Tarptent the Moment

[sef]

Having woken up in Namadgi NP with my bivy bag literally frozen to the rock... I'm about to buy a Moment. Does he still offer a seam sealing service?

[Franco]

Seam sealing ?
That is available on demand. Ask in the comment section of your order and Henry will send you a code for that.
The service is not available when he is hiking or too busy. (he has been really busy lately but I do the seam sealing for the Aussie tents)
Franco

[Nuts]

..

[Franco]

I have done several tents for "friends" (BD and Bibler) so I don't mind. The problem is that you should really test it once it is done since occasionally there is still a gap.
Of course doing a few and doing them all is a different matter...
Mind you , taped tents can also have that problem too.
Franco

[Lindsay]

I have just had an email from Henry...It's on its way

[Franco]

I received an E Mail asking about pitching the Moment lower to the ground, so I thought to share this.
Yes it can be done, as you can with most single hoop shelters.
Just dig a hole under the pole tips.

This you would do to controll wind driven rain and or just wind sometime. However usually is better to let the air flow as much as possible.
Hint : you can do one side only too.
Franco

[SteveJ]

I have just had an email from Henry...It's on its way

I'll race you to see who can get theirs pitched first...

[Lindsay]

I have just had an email from Henry...It's on its way

I'll race you to see who can get theirs pitched first...

You're on!...

[SteveJ]

It has arrived!!!

[earthglider]

Help!

I'm 6' tall with wide shoulders and weigh 100kg and use a Large Neo Air mattress and can't decide between the Scarp 1 or the Moment?

I notice the corners on a Large sleeping mat will fold up at the end on the Moment and hence recently purchased a 2010 Rainbow over the Moment for the extra space.

I have since tried the 2010 Rainbow once in the back yard last week in Adelaide when it dropped to 3 degree Celcius in the back yard and found the ventilation was good, but i shivered all night. (i was wearing 2 pairs of thermals and 2 sleeping bag liners and sleeping bag).

I love the simplicity and ease of setup of the Moment, but my head says the Scarp will provide much more protection in winter...

Will the Moment be big enough and warm enough for possible frosts in South Australian mid north during winter? Should i simply stop whinging and just get a warmer sleeping bag rather than the Scarp!?

Is the Scarp much more fiddly or complicated to setup over the Moment? Having to unclip and take down an internal liner every time rather than just stuffing the whole tent in my pack is one more step which i'd rather avoid to maintain the FAST in the philosphy of 'Fast and Light!'

I owned a Sierra Designs Lightning tent for years, which was an impressive 4 pounds for a warm, double wall and relatively massive 2 man tent which was tough as nails. It was a palace and a dream to use, with sturdy construction, free standing with oodles of comfort. I actually felt it was TOO big, and sometimes felt guilty sometimes abour the extra size as it was big enough to swallow all my gear inside the tent and AND an extra person.

http://www.moontrail.com/sierra-lightning.php

Does anyone have any experience of what i may be sacrificing with a Moment or Scarp?

[corvus]

Go for the Scarp 1 you will appreciate the double doors/vestibules and there is no need to separate the inner from the fly for packing,
It is not difficult to erect and if you purchase the cross over poles you will have a free standing 4 season tent also the inner has only got two mesh panels on top of the doors unlike your Sierra Lightning.
I have used mine in minus 4 degrees with a Pro Lite 4 and a minus 5 degree sleeping bag a silk liner thermals a light fleece jumper socks and a beanie was warm as and only woke up for a comfort break at 4.30 am.

[photohiker]

Scarp is definitely warmer than the moment.

Moment is easier to setup, having one pole and two pegs. The Scarp is still not bad with one pole and six pegs. You do not need to take down the inner separately, they pack and setup as one. Franco can setup a Moment in under a minute, the Scarp would probably take 3 minutes, but I'd like to see the comparison Franco

If the weather gets threatening, the Scarp will be more stable, and offer more protection - it will also withstand snow not that we get much here in SA.

What temperature rating is your sleeping bag?

