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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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Receipt of the MSR Missing Link tent
The MSR Missing Link tent was received in good condition.
I received the tent packed in its own stuff sack, a separate stuff sack
containing eight needle stakes, three guy ropes (two of which are attached
to the tent), a MSR Fast & Light Owner's Manual, purchase registration
card and an information hand tag. The tent does NOT come with poles.
The user has to either supply their own poles (137 cm - 54 in extension
length) or use two guy ropes tied off to overhead objects, e.g., trees.
The stuff sack and the tent have a warning label sewn on.
The label warns against having a flame near the tent; suggests that
adequate ventilation should be maintained at all times and that the tent
should be anchored properly at all times (but only provides one additional
guy rope to facilitate this!). Last but not least, it provides guidance
about campsite choice, such as "when choosing a campsite, carefully
consider the possibility of falling rocks or tree limbs, lightning
strikes, flash floods, avalanches, strong winds, and other objective
hazards to reduce the risk of loss or injury to the tent or
occupants." I'm pleased to see they are considering the tent.
It made me wonder if I should I ever venture out in to the bush again, but!
In addition the tent's stuff sack has an "assembly
instruction", i.e., how to pitch the tent, label sewn on.
I thought this was a good idea at first, but then once I knew what I was
doing, this label became rather superfluous very quickly. But then
if I pass it on, or lend the tent out, it would be handy to have it still
there.
 As indicated early on, one additional guy rope is
provided. The other two are attached to the tent. The tent actually has
three additional guy tie down points and given the warning label's
extortion to anchor the tent properly, I would like to have seen a full
set of guy ropes provided. The extra guy ropes would have been
useful also given the option to dispense with the trekking poles when
alternative anchor points are available.
One last point on the guy ropes, they have a reflective
thread running through them which makes them reflective when a light is
shined on them at night. Handy for finding one's tent after nature has
demanded a visit into the night.
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First Impressions
of the MSR Missing Link tent
It's orange! Well MSR describes the colour
as sunset orange or "cheery orange." I would be more inclined to
describe it as burnt orange, but the colour does change depending on the
ambient light. The tent conforms to my expectations given the
information on the website.
 Well being a good gear tester, as soon as I
got it and I had a chance, I had to get the tent pitched. The rest
of this report revolves around this experience and one night in the field
(I will expand on this field experience in the Field Report). Being
new to this tent design and style, I made a point of carefully following
the instructions to pitch the tent. I am pleased to report that the
instructions are clear and easy to follow and the tent is, as MSR claims,
easy to pitch using trekking poles. I have not yet tried the guy rope
approach.
The floor of the tent is laid out first and
then staked. The floor is red making it easier to identify amongst all the
material. The floor is also shaped with the back edge being longer than
the front edge (see measurements here). I like this
approach as it makes it easy to tension out the floor of the tent. From
here the approach is to then insert and (guy out) the two trekking
poles. The tent has two reinforced pole pockets where the handles of
the poles are "inserted" or placed. It is suggested that
the guy ropes are "angled out approx. seven feet out from
door." I haven't bothered to measure the distance but based on
three pitches to date, I find I am getting good at judging the tie out,
ensuring a good taut pitch of the tent. Finally, the rear vent cover
is staked out. In this configuration, seven stakes are used leaving
one spare.
 In the pitching instructions, an optional
staking out of the rear guy to increase interior shoulder room is
mentioned. If this option is taken the eighth stake and the third guy rope
would be required.
With the tent pitched, one can get a better
idea for the design. As can be seen from the photos, the tent's side
profile is half an A frame design. This design combined with the floor
plan does give the impression of a quite roomy tent. In addition the
awning appears like it will provide reasonable weather protection entering
and exiting the tent and a protected cooking area, should it be required
and care is taken. That said, my testing of the tent over the next
six months will confirm or otherwise these initial impressions.
Turning inside in the tent. Well to
get in and out the tent, the entry is half-moon shaped single entrance
point which MSR suggests allows for "side-by-side" access. Well
it certainly is a big entrance which I find easy to get in and out.
The door is zipped closed by two zips and they run from the floor of the
tent to the peak of the door. In addition the top half of the door is
mesh. The tenter has the option of either covering the mesh with
tent fabric and thus gaining privacy at the cost of reduced ventilation,
or the tenter can unzip the covering fabric exposing the mesh and
increasing ventilation.
Ventilation. To maximise ventilation the
tent has a low (floor level) vent running along the rear of the tent and a
high (roof level) vent running along the front of the tent. These vents
cannot be "shut off."
That pretty much sums up the inside of the
tent. There are no other additional features, e.g., laundry cord other
than two loops sewn in near the top left and right front corners.
Their usage is unclear.
My first impression of the tent is very
positive. It appears to be well constructed, no signs of bad sewing,
critical areas are double tacked, the floor space seems usable and the
tent is easy to pitch. Of course, only ongoing testing will ascertain its
functionality.
Before moving on I would like to close this
section with some comments on the owner's manual. The Owner's Manual has
also proved to be informative reading. It covers topics such as storing
the tent, cleaning, seam sealing, condensation, caring for zippers,
guarantee and some interesting information on wind tunnel testing of the
tent. The MSR Missing Link is wind-tunnel rated to 50 mph (81 km/h).
Overall I have found the manual to be informative and a nice inclusion in
the package.
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 Concerns/Comments in
respect of the MSR Missing Link tent
The above comments withstanding, I do have two
concerns. These revolve around the floor and the material. First up I am
used to tents designed with tub floors (handy in torrential rain) and this tent
does not have a tub floor. My other concern is the durability of the material.
MSR indicates that the fly is made from 30D ripstop nylon, 1500 mm PU/silicone
coated. This sounds all very nice and no doubt contributes to the relatively
lightweight of the tent. Too be truthful, I am not to bothered about the fly
material. It is after all only a three-season tent. It is the floor where
my concerns lie. The floor, according to MSR is 70D 190T 5000 mm PU coated
material. Well that is well and good but it does appear THIN! Its thinness
worries me. Conditions in which I backpack can