Tag: tent review

Mont Moondance Tent Review: Tough Enough For The Americas?

I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect tent for some time, with the intention of taking it on my two-year bike tour: CyclingAbout The Americas.

Having used dozens of tents over the years, I feel like I’m getting closer to a tent that is suitable for my needs.

This will be an in-depth Mont Moondance tent review, offering a tour of all of the features, as well as my thoughts after six months with the tent.

For bicycle touring I prefer the following tent characteristics:
– Freestanding (you can’t use pegs on concrete)
– A tough floor (for protection against the elements)
– Brown or green in colour (camouflage)
– Two-person (so that I can sleep a friend or fit my gear inside)
– Dual vestibule (so that my friend can escape without sitting on me)

Note: I discuss these characteristics in more detail in my resource about buying a bicycle touring tent.

All of these things led me to Mont, an Australian outdoor gear manufacturer. I sent them an email informing them that their Moondance 2 tent looked, on paper, perfect for my needs. They were confident that I would love their tent, so they sent one out to test on my month-long trip in Japan, as well as a handful of winter nights in the Australian backcountry.

If it passed these tests, I would take it on my trip from Argentina to Alaska.

Mont Moondance Tent Review

Let’s do a bit of a tour first…

The Mont tent including the inner, fly, poles, pegs and guy ropes weighs 1.93kg (4.25lbs). It packs into its neat triple-compression bag very easily.

The pegs are light but also super space-efficient. They tend to organise themselves together even when you don’t intend to pack them that way.

Like many modern freestanding tents, the Moondance uses pole ‘hubs’ on either end to achieve a higher degree of rigidity.

The pole clips are made by DAC and are very easy to clip on. Despite being made of plastic, they have a very solid feel and I can’t see them failing.

The poles are all DAC Featherlite aluminium. I can see these wearing out over time, but a full replacement pole set is available aftermarket for US $120.

DAC ball-end clips quickly and easily attach above the tent doors.

The fly is reinforced around the pole contact point above the door. There is a secondary clip that can further secure this section but I haven’t found it necessary.

You can internally velcro the fly to the poles too, but again I haven’t found this necessary.

On one side of the fly is a small roof vent. It is accessed via a zip on the tent inner.

The roof vent is opened on the fly with a zip, and once open offers a large overlap to not let rain inside. A short rigid pole lifts from the bottom and velcros to the top to keep the vent open.

The vent from the outside shows the recessed opening. The mouth-like opening is about 20cm across and 5cm tall in the middle.

The tent poles are colour coded to assist with setup.

This is because the tent is asymmetric, tapering from 130cm at your head down to 116cm at your feet.

The three-point guy attachments stabilise the tent at the poles and the pole hub.

The Pitch

The Mont Moondance is a freestanding tent. This is my preference for bicycle touring because they can be pitched without any staking, you can pitch the tent without the fly, they have great ventilation and they have a smaller overall footprint.

Colour co-ordinated clips make pitching the Mont Moondance tent really easy. Your job is to remember is that the orange clips are where your head will rest, and you can then lay the inner in the orientation that suits. The poles snap together into the hubs to make the one-piece asymmetric frame.

You can then match the coloured tent poles and coloured tent clips. It’s fine to put the poles in one at a time as they will stay in place without popping out. The clips and hubs on the inner are now ready to be hooked up to the poles, and finally, the ridge pole can be inserted on top.

With the inner constructed, locate the coloured orange/green connectors on the fly and match them to the clips too. Stake out as much of the tent as you need, and should it be windy you may want to velcro the fly to the poles – these reinforcements will allow the guy ropes at the ends to better stabilise the tent in the wind.

The Floor

In an effort to drop the advertised weight, thick nylon floors are surprisingly uncommon amongst backpacking tents. The Mont Moondance is an exception here with one of the thickest floors I’ve come across on a sub-2000g tent.

To make sure my previous tent floors survive the distance, I’ve always coupled them with groundsheets. The thing is that groundsheets/footprints often weigh between 200-300 grams by themselves, which effectively brings lighter tents more in line with the weight of the Moondance.