[SteveJ]

I was out of bed early this morning to set up my newly arrived Moment. It took about 2 minutes even reading the instruction (ok... skimming the instructions) Very easy to put up and adjust. I set it up with the pegs first then tried with the extra pole to make it free standing. My first impression is that it is a very funky little tent, well made, clever design that will be functional and comfortable for my style of adventures. It feels a less wear resistant fabric compared to my other older style tents and I will have to take more care than I usually do but that is a cost of weight reduction. My main tent is a 20 year DHM Gypsy that weighed 1500g, was a very tight fit but was warm and tough. The half Kg weight saving is a good thing. Over all I am pretty stoked and am looking forward to the Moments first outing the week after next with a few weeks in the wilds of Arnhem Land. I suspect this will test the ventilation capabilities in a different way as it will be pretty hot.



I think it must be remembered that these are designed and sold as a 3 season tent and are not really designed for winter use. If your expectations are winter use then another tent would be a better choice.

Steve

[Franco]

3 minutes to put the Scarp up ?
How old are you ????
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWE0gx7rSXU&feature
Did this clip to test my new wide angle converter for my camcorder. Thankfully Sony has started to sell them with a wider lens now .
In fact they started about 5 minutes after I bought mine...

Anyway I did this at a relaxed pace because as the first and only attempt at the world record I was not under pressure. (1:49 sec is the time)

As Steve mentions, the TT's are 3 season (or 3 season plus for some minor snow loading...) except for the Scarp.
The Scarp has the most usable space also due to the boxed floor shape , no sloping walls to rob space at the edge here.
(nice pitch Steve)

EarthGlider
What mat were you using ?
Often people are cold because of a too thin (low thermal resistance) mat.
Franco

[earthglider]

Thanks for everyone's input.

I love the idea of a 'fast and functional' tent with the Moment, but i think i will need to stay with the Scarp.

I use a Large Neo Air, which i find plenty warm - i sleep on my side and it was the top side of my back and top of my legs where i could feel a breeze from the back of the tent.

My sleeping bag is *admittably* a rather light 2 pound Caribee Cosmic, which i admit is underweight for conditions below 5 degrees, but i was trying to avoid using the heavier 3.5pound -5C Caribee Cosmic 1600.

Despite this fact, I was also wearing Wickers Expedition Weight Thermals, Terramar Silk Thermals, Sea To Summit Reactor Liner and Sea To Summit Thermal Fleece. All up, clothing and thermals added up to about 5.5 pounds.

In future, I will probably ditch the Terramar Silk Thermals and To Summit Thermal Fleece liner in favour of the warmer, but 1.5 pound heavier -5 Cosmic bag.

The Wickers Expedition Weight Thermals are the best i've ever found and much better at wicking moisture than silk or wool, and those in combination with the Caribee 1600 Cosmic will total 5 pounds in sleeping gear, but guarnteed to be toasty down to 0 degrees or slightly below.

[photohiker]

3 minutes to put the Scarp up ?
How old are you ????
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWE0gx7rSXU&feature

Steady on. Have you ever tried to pitch a tent from your walking frame?

I was thinking real life, not sheltered backyard I notice you didn't hit any rocks with those pegs...

2 minutes then. So not a lot longer than the Moment in any case.

Earthglider, if you're cold 'on top' then it's either a lack of insulation or too much breeze (or both) Sounds like a Scarp would suit you just fine, or a Moment with more insulation.

[Franco]

That lawn is optimised for record attempts.
I would be very surprised if I can do it in 3 minutes in the bush even on soft soil. However it is relatively fast to set up.
But you are correct. It would be slower for me to do it from my walking frame . (how did you know ?)
Reminds me of Mr Burns ( The Simpsons...)
Franco

[Lindsay]

It is here! Unfortunately I will have to wait until tomorrow before playing with it.

[earthglider]

Traded the Rainbow for a Scarp 2010. Wow. Great little tent. The Scarp 2010 has plenty of clever little touches and ventilation pouches and seems to be solid as rock once pitched. I feel it is much easier to pitch than the Rainbow. Feels at least 3-4 degrees warmer inside the internal sleeping compartment than even just inside the vesitbule. Was about 10 degrees last night, was in a 5-10 (5c extreme) degree bag with thermals as was ok. Will probably need a -5c (extreme) bag for anything cooler. Will be looking at Ray Jardine's quilts and see if i can whip one up to cut the a few pounds off the sleeping bag. Gonna need more silicon on the floor - that floor is SLIPPERY!!!

