Stuart,
generally speaking, “lighter is better” as long as the designs & constructions are sound. these forums will direct you towards such gear.
i lightened up in “steps”, being a tad “fearful” about jumping right into the UL movement with both feet. this has caused me to spend a lot more $$$ than i really had to. now that i’ve got my base pack wt. down to ~7lb 8oz, i realize that i should have done it all in one step. i don’t mean as a single month’s purchases (that would have “blown” my budget), but rather that i could have done away with intermediate “lightening” up steps for each pc. of gear to test whether the gear would work well.
i now realize that the dozens of hours i spent using/testing gear pales in cp. to the combined 1000’s of hrs other posters to these forums have spent using the same gear. my impressions of the UL gear i now use is basically the same as the consensus impressions of the experienced users. i should have gone with their experience & recommendations from the “get go”. it would have save me a lot of $$$.
keep in mind, as you read the following comments, that i do not yet own the Lunar Solo ‘e’, but, over the last 40+ yrs i have spent nights in one and two person tents ranging from 16sqt ft up to 35sq ft. (having also used 28 and 32 sq ft tents as well).
for purely solo use 27.5sq ft of living area, NOT counting the vestibule area, is really quite large. many solo tents are ONLY 18sq ft to 20 sq ft.. these also typically have a vestibule that is only 1/2 of the area of the Lunar Solo ‘e’. some of the smaller solo tents (still NOT considered bivies) are just 16 or 17 sq ft. – these are very, very tiny.
really, 27.5 sq ft is plenty of room for one person+gear. your pack & boots (if desired) should fit nicely right next to you.
in an emergency situation, two w/o gear could fit into that 27.5 sq. ft – a cozy fit mind you. the gear would stay in the vestibule in that case, unless the packs were placed under the legs. you wouldn’t PLAN to use the Lunar solo ‘e’ as a two-person shelter, but just in case a pack of marauding squirrels rip your hiking buddy’s shelter to pieces, you both could weather the all night T-storm in your Lunar. i’m sure you get the idea i’m trying to convey here.
typical two-man tents are 28sq ft for a small two person tent (no room for 2+gear inside; only room for the two people; generally, gear stays in vestibule) all the way up to to ~35sq ft, with ~30-32 sq ft being about the most popular area for a two-person.
think about it for a moment, there is NOT much diff. in total area b/t 27.5 sq. ft. for one-person & 30-32 sq. ft for TWO people. however, there is a GREAT diff in area per person. picture in your mind, or mark out on the floor with some tape or string, the 3-5 sq ft of area diff b/t the Lunar & a 30-32 sq ft TWO person tent. could a second person fit in that diff in area? No, of course not. thinking about it this way, one can really “see” how much room 27.5 sq ft is for ONE person. yet, most tent mfr’s are giving 2 people only 30-32 sq ft.
hey..if you want, mark out on the floor the footprints of the Lunar & the Europa. Place Europa “footprint” around the Lunar. Then lay inside of the Lunar “footprint”/outline. Look around & visualize how much room you would actually have. Look at the diff. b/t the Lunar outline & the Europa outline. I wish that I had thought of doing this 15mos. ago. It would have saved me from buying some tents that were simply larger than what I really wanted.
remember, as you go lighter, your gear will get, not only lighter, but it will pack smaller. so, you’re not going to be storing a fairly rigid 6lb or 7lb 5500 cu. in. internal frame pack next to you in the Lunar Solo ‘e’. it will be a smaller internal frame pack (SMD Starlite, or GossamerGear Mariposa), or a frameless pack (from GossamerGear or GoLite – two excellent sources of these packs). all of these L/UL packs should fit nicely inside with you. also, you may be using a 30″-48″ sleeping pad, so you may place your pack under your legs (outside of the sleeping bag of course) to insulate your legs from the cold of the ground. that is, you place your pack b/t the floor of the shelter & your sleeping bag.
an experienced, intelligent designer like Mr. Moak obviously decided upon 27.5 sq ft for a good reason. i would guess his personal experience, and common sense, came into play here. it should handle 1+gear nicely.
there’s nothing wrong with getting the Europa. just make sure your reasons are well thought out. if you think that you may, at times, not be going solo & will have to share your shelter, then depending upon how often you think that this will occur (& assuming you don’t mind sharing your living space), then maybe the Europa is a better choice. if you need room to spread out inside the tent for let’s say…(i’m “reaching” here), …drawing landscapes, etc, from inside your tent, then maybe you need the extra room for sketch pad & mat’ls. you’re the best judge of why you would need extra space. [Note: if any reader of these posts can think of other good reasons for a solo hiker to choose the Europa over the Lunar, please post & let Stuart know. i don’t believe i’m giving him bad info, but if you think i am, feel free to “set me straight”.]
with full mesh front, excellent head room, & 27.5 sq. ft, i don’t think that you’re going to be feeling claustrophobic in the Lunar Solo ‘e’ if you need to “hole up” in it to weather a storm.
if i recall a prev. post in this thread, you are 5’8″ tall. if you feel that you need more shoulder room, place your feet a little closer to one end of the Lunar, instead of centering your bag side-to-side in the shelter (as viewed from the door/front). since the Lunar is 88″ long (or wide, from side-to-side as viewed from the front/door), this would cause your head to further away fr/the other side wall. since the Lunar is NOT rectangular, your shoulders would then be placed in a postion where the angled back wall will be further away from you. this would give you more shoulder room & the impression of a roomier shelter than if you positioned your head closer to a side wall (which would occur if you “centered” your bag along the 88″ instead of offsetting the foot of your bag towards one side/end). since there is 15″ of bug netting on the four sides, there is little chance of the toe of your bag contacting the side wall.
if you go for the Europa, after musing on this decision for a while & taking into consideration all of the pros & cons, then you prob. haven’t made the wrong choice. take it slow, you will figure out what’s best for you.
here’s a costly lesson i’ve learned, rarely have i ever had to make use of a “just in case”. you know what i mean, right? i buy something, or get something a bit larger/more robust, “just in case”. 98% of the time, or more, the “just in case” never happens. and when it does, it’s never been a “life or death” situation. for that small percentage of time, comfort may be somewhat compromised, but never has safety. in my case, “just in case” means: “just in case my paranoia eventually occurs”. when i find that what i purchased was “overkill”, i end up giving it away to someone i know, or selling it very cheaply (to teach myself a lesson not to impulse buy – esp. if it’s on sale), and then buying what i should have gotten in the first place.
my suggestion, is to take the advice of the other posters here (they have far more L/UL experience than i have). this is exactly what i plan to do next november when i get my first ever winter tent (an ‘Akto’ based upon K.S.’s experience & recommendations in her posts in other threads on this website).
whichever, shelter you get (Europa or Lunar), if later on you think you’d prefer the other, i would think that you should have no trouble selling either of these fine shelters on this website. hey…i’d buy the Lunar Solo ‘e’ from you in a heartbeat (that is, b/f mid-July ’05 when i’ll be ordering one for myself from SMD).
hope these thoughts help you to make a wise decision.