While there is a groundsheet option from Mont (US $50), I don’t plan to use one because I feel confident the heavy-duty floor will last the distance. Not only is the floor tough, but I haven’t seen any water make its way up through the 10,000mm PU floor material.

On a side note, Mont makes a ‘3D footprint’ which is essentially a groundsheet with a 5-10cm wall that sits up around the edges. With the poles, fly and 3D footprint, you can have a pretty lightweight shelter that will prevent water ingress and creepy crawlies in your sleeping bag.

Two Inner Tent Options

This bit is super neat.

Mont produces two different tent inners depending on the season you’re camping in. Buying a second inner isn’t cheap – it’s US $270, but that works out cheaper than a second tent of this calibre.

Both Mont Moondance tent inners share the same floor, pole clips, pockets and zips. The difference is the upper: the summer inner uses No-See-Um mesh to allow heat to escape, while the winter inner uses 20D nylon from the floor to the roof.

The four-season inner is just 100 grams heavier and is what I’ve been using on trips with overnight temperatures below 10 degrees Celcius (50F).

The mesh inner offers the same floor but applies a breathable mesh for the roof section.

The four-seasons inner has a 20D nylon roof that traps more heat. There’s still the option to zip back the windows for warmer conditions.

Looking through the No-See-Um mesh roof of the summer inner.

Taking a look out of the zipped-back window of the four-season inner.

The nylon inner in the late afternoon sun.

Impressions

I’ve now experienced most weather conditions in the Mont Moondance tent, with the exception of some ultra-high winds and heavy snow… but I’ll get that while CyclingAbout The Americas.

I’ve been really happy with how the tent has performed so far. Everything from the pitch to the design, to the quality and finish, appears to be top-notch. Even with my two-metre body plus a friend, there’s ample room for sitting up inside in the tent.

The dual doors are excellent for sneaking out at night for a quick whizz (pee) without waking your mate, and the fact the doors open really low means it’s easy to get in/out without shaking the tent.

The tent seems to ventilate well and the shape of the tent has meant I’ve never had condensation drip inside. In freezing conditions, the condensation builds on the fly overnight so you’ll need to be careful when packing up the tent.

Given I travel solo with a two-person tent (after all, one-person tents are not much smaller/lighter), I am afforded the luxury of having my gear inside my Mont Moondance tent for easy access. I also feel a bit better sleeping with all of my valuables by my side.

The Mont Moondance tent comes with a ‘care package’ including a pole repair sleeve, glue and some nylon for patching up any tears.

Would I Recommend It To A Mate?

Absolutely.

The Mont Moondance tent is well-made and hardy. It ticks all of my boxes in terms of being freestanding, having a tough floor and using a dual entrance/vestibule.

It is a touch on the pricey side at US $540, but I figure that if you use an expensive tent all the time they can be cheap on a per-night basis.

I’ve taken my Mont Moondance tent to Argentina with the four-season inner where I am expecting overnight low temperatures between -20 and 10 degrees Celcius for the first eight months. When I reach Ecuador I will send my four-season inner back to Australia and will switch it to the mesh inner for Colombia and Central America. And depending on the weather in Canada and Alaska, I may need to swap the inners over one more time before I finish.

Let’s see how we go.

December 24, 2017
Bicycle Touring Tents: Everything You Need To Know

Tents are my home away from home. They are my space to take a well-deserved break and relax after a long day in the saddle.

Having spent hundreds, if not thousands of nights under sheets of expensive, lightweight, waterproof nylon – this is what I know about bicycle touring tents.

Tent Classification

In this article I will reference three different types of tent:

The Easton Kilo 2P weighs just 997g and will fit two people.

Ultralight: This type of tent favours weight over all other factors. Ultralight tents are great for short trips in good conditions – so don’t expect them to last a long time or be brilliant in wet and windy conditions. A typical problem with ultralight tents is broken poles, so always carry a splint. Typical weight: 800-2000g.

