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Testing Location Overview:
The hiking environment of the south-west of Western Australia
allows for hiking and backpacking from coastal plains to forest.
Elevation ranges from 0 to 585 metres (0 to 1,920 feet). Within this
region, I hike in varying
conditions from forestry roads, to sandy tracks to single-purpose
walking
trails, to rock hopping, to beach walking to completely off-track
walking
through open and dense country.
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Weather Conditions:
During the summer period, daytime
temperatures average 30 C (86 F), whereas from March through to
December the daytime average temperatures range from 15 C to 26 C
(59 F to 79 F). During the
autumn, winter, and spring periods the normal weather pattern is fairly
wet with frequent heavy rainstorms evident. It does not normally snow
in
Western Australia.
According to The Times Atlas of the World
(Concise Edition - Revised 1997)
our weather is described as being "Mediterranean - rainy climates with
mild
winters, coolest month above 0 C (32 F), but below 18 C (64 F);
warmest
month above 10 C (50 F)." The atlas depicts the coastal area north of
Los Angeles as having the same climate.
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Field experience:
Over the past two months I have spent some four nights
over three backpacking trips in the MSR Missing Link. Not as much time as
I would have liked, but life has conspired against me. That said I have
used the tent in varying conditions with varying results. Rain has however
eluded me. For the record I pitched the tent at Monadnocks campsite
in March on a fine and warm night with little wind. The second backpack
was again in March to Crystal Springs and Long Point campsites where the
ground is quite sandy. Again mild fine nights, no rain and little wind.
The third backpack was in May to Chadoora and Swamp Oak campsites.
Due to a late arrival at Chadoora (11:30 PM) I decided to sleep in the
shelter so the Missing Link was only pitched on the second night at Swamp
Oak. This was a dry but cold night exposing the tent to potential
condensation conditions. There was little wind.
My comments on the Missing Link, based on the above camping
experiences, follow. As is my approach, my comments are framed against the
manufacturer's claims with additional comments wrapping up. MSR's
claims in respect of
the Missing Link are:
Claim 1: Plenty of interior space, including
great headroom for two plus gear. I
have to date only used the Missing Link as a solo tent due to my
partner experiencing an injury which is excluding her from backpacking. While it ain't as nice to walk "alone", I
do get the
tent to myself! Thus from my perspective as a big bloke, this tent is
heaven, space wise. I can spread out, bring all my gear inside, sit
up, stretch out, you name it, there is room to do it ... well maybe not
swinging the cat. Bottom line is, that in this configuration it is roomy indeed. I
am quite happy with its weight to space ratio, even when used as a solo tent.  Whoops,
one qualification. I have found that space utilisation is restricted if
the rear of the tent is not guyed out at the centre. What I mean is that
the slope of the rear wall tends to "intrude" into one's space
thus limiting sitting up room and general movement, particularly if sleeping
against the rear wall. That said, I have found that guying out the
centre of the rear wall makes a quite surprising improvement to interior
space and its utilisation. I now, even when using the tent solo, guy
out the centre of the rear wall to get that extra bit of interior space
utilisation and hence comfort.
Claim
2: Awning provides 180° views and a
covered food prep/boot storage area. I
suspect that the real effectiveness or otherwise of the awning will not
come to the fore until the Missing Link is used in wet weather. Unfortunately
Hughie has conspired against me to date in this regard. That said, my
experience does indicate that I can easily crouch under the awning to gain
easy access to the tent and that it is likely the awning will provide
reasonable rain protection (based on some sprinkler experimenting in the
backyard). That said, actual field experience in the rain is required to
form a firm view on this aspect. Related
to this, but not really an awning feature so much as a door feature, I have
found the combo of the large entrance and the awning does make transferring
of my gear from my pack to the interior and vice
versa quite easy. This same combination
provides good access to the interior. Views,
vistas and experiencing the great outdoors from your portable home. The
combination of the large doorway and awning provides excellent external
viewing from within the tent. Great to lay in, nice and warm and cosy in
my sleeping bag while watching the sun come up.
Claim 3: Easy to pitch. One person can set it up
in less than three minutes using trekking poles or guy cords tied off
to an overhead object.
MSR claims that one person can set up the
Missing Link in less than three minutes. I have only timed
myself early on in my use. My timings indicate it was taking me around
four to five minutes to pitch. I suspect that I am a bit quicker now.
