I noticed two of the tents I was most excited about at the August Outdoor Retailer are soon to be released. The first is the Black Diamond One Shot. It is now posted on the backcountrygear.com site under the new Black Diamond tent section. It is a one-person version of their popular Epic fabric tents. I spent some time inside the one shot at the "tent city" of the OR show during a pounding rainstorm and was impressed by its interior size (I'm 6' 2" and there was plenty of room to stretch out) and ability to keep the rain out. The price is a little steep ($289), but if the quality/performance is anything close to my BD skylight, it is probably money well spent. The second tent to be released in the next couple of weeks is the Mountain Hardwear Kiva Lite. I also spent some time in this at the OR show and was impressed by the space/weight/quality of this tent. It may be my next backcountry shelter for family backpacking trips. Not only does the kiva lite weigh less than the standard kiva, it comes seam-taped and has an optional mesh insert. It also has the UVX window over the door, which I have come to love on my MH tent. Probably not the lightest weight option on the market, but my guess is it will be a strong competitor to the Hex 3. Here's a little blurb on the kiva lite from the MH website:
"Mountain Hardwear’s five-sided Kiva pyramid tent has long been a favorite for snow camping where digging down is an option or for the beach where a floor is less than optimal. For Spring ‘07 an update is in order. The
Kiva Lite is slightly smaller and the old fabric has been replaced with a seam-taped, super-strong, siliconized nylon, resulting in impressive
weight savings. For buggy campsites the new Mesh Insert with floor, sold separately, can be hung from the Kiva’s central high-point and
will keep those crawly creatures out.
DETAILS: Kiva Lite – 3 lbs. 12 oz., floor area – 66.4 sq. ft., $275
Kiva Lite Mesh Insert – 2 lbs. 12 oz., floor area – 66.4 sq. ft., $160." Here's an image of the kiva lite MH sent me a few months ago when I inquired about its dimmensions.
