TNF Solo 12

EDIT: IGNORE my weight comments below. According to a reply further on in this Thread, I was thinking of the wrong shelter when I said that it was 16oz heavier.

Erik, the supposedly true rumors circulating are that this tent is actually 16oz heavier than Mfr listed. A printer’s error supposedly accounts for this error. Tried searching the Forums for five minutes or so using various search phrases for the post that discusses the verification of this issue, but the posts are now too old to show up in the 20 most recent “hits”.

Your best bets, IMHO, are the SixMoonDesigns Lunar Solo e, the SMD Europa (both ’05 and ’06 model years – not previous model years), or the Henry Shires Rainbow (or any of the other HS fine tarptents). SMD and HS are among the big favorites on these Forums. These tarptents really do a much better job of controlling condensation and especially preventing it from wetting your bag than more mainstream single-wall tents due to their full perimeter bug netting and other features.

Weights range from ~24oz up to 37oz for the SMD Europa (a good sized two-person shelter). Most have a peak height of ~42″ or so.

Search the BPL Forums for these shelters and you’ll see the rave reviews given to all of them. All are much roomier than the MicroZoid (which I happen to own).

Hi Eric,
Another tent you might want to check out is the Evolution series by Big Sky Products. The 2P(2 person model) was favorably reviewed on this website a couple of months ago. It is a double wall model that weighs ~ 3# with carbon fiber poles. The 1P, which I have on order weighs 2# 4 oz, plus 3-4 oz for stakes/guylines. Their web URL is bigskyproducts.com. Good luck!
Tom

I like the Montbell Diamond, 2.5 lb. carry weight. See the review on this site. My experience and that of the reviewer are very similar except that he found limited head space and I did not. The fact that he’s well over six feet tall and I’m 5’9″ may explain that.

Paul,

I had a chance to look at this tent recently at a local outfitter and weigh it on his scale. It weighed 2 lbs, 8 oz on the nose in its stuff sack with all of the pegs, etc.

I believe, although could be wrong, that the solo tent that you may have heard was severely understated in weight was the Mountain Hardwear Meridian 1. It is listed @ 2lbs 4 oz and is coming in at an actual weight (all in packed) at 3lbs, 14oz.

From my ‘seat of the pants’ comparison, the Solo 12 felt measurably lighter than my BA Sarvis, which weighs in at 2lbs, 14oz.

My 2 cents worth…its all I had in my pocket. Regards,

David, Many thanks for replying and correcting me. I had tried searching the BPL forums for the info from a previous thread using a number of search criteria, but only the most recent 20posts would come up. I was using the wrong search criteria – TNF related vs. MtnHW related search criteria. So, I made the poor decision and went with my memory. Bad choice. Thanks for setting the record straight for me and everyone else who read the erroneous info in my prev. post.

I’ve also updated my prev. post to reflect a reference to the egregious error and your “catch” of this error. Many thanks.

Just a couple of question on this tent: 1) what is the extent of any bug netting?; can you keep the vestibule open and have full bug protection? and, 2) what is the interior peak height?

Paul, don’t be so hard on yourself (you are hardly ignorant!).

To answer your questions:

-the head room was sufficiant at the entrance for me (a 6 footer) but just. The tent slopes down considerably, of course, but there is a little room for head movement. To be frank, I was expecting the tent to be way too short, and it was short, but no more than the SD Baku 2 (rated longer) sitting next to it.

-No mesh door, although there is a vent at the top.

To be honest, I was more interested in the TNF Spectrum 23. Freestanding, it looks and feels supremely stable. It is a lightweight tent @ 3 lbs, 12oz but certainly not ultra-light. Rated for 2 people (would have to be exceptional friends) it is more like a 1+.