Either way, based on my experience it is quick to pitch. I have found
pitching the tent is quite simple and very easy to do on my own, even in
the dark! I did, however, have a problem getting it pitched tight
when pitching in the dark, but I don't think this was a problem of the
tent, more my poor eyesight in the dark.  Whilst
my preference is to pitch using two trekking poles, I have experimented
with the use of guy cords instead of poles. You can see the outcome
of my experiment in the photo on the right. Not a good look! It
became pretty clear that a vertical or near vertical tying off of the guy
cords is required to get a proper pitch. Something I was not able to do at
this campsite. Seems this need to tie off near
vertically is in contradiction
with MSR's warning about not pitching under trees! I have, since
this experiment stuck to using trekking poles.
Using
trekking poles, has raised one issue for me, knocking the poles
down. Maybe it is me, just a bit clumsily or something but I find it
easy to knock the poles down and/or apply pressure resulting in a peg or
two pulling out of the ground. This was a particular problem when
camping at Long Point, a very sandy area. I suspect bigger and longer pegs
would improve things in these conditions. Related
to the topic of pitching, is the subject of guying out the Missing
Link. While I have yet to experience using the tent in windy
conditions which would warrant guying it out, I am disappointed that MSR
only supplies one guy rope (not attached), which is only 196 cm (77")
in length. Only one short guy rope, when the tent comes with three guy out
points - both rear corners and centre! One
final comment related to pitching. This tent does have a big footprint,
something that didn't register with me until Long Point campsite, where
the tent spaces are fairly small. This is something I will have to take
into consideration in the future. Claim
4: Well ventilated. High and low vents
provide constant airflow to reduce condensation. According
to the MSR Fast & Light Owner's Manual, "condensation is the
buildup of moisture inside your shelter due to differences between the
inside and outside temperatures." MSR suggest three common
sources: weather conditions - high humidity, low temperatures and rainy
conditions; people; and wet environment. On
the first two bushwalks with the Missing Link I didn't experience
significant differences between inside and outside temperatures or rain
and therefore no condensation problems. However, on my last backpack,
which was a cold night and thus warmer inside the tent, condensation was
evident, particularly on the rear interior wall and externally under the
awning. It was relatively bad under the awning, where getting in and out
of the tent resulted in a noticeable transfer of moisture. The
internal condensation was not too bad, that is my sleeping bag was not
getting wet and I had to run my hand over the wall to get a feel for the
degree of condensation. Initial experience suggests a reasonable degree of
ventilation, even with the door fully closed. Other
comments: While I had
concerns about the colour of the tent, and while I have found the tent to
be bright inside in the afternoon sun, I have found the colour and the way
it tones the light inside to be quite restful and not intrusive. I made a
comment in my notes after my first night out in the tent; "very airy
and light feeling in the tent." I feel that this sums up my Missing
Link living colour experience.
Nice colour but how does it pack back into
its stuff sack? I do find, if I am not thoughtful about my approach, I can
easily get air bubbles in the tent making it difficult to get it all into
the stuff sack. Says something about the breathability or should that be
lack of breathability of the silicone coated nylon! That said, I do
love the nice touch of a handle or strap on the outside of the sack, which
makes it easy to hold whilst pulling out the tent. A nice simple feature.
One thing I do miss in this tent is the
lack of interior pockets and a laundry rope. The Missing Link has a high ceiling
which in my view lends itself to the functionality of a laundry rope.
Somewhere to hang the wet jocks and socks, the candle lantern and so on.
To me, little things such as interior pockets and a laundry rope would
make this tent so much more usable.
From ceiling to floor. I continue to
have my doubts about the thinness of the floor. Nothing specific and
nothing experienced to suggest problems, just niggles in the back of my
mind. Further use will hopefully provide a better understanding of the
durability of the floor. Related to this is the fact that the floor is not
a tub floor. While I try to avoid pitching in a water run off or flood
area, Australian and New Zealand tents tend to come with tub floors to
provide some protection against flash run offs/poor location. The Missing Link
does not have a tub floor. Again I have yet to use this tent in torrential
rain, so my niggles may be unfounded. I hope to report on this further in
my Long-term Report.
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Concluding comments:
Things I like about the MSR Missing Link:
Things I dislike about the MSR Missing Link:
-
Tying off using guy cords instead of trekking
poles requires, in my experience, near vertical tie offs. Something
which in my view limits this option significantly;
-
Provision of only one short guy rope, even though the
tent has three guy out points;
-
No interior storage pockets or laundry rope.
My long-term testing will continue to test the various
claims made my MSR in addition to exploring further use of the tent in
adverse weather conditions and the durability/functionality of the
floor.
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