The MSR Hubba NX tents are a popular choice as a backpacking tent.

Backpacking: These mid-weight tents pick up some of the key durability features of 4-season tents and place them in a lighter weight and better ventilating package. Backpacking tents are often great for the average bicycle tour, or for longer journeys in warmer climates. Typical weight: 1500-2800g.

The Hilleberg Staika is not light, but is durable and able to withstand any weather conditions.

4-season: These tents tend to be most suitable for cool-mid climates and adverse weather conditions. If you’re planning on hitting sub-zero temperatures, snow and strong winds – this is what will work best. 4-season tents are often great for six-month or longer bicycle trips because of how durable they are. Typical weight: 2500-4000g.

Horses for Courses

Ok, so there is no best tent; different tents are better in certain situations.

Most of the time, you’ll need to strike a balance between weight (ultralight tents) and durability (4-season tents). With durability also comes better performance in the wind, tougher, more waterproof floors, and additional insulation properties in cooler climates.

High-quality 4-season tents tend to be expensive, twice the pack weight/size of an ultralight equivalent and perform poorly in warmer climates where heavier fabrics (and reduced mesh) limit the tents ability to ventilate well.

In summary, look for a tent that will suit both the climates you intend to travel through, the types of places you will camp and the number of times you’ll need to use it.

Freestanding vs Tunnel Tents

A great way to reduce your options is to decide whether you’re after a tunnel or freestanding tent.

Why should you buy a tunnel tent?
– Tunnel tents are undoubtedly better in the wind at any given weight (eg. a 2kg freestanding tent vs 2kg tunnel tent).
– The vestibules are often large and great for entertaining/cooking under.
– They’re easy to set up (especially in the wind).

Why should you NOT buy a tunnel tent?
– Tunnel tents rely on being staked out, limiting where you can set them up.
– They’re 20-40% longer in length (bigger footprint) than a dome tent for the same inner size, again limiting where you can set them up.
– Not as good at supporting snow on their roof.
– They’re most of the time single entrance.
– They have a lower, sloping roof; two people sometimes can’t sit up at once, or at all.
– Poorer ventilation than most freestanding tents, especially if your gear is stored in the front and rear.

Why should you buy a freestanding tent?
– They stand without staking, allowing you to pitch them anywhere.
– You can easily pitch just the inner.
– Two entrances is common.
– They often have great ventilation.
– You can pick up the tent, move it, shake it out, clean it etc
– The roof can often withstand snow.
– They’re more spacious internally (eg. headroom).

Why should you NOT buy a freestanding tent?
– Not as good in the wind as a tunnel tent – you’ll need a comparably heavy freestanding tent to do well in adverse conditions.

My take: I cannot imagine travelling with a tunnel tent because I sleep on many surfaces which will not allow pegging – such as a concrete pier or basketball court. Heavy objects can be laid out to hold up a tunnel tent, but I prefer to pop up my freestanding tent anywhere without hassle.

Weight

Tents suitable for bike touring can be as lights as 800g or as heavy as 4000g. When comparing similarly priced products, the weight of a tent is often a good indicator as to how durable it will be.

Heavier 4-season tents employ more poles (that are reinforced) and thicker materials for the fly and inner. As a result, you will probably find a 4-season tent that lasts longer than an ultralight.

Size (1, 2 or 3-Person?)

What size tent is best for bicycle touring? It depends on how long you’re on the road.

On shorter tours (less than six weeks), you’ll be fine with a tent designed for the number of people you’re travelling with (eg. a solo traveller in a 1-person tent, or a couple in a 2-person tent).

On longer tours (more than six weeks) it’s worth getting a tent with a bit more space (eg. a couple in a 3-person tent). The space is nice; I can even fit all of my bags inside my 3-person tent inner with another person, giving me quick access to everything I carry.

Vestibules

The ‘GT’ tunnel tents by Hilleberg have very usable vestibules for cooking and entertaining in the rain.

Some manufacturers like MSR make a usable gear shed for their dome tents.

