 2009?

I wish I felt at all comfortable in the Hubba. It's just too snug…

nm

No, I'm definitely a 3-season camper. Outdoor activities in sub-freezing weather just aren't my thing – yet. :)

Shane
Here are a few more contenders :
Coleman Falcon X,
MSR Carbon Reflex 1
Terra Nova Photon
Do keep in mind that as already pointed out all tents will suffer from condensation and some double wall tents (including the well liked Akto andHubba) can drip on you , when that happens I would prefer just to be able to wipe the fly and go back to sleep.
Also do look at the Tarptent Scarp 1 thread, a page back, a couple of hundred grams heavier than the manufacturers weight for the three I listed above, but much larger, and more versatile (IE all seasons) .
Franco

Shane:

Those two SD models weigh as much as my beloved 2-person BA Seedhouse 2 SL!

If you are not absolutely focused on squeezing out the last gram of weight — comfort and everything else be damned — then the "best overall" one-person tent may just be a light weight two-person tent.

My beloved Seedhouse 2 SL is a palace for one — but actually tight for two. To me, this "1.5" person tent is a great balance in light weight, ease of use, and comfort for solo use.

Even for the more weight-conscious hikers amongst us, not every trip is so long or hard as to require serious gram shedding. For most trips, I take my Seedhouse. For the tougher ones (e.g. Mt. Whitney) — I will use a lighter tarptent.

Am I missing something, or could you not just buy carbon poles for an MSR Hubba, and save about a hundred bucks over the cost of a Carbon Reflex?

Joe:

You can. But I and some others have had multiple bad experiences with CF poles.

Now I want to be careful how I say this… maybe CF poles are not all the same and maybe CF poles work well in certain configurations but not others.

My Fibraplex CF poles — custom configured in a two-hub-five-pole mode for my beloved BA Seedhouse 2 SL — failed miserably. I snapped the poles twice during leisurely set up in my own backyard and then once out in the field. I can attest to Fibraplex's good customer service though — after replacing pole sections so many times and always so quickly. But that's small comfort when out in the field.

Maybe CF poles will work better in less complicated configurations. But be cautious and be sure to test the thing out — esp. after-market replacements.

Hi Ben

> maybe CF poles are not all the same and maybe CF poles work well in certain configurations but not others.

Very true. The converted arrow shafts I use today are very reliable provided they are not over-bent. I trust them greatly.

The early-gen Fibraplex poles I tested were more flexible than the converted arrow-shaft ones, and I suspect might break more easily (but have not tested).

Any of the cheaper pultruded Cf tubes are very stiff UNTIL they fail under bending load – but when they fail they really do FAIL.

Mind you – over-bend Al tubes and they fail too. Some of the Easton tent tubes got a rep for being too brittle – they were.

> be sure to test the thing out
RECKON!

Cheers

A guy walks into a Honda dealership and says "Hey, do you have new car models or updates to your car models?"

The dealer says "Oh yeah, we updated the Civic, the Accord and we have a new…"

The guy cuts him off "No, no, I want to look at the cars, you know, for off-road"

The dealer says "Um, yeah, sure, OK, take a look at the CRV here…"

Sorry Shane, I just had to tease you. :) Tarp tents are tents. They protect against rain and bugs. Most of them are single wall, or hybrid double wall. I wouldn't own one if it didn't protect me against bugs. I have nothing against double walled tents, but if you ask about tents on this site, most people think you are talking about the tents that Mark mentioned. There are advantages to double walled tents, and many on this site use them, so it isn't unreasonable to ask about them here (especially this time of year). I suggest you might want to change the heading to avoid any confusion (something like "New ultralight 1 person double walled tents for 2009?").

Gossamer Gear is coming out with "The New One" which is evidently The One with new spinnaker.

"UPDATE: WE NOW HAVE SPINNAKER FABRIC THAT EXCEEDS OUR WATERPROOF TESTS AND WILL BE PRODUCING THE NEW ONE™ IN DECEMBER FOR RELEASE IN EARLY 2009."

> MSR's new Carbon Reflex looks interesting.
Usual MSR total lack of top ventilation?
Ah, the delights of condensation …

Cheers

I had problems with condensation on my Hubba. In talking to MSR it didn't sound like they had any intention of adding one in the future. They assured me they had tested the tent in humid climates and that I shouldn't have a problem. I was probably imagining that wet fly in the morning. :) Otherwise, I have a good impression of MSR products.

I was probably imagining that wet fly in the morning. :)

Isn't the whole point of a doublewall that you get condensation on the fly as opposed to the inside walls of the inner tent?

Don:

My beloved Seedhouse is "all mesh" and there isn't any top vent in the fly either.

I have experienced very wet coatings of condensation on the underside of my fly — but you know what? I can't recall noticing droplets crashing down through the inner!