Still tempted by the 2010 Sublite Sil, but not as much after experiencing the Scarp.

[earthglider]

Just wondering, i would like to buy either a Sublite Sil or Moment, and there's only a hairs-breadth between them.

I like the fast, simple setup of the Moment, but the use of Trekking poles in the Sublite is also very tempting. My brain and body are stuffed at the end of a long day, so fast and easy setup and take-down and packing up is very important. Is the ease and speed of setup and break-down much different between the two?

If there's not much between pack-down or setup, I think my final decision will all come down to weather protection and draughtiness or breeziness? Which of the two do you think would be less breezy and offer better weather protection? Would the Tyvek version of the Sublite be less breezy than the Sil-Nylon?

Thanks
Ben

[cams]

I'm looking at getting a solo tent soon. I'd like to go with a single wall for the weight savings but am worried about condensation up here in Qld. Top of my list is the moment or TT Contrail. Any experiences with either of these, or single wall tents in geneneral, in reasonably humid conditions?

[Franco]

Cams
Henry is very busy right now but when he will get some time to organise it ,he will have a liner available for the Moment, very similar to the one available for the Rainbow/Double Rainbow.
It is a bit over 100g (from memory...) and is designed to catch mist from heavy condensation or from penetration (pretty rare...)
http://www.tarptent.com/doublerainbowliner.html
Here are a couple of shots of the one he has used :



Franco

[cams]

Thanks Franco. Looks like that might have the best of both worlds. Has definitely bumped it up the list.

[pok]

Just wondering how the Moment compares to the Contrail.
It looks like the Contrail makes a few more sacrifices to reduce the weight- less foot room, less vestibule space, maybe not as tough against winds. Is it really worth the 100grams, or does it have some other advantages?

[Franco]

The Contrail has more floor area , nicer if you like to spread your things around. It will also hold two persons in an emergency. Some couples use it.
Some also prefer the front entrance and or the high point over the head. Good if you are a bit claustrophobic.
Packs smaller too, particularly if you use you trekking poles.
The Moment is faster to set up, has more wind/rain/snow options (the floor can be pulled up, you will be able to get a liner and you can use the freestanding pole for a bit more wind snow resistance)
A friend has just returned with mine from a 3 week trip in Canada , he had to use rocks to pitch it in a couple of places (just a rock slab, flat almost no holes/cracks)
His mate had a 4 season Nemo that he also "pegged" down with rocks, four for the Moment (one at each end and one on each pole guyline) eight for the Nemo (a double)
Franco

[Franco]

A couple of shots of my Moment used by my mate in Canada.
First to show how he set it up on a rock slab. Note his mascot 2EE (the rat from Ratatouille the movie) , he is anchored down..
The other shot may give some ideas of the winds they had there (Lake Huon)


Franco

[Franco]

This is how it should look like. This time set up by me , Yair was in the Scarp. Mt Sterling yesterday


Franco
These pics by Yair Kellner

[Orion]

Beautiful photos, Franco. Thank you for posting about this tent as it is one I'm looking at seriously.

[Franco]

Thank you.
I will post some more under "cameras for backpacking" when I get the shots my mate took with his Panasonic TS1 .
We had a lot of fun shooting with that one ( I was using my wife's Pana TZ11) . We were on a ridge so on one side we had full moon and the other the sunset over Mt Buller.
( we camped in the most exposed area we could find on purpose)

very shotr video clip here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT8OME9cwNE
Franco

[Osik]

Am hoping to finally order a Moment next week. Just a few last minute questions. I noticed that Henry offers different guy rope length's as extra's. I assume it would make the most sense to order the longest lengths as can always whip out the scissors if needed? Was also wondering if anyone has added extra guy rope tie points for stability and to decrease the 'flap-factor'? Finally, has anyone had any further experience on the possible condensation issues in humid climates. I know Franco mentioned that there may be a 'condensation/leak' catcher in the future but hopefully it shouldn't be necessary?
thanks again for all the information and the great pics!
Rafael