Solo-Plus Tent Round-Up

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Several months ago members asked when the next tent state of the market report would be coming. I responded directly to that forum post, and allowed the membership to choose what would be included in the report. We narrowed the eligibility requirements down to the following:

Space for one plus
Supported by trekking poles
Double-wall or hybrid single/double-wall
Supports do not intrude on living space
No more than 36 ounces in weight

Using those guidelines, I was able to put together a good list of shelters to be included in the report. While I wasn't able to secure all of them for testing, I did manage to get a pretty good sampling.

weight is for a Hexamid Solo-Plus with optional permanent beak and optional removable two person floor

** weight includes two stuff sacks and eight aluminum "V" stakes

*** weight includes two stuff sacks and six Easton "Nail" stakes (2 gold and 4 blue)

**** weight includes two stuff sacks and seven aluminum "V" stakes with cordage loops attached

***** weight is for a SoLong 6 with optional awning, awning pole, and rear door

Note that Mfr. Weight includes manufacturer provided guy-lines. In contrast with some past reports, I chose not to remove the factory guy-lines and replace them with something lighter. The GoLite doesn't use guy-lines for the standard staking positions, and most of the other shelters came with guy-lines already cut and attached. Also, note that BPL weight excludes manufacturer provided stuff sacks and stakes. Instead they standardize by using eight aluminum "V" stakes (3 oz or ) as these hold better in a variety of soils than the lighter weight needle stakes used in past reports. All prices include the options on our test shelters. Due to the nature of pitching a shelter with adjustable trekking poles, the dimensions can vary slightly based on the height of the poles. All of the BPL dimensions are with a fully taut pitch, but I recognized that a taut pitch could be achieved with slightly shorter or longer poles as well. Due to the potential for the variance in dimensions with pole length (shelter height), I elected to exclude square footage from the chart above.

ARTICLE OUTLINE

Introduction
Zpacks Hexamid Solo-Plus
GoLite Shangri-La 1
Tarptent StratoSpire 1
LightHeart Gear SoLong 6
Nemo Meta 1P
Conclusion

# WORDS: 2260
# PHOTOS: 11

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Viewing 25 posts - 1 through 25 (of 99 total)

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Sep 18, 2012 at 5:55 pm #1294207

Stephanie Jordan
Spectator

@maia
Locale: Rocky Mountains

Companion forum thread to:

Solo-Plus Tent State of the Market Report

Sep 18, 2012 at 6:32 pm #1913470

Ken Thompson
BPL Member

@here
Locale: Right there

More on the…

Solo Plus

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=52949&skip_to_post=451469

Shangri La 1

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=11956

Stratospire 1

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=51435

SoLong 6

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=56739

http://hikeitlikeit.com/2012/lightheart-gear-solong6/

Nemo Meta 1

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/orsm09_nemo_meta.html

Sep 18, 2012 at 6:41 pm #1913472

Stephen M
BPL Member

@stephen-m
Locale: Way up North

The Stratosphire 1 is a very nice shelter and very stable in strong winds.
The inner tent would definitley be tight for 2 but the fly sheet by itself would be fine.

Sep 18, 2012 at 7:45 pm #1913503

Mark Ries
Spectator

@mtmnmark
Locale: IOWAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Maybe it would be best to change the title to a backpacker magazine style review of five solo + tents. Sorry I have been trying real hard to lay off negative comments here but this will not help me pick a new shelter much if at all. BPL stagnation! :(

Sep 18, 2012 at 7:57 pm #1913506

David Ure
Member

@familyguy

I was expecting individual field reports. Are those forthcoming?

Sep 18, 2012 at 8:06 pm #1913509

Eugene Smith
BPL Member

@eugeneius
Locale: Nuevo Mexico

Is that a fescue or bluegrass species?

Sep 18, 2012 at 8:22 pm #1913516

David Ure
Member

@familyguy

What year is the Buick?

