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Questions about Montbell Diamond
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Mar 28, 2007 at 5:02 pm #1222576
>>Dondo,
Do you find the lack of a vestibule limiting in any way?
How is condensation? Do you switch to the tarptent for the warmer, wetter times of the year?
I see snow. Do you need to melt snow, or is flowing water still available where you hike?
What are the three things you like most, and least (if there are three?) about the MB Diamond?
Many thanks in advance,
pj
Vestibule: With my style of camping I don't really need a vestibule. I don't cook in the tent and my pack (Vapor Trail) is an integral part of my sleeping system so it always comes inside. On the trail I make every effort to keep my pack dry; most of the time I succeed. My shoes sit right outside the door between the inner tent and the fly.Condensation: When the condensation gods strike, there is a fair amount of condensation on the inside of the fly. On two occasions I got condensation forming on the inner tent, mostly in the front and back corners of the Diamond. Most of the time the large peak vent does a good job of keeping the air flowing low to high.
tarptent vs. Diamond: The Diamond is my tent for cool to cold windy weather, which we get a lot of along the Front Range. I use the tarptent in warmer weather especially when the bugs are out. Both do well with rain.
Water source: The avatar photo was taken a couple of weekends ago at about 9200' in RMNP. There were several feet of snow on the ground but I was lucky enough to find running water.
Like most: 1) It's light. My carry weight for most trips is about 40 oz., remarkably light for a double wall tent with a solid fabric inner. 2) Very weather resistant and stable in wind. I don't have to worry about this tent. I can go to sleep knowing I won't have any problems. 3) It's warm. Folks who think a tent can't keep you warmer need to try a small true double wall tent such as this one. I first tried the Diamond in spring of 04 after several years of using tarps and tarptents. The first morning I stepped out of this tent I was amazed at the difference between the inside and outside temperatures.
Like least: 1)It's heavy. Double wall tent or not, 40 oz. is still 40 oz. 2) Instructions could be better. It took a bit of trial and error to get good separation between the inner tent and the fly. 3) I don't care for the included stakes. The v stakes hold the ground well but they are pretty hard on your hands when you try to remove them.
Mar 28, 2007 at 5:31 pm #1383923Thanks for the write up, Dondo!
Curious, how tall are you (height and torso length) — and when you sit up, do the walls come pretty close to your face?
Mar 29, 2007 at 6:05 am #1383989Ben, I think you and I are the same height, 5'9". While sitting cross legged the top of my head is 35" away from the floor. Subjectively, the Diamond feels pretty spacious to me while sitting up. But we all perceive space differently so that observation may be taken with a grain of salt. Next time I set up the Diamond, I'll do some measurements so you can make your own judgment.
Mar 29, 2007 at 10:23 am #1384021Dondo, Do you think if the inner was all mesh that this would make it suitable for warm weather use.
Mar 29, 2007 at 6:41 pm #1384091Nicholas, yes, I think it would.
Apr 1, 2007 at 9:44 am #1384423>>Next time I set up the Diamond, I'll do some measurements so you can make your own judgment.
Ben, here are those measurements.
Measurements were taken while sitting up straight and centered cross legged on the floor of the tent.
From top of head to peak: 4"
From cheekbone to side to tent: 14"
From cheekbone to front of tent: 10"Apr 1, 2007 at 10:01 am #1384425That sounds like decent headroom.
A few more questions… do the fly and tent share the same stakes — or are they staked separately? Assuming the former, are there problems with keeping the fly from touching the tent — esp. in wind and rain? Thanks, Dondo.
Apr 1, 2007 at 12:54 pm #1384448>>A few more questions… do the fly and tent share the same stakes — or are they staked separately? Assuming the former, are there problems with keeping the fly from touching the tent — esp. in wind and rain?
Great question, Ben, and one that is key in getting a good pitch. When I first started using the Diamond, I used the same stake for both the tent and fly. There is nothing in the instructions stating what to do and the end tie outs come with loops of cord that suggest that this is the way to do it. It took me a little while to figure out that the way to get good separation between the inner tent and fly is to use separate stakes. After pitching the inner tent, clip the side hooks of the fly to the loops of shock cord on either side of the tent. Then grab one long end of the fly and pull firmly to get a nice taut pitch and set your fly stake. Do the same with the other end. It's also helpful to use stakes in the loops at the middle of each side of the fly to prevent them from contacting the inner during windy weather.
It sounds as if you are seriously considering the Diamond, so let me state one small negative. The netting door is white, so it is not as easy to see out of as darker colors. Probably not a deal breaker, but I know that you are very discriminating in your gear choices. Better knowing ahead of time than spending the $ on return postage.
