Ultralight solo tent: which one to pick?

This isn't on your list, but I would look at the Big Agnes Fly Creek UL1 at 1.9 lbs (30oz):
http://www.bigagnes.com/Products/Detail/Tent/FlyCreekUL1

If you want a little more space, even the 2 person Fly Creek UL2 is lighter and cheaper than the MSR Carbon Reflex 1…plus they're basically freestanding.

If you want to go even lighter, the Six Moon Designs Vamp (tarp + net tent combo) sets up with trekking poles and is 27oz (1.7 lbs).

How about a LightHeart Solo…I don't have any experience with them myself but there have been several threads with people raving about them. It is a 3 season 1 person double wall tent that weighs only 27oz.

http://lightheartgear.com/

I would look at the Carbon Reflex 1. The side entry is ideal and has more headroom everywhere than the Fly Creek series. It is also considerably more waterproof. It also does not require all of the stakes that the Fly Creeks require. Finally, it can be freestanding with the use of trekking poles at each end.

I would disagree that the Fly Creek tents are freestanding.

"The side entry is ideal…more headroom everywhere…considerably more waterproof"

All good points

"[Carbon Reflex 1] can be freestanding with the use of trekking poles at each end."

It can? Do you just shorten them to 26" or so, and then fit them into the grosgrain at the corner somehow?

Dan – here is a pic. I believe that MSR took it off the site because of some issue of similarity to the TT Rainbow and any patent pending.

I have looked at the Big Agnes, and they look good too. Same price range as the Carbon Reflex 1 (at least, in the online retailers I looked at). I should mention I am in Europe so I need the stuff to be shipped within the European Union.

The Lightheart Solo looks interesting too, but since it seems to be available only in the USA, ordering it would result in heavy customs fees.

Marta….

I might have just the tent for you.

It's a Mountain Hardware Sprite. It's been used maybe 4 nights and is in excellent condition. I have the weight and photos on the other machine, I can get that posted later (my wife is using it for Scrabble!).

You can easily find photos on the web, I think.

I don't use it anymore, it might be just what you're looking for.

David

Oh, I didn't see your post about being in Europe.

Although I don't see why I can't send it there, if you're interested.

David,

that's very kind of you, thank you! I will look around for specs and pics while your wife isn't done with Scrabble. ;)

Why didn't you get to use it much?

I'd say it's more than superficial similarity to the TT Rainbow.

I have the MSR Carbon Reflex 2.. real expensive but I like it so far. I tried making it freestanding like in the pic posted by David at home — it sucked pretty bad.

My main complaint with the Carbon Reflex 2 is that the tent sides tend to lift off the ground, especially in the middle, making the tent smaller than it could be. (You can recover a lot of the width when you put sleeping pads in and put your weight down on it.)

When you use trekking poles like in the pic, the lift issue is much worse.. other parts of the floor lift as well.

The lightheart solo looks pretty awesome (first time hearing about it) besides the fact that I don't use trekking poles and that you have to seam seal it. I just don't understand why companies do that. Why can't they just seam seal it for you?

I just don't understand why companies do that. Why can't they just seam seal it for you?
This comes up every few weeks , the answer remains the same….
It needs to be done exactly the same way as you do it at home.
Erect the finished tent, seal it, wait for 24-48 hours (depending on temperature and humidity) than pack it up.
This is possible for the "cottage" manufacturers to do at times (TT and SMD have that option) however it logistically cannot be done if dozens or hundreds (as in the case for say Black Diamond or Eureka) are in production.
Franco

"My main complaint with the Carbon Reflex 2 is that the tent sides tend to lift off the ground, especially in the middle, making the tent smaller than it could be."

Yeah this occurs because the carbon cross strut is so stiff. If it flexed easier then it would bend down instead of pulling the floor up. The aluminum poles used in the Hubba tents seem to have more flex so you don't really get this problem.

I imagine you could alleviate the problem by using a different cross strut. For example, you could easily make one using Easton Nanolight tubing (QuestOutfitters.com) or thinner carbon tubing (Fibraplex.com). The cost would be minimal (~$20) and you should net a few extra inches of floor width in the middle of the tent. With enough flex, the tent could be 46" wide the whole way instead of lifting up in the middle to 40-42".

Another solution that's even cheaper is simply to sew a couple extra stake out points to the tent in the center.

"I'd say it's more than superficial similarity to the TT Rainbow.

The main difference between the pole design of the Carbon Reflex tents and the Rainbow line is the length of the cross strut. This might sound minor, but TT uses a short cross strut to give the tent a bit more headroom. In both the Rainbow and Double Rainbow the cross strut is ~18", so you still have side walls that are sloping inward. With the MSR tents, they are using a wider cross strut that is as wide or even wider than the floor so the side walls of the inner tent are vertical or even sloping outward a little. Accordingly, it makes a much bigger difference in headroom. The CR2 uses a 50" wide cross strut in a tent that is only 40-46" wide, so you end up with a tent that is actually wider inside at top then it is at the bottom. I'm not saying the designs are very similar….they are, but there is some difference in the design.

Marta –

I bought it when I got back into backpacking and have since gone lighter with a single wall shelter.

Jennifer's off the computer, but we're heading out right now.

I'll post more later.

David

I recently picked up a solo double wall tent for car and airplane camping and to serve as a backup to my Tarptent if needed.

