Bushwalk Australia

Mountain Designs is having a 30% off sale this weekend and I've been meaning to buy a good (as per the reviews) and cheap one man tent for a while now and for $105 & $161 (SUL) I can't go too wrong. Putting aside price and looking at both tents on it's merits the SUL tent is 500g lighter and does not have a pole at the feet, but in terms of performance you have the standard solo spitfire materials
•Fly: 75D Armatech Taffeta polyester, min. 2000mm PU coating, fire-retardant
•Inner tent: 40D Nylon no-see-um mesh, fire-retardant
•Floor: 75 D Armatech Taffeta polyester, min. 3000mm PU coating, fire-retardant
•Poles: 8.5mm. T7001 Aluminium
http://www.eurekaeurope.com/p/spitfire-solo/tents_lightweight?pp=136

Vs for the SUL
•Fly: 20D Both sides siliconized Ripstop Nylon min. 3000mm
•Inner tent: 20D Nylon R/S B/R
•Floor: 40D Ripstop nylon, min. 10.000mm TPU lamination, fire-retardant
•Poles: 8.84 mm DAC Featherlite NSL aluminium poles
http://www.eurekaeurope.com/p/spitfire-solo-sul

The standard tent seems to use more durable and I assume waterproof materials. but in practical terms what does it actually mean i.e 40D v 75D likely to rip, let water through in a storm etc and is the trade off in weight too great?
any experience or knowledge would be appreciated.

cheers,

Far from expert opinion Scroggin but the figures suggest the light weight tent is more waterproof.
As for strength.......I can't say.
Carrying 500gm less is very attractive, I wish my tent was 500 grams lighter every time I carry it.
The space inside the light weight looks a little squeezy for my personal requirements with only
32cm at the foot. Are there any mats that narrow at the foot?

Hopefully someone who has one will see your post.

Go for the lighter, siliconised one. One of my favourite tents, especially at that price. I don't own it as I have too many tents but I would buy one if I was searching for a one person tent at a good price. The non-siliconised one (other than being heavier) has these weird flaps of material on the bottom of the outer fly. I guess they have some purpose but I haven't seen them on many other tents. I honestly don't even know for certain why they are there, I'm sure somebody else could explain it. Forgive my ignorance if they have an obvious purpose. But to me they seem irrelevant. The siliconised one doesn't have them, as well as being lighter - it is a better tent.

I would go for the lighter tent. The materials for both the fly (50% higher) and floor (330% higher) are far more water resistant than the standard tent.

Silicone coated nylons are far more tear resistant compared to pu coated nylons of the same weight, so the lighter fabric should be much closer in tear resistance to the heavier than the yarn denier difference suggests.

Much prefer the DAC poles to the T7001 alloy on the standard tent.

Thanks all, I was leaning towards the heavier tent, due to my wrong assumptions on water resistance But am glad to be put on the right track.
Just hope my wife hasn't bought my Christmas present yet .
WRT foot room I sleep on a 3/4 inflatable with a full length closed cell which can easily be cut to shape. But at only 176cm I might be able to get away with it.

My 2 cents worth.
The 75D fabric probably has far better UV resistance and offers better shade.
Sil/Nylon after 30 days exposure to our high UV sky is supposedly end of lifetime.
Also with the lighter tent, are you factoring in a 250g groundsheet with that?

I really wouldn't use any tent as a sunshade - a fly maybe but not an enclosed tent - too hot inside. I also wouldn't leave a tent pitched in full sun for days on end - you will destroy any nylon tent in a few months if you do. Sil-nylon tents have been around for a while and I haven't seen any reputable comments about lack of longevity. Also the silicone finishes last somewhat better than pu which cracks and peels off after too much uv exposure and if stored damp.

Never bothered with an additional groundsheet - I do make sure the site is cleared of as much sharp debris as possible before pitching and a standard 1.1oz sil-nylon floor has lasted over 60 nights without damage. If and when it does get damaged a little silcone glue and a patch will see it right.

From Amanda :
"The non-siliconised one (other than being heavier) has these weird flaps of material on the bottom of the outer fly"
I don't see any flaps (?)
Some expedition type tents have snow flaps but I don't see those on the Spitfire.

