Reviewer Information:

Name:	Mark Roberts
Age:	34
Gender:	Male
Height:	6’1” (185 cm)
Weight:	180 lb (82 kg)
Email address:	mroberts AT biol.sc DOT edu
City, State, Country:	Columbia, SC, USA
Date:	12/07/2004

 
Backpacking Background:
I have been backpacking since I was about 15 years old.  A lot of early outdoor experiences, however, involved canoe camping.  Because of that, I rarely took the weight of my camping equipment into consideration.  I have been trying to break that habit since I was about 25 and am finally starting to get better at it.  I am not an ultralight, and probably not even a light, backpacker but I do try to buy the lightest equipment that I can find.  Since I have really only had a decent income for the last few years I am slowly replacing my old, cheap, heavy gear with bright, shiny, fancy, light new gear.  My typical excursions are long weekends (3-4 days) but they sometimes go longer.  My wife and I hike together a lot with our two dogs and are hoping to build up to much longer hikes sometime soon since our first child was just born in May 2004.  Most of our nearby hikes are either in the Congaree National Swamp or the on the Foothills Trails of the Appalachian Mountains, so our hiking conditions can vary considerably.

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Product Information:

Manufacturer:	GoLite
Year of Manufacture:	2004
URL:	http://www.golite.com
Listed weight of tent and stuff sack:	2 lbs 15 oz (1332 g)
Listed weight of stakes and stuff sack:	6 oz (170 g)
MSRP:	$199 (US)
Weight of tent and stuff sack as delivered:	3 lbs  6 oz (1542 g)
Weight of stakes and stuff sack as delivered:	6 oz (170 g)

Please also see my Initial Report and my Field Report of this product for further pictures and information.

Field and Test Information:

My Trig 2 was used for 5 trips during the four months since my Field Report (FR).  These trips have included a four day trip to a relatively rocky area in the NW portion of South Carolina, a three day trip in a boggy swamp, and 3 weekend trips to longleaf pine forests.  The temperature has varied considerably as the cooler months approach:  the nighttime lows while using the tent have been about 55 - 75 F (13 - 24 C) while the daytime highs have been around 70 - 93 F (21 - 34 C).  The tent has been in the field in some light rain since the FR and one pretty good wind storm.  In addition, I have continued to leave the tent pitched in the woods behind my house as often as possible to test its long term durability. 

Performance:

As I mentioned in my FR, I wasn't completely happy with my ability to pitch this tent.  So, I searched the GoLite website and, after finding no helpful information, contacted their Customer Service via email.  At the time of the FR, they had not returned my email.  Unfortunately, they still have not.  So, I decided to call them.  I tried their 1-888-5-GOLITE number first.  Surprisingly, I got a fax tone instead of a friendly Customer Service rep.  I then tried to call their toll number:  1-303-546-6000.  The first time I called I got an automated response system that said "Hi, thanks for calling GoLite.  If you know your party's extension, you can dial it at any time."   It then proceeded to hang up on me.  I called back again and got no response.  Perhaps I caught GoLite on a bad day but I will have to say that I have been disappointed by the fact that I cannot contact anyone in their Customer Service office. 

Having said that, I have grown to like my Trig 2.  I have used free-standing dome tents almost exclusively so this is quite a different concept altogether and really took some getting used to.  I have found that the keys to properly pitching the Trig 2, apart from picking a proper site, are good stake technique and setting the trekking pole at the correct height to serve as the front support.  Once I started tinkering around with these two items things have been much more taut - and a taut tent is a dry/secure tent.  Since then, I have really become accustomed to setting up the tent in very little time and have been quite happy with the pitch.  Even so, I would have liked to talk to someone at GoLite or perhaps at least have a little more detailed instructions.  Regardless, I now consider this my 'go to' tent when I am going solo.  I would consider it a spacious one person tent or a very cozy two person tent. 



For this picture, I placed a Cascade Designs full length Z-Rest sleeping pad on the right side of the tent and a Cascade Designs Therm-a-Rest 3/4 length pad on the left to illustrate the room two sleeping campers would take up.  Two campers can easily sleep in this tent but there isn't much room for moving around and don't even think about bringing gear in.  Additionally, because the mesh door (not visible in the photo) zips to one side, and the support pole interferes with exiting, getting up in the middle of the night cannot be done surreptitiously.  If the person on the red Therm-a-Rest in this picture had to get up in the middle of the night, they would have no choice but to crawl all over their tent mate to get out, especially if the left half of the vestibule had been used to store gear.  Two campers can sit upright in this tent but it's still a tad cramped.  It's not bad but I wouldn't want to be stuck in a bad storm for a couple of days in it with another camper.  If two people sit facing each other near the front of the tent, they will most likely be touching the side of the tent with either their heads or backs.  If one camper sits up front looking towards the narrow rear and the other sits closer to the rear while facing the front, there is a tad more room and it's a tad less claustrophobia inducing.  Of course, none of this really matters if one is going solo.  As a one person tent this thing is palatial especially considering the weight.  I can cram it in my pack easily and then be up and running at any campsite in under ten minutes.  I can easily store gear in it and cuddle up next to my rather large dog without feeling like a sardine.  The vestibule is not terribly big, it will just fit a pack and a few things piled on top of it and still leave a little room for getting into and out of the tent.  However, during rainstorms it does function quite nicely as a cooking area.  Again, with two people, things are a tad bit cramped here but it is quite nice for a single person.