You may want to check out the Big Agnes Seedhouse SL1. It weighs in at nearly 3lbs with everything but is still only a few ounces more than some single wall tarp style tents. I snatched mine up at backcountry.com while they were in stock and on sale for $180 instead of the regular $250. REI has them in stock for the same sale price right now.

Dan,

I was talking about the freestanding mode using the trekking pole when I mentioned the similarity between the Carbon Reflex and the Rainbow. I wasn't talking about overall design.. (though maybe you meant that one is a consequence of the other or something..)

Anyway, I'm just saying that I tried the trekking pole method with the Carbon Reflex and the lifting problem is exaggerated (i.e made worse).

With the Carbon Reflex staked out, I am quite happy with it.. the lifting isn't a problem really. I do sometimes consider adding stake-out points in the middle like Dan suggests but don't have the heart to make holes in such an expensive toy.

"The lightheart solo looks pretty awesome (first time hearing about it) besides the fact that I don't use trekking poles and that you have to seam seal it. I just don't understand why companies do that. Why can't they just seam seal it for you"

This is Marc from LightHeart Gear. Franco's response is exactly correct. Although we can seam seal the tent for you for a small fee ($30), we actually run this business from our home – the classic cottage industry concept. We just don't have the space or facilities to seam seal every tent. I am actually the designated seam sealer in our family business (my wife Judy and I) and I do the seam sealing in our basement. It is not a hard job, but the sealing, drying/curing, etc takes a lot of time and we really don't have ideal vapor/odor controls in the house for this activity. It would be better to do it outside, but I just can't depend on good weather all the time to take the chance of doing that. It is not that we are avoiding the responsibility to provide a ready to use tent. We just physically cannot do it for every tent.

With regard to poles, we also offer alternative adjustable poles for those who don't use trekking poles. They mimic trekking poles by having a screw type length adjustment on the final section to allow pitch control and tensioning from inside the tent.
Marc
LightHeart Gear

Marta –

Here's some photos of the MH Sprite.

I think $70.00 including the footprint, plus actual shipping expenses, sounds OK to me. Please let me know what you think.

David

The footprint

The tent itself. Shows the niche/cubby area for storage inside the tent and what will become the alcove when the rain fly is on.

With the rain fly.

Showing the alcove.

Another view.

David,

thanks for the pictures. The price is reasonable (half the retail price or so) but, unfortunately this tent is heavier (as per specs) than I'd like. My former double-wall tent (a relatively cheap one, under 100 bucks) weighted 1.3 Kg, so I would like to stay there or lower weight-wise.

Thanks a lot for the offer, though.

The more input I get, the more undecided I am. :p

I've been looking at more options for tents that I can buy within the European Union — what about the Golite Shangri-la 1? Anyone had experiences with this tent?

The Carbon Reflex 1 weights 1.21 Kg, but people seem to be divided on that one. The Golite, with fly, inner nest and footprint, weighs1.3 Kg, which is my desirable weight limit.

Price-wise, they are about the same.

The Shangri-La 1 is 538g for the tarp and 425g for the inner net tent. Combine that with six 8g titanium stakes and a lighter groundsheet (ie. 25g for the MLD UL Groundsheet) and you're ready to camp for 1.036kg.

The Carbon Reflex 1 is 1020g min. weight according to MSR. I'm not sure if that includes stakes, but either way it's pretty close between these two shelters.

Between these two it's a tough call. I would probably choose the Carbon Reflex 1 because it has vertical sidewalls so you get more room inside. The floor area looks similar between these two shelters. The CR1 is probably quicker to setup because there's no fine tuning the height of your trekking poles and MSR is a more well known company so you'll probably have an easier time selling the CR1 if you ever decide to do so. I'm sure there are some good points that can be made in favor of the Shangri-La 1 as well though.

Yeah, they seem to be pretty close in the main aspects (space, weight and price). An easy set up is preferable, so maybe I'll go with the Carbon Reflex after all. Just trying to check all my options as I don't want to have buyer's regret…

I have also seen some gushing reviews for the Hilleberg Atko, but at 1.5Kg or so (I think?) it's already too heavy for me. Kinda light for a 4-seasons tent, though.

I had an Akto – great shelter. Bomber. It took everything nature had and came out just perfect.

I'm with Dan on this one. I had ordered a Shangri-La 1 last year and found it too short for me (might be fine for you). The inner net tent was 4oz over spec as well (if that is a consideration).

I know that Dan had a CR2 and really liked it. He has gone to the dark side now, however, with cuben this, and cuben that… ; )

"I know that Dan had a CR2 and really liked it. He has gone to the dark side now, however, with cuben this, and cuben that… ; )"

Ha Ha…yeah. Besides one mishap that was my fault (camping on sand when I didn't have the proper pegs for it) the CR2 was good. I went to a single wall cuben tent (Refuge X) but my wife didn't like it or the slippery silnylon floor.

Now I'm just starting on a MYOG cuben fly for my REI Quarterdome T2. Combined with some Fibraplex carbon poles that I've ordered, I expect to end up around 2.4 lbs (1.1kg) for a freestanding, 50" wide, dual door, dual vestibule, double wall 2 person tent.

3 tents in the past year isn't that bad considering I've been through 5 packs in that same time frame :)