Tarptent StratoSpire 1 vs Lightheart Solo Wedge

Simply put in your avatar or signature who you are and who pays the bills and man up already and stop hiding behind your internet persona of "Franco the average camper" and just be honest with the folks. We appreciate and value your opinion (honestly) just like Mr. Shires and everybody else and you must see the direct conflict of interest…..everybody else does and have mentioned it before on the forum. Honesty is the best policy!

It's like not letting people read new legislation until after they vote on it. It may not be illegal but it smells bad.

I doubt that commissions on Tarptents in OZ pay any bills.

Floorspace alone is only meaningful if you are one dimensional.

Hey Mike, why don't you chill. Franco is a respected and valued member of this community, not sure very many people would accuse him of any dishonesty, and his affiliation with Tarptent is well known here. He's helped countless people here over the years on a variety of subjects (including you when you were trying to figure out how to use a center strut on your Contrail awhile back).

So why don't you man up and admit you're simply off base accusing him of financial gain when there obviously wasn't any to be had from the OP, so there was simply no conflict of interest, direct or otherwise.

It's like accusing Obama of not being a US citizen because you don't like what he has to say. It may not be illegal, but it smells bad….

What a rediculous comment!

Franco has been posting replies at BPL re: shelters in general and Tarptent in particular for over a year. He even announced when he became financially involved with TT as an Australian rep.

Get over yourself, Mike.

+1 for Franco — even if he is a foreigner! :)

:-)

i agree w/ mike's first post however. both henry and franco giving OP advice without disclosure is kind of weak. people say "everybody knows they are TT guys", but that's hardly true. only people who've been around and have read these kinds of posts are in the know. i had a point like 6 years ago when i got angry w/ franco for blowing tarptent smoke on EVERY shelter thread on a different website. so i understand where he's coming from…

What is so ironic here is that Franco has made evaluation of all the tents he has analyzed something much more than numbers on paper-he has insisted on 3D mockups to demonstrate what's really going on in a specific tent. Your rhetoric is offensive and presumes suspicion of financial interest which I welcome for business interests focused on profit above all. But I don't find that to be anything resembling the world that is the case around here. This place is founded on passion like it or not. I haven't seen profiteers make it here even back in history. And believe me the collective memory here is deep although recent searches don't show anything but the tip of the iceburg. Have a good hike.And by the way I have never owned a TT , but I am partial to tents.

Screw it, I'll be that guy. Just because Franco seems like a cool dude and you…don't.

Mike…for a dude who is really bashing Tarptents, you sure were 1) a fan of them and 2) at one point, pretty hellbent on getting one.

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Thanks for all your input, this is an important investment for me and I appreciate the help. Franco would the Notch have just enough space at the feet of the tent for a small backpack? I see it as maybe a foot an half for my height. I factored the SS1 out because with the vestibules open it looks like it makes a big foot print. I still love the idea of two doors and just enough for one person.

Its kinda a pain to pull the trigger on one tent especially without seeing it or trying it out in person. But the pics and videos i find online are definetly helpful. Im still on these two tents. Love the ability to take off the rainfly. I see that for the notch a new screen is being made to deflect water splatter, can that extra mesh be taken off or is it built into the net itself? (kinda takes out the view)

Im not taking either of these tents out of the picture just yet. I like the reputation and innovation Henry incorporates into the line of tents. The more experience results in amazing stuff. I also like Judy's tent, 1 solid design that many people are also happy with. Its a tough one :/

"And believe me the collective memory here is deep "

Delightfully understated.

And lighter yet in recognition.

So anyways TT Notch or Lightheart Solo Wedge

What's the difference between the two?

"Simply put in your avatar or signature who you are and who pays the bills and man up already and stop hiding behind your internet persona of "Franco the average camper" and just be honest with the folks."

You're stinking the joint up. Enough already.

Franco – Even if you do take upside down pictures, keep up the good work. One jerk doesn't speak for the community.