Now, I am not saying that droplets will never crash through the mesh (I am sure it can when all the conditions are there) — but my experience is that:

1. very, very few droplets break away from the underside of the fly

2. the very few that do, they fall on the mesh and quickly wick along the threads spreading out and staying up there — much like they would if the inner was made with uncoated nylon or poly fabric. Again, pretty uncommon, so don't picture the mesh all wet with a film of water.

So vent or no vent / mesh fabric or solid fabric — it's NOT an "either/or" situation where one is "bad" and the other "good". If there were such a pronounced difference, one would have driven the other out the market a long time ago. MSR (and Big Agnes) make superb tents. For three season use, you shouldn't expect any particular condensation problems with their tents — meaning no worse than other great tents out there.

nm

I've used a double wall tent for many years and have never had any condensation problems. In fact, I was not aware that condensation was even an issue until I joined this forum! Sure my tent walls are usually wet when I take it down in the morning but it didn't even occur to me that the water was mostly coming from the inside.

Condensation almost always occurs in double wall tents. But in many of them it simply isn't an issue. Not with mine, anyway, and it has a full-mesh inner and I've used it in many different areas of the world.

David:

Having used both "all mesh" and "all solid fabric with closable vents" inner tents — I will disagree with you that "all mesh" tents are somehow not totally double wall. In terms of keeping condensation away in three-season use — mesh works marvelously. Not perfectly (no tent can deal totally with condensation) — but marvelously competent. Indeed, 3 seasons, I only drag out my solid fabric inner tent for desert use — to keep annoying sands out.

Shane,
i feel ya! Many of the guys here do tarps, tarptents, bivitarps or bivitarptents with anything betweeen 1-0.4 walls;)
Sometimes you just want to be in a double wall tent – and thats that!
I can tell you that across the pond (UK) the absolute best sellers are Hilleberg Aktos (4 season, smalish 1 person, $$ and slightly on the heavy side i think at 1.4KG) and the Terra Nova LAser line that includes the Laser Photon at 790g, Laser Comp @940g which are both single person and well loved. There is alos the Laser @1.42kg which is a 2 person tent and is like sleeping in the presidntial suite when you are solo.
I personally havethe Laser (do solo + 2 person hikes with it) and couldnt be more pleased.
Take a look at http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=13028 its a thread her at BPL but with links and input from UK guys who use it alot in harsh conditions
Mike

I don't want to get off-topic, but to second Chris and Ben, I've never gotten wet from condensation in a mesh-bodied double-wall tent. Condensation forms on the fly and tends to flow down it; any droplets that fall are dispersed by the tent body. YMMV.

For the UL-ish double-wall, I would recommend considering Big Sky. I know Ben has had problems with them, and the company has had issues with delivery times. To be honest, I'm a dealer; although I've had a few time concerns, I've also had most of my (small) orders ship in reasonable time. Customer service I've received has been excellent and typically a 24 hour or less response. Just exercise good judgement and get oral verification that the tent you want is in stock.

All that said, I have an Evolution 2P at the shop. Pretty spacious, more room than a 2-P Hubba Hubba or SL2, and it weighs 3# 1.5oz. If you wanted to dump some money in it, you could shed about another 8 ounces by going to the SUL fly and CF poles. (Note that CF poles are typically not as durable, but…) Bottom line, you could get a spacious 2-person, double-walled tent at 2# 10 ounces. They do make a lighter solo version and some others you might want to check out. Food for thought.

Hi all,
The pre-production sample of the 2009, revised, Gossamergear One weighs 16.0 oz, so the production models should be in that range, or about an ounce less than last year.

Grant

nm

Brad,
Would it be possible to get a Porch Fly for my Evolution 2P? I got my tent in December, 2006, after waiting 373 days for delivery. I'd rather deal with someone who's got a better line to Big Sky than I. I'd prefer the Granite color and an aluminum pole would be ok. One of my Big Sky carbon fiber poles broke last summer and I've gone to my aluminum set, rather than deal with Bob again.

What happened to your Evolution 2P, Ben??

Michael,

I just received my brand new Laser Competition in the mail last night and I am kind of confused/disappointed as to it's weight. I thought the total weight of the complete tent with everything but the ground cloth would be 1 lb 14 oz. However, the weight comes out to 2 lbs 3 to 4 oz without the ground cloth. I have gone thru the whole package and that doesn't include anything extraneous, only what is needed to pitch it. I know my scale is accurate so I'm not sure what the problem is. The claimed weight was the whole reason I bought it. I'm going to keep it because it is still a reasonably light tent, but am disappointed.

"What happened to your Evolution 2P, Ben?"

Shhhh! Nothing has happened to my tent. I love it to death! But as Denis wrote above, BS has had major problems with delivery — and credibility!

I will no longer write about this tent in case I convince anyone to buy — and then get stuck waiting for 300+ days!

OTOH, if or when I see a pattern of new purchases with timely delivery and no other problems — then I will sing its praises again.

And no, I didn't buy my tent direct from BS — having been burned once already. I bought mine from a fellow hiker right here on this beloved forum.

And finally, Tom, how do you like your new Scarp? Aren't you going to post some initial feedback on it?