If you will be camping in adverse weather conditions, you may want to consider a tent with large, usable vestibules (or a gear shed). They are great for entertaining, cooking, cleaning or repairing your bike in the rain.

Most freestanding ‘dome’ tent vestibules are actually pretty useless when it comes to their space being usable – tunnel tents with a gear shed are much better. If all you need is to store your bags, dome tents will of course be fine.

Floors

I’ve found that floors are one of the most important features of a tent in wet weather conditions. This is because the pressure applied from your body weight and bags is enough to force groundwater through the floor of most tents with a 5000mm (or less) Waterhead rating.

This is a common problem when you camp on surfaces that don’t absorb water well (gravel, clay, rock, concrete), as the water tends to run under your tent floor and permeates inside.

Ventilation

My Mountain Hardwear Skyledge DP is mostly meshed and is utterly brilliant at ventilating – great in warmer climates.

In general, ultralight and backpacking tent inners have more mesh, and 4-season tent inners employ more nylon. As a result, lighter weight tents tend to be better in warmer climates.

Some 4-season tents have nylon panels that zip away to expose large areas of mesh, which increases their ventilation and makes them more versatile. If you’re planning to use your tent in various climates, look out for this feature.

Entrances

Depending on who you’re travelling with, the number of entrances in and out of your tent may be something to consider. It is no doubt less obstructive to have two side doors, where people can enter and exit the tent without climbing over or zipping near somebodies head.

If a tent with two entrances is important to you, you’ll find mostly freestanding tents with this feature.

Clips, Straps, Guy Ropes

The rule here is that simpler is better – complex clips and straps are just asking for trouble and are almost never field repairable.

Ideally guy ropes should attach at two locations on the tent poles, which dramatically increases the stabilisation of the tent in windy conditions. You’ll notice that all 4-season tents have this feature, and high end companies such as Hilleberg, have this feature on almost all of their tents.

Dry Pitch

Some tents are able to be pitched in the rain without getting the inner wet – such as my Mountain Hardwear Skyledge.

The way it works is that the groundsheet and fly can be pitched together, and the inner is brought in later and clipped to the poles. This has been handy for us from time to time but isn’t 100% necessary.

Colour

If you’re wild camping like me, you’ll find that light green or sandy coloured tents are great for a mixture of climates, from desert to forest. Darker green tents are great in thicker wooded areas.

Yellow and red tents do stand out, so only use them if you don’t need to be discreet.

Groundsheets

I love tent groundsheets. These thick material sheets keep my tent inner clean, protect the tent floor from sharp objects and are great to use as a picnic blanket at lunch time.

When I pitch my tent for days in a row, I also throw a groundsheet over the fly to protect it from the sun’s harmful UV rays. They are truly multipurpose.

Summary

Pick a bicycle touring tent which best suits your needs.

If you’re camping in warm climates, an ultralight or backpacking tent will be much more comfortable than a 4-season given the liberal use of mesh.

In adverse weather conditions or if you’re travelling for a long time, a 4-season bicycle touring tent with a gear shed may be beneficial.

Recommendations

For someone…

Who will spend 2-3 weeks touring per year in good weather conditions?
A sub-1500g ultralight freestanding tent designed for the number of people travelling together. Check out the Tarptent Double Rainbow.

Who is on a three month trip in good weather conditions?
A freestanding backpacking tent with space for one more person. Try the MSR Nook, Vaude Hogan, Mountain Hardwear Skyledge or Mont Moondance.

Who is on a three month trip in a cooler climate with a high chance of adverse weather conditions?
A 4-season freestanding or tunnel tent with a gear shed. Try the Hilleberg Nallo GT or Vaude Hogan XT.

Who is riding through lots of deserts?
A 4-season freestanding or 3-season tunnel tent for sure. Deserts are windy! Check out the Hilleberg Nallo or Allak.