One other thing to notice in the picture is the 'feature' that I have been wondering about since I got the tent.  The bathtub floor is at least 5 in (12.7 cm) deep at the front of the tent yet it tapers away to almost nothing at the rear of the tent.  This led to the rear getting soaked during a bad rain storm when water came over the side of the bathtub floor.  However, I think that my improved pitching techniques will probably eliminate or minimize this in future storms, yet I am always still a little concerned when it starts to rain.  I am concerned enough that I usually pitch the tent on a slight hill, if I can find one, such that my feet (and the shallow bathtub wall) are pointing downhill.  This way, if there is a deluge, it will be hitting the high part of the bathtub floor, leaving me high and dry.  Despite initial misgivings, I have complete confidence in the ability of this tent to stand up to pretty strong winds.  It has withstood some severe weather with only minimal effects.  One of the things that I have gotten better at is properly staking the tent out and as I have gotten better at it, the tent seems to stand up to wind better.  Initially, it seemed that I was always having to tighten up the stake-outs in order to keep the tent taut but as I have gotten better at pitching it I hardly notice any slack brought on by wind. 

The biggest concerns for me when I started this test were how it compared to a more traditional double-wall dome tent.  So, from what I have been able to gather this is how the two compare on a few major points:

Feature	Trig 2	Traditional double-wall, free-standing, dome tent
weight	Very light	Usually quite a bit heavier although there are now some very light versions.
packability	Since it has no hard parts it can be crammed into very small spots and I often wind up putting it in my pack.  Cool.	Poles and the addition of a fly make them more difficult to pack and bulkier.
ventilation	This tent, with its mesh door and mesh panels all around, is very well ventilated when the 'awning' flaps are rolled up and out of the way.   During inclement weather the flaps are unrolled and make the tent much less well ventilated.  However, the ventilation is still decent.	Lots of mesh under the fly often allow for these tents to be well ventilated as a general rule.
condensation	The combination of a mesh door and the mesh sections all around the bottom of the tent make for almost no condensation when the weather is fair.  If it is raining or colder out and the flaps need to be unrolled this tent is probably just a little more likely than most double-wall tents that I have used to collect condensation.  The big drawback is that there isn't an inner wall separating the camper from the condensation - it is right there.	Seems to collect condensation at about the same rate - maybe slightly less - but the camper is not right up against it.
storm survival	The Trig 2 stands up very well to high wind and heavy rain.  It may be prone to allowing water to run over the shallow lip in the rear in very heavy rain.	Varies considerably but some are nearly 'bomb-proof'.
comfort	Either because of the amount of ventilation or because of the nature of single wall tents, the internal temperature of the Trig 2 is only slightly warmer than the external temperature on cool nights.	Double-wall tents are said to offer a layer of air insulation that allows them to stay slightly warmer in cooler weather.  My experience with double-wall tents suggests that, while the Trig 2 is warmer than the ambient temperature, double-wall tents are even more so.

The other major consideration for me was durability.  I must say that I have been impressed with the durability of this tent.  I have purposely abused it and it still looks very good.  I don't take good care of it, have put it away wet, and left it set up in the woods behind my house off and on for probably 3.5 months of the 6 months that I have had it.  The beefy zippers all still work well, the lashing loops are still in good shape, the floor has no damage and the color hasn't faded.  I can find no fault with the durability of the tent.

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Overall, I like this tent.  It's a fun tent and more than large enough for one person.  The light weight and packability make it easy to bring along and the vestibule is just right for one.  It's quite airy during fair weather and probably one of the most comfortable tents I have used in fair weather during the summer.  However, if I will be having a tentmate or it will be cold at night I will likely take my other, double-wall, tent since it is roomier, warmer in the winter, and accumulates less condensation than the Trig 2 with the hatches battened down.

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Likes:

1.  Light as heck.
2.  Very packable.
3.  Lots of room for one.
4.  Very airy with the flaps rolled up.
5.  Durable
6.  Stands up to heavy wind and rain admirably.
7.  Easy to set up/break down (but see #1 below)

Dislikes:

1.  Steep learning curve in properly setting it up.
2.  Inability to contact Customer Service.
3.  Condensation when flaps are rolled down.
4.  Almost non-existent bathtub floor lip at the rear of the tent.
5.  Cramped for two people.
6.  Lack of a stake-out point for the middle of the front floor.
7.  Can't put much in the storage sacks without sagging the tent wall.
8.  Lack of a loop near the front apex to hang things like a light.
9.  If flaps are rolled up and it rains, the tent will get wet. 


Many thanks to BackpackGearTest.org and GoLite for this testing opportunity.