Sep 18, 2012 at 8:38 pm #1913522

Ken Thompson
BPL Member

@here
Locale: Right there

What were the other 3+ shelters that you could have included? Why omit mentioning them?

Do you water that lawn to keep it that green?

Sep 18, 2012 at 8:39 pm #1913524

Franco Darioli
Spectator

@franco
Locale: Gauche, CU.

A couple of points…

The SS1 can be erected and will stand up to ,fair weather without the extra guylimnes but yes it does work much better with.

A big advantage is that you can fully open all 4 door panels if you want with the guylines in place.
Certanly not a double but you can fit two 20" mats side by side IF you drop the inner so that it sits flat (almost no bathtub) side to side .

For full bathtub you connect the mitten hook from the inner to the apex ring. To get extra width you connect the mitten hook to the elastic ribbon, for my set up I added a slightly longer ribbon so that it could stay flat without having weights on the mat.
So maybe spooning is not required and since the two sides are reversed it would be in fact slightly better to sleep top and tail.

Sep 18, 2012 at 8:46 pm #1913527

W I S N E R !
Spectator

@xnomanx

Buicks?
Green lawns?

What am I missing here?

Sounds like I need to renew. I can only imagine…

Sep 18, 2012 at 8:47 pm #1913528

David Ure
Member

@familyguy

I don't have to add the additional guy lines on my Notch to tighten the ridgeline. Franco, is this simpy because of the offset geometry of the SS1 and it's greater width / footprint?

Sep 18, 2012 at 8:54 pm #1913530

Ken Thompson
BPL Member

@here
Locale: Right there

Craig the links give you all the same info, but no pictures of Chris' yard or vehicles. It looks nice though.

Sep 18, 2012 at 8:54 pm #1913531

David Ure
Member

@familyguy

Here is some hints on how to pitch the Nemo for more room. You may need a car, however. Buick will work:

http://nemoadventureanywhere.blogspot.ca/2012/09/meta-1p-pitch-hints.html

Sep 18, 2012 at 8:55 pm #1913532

Mary D
BPL Member

@hikinggranny
Locale: Gateway to Columbia River Gorge

Chris mentioned that several other tents that met the criteria were not available for review. It would have been good had he listed them so we could look for reviews of those elsewhere. Of course if the manufacturers don't want to make them available for testing, maybe they don't want to sell us any? Or maybe they have decided that BPL reviews don't mean much any more? (I'm just asking the question, not trying to imply anything one way or another.)

I was unhappy at the lack of field testing. Nearly all the information in this article, except a few subjective impressions, can be found by compiling information from the manufacturers' websites. What inquiring minds want to know is how well these shelters hold up in really nasty weather! Simply pitching them all on the same lawn just before a Rocky Mountain thunderstorm hit would have allowed a reasonable comparison of weather resistance. I don't know where Chris lives, but if there are no lively thunderstorms there, presumably someone at BPL headquarters in Bozeman (Maia?) has a lawn that could have been used for this simple test. Of course I realize that it has been a dry summer in the Rockies and the Midwest. The lovely Maia could also have tested how well these shelters hold up with a larger dog as one of the inhabitants. In the absence of thunderstorms, a few neighborhood kids could have been enlisted to run through the guylines and the tents could have been tested with a hose for an hour or so.

I don't happen to be in the market for a shelter, so for me these shortcomings are no big deal. I have two (IMHO) "ideal" shelters (neither covered by this article) for my dog and me, and I have only to decide which one to keep and which to sell. For those actively seeking a "1.5 person" tent that will hold a cuddling couple or adult plus child or (as in my case) adult plus faithful hound or just a big and tall adult who wants plenty of room to stretch out, though, this article is not much help.

Sep 18, 2012 at 9:05 pm #1913534

Ken Thompson
BPL Member

@here
Locale: Right there

nm

Sep 18, 2012 at 9:20 pm #1913538

Aaron
BPL Member

@aaronufl

Edited.