Who is on a 12-month plus trip?
Either: Invest, invest, invest in a high-end 4-season tent. A Hilleberg Staika or Exped Venus freestanding tent will cost an arm and leg but you will almost definitely get 1000+ nights out of it.
Or: If your trip will take you through predominantly warmer climates, an ultralight or backpacking tent will be cooler, but less durable. You may have to replace it sometime on your journey. Check out the Mountain Hardwear Skyledge, Vaude Hogan or Mont Moondance.

Reputable Brands

Exped: High quality, high-end tents.
Hilleberg: This company is world-renowned for making some of the best, most durable tents. Don’t expect to end up with change after purchasing one.
Mont: Australian tents which have the magic combination of a 10,000mm floor and lots of inner mesh.
Mountain Hardwear: Although I broke poles and clips on my original Skyledge 3 tent, the replacement tent is very light, easy to pitch and super ventilated.
MSR: Highly popular for a reason – good range, decent quality and ok price.
REI: Great budget tents.
Tarptent: Ultralight tents at a decent price point.
Terra Nova: Super high quality, renowned for their waterproofness.
Vaude: A decent range, high quality and popular for many world tourers.

January 1, 2014
Initial Review: Mountain Hardwear Skyledge 3 DP Tent

Due to the failure of our outgoing Skyledge tent and the arrival of a warranty replacement; we are in the lucky position to do a side-by-side comparison and evaluate most recent changes to the Skyledge.

Unfortunately, it seems there's nothing revolutionarily different which will prevent the failures of the old design recurring, but, Mountain Hardwear have made pitching quicker and easier, shaved off some weight and focused the design around the ability to dry-pitch – nothing to shake a stick at.

We will be pushing this tent to its limit over the next year or two, and shall keep you up to date with how it's performing.

Introducing our new Mountain Hardwear Skyledge 3 DP tent!

Video showing how easy it is to pitch:

Video showing how to dry pitch in the rain:

What do we like?

– Its set up: it's super easy to erect a freestanding tent, even for one person (see video above).

– Its super light weight: even for a three person tent (1.9kg without groundsheet).

– So much mesh! It will be nice and cool in warmer climates and great for starry nights.

The mesh inner is amazing in picturesque environments like the Ala Archa National Park, Kyrgyzstan.

– Its ventilation. We have minimal condensation inside the tent, even on really cold nights. Never has the tent dripped on us like so many other tents.

– Its pole organiser / connector: which makes pitching easy and seems to stiffen the tent out.

– It comes with a groundsheet when you buy it, unlike almost every other tent!

– Its design: more specifically around being able to dry pitch in the rain, which really works (see dry pitch video above).

Cool features such as these clips on the fly allow for a simple dry pitch.

– The new colour Smokey Sage: which is quite good at blending in under all conditions, including desert, beach, field and forest. Inside the tent, the colour creates a nice ambience during the day.

Daytime ambience is light inside the Skyledge 3.
The sage colour works best in yellow and light green environments.

What don't we like?

– The top and bottom ends of the tent touch the fly in the regular pegged position, but only because my head/toes (I'm 2m) push the inner out a few centimetres (a problem on both the new/old tents). We've worked out we can peg the bottom out further with a shoe lace, but this also increases the fly height from the ground, letting some bouncing rain in. The fly seems to sit better (more taught) with the shoe string too!

Shoelace modifications stop my head and toes pushing the inner onto the fly.

– The floor of the tent has a seam down the middle (also the case with the old tent). I'm assuming that MH use the same floor on multiple tents to save costs, but a seam on the floor is subject to much more wear than anywhere else!

We wish there wasn't a seam on the floor.

– We think the tent could do with a floor with a higher waterhead rating. It is currently 3000mm PU, but 7000mm+ is ideally required. Even for slightly wet conditions, if a bit of water gets between the 100% waterproof groundsheet and tent, it will push through the floor overnight.

– It comes with only eight pegs when it needs 12 to guy it out. Why do tent manufacturers do this?!