Gerard,

If you get down Maryland way, I'd be happy to set up my Lightheart Solo in the back yard and let you climb inside if you want to see one up close and personal.

Please don't put words in my mouth about accusing Franco of anything and re-read my posts. I only spoke to facts unlike the others.

Franco does work for and I believe directly paid monies by Tarptent so please don't play games. Why not be honest, open and upfront so that all the new viewers on this forum know the facts and let them decide for themselves who is saying what and why. Obviously due to many posters infatuation with TT's your morals of right and wrong and fairness are being compromised by looking the other way from an open forum where commercial posters can remain anonymous and give opinions about their products behind a screen name. We all know Mr. shires does not do this and is very helpful in every regard and one of the finest gent's in the land and we all love Francos passion for TT's and he is very helpful but when somebody directly reccommends a product dozens of times over a period of years the folks have a right to know about any direct ties or ownership to that product. On almost every other internet site they will call out the posters that are there for promotional purposes and it's perfectly normal and really helpful to the new members that don't know better.

Really so. Knee jerk reaction should beget a long look at where you are coming from. And I'm sorry but you invite this yourself.

"i agree w/ mike's first post however. both henry and franco giving OP advice without disclosure is kind of weak. people say "everybody knows they are TT guys", but that's hardly true. only people who've been around and have read these kinds of posts are in the know. i had a point like 6 years ago when i got angry w/ franco for blowing tarptent smoke on EVERY shelter thread on a different website. so i understand where he's coming from…"

If you know enough to look into a tarp tent by Henry shires or lightheart gear you know enough to realize a guy posting by h shires is the owner. Or you should

As for your complaint about Franco. I may be wrong but Idont think his being a vendor for TT goes back 6 years. So if he was blowing TT smoke then like you claim he was doing that on his own.

"So anyways TT Notch or Lightheart Solo Wedge"

Notch.

I don't know about all the nit-picking over Franco. I have no problem with him and he is more than generous in my experience when talking about competing products.

I own the Notch and it has a small footprint where you actually sleep but plenty of space under cover. I personally wanted something with a smaller footprint because it fits in places where a big footprint won't. Also… the bigger the structure the more area exposed to wind so everything is a tradeoff. You pick your poison based upon how you hike and use a shelter. I need enough room to sleep and keep from rubbing up against tent walls (with condensation). It needs to fit all my gear, shoes, pack etc… but after that more space is just wasted space.

I'm gonna say Notch since I own one and that makes me a fanboy (but with no financial affiliation).

And yes since you are doing background checks on my old posts Lol I have owned many Tarptents and have no axe to grind being a user myself. Mr. Shires is a standout in the community and nobody can deny he and his products are top shelf.
That's clearly not my problem with the discussion… it's the transparency issue and potential for conflict of interest….
An informed public is always better off even if some don't think we are capable of rationalizing facts and making informed decisions….think about it.

For the record I didn't mention the following or claim this 6 year time frame so please keep your TT emotions in check and stick to facts and stop making things up:

Michael Lang said:
"As for your complaint about Franco. I may be wrong but Idont think his being a vendor for TT goes back 6 years. So if he was blowing TT smoke then like you claim he was doing that on his own".

Ken Thompson posts a threat above:

"And believe me the collective memory here is deep "

Yeah…. no TT prejudice here Lol.

Let the original poster have his thread back and have respect for other members opinions….

Can we just talk about the two tents and Franco could you add in your bio on this site that you are a distributor for Tarptent. I know you are and you are extremely helpful and go out of the way to help people, like me included.

Anyways Judy replied back to me on an email about the wedge/awning, The Wege and Awning solo tents provide essentially the same amount of porch space. The difference is the wedge is put into a tent that was made in China – they are the stock tents, the awnings are sewn from scratch – custom tents- There are 2 zippers in the fly of the wedge tent, there is no zipper in the fly of the awning tent.

Notch. Though it is past time for Henry to offer another color choice.

I've had 3 TTs