Thank you Chris, for the effort you put into the article. I would have preferred more rigorous and in-depth testing, but my problem lies with BPL and not you individually.

Sep 18, 2012 at 9:38 pm #1913543

Charles P
Spectator

@mediauras
Locale: Terra

I would have to agree. I'm a new member, still figuring out UL and what works for me, and I was really hoping for something more substantial. I'm going to purchase a new solo shelter this fall/winter and thought this report might help me on my path (given it was hyped a bit too — wasn't there supposed to be a bit of controversy? maybe some findings that went against the grain of conventional thought?). I appreciate the work, but there's just not much info here, no real world experiences with the shelters. What are their strengths? Their weaknesses? What happens when pushed to the limit? Back to the forums and community with my questions, which are a real treasure.

Sep 18, 2012 at 9:55 pm #1913547

Franco Darioli
Spectator

@franco
Locale: Gauche, CU.

David
You are correct that the Notch stands up very well without the extra guylines* , however the SS 1and 2 work better with and are tricky (OK, not for me…) to set up without.
The SSs were designed to have those guylines so that you can open up the sides , the Notch is going that way by popular demand.

* If having problems with this , make sure that the base of the pitch lock corner is parallel with the other (like rail crossties/sleepers) and that you don't pull the fly taut long wise as you would when setting up the Moment with the pole in place.

Sep 18, 2012 at 10:09 pm #1913552

Ken Thompson
BPL Member

@here
Locale: Right there

What we are use to.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/sotmr_single_wall_tents_2008.html

Sep 18, 2012 at 10:10 pm #1913553

Bob Bankhead
BPL Member

@wandering_bob
Locale: Oregon, USA

deleted

Sep 19, 2012 at 4:53 am #1913596

CW
BPL Member

@simplespirit
Locale: .

I have zero interest in arguing why this report is written the way it is. With that said, here's the dilemma-

You guys want long-term test data delivered over short periods. If the review takes 6-9 months there are complaints about it taking too long. If it's delivered quickly, there are complaints about it not having enough depth.

The manufacturers want short term testing and a quick turn-around on publication of the review. This especially applies to the cottage guys since they tweak designs annually.

This article was delivered prior to Summer with hopes that it be published in time for you guys to see what was out there while making Seasonal gear decisions. We're now in to Fall with Winter quickly en route, and most of these shelters don't make sense for those conditions. I have the same issue with another SOTM that will be published soon, and for that primary reason I won't be doing any more testing myself. The conditions we face here in the Southern Appalachians are unlike the Rockies or the Sierras or the DSW or the PNW. Ideally we could get several of an item and test it in multiple locations, but the vendors (generally) aren't willing to play. Maybe that says more about the State of the Market than any of the reports ever will. I may get chastised for writing all of this, but this is me being transparent. I'm not offering it as justification, just a simple explanation and my one side of the story. If you want to chat about it more, feel free to PM me.

In addition, I see lots of opinions on how these should be written, yet no one stepping up to do the reviews. As the saying goes…. put up or shut up.

Sep 19, 2012 at 5:14 am #1913598

Ken Thompson
BPL Member

@here
Locale: Right there

Edited: Now I have a better understanding of the situation and how it works.

Sep 19, 2012 at 5:22 am #1913600

CW
BPL Member

@simplespirit
Locale: .

Are you volunteering Ken?

Sep 19, 2012 at 5:26 am #1913602

Ken Thompson
BPL Member

@here
Locale: Right there

No I am not. I keep busy with the GGG and trips throughout the year with fellow BPL members.

It's a simple problem I bet. BPL has no resources and has no one willing to supply content other than Roger and David.

Wonder why that is? Bet RJ holds the key to that answer.

Sep 19, 2012 at 5:31 am #1913603

CW
BPL Member

@simplespirit
Locale: .

For the record, I am not an employee. I do have a title (which I volunteered for) but I'm more of a private contractor just like anyone else who submits articles.
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