I am somewhat of a backpacking fanatic. I completed a southbound thru-hike of the AT in 2002. I try to do one middle-distance trip a year (50-100 mi or 80-160 km) and usually hike in the summer. I was most recently in Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina for a 85 mi (135 km) solo trip. I am a lightweight backpacker. My pack weight ranges 15-25 lb (7-12 kg). A seven-day summer trip I took recently had me at a 30 lb (14 kg) pack weight with food and water.

Product Specs:
Manufacturer: Black Diamond
Year of Purchase: 2003
Warranty: 1 year limited
Manufacturer URL: http://www.bdel.com
Listed weight, with poles: 22 oz (620 g)
Listed Dimensions: 89 x 33 x 25 in (226 x 84 x 64 cm)
Weight and Dimensions as delivered: same
Sleeps: 1
Poles: 2 DAC Featherlite
Body Material: EPIC and SilNylon
Factory Sealed? No
MSRP: $185 US

TESTING CONDITIONS
I have used the Lightsabre during the summer and early fall in the eastern United States. I've taken it to the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire, Caribou-Speckled Mountain Wilderness in Maine, the Mahoosuc range/AT in Maine, Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina, and Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Temperatures ranged from 50-70 F (10-20 C) at night with exposure to moderate rain and clear nights. Moderate rain defined here is starting and stopping steady rain for the duration of the evening, sheltered by tree cover. Elevations ranged 2000-6000 ft (600-1830 m.) I slept one night under gusting winds just below the summit of Tennent Mountain in North Carolina. This was on a grassy/rocky ledge with exposure to the south and west. I have not used the bivy in snow or strong winds. I've camped mostly on surfaces that are mixes of dirt, low roots, pine needles, and pebbles. I've spent a few nights on grass and one on a tent platform. I have not slept on rock.

WHY THE LIGHTSABRE?
I began looking for a one-person shelter in preparation for a solo summer backpacking trip in western Maine in 2003. I had previously used a Sierra Designs Ultra Light Year tent, but was unhappy with the weight and felt I could go lighter and still be comfortable. When researching shelters, I was interested first and foremost in a shelter that was lightweight and durable, with price as a secondary consideration. I needed a shelter with a pole structure as I do not carry trekking poles and some places I plan to hike in the future do not have a lot of trees (so no hammock). The Lightsabre seemed a perfect fit and I made the purchase over the internet at the company's website.

DESIGN
The Lightsabre came with two poles, a stuff sack, SilNet seam sealer with application syringe, and a manual. There is an optional footprint that I chose to forgo due to the extra weight and pack space footprints typically take up. Without the poles installed, the shape of the Lightsabre is rectangular. The bivy tapers slightly at the foot and forms a triangle at the head. It is yellow with an olive green base. The Black Diamond name and logo are placed tastefully on either side of the head. Two zipper tracks, each with a double zipper, run in parallel across the head and course along the side, ending approximately two-thirds down the length of the bivy. One zipper track is for an inner bug net and the other opens a panel situated directly above the bug net in the main fabric of the tent and allows access to the outside. The double zipper design allows both panels to be opened and closed from a variety of locations. Two small loops are attached to the body of the tent, allowing the user to roll up the unzipped panels. There are two nylon loops attached at the head and foot of the bivy for staking. There are two additional loops on each side of the shoulder region. One holds a single and the other a double grommet for the poles. For best performance, Black Diamond recommends staking the bivy at the head and foot using four stakes.
The bivy requires two poles. The main pole is horseshoe shaped and runs across the width of the head. It attaches to metal grommets located on either side of the bivy. A second pole runs from a sturdy pocket inside the apex of the bivy's head up along the length of the bivy to a single grommet which intersects with the first pole at the bivy's midline. This is a little bit tricky to picture in 3D, so check out Black Diamond's website for a good picture: http://www.bdel.com. Both poles fold up to a very manageable size and I normally carry them inside my internal frame backpack (Granite Gear Vapor Trail). Pitched, the tent's head is raised 25 inches (64 cm) from the ground and the material at the head is held stiffly by the poles. A small awning extends forward over the zippered panel entrance to provide additional protection from the elements. The rest of the tent is loose and lays on top of my sleeping bag. The interior of the tent is nondescript. Black Diamond saves weight by eliminating needless pouches and pockets found on many tents.

MATERIALS
The bivy is constructed of silnylon and EPIC fabric. The 2 poles are DAC Featherlites. The following descriptions have been paraphrased from Black Diamond's website:
EPIC is constructed by encapsulating individual fibers with silicon. This type of design makes the material "extremely" lightweight, breathable, and resistant to washing. Black Diamond notes that "EPIC is excellent for use in tents when heavy condensation is an issue and during rain and snow showers."
Silnylon is a silicone-coated ripstop nylon that offers an excellent strength-to-weight ratio. It is waterproof, resilient in its durability and is very resistant to degradation over time.
DAC Featherlite tent poles also provide an excellent strength-to-weight ratio and are extremely durable because there are no glued inserts.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
My very first reactions to the bivy were excitement and wonder after feeling how light it was. EPIC fabric feels very thin. When I rubbed it between my fingers I could make out the contours of my fingers very well. Small, barely visible squares cross the fabric. The bivy can fold up as a comfy pillow if I want and doesn't have that characteristic cold crinkle sound that most tents have when compressed.