Head to Head: Our Old (2011) and New Tent (2013)

The latest tent (right) has MUCH more mesh than the outgoing model, dropping some weight and keeping it cooler in warm weather. Perfect for starry nights, not so perfect for anything below zero.
The most recent design (green) allows for one person to easily set up the tent.
The latest ball design is easy to clip in, but we feel that it might be more susceptible to failure.
The clips on our new tent employ a hook design. The integration with the ground sheet is great, but we feel this design is also susceptible to failure.
A really big improvement is the change of guy rope clips. The old 'hook' pulled the fly off the poles and never sat well.
Another good improvement is the extra velcro in place over the zip flaps.
There are now windows on the top and tail of the tent. We love looking out of them to check what is happening outside, but have discovered that if there are lights outside, it can be harder to sleep.

Summary

Despite our old tent shrinking on us, we really like the Mountain Hardwear Skyledge 3. It is one of the best tents to set up in the rain, it is lightweight, roomy, ventilated and simple to setup alone.

The tent's flaws aren't the end of the world; a bit of water will get in the floor and the fly will get close to the inner at the ends if you don't extend it with a shoelace.

We think this tent is almost perfect for week/month long trips here and there, given its weight and versatility. But as we've discovered, multi-year trips are a bit too rough on ultralight tents like this. We recommend something with heavier materials and clips if you will be using this tent as regularly as us.

Price: $550 USD

August 19, 2013
Review: Salewa Sierra Leone II Tent (2013)

Our Mountain Hardwear Skyledge tent is almost dead in Kyrgyzstan. It is still waterproof, but the inner isn't clipping onto the poles and we don't seem to be getting anywhere with Mountain Hardwear's pathetic customer service… so we went shopping in Bishkek!

We found out that Italian outdoor brand Salewa was available, and after checking out the tent specs we decided to set one up at Sport Expert Outdoor Store. The three possible tent options were all in stock, however we found the Micra II too small and the Denali II had a few dumb design features. The Salewa tents all seem about 0.5kg heavier than they could be, but hey, we're in Bishkek and can't afford to be picky!

We ended up purchasing the Sierra Leone, a 3-4 season, 2-3 person tent.

Salewa Sierra Leone II Tent

Weight: 3300g (inner, fly, poles, pegs)

Price: $300-$600 depending on where it's purchased

Things we like:

– 10000mm PU laminated floor and 5000mm rain fly. The materials used in the Salewa tent seem to be top notch and are the main reason this tent is so much heavier than our lightweight Mountain Hardwear.

– Inner entrances. Really big doors with convertible mesh windows that can be closed to keep warmth in on cold nights.

– Outer entrances. The double zip design and small porch makes the vestibule space quite useful and really easy to get in and out. We look forward to cooking in the side of our tent!

– Number of clips. The number of clips from the inner to the poles is four more than our old tent, spreading the load over more clips. The clips also connect loosely on the poles meaning they can slide up and down, adjusting themselves when need be.

– Ventilation holes. Two ventilation holes on either side of the tent allow better ventilation and will hopefully reduce condensation on cold nights.

– Length and Size. Being two metres tall, the length is always important for me. The Salewa tent comes at a rather lengthy 235cm. This two person tent is really roomy inside too; we can fit all of our gear in with us, handy when we setup without the fly.

– Guy ropes. The guys connect at two locations which grab the tent poles quite well to secure the tent in strong winds.

– Roof storage and deep pockets. There is heaps of internal pockets for us to hide our small bits and pieces.

– Pole length. These poles are 40cm long, as opposed to the ~50cm poles on the Mountain Hardwear tent. Although not a big difference, it will be easier to get the poles in and out of our bag!

Things we are dubious about:

– The pole hole tabs on the fly. On the first night of using the tent, we've already broken a tab off our fly! ~~We're hoping that this is a one off… but we can't be sure. We will be contacting Salewa about this matter and may do some additional stitching on our current fly just to be sure.~~

Update: We have just broken another one and are tossing up whether we need a different tent now. 🙁

– The fly resting on the inner. This is our biggest concern as we feel that water or condensation could possibly find itself inside our tent. Time and testing will tell, but we plan to add an additional guy point if this is a problem.

