Reviewer
Stuart Bilby, male, stu@bwpl.co.nz Age 38, 176 cm (5'9"), 81 kg (179 lb)

Website
www.gossamergear.com
The Spinnshelter is what I expected from the website. I requested the optional aluminium poles because I usually do not carry trekking poles.

MSRP
US$174.95 + $19.95 for poles + $16.95 for eight titanium skewer pegs.

Measured Weight

main shelter     8.9 oz (251 g)
foot pole        1.1 oz  (32 g)
head pole        1.8 oz  (52 g)
bag              0.5 oz  (14 g)
spectra guylines
and hooks        0.4 oz  (13 g)
___________________________________________
total           12.8 oz (362 g)

These weights exclude stakes. Gossamer gear supply as an option, eight 6-inch (15 cm) thin titanium stakes for an additional 1.6 oz (45 g) and US$16.95. Most users will also require a groundsheet and there is an optional 3 oz (85 g) bug canopy. The Spinnshelter requires a minimum of eight stakes. But to fully stake out all the tie-down points plus two guylines, takes 14 stakes so getting the optional lightweight titanium pegs can save significant weight.

The Spinnshelter is aimed at the ultralight backpacker for whom weight is the overriding criterion. It is the state-of-the-art lightest one-person shelter around.

Material
The Spinnshelter gets its name from the very light Spinnaker fabric. The manufacturer says that it is completely waterproof, weighs only 0.9 oz/yd² (31 g/m²) and is the fabric used on Americas Cup yacht spinnakers. This makes it probably the lightest fabric in use for tents. It is about 30% lighter than the 1.3 oz/yd² (44 g/m²) silnylon fabric used on most ultralight shelters.

The fabric has a 0.39 inch (10 mm) ripstop grid and comes in natural white only. The fabric is a little bit stiff and crinkly. I will be interested to see whether it is noisy in high winds and whether it softens with time.

Poles
The poles are 0.344 inch (8.74 mm) outside diameter with 0.019 inch (0.48 mm) wall thickness 7075-T9 Easton aluminium. They fold to 16 inches (408 mm), which is nice and short for packing.

Size
The website states that in its smallest tied down storm mode the Spinnshelter has a floor area of 38.3 square feet (3.6 m²) and a normal peak roof height of 40 inches (102 cm). The roof height tapers down from this and there is barely room for sitting up. This is a minimalist shelter with only the essential features. It can however easily be pitched higher with one side (or more) off the ground to improve ventilation, headroom and visibility.

It is fairly long and there is enough room for a tall person to stretch out.

Documentation
The Spinnshelter comes with a three black and white pages of instructions that describe set up. The purchaser is required to cut the guylines to the correct lengths and tie knots in them. The instructions are fairly intricate and require some concentration to follow. I found myself wishing for some diagrams.

Pitching
One of the features of the Spinnshelter is that it can be pitched in a wide range of configurations from tied down storm mode to airy sun-shelter mode. The website has helpful photos of a range of configurations.

Pitching the Spinnshelter takes at least eight stakes, two guylines and a bit of playing around. The first time despite following the instructions carefully, I found it pitched too flat and low. I ended up going round and round moving the stakes to get a satisfactory pitch. The instructions say to set up the poles away from the peak of the tent and tie to them with clove hitches going down to the high points of the tent. This was awkward, the clove hitches tended to slide down the poles at times. On my second attempt I just hooked the poles into the obvious grommets at the high points and this seemed much smarter. The poles pass through the doors at gaps in the Velcro. The third attempt I put the poles in the grommets, pegged out the corners and doors, and left the guylines until last. This achieved a taut pitch within a few minutes. There appear to be a multitude of ways that the Spinnshelter can be pitched and I hope to be able to comment more fully in my field report. I am glad I practiced pitching it in my back yard, because I think I would have struggled if the first pitch was in a storm.

Testing Plan
I plan to take the Spinnshelter on a number of summer trips into the ranges of the central North Island. I am interested to see its weatherproofness, how often condensation is a problem in New Zealand's wet conditions and to see how it stands up to the rigours of regular use.

Summary
The Spinnshelter is remarkably light. It takes a bit of work to set up well and requires plenty of stakes. I appreciate the way it can be pitched with one side wide open in moderate weather.

Backpacking Background
I live in Auckland, New Zealand and have been heading into the mountains for 18 years. I am an experienced backpacker, tramper and climber and most of my trips are multi-day off-trail trips. I love long trips up the remote gorges, forests and glaciers of the South Island's west coast. Over the last three years I have converted to a lightweight style.

15 November 2004