SET-UP
My initial elation quickly turned into frustration when I attempted to set up the tent for the first time. Possessing a Y chromosome, I first tried to set up the tent without reading the instructions. After a few failures, I consulted the manual. After several more failures, I STUDIED the manual and the rather vague pictures included. After six or seven tries, the bivy was up and I crawled in. (Now that I have used the bivy on several backpacking trips, it takes me just one or two minutes to set up.) Getting into the bivy is a bit of a trick. I have to unzip the double zippers (opening both the bug netting and the outer panel) and go in feet first, then hunker down a bit and recline into the bivy. I can't really provide a entry/exit comparison to other bivys here, but I'll say that this type of entry allows me to slide right into my sleeping bag, which I usually have set up prior to entry. Getting into this bivy feels more like getting into a tent than getting into a sleeping bag. Once inside, the Lightsabre is surprisingly spacious and doesn't feel restricting, something I feared when opting for a bivy. I toss and turn quite a bit at night and there's plenty of room in the Lightsabre to roll around without taking the bivy with me. While I can't sit fully upright with the bivy closed, I can come up on my elbows. With the bivy unzipped, I can sit up outside the bivy with my legs and feet still inside to eat or stargaze. There is enough space for a full-length ground pad (I normally use a three-quarters length Ridgerest), sleeping bag, pillow, and some small gear (camera, extra clothes, headlamp, etc). A pack will not fit inside. Being 5'11" (180 cm) I had plenty of extra legroom. I think anyone up to 6'4" (193 cm) or so would be comfortable stretched out.

SEAM SEALING
This proved to be a half-day affair. (The bivy does not come seam-sealed, which probably allows it to be priced lower.) Seam-sealing is the process of applying a waterproof coating to the seams of the tent. I had never seam-sealed a tent before. Being a member of the Nintendo generation, I'm accustomed to my shelters coming factory sealed. The sealing process was tedious and the bivy hung in my basement for a few days when finished, but I felt proud of my accomplishment and "authentic".

PERFORMANCE
True to Black Diamond's description, the bivy is water-resistant. The few rainy nights I spent in the bivy (see "testing conditions"), my body stayed warm and dry. Condensation, however, often formed on the EPIC fabric and I have woken up with the foot portion of my sleeping bag damp, even when I left the zippers slightly open, as Black Diamond recommends. I cannot say whether this was inside or outside condensation as EPIC is so thin, but the inside of the bivy felt wet to the touch. This was not very bothersome as I normally carry a North Face 35 degree synthetic fill mummy bag. The insulating quality of my bag was unaffected. I usually leave the zipper slightly open at the foot of the bivy, not at the head. Black Diamond does not say where the zipper should be open, just that it needs to be slightly open to prevent asphyxiation. I now carry a lightweight REI tarp to tie over the bivy at night for extra rain protection.
On dry nights there have been no problems with condensation. The tent is well-ventilated if the zipper is left slightly open as Black Diamond recommends. The one night I was under gusty winds on Tennent mountain I did not have the tent staked and could feel the head of the bivy lifting up a little. The wind did not penetrate the EPIC fabric and the bivy itself did not move.
The bivy does not feel stuffy. I think this is because the EPIC fabric is thin and breathable. I don't feel like I'm encased in a shower curtain and there's lots of space in the head area.
I have no complaints about the durability of the materials. I don't baby the bivy. After two summers of use I can see that my seam sealing job has come loose in spots. I'm planning on re-sealing those. The seams themselves and stitching have remained firm and intact. The portion of the tent that is under the most strain (the overhead/vestibule where the poles cross) has held up just fine. I do not use a footprint and the base of the tent is without rips. All zippers have performed well. There are no tears anywhere in the body of the tent. Even when I've caught the fabric of the tent in the zipper, no damage has resulted. I have not washed the Lightsabre and therefore cannot speak to what happens after it is washed. I take good care of the tent when it is not in use. I store the poles fully extended and hang the tent from a hanger.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, the Lightsabre is just what I was hoping it would be, an ultralight solo shelter at a reasonable price that is durable and reasonably water resistant. It has all of the benefits of a traditional bivy (see "pros"), but without the claustrophobia. It takes some time to get good at setting the bivy up and the self-seam sealing element is a little bit of a pain, but I believe Black Diamond has strove to make this tent as light as possible. For that, I don't mind the initial inconveniences. I'll continue to use this bivy on all my solo trips and may try it out this winter.

Pros:
Very lightweight
Durable
Attractively Priced

Cons:
Need to seam seal yourself
Not easy to set up at first

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