– The weight. Although not particularly heavy, we have added over 1300g to our tent weight! Given the heavier materials and the additional pole, the weight does makes sense. However, for comparison sake, the most comparable tent in our mind is the Mont Fire Fly which shares similar dimensions (albeit one less pole) and is about 600g lighter.

– The colour. We would prefer either a dark green or a sandy colour tent over the yellow green of the Salewa!

Summary:

Unfortunately we've returned the Salewa Sierra Leone tent. With the above design fault found on two flys (in one day!), we can't take another with the faith it won't happen again.

Once Salewa has fixed these tabs (we'll try and get an explanation) and made the fly lift off the inner, the Sierra Leone will be a fantastic tent for the budget minded adventurer.

July 29, 2013
Review: Mountain Hardwear Skyledge 3 Tent (2011)

We chose the Mountain Hardwear Skyledge 3 tent based on Alex’s previous success and veritable love affair with the Skyledge 2 tent, and also on its colour. Green is simply advantageous when stealth camping in the wilderness, as it’s much easier to camouflage and pretend that one is a part of the shrubbery when one is not such an unnatural colour as bright orange, red or blue.

It weighs less than 2.5kg including the groundsheet, accessories and compression sack, which is fantastic considering its large size. It is simple to set up very quickly, using three poles, clips or “buckles” and teamwork. It’s watertight and surprisingly roomy. If it is packed using a Sea To Summit eVENT compression dry sack it squashes into a veritably negligible size for ease of storage, meaning it won’t take up too much precious storage space and won’t weigh our panniers down.

Update August 2013: After a year of heavy use, the Skyledge 3 tent has not made the distance. We still really like the Skyledge tent, however recommend it only for multi-week or multi-month trips. We’ve found the lightweight construction of materials and poles simply not sturdy enough for extended travel.

– You can read how our 2011 MH Skyledge 3 died HERE

– You can see our preliminary review of the latest 2013 model Skyledge 3 tent HERE

Price: $500 US

Weight: Poles/Pegs/Ropes (712g) + Fly (591g), Inner (785g), Groundsheet (270g), Compression sack (116g) = 2474g

Compression Bag Packaged Size: L 23cm x W 23cm x H 21cm

Pole Length: 48cm

Pros:

– Lightweight

– Freestanding

– Well-ventilated

– Green

– Ability to ‘internal pitch’

– Lots of vestibule space

Cons:

– Tent floor ‘waterhead’ rating is relatively low

– One of the clips that holds the inner onto a pole has already broken (not sure if it was our error or not)

Alleykat’s criteria for tent selection:

1. Lightweight

2. Well ventilated

3. Solid setup for inclement weather (guy ropes, stiff structure)

4. Two vestibules for storage of all of our gear
(4a. Merely the fact that tents have parts of them called vestibules, a little childish sniggering can go a long way when battling with the trials and tribulations of tent erecting in difficult conditions. Oh good, there’s another one. You work it out!)

5. Able to be set up practically anywhere (so long as there’s a little bit of ground to spare)

6. Being able to pitch the tent internally in the rain, starting with the fly (internal pitch)

7. Colour that will be best for camouflaging – green most chameleon-like.

8. Free standing tent. No reliance on guy ropes to maintain the tents structure – using pegs is optional.

9. Lots of space inside so that we aren’t feeling claustrophobic.

10. Groundsheet for protection.

11. Three season.

Three season, freestanding tent for world travel

We chose a three season tent for our world trip because it was lighter weight and good for the fair weather we are hoping for in most of the places we plan to go! Although we might experience varied weather including snow, wind and storms, we are not expecting this often. We now know that sleeping inside the Skyledge 3 is perfectly comfortable in Melbourne’s version of inclement weather but on the road, this may be more extreme, however, due to our “chasing summer” navigation plan, we are expecting warm nights relatively often.

Freestanding tents are great to use as they can be setup anywhere, without pegs if need be. Instances will undoubtedly arise where pitching our tent in the ‘perfect conditions’ is not possible and here lies a serious advantage in having a freestanding tent. Free standing or ‘geodesic’ tents, unlike tunnel tents, can be set up on virtually any ground the world throws at them. Examples of such ground when bike touring/camping are reputed to include rocky or extremely hard terrain, sand, concrete or even the floor inside a building. Also, given that freestanding tents hold their form, don’t have to be rooted to the ground and are incredibly light – cleaning is easy; all one must do is pick it up, tip it upside down and shake it out!

Waterproofness of the Skyledge

The materials tents are made out of these days are a far cry from the heavy and absorbent canvas tents of my childhood, and have certainly evolved since the use of wooden lattices and felt in the construction of gers. But, as with most technology, these materials have been improved around a theme. Material for tents needs to be weatherproof, light, strong, and importantly, water resistant.

The materials used in the Skyledge include polyurethane coated nylon taffeta and nylon ripstop material of various deniers (denier being a measurement of the number of yarns used to weave the fabric and thus its mass). All these technical terms mean that the tent will be strong but elastic (and therefore less prone to tearing) and extremely lightweight – the lower the denier, the lighter the mass of the material.

Importantly, the floor of the tent is 3000mm water head and the fly is 1500mm water head, meaning that respectively, these different parts of the tent can cope with 3000mm and 1500mm of water pooling on them before they allow water through.

These waterhead measurements are relatively low when compared with some other tents, however we highly value the lightweight properties of the Skyledge 3 and given the aforementioned hope we are holding for mostly fine weather, this will not affect us too much.

Skyledge 3 setup

Now that we have practised putting up the tent a few times, we’re getting to know the ins and outs of the process. Our mutual understanding of tents, tent-whispering if you will, mean that we knew some rules. Before even beginning to erect the tent, one needs to find a suitable area to fit the tent.

Once the best patch of earth has been settled upon, one must have all of the necessary parts. Inner: Check. Fly: Check. Pegs: Check. Poles: Check. Guy ropes: Check. What is missing? Why, the groundsheet of course!

Using a Groundsheet

Alex bought me a ‘footprint’ for Christmas (that, my fellow human beings, is where romance lies, in the surprises). The groundsheet aka ‘footprint’ is an integral but surprisingly lightweight addition to our tent. It protects the bottom of the tent from sharp objects and dirty surfaces.

There is a noticeable difference when sleeping with the footprint, including comfort and peace of mind because one is not preoccupied with the thought of great big holes being ripped in the bottom of the tent due to poor tent placement. Even if we had the sturdiest floor, I think we would still want a footprint!

Pitching the Skyledge 3 in the rain

Another advantage of using a groundsheet with the Skyledge 3 is the fact that it can be “internally pitched” during inclement weather, meaning we can be inside and dry(ish) much quicker.

We tested this method (albeit when it wasn’t raining) – it involves the same first few steps as any tent pitch: first (always) lay the footprint, peg down securely, lock together the main two tent poles and insert their ends into the footprint’s holds. This is where things go a little differently. Instead of unfolding the inner and clipping it to the poles, place the fly directly ontop of the poles, making sure the tent’s position is still correct – vestibules facing out from the long sides of the tent.

Once the ‘pitchlight’ setup of groundsheet, poles and fly only is complete, the inner can be setup in the dry. This all may sound a little complicated but it really is mostly intuitive.

Conclusion

The Skyledge 3 has satisfied Alleykat’s criteria: it’s green; it is sufficiently lightweight for packing into a pannier and lugging across the world every day; it is a three season freestanding tent that can be pitched almost anywhere, is strong and decently weatherproof; it is roomy inside so we can exist comfortably and easily caters for luggage storage with lots of space and suitable vestibules.

People world-wide continue to use and enjoy tents and it is clear there are many good reasons behind joining this camp-happy group. The occasional bed-sleep won’t go astray (I’m sure there’ll be space in the budget) but Alleykat is thoroughly delighted and excited to call the Mountain Hardwear Skyledge 3 our home for two years (or so)!

May 13, 2012