For others considering the Diamond, I would recommend it to anyone who can fit into the standard size Montbell bag, that is, folks up to 5'10" in height. Taller people can use it but will experience more of a squeeze on space, especially those over six foot. In my experience, it works best in cool to cold windy conditions. It's not the best choice for hot weather.
Apr 1, 2007 at 3:04 pm #1384460Dondo:
Very helpful. Thanks!
Apr 1, 2007 at 3:05 pm #1384461This is another tent, in my current search for a mountain shelter with a small footprint, that I keep going back to. I first started looking at it back in 1998, when the Diamond was designed in three pieces rather than two. It had a separate floor, a very fine mesh inner that attached to the floor, and a fly. At the time I was still new to UL and still had no confidence with shelters with no floor, so when I saw it I reacted with the traditional view from my years of using tents. Now that I think of it, it was an ingenious design. I think MontBell changed it because so many customers reacted the way I had and they didn't sell well. Funny thing is, even today I have never seen either of MontBell's Monoframe shelters out in the field here in Japan.
Using a similar setup, two other shelters I am considering are the Mountain Hardwear Bunker 1 (probably overkill and too heavy, but a very simple and effective design) and the new Vango Ultralight. I already have the Akto, and I really love it, but the footprint takes up a great amount of space. Every time I've used it I always had difficulty setting it up on Japanese sites.
Dondo, have you ever had trouble with the non-freestanding aspect, and must care be taken when pitching in the wind?
Apr 1, 2007 at 10:45 pm #1384501Dondo,
one thing you didn't mention is the fast and light option:
using just the rain fly. As you probably know, there's a webbing strap on the bottom of the tent body, and it removes so it can be used as a spacer for the poles when setting up with just the fly. Voila, a tarp tent! And as for those aggravating stakes, I use a loop of cord to catch the prongs on the top of the stake…beats tearing up my finger tips.Last October I went into the Enchantments (Cascades). By the time I summited it was dark and a storm was howling. In spite of that the tent went up easily. And I concur with your finding the tent warm in cold weather and realitively spacious! At that time of year it gets dark so early, and when it's storming you're kind of tent bound. I had no problem sitting up and reading for a few hours, and I'm 5'11". In short, it's the best!
Apr 2, 2007 at 4:29 pm #1384607>>Dondo, have you ever had trouble with the non-freestanding aspect, and must care be taken when pitching in the wind?
Miguel, it's been many years since I've owned a freestanding tent so I'm probably not the best guy to answer the first part of your question. As far as non-freestanding tents go, though, the Diamond is very easy to set up. If you find yourself in a situation where no stakes will go in, you can still erect the Diamond using just two anchors (a bush, a rock, or whatever) one fore and one aft of the tent. It's not ideal but it works.
Along the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies, my usual stomping ground, it's frequently very windy. So I've had plenty of practice with the Diamond in high winds. This is a very easy tent to set up in windy conditions. The trick is to stake down the four points of the Diamond and then pop up the center with the single pole. There is a loop sewn to the middle of the sleeve on either side of the inner tent. If it's very windy I attach guys to the loops and pass them through the covered openings in the fly and stake each side to the ground. It doesn't matter if the winds shift during the night because the profile of the Diamond is very aerodynamic. This tent ain't goin' nowhere.
Apr 2, 2007 at 4:40 pm #1384609Monty, it's great to see that there is another Montbell Diamond fan posting here.
You're right about the the fly-only option. Sometimes I'll keep the fly at the top of my pack and the tension strap and a couple of stakes in a pocket. It's really cool to be able to quickly pop up the fly and wait out the brief but violent thunderstorms we get around here.
Back in November, I had to spend 14 hrs. in the tent because of a snow storm coming in and the long hours of darkness. The time passed more quickly than I would have imagined.
Aug 24, 2011 at 6:22 pm #1772598I know it is off of the subject a bit, but I can't help but to think that it would be awesome to be able to figure out how to use hiking poles instead of tent poles with this tent. Possibly with a curved connector in the middle. I realize that the limiting factor would be the lack of curvature in the hiking poles. Just thinking…..
Aug 24, 2011 at 10:11 pm #1772677If you like the idea of this tent using trekking poles try the lightheart solo or sixmoons designs sky scrape tents
Aug 25, 2011 at 8:56 pm #1772967I recently bought a LightHeart Gear Solong6 tent and Love It!!!, which was why I was wondering about the possibility of retrofitting the Diamond. Just a thought.
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