Is the purpose of these flaps to bury them in the snow Franco?
My Darche has them, it won't be used in the snow, I might trim them off and lose a bit of weight.

"Is the purpose of these flaps to bury them in the snow Franco?"
They can be used to just keep snow drift or dirt/dust out of the tent (sometime they are also called mud flaps) and when necessary to pile snow on top to keep the tent stable.
That can also work well if pegging becomes difficult to do.
The downside is that of course they stop air flow therefore increasing the likelihood of condensation.

Thanks Franco, that would explain some bad condensation I get when they are out as opposed tucked up and in.

Mark F wrote: Also the silicone finishes last somewhat better than pu which cracks and peels off after too much uv exposure and if stored damp..

That is what i was going to add!

Unless you use the tent very regularly the silnylon will probably last longer than the PU Polyester (even though it is more uv resistant). Plus it is easy to patch or recoat silnylon if you get little dings or the waterproofing starts to fail.

+ whatever to the other comments - get the lighter one

Also the poles are stronger on the lighter tent - 0.34mm may not seen like much but it is an improvement.

Snow valances on the Spitfire? Where?

Franco wrote:From Amanda :
"The non-siliconised one (other than being heavier) has these weird flaps of material on the bottom of the outer fly"
I don't see any flaps (?)
Some expedition type tents have snow flaps but I don't see those on the Spitfire.

Yes you can't see them in the photo but trust me they are on the tent! Its a bit embarrassing setting one up and going 'um yes, I don't really know why these are on it'. They are not on the siliconised version

Amanda,
These are the snow flaps we are talking about :

never seen them on a 3 season tent, they are not listed with the Spitfire nor there are any photos of the tent in use with those attached .
This is the Spitfire open :

Yes those are the ones. Is that the siliconised spitfire in your pic? From memory it looks like it. The normal spitfire definitely used to have the snow flaps, I'm 100% certain. The siliconised one does not. They may have changed since I set one up last. This is possible as I haven't set one up for a while. If I remember I'll have a look tomorrow at our current stock. I know it may sound like I am imagining it but trust me, they definitely used to be there! I just rang work to check and Ellen said yes they were there last time she looked too and we laughed at how pointless they are.
Thanks for explaining their purpose. I thought it was something like that and as I also suspected fairly pointless on a spitfire solo. I'll tell people they are useful for weighting down their tent with rocks at Shelf camp

Here you, a link to some guy talking about his spitfire solo, mentioning the snow flaps and a pic of the snow flaps. Unless he has the name of his tent wrong, it is a bit difficult to be certain its a spitfire in the photo.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/sports/camping ... 246897.htm

Those valances would be very handy in Tas on a tent with so much mesh. Especially if they rolled/ stowed away. Ajustable Ventilation and 'rock plates' : )

Or were removable!

OK, odd.
I can't find any other photo on the web with a Spitfire with flaps.
Here are several shots of the current version :
http://www.moontrail.com/eureka/spitfir ... dwfly.html

Maybe MD have older stock or something and they have wisely removed them on the current model. I'll have a look tomorrow if I remember. But yes odd is a good summary if I haven't imagined them!

Here you go, the only 3 season tent in the world with snow flaps.

Got any left?

Thanks Amanda.
I have to go and rest my eyes now.

Amanda wrote:Here you go, the only 3 season tent in the world with snow flaps

Almost, the Darche Hornet has them too.

Nuts wrote:Got any left?

Ha ha yes, at a special price just for you

Hope your eyes are ok Franco!

looking for 12 there can be too much ventilation on tent platforms, three-season tents are good enough and light but can also easily get Very cold.
I'm considering Tarptent, are they taking customers Franco?

Nuts wrote:looking for 12 there can be too much ventilation on tent platforms, three-season tents are good enough and light but can also easily get Very cold.

Tarptent might have a bit too much mesh?

Nuts wrote:I'm considering Tarptent, are they taking customers Franco?

Only the ones they choose not to sack!

I'm considering Tarptent, are they taking customers Franco?