New BD Nano Shield FirstLight Tent

Well, I received my new tent today, and set it up in the living room to get a feel for it. It took about 2-3 minutes to set up, being just about the simplest freestanding design imaginable. There's a lot of static created when crawling in the non-pitched tent to set the poles in the back corners, but I think I will appreciate setting it up from the inside when it's storming hard.

The color doesn't appeal to me from the outside since I would prefer a tent to be inconspicuous and not catch a ranger's eye from a distance, but it's surprisingly pleasant from the inside.

My main reason for needing a new tent was that my TT Cloudburst has a big footprint including the guy lines, it needs to be staked, and it provides little to no warmth advantage, all of which have made me compromise on my camping location choices in the past. I didn't want to add any weight to my pack to obtain the required characteristics, or pay a ridiculous amount of money, and in that regard the BD tent passes the test, and may be the only tent model out there that does so.

So, in conclusion… Assuming the new NanoShield fabric can handle a prolonged downpour, I think I have a winner!

Partially due to my love for my Cloudburst and my admiration of Henry Shires' designs, my other main contender for a new tent was a TT Scarp1, which would have been more spacious, warmer, more awesome looking, and a more interesting design. But it also is more expensive with the poles, heavier, and harder to hold down at the corners in a situation where staking isn't possible (on a rock slab or frozen ground), since the corners of the poles are set back from the inner tent so far. With the BD tent, I could just put a rock in each corner on the inside and it would be solid, while with the Scarp1 I would have to tie a rock to at least 6 points on the outside where each pole touches ground. Doable, but not as convenient. I will still use the Cloudburst when low temps aren't well below freezing, and when I know I will be sticking to valleys and lakesides on a hike, where I know it's possible to stake it down easily, and when I want more space to stretch out. But for alpine areas where I want as much flexibility to be able to climb a peak and spend the night up there to witness sunrise from an amazing location, or hike far out onto a glacier and not worry about staking issues, this new tent will be perfect.

I'll try it out in the rain as soon as possible, and maybe take some photos of it, and report back another time.

Hey Kristin, have you had yours out in the rain to test the new fabric yet?

I think that the color is due in large part because this tent, as I understand it, was designed more for winter and/or light mountaineering, where a bright color is desirable.

I wasn't sure if I should go for the firstlight or hilight. But after looking at the hilights reviews its seems the concerns I had about the firstlight were correct.
-I wanted the bigger door for an easier side entry, views and ventilation.
-The highlight looks to have a better awning and would keep out rain better on entry/exit compared to the more angled door of the firstlight.
-the Hilight is slightly lighter.
Im exited about this tent. Ive always loved the BD tents but since they were epic I had to pass, now if this new material does what is claimed I'll be very happy and the high price would be well worth it.
Its freezing rain out now but don't know how many more days it will continue.

It has been raining on and off here, but unfortunately I've been tied up with work and haven't had a chance to do any gear testing.

I'm just curious about something after reading the posts debating whether to use a vestibule or not. For those of you who never plan to use one, are you tempted to cut off the buckle on the top, which the instructions say is there to attach the vestibule?

First off, Basegear.com shipped super fast. I ordered at dinner time Wen. got an email that it shipped the next afternoon and it arrived on my doorstep today way faster than I thought possible.
Setup was simple and easy to figure out as you would imagine.
The material feels like a more robust wind shirt material very nice. The color is better than the online photos as its not so florescent.
here is the stuff sack it comes with:

it weights about 1.5 ounces- lighter than it looks, still I'll be making a stuff sack with some spinnaker scraps.
pics:

with torso light:

with 5'11 model:

showing the great ventilation:

I'm still not sure if this is a better option than the firstlight? The awning is curved and will still let in rain if your not careful. The venting seems to be really good, but I don't really know how it compares to the firstlight. The floor tapers a little -not a big deal to me. The door can only stay open when there are no bugs and you can't look out side while laying down with the mesh windows closed. I'm 5'11 and I barley fit- in a bag I will touch the ends, Im used to barley fitting in tents though and I sleep on my side in a semi-fetal position most of the time anyway. You defiantly get the safe and warm in a cocoon feeling in this tent. The tent is beautiful and it will do at those times when a tarp won't.

Nice looking shelter.

I like the design of these tents but they are too short for me. The only other option is the Integral Designs eVENT Wedge but then you give up a ton of headroom for another 1/2 foot in length.

I'm curious how these new ones do. I hated the last generation after getting SOAKED inside of one multiple times due to them not being waterproof.

Brian – I can't tell from the pictures, does the mesh on the door go down to the ground, or just as low as the opposite vent? Also, does it seem like the overhangs come out far enough that with the vent open all the way the mesh will be shielded from rain?

Compared to the firstlight (which I haven't camped in yet, just looked at in the living room) the ventilation definitely looks better on the hilight. The rear vent on the firstlight is tiny, and although the front door can be opened up to all mesh when there's no rain, if it is raining the overhang over the front door is so small that only about 8 inches of mesh can be exposed without rain coming in, probably less if the rain is blowing horizontally. Definitely a cold weather design where warmth is more important than cross-venting.

Personally I chose the firstlight over the hilight because I wanted the simplest setup and didn't want to have a third pole, and because I thought the overhangs on the hilight would catch wind. If the door on the hilight can't be all mesh, then I'm glad I have the firstlight because I like to be able to see out when laying down. In the past I've seen a moose, black bear, sheep, and many mountain goats walk by while I'm laying there, fun stuff.

No, the mesh only goes as low as the opposite vent. It is not a full mesh door like the lighthouse tent. It would be awesome if it did. It looks like the vent windows are protected from rain by the awnings as long as the rain isnt sideways going under the awning.
I wish I could have seen them in person to compare but OH well. I may try and see if I can rig some kind of mesh door some day. I still have to test it for waterproofness of coarse.The jury is still out on that.

After finally seam sealing the tent I set it up last night.
Weather was typical miserable late winter/early spring freezing rain, humid, gray skies. the kind of weather where being fully enclosed in a tent is welcome.
I set the tent up at about 6:30 pm and it rained steadily then turned into light snow real late in the night and melted in the afternoon.
Im happy to report that the rain beaded up and I saw no sign of any water penetrating the fabric. It was bone dry inside. I had layed down paper towels on the floor to catch any water that entered but the towels were still bone dry by the following night.
As promising as this was the real test will still be hard heavy driving rain. I will set it up as soon as the next storm comes.
As a side note: the color really is an improvement over gray silnylon in keeping the mood up when in bad weather.

I've had the tent up in a very heavy rain for 24 hours now.
test was compromised because the yard flooded and the tent was under a foot of water.
Still, the floor was wet but floating and the towels I lined the floor with were wet with dry spots. The walls of the tent where mostly dry. A few small droplet where on the ceiling and it looked like they came from the seams. only a small 1 inch diameter area seems to be defective and had water beading up on the inside. Everywhere else was dry. I took it out of the puddle; dried it off and will leave it for tomorrow to check again.
Only time will time if the fabric starts to lose its waterproofing over time.

This tent was put through 3 days of hard heavy nonstop rain.
It looks to me that the fabric is indeed waterproof. The water continued to bead up till the very end. One caveat; there is a quarter sized defect in mine which wet out quickly the first day . I will have to coat it with silicon, don't want to bother with returns.
It was also obvious that it is vitally important to seam seal every seam. The worst seam was the one between the floor and the walls. Water went down the tent and into those seams slowly filling the floor with water. if the waterproofing holds up over time Ill be very happy and would like to see this material in more tents.

Sounds like you got yourself a winner, Brian! As for the leaks… nothing that a little seam sealing can't fix.

BTW, is that 5'11" model you?

Me and DaveC crashed out in a firstlight for 3 days in yellowstone including some nasty September cold and rain. A little condensation with all our wet clothes in there but nothing major. We're both close to 6 foot fall though not quite. UL setups all inside the tent except for food. It was tight but we were just fine. I also use it with my 5'6" wife AND my golden retriever in the summer. It's tight once again but just fine.

If you were living in it for weeks like that I'm sure you'd be annoyed but for short trips with friends and family I like it just fine. If you like a lot of space to spread out then consider it a solo tent for a 6 footer or get a bigger one.

BTW, is that 5'11" model you?

Um ya, you can see how annoyed I was setting up the camera.

I have been waiting for these to be back in stock and finally pulled the trigger today. I had a Lighthouse for some time but have been using a Skylight lately. The epic worked well and I am looking forward to trying out the new fabric.

I will be using this mostly as a tent for one and have deliberated over all the single tarp tent type shelters out there. I tried a HS Cloudburst but I tend to sleep in high and exposed places and really need to be able to button things up.

It may even show up about the same time as my new Kookabay downmat!

The new Firstlight tent is very interesting! Does the door have two way zipper? What about the mesh door, is that two way?

Any more comments on the new fabric and condensation/heavy mountain rain?

I've now had a chance to use my new FirstLight with NanoShield for a couple of trips.

First off, I have not had any rain on my trips so far, so still have nothing to report on that front.

Condensation: none so far. Both trips were to Yosemite, night time temps dropped down to freezing or a bit below. Always had the little ventilation window open and the protected part of the door, sometimes the whole door if I wanted the views.

Disappointingly though, the material is quite fragile.

Now I'm not the most careful, I have my gear to be used, not babied. For example I love to camp on a granite boulder with a fabulous view, and I do so by skipping the stakes entirely and placing a four heavy rocks inside the tent, one in each corner. I have been doing this for six years with my old FirstLight, and although the tent no longer looks pristine, it isn't trashed either.

My new FirstLight, after five nights out, has two holes in the floor and one in the tent material. One of the holes was from a rock, the two others from the poles poking through while erecting the tent. I've fixed the holes with Silnet seam sealer, but I can see that this tent is not going to last me six years like my old one did.

Kristin,
Very worthwhile post and info. Thank you.
Sam

Interesting. That may be worth a call to BD. This also speaks highly of the older models, with regard to durability.

I looked at the photos and saw that it was just the same failed design as my 1970s JanSport Wedge tent. Open the door and the weather drops RIGHT in on the floor. Not good.

Plus high winds push the X'd frame around too much.

It absolutely needs a proper vestibule, but then that's more weight. Back to the drawing board for BD.

Eric – its a mountaineering tent. I thought Doug Johnson explained the benefits to the design in the thread about the ID Wedge. Of note, there is a vestibule option, which is nice based on the modularity of the shelter.

It is still too fragile.

Excuse me, but "mountaineering" and "fragile" are not usually descriptive of the same piece of gear, at least not out here in the Cascades.

Sounds like a definite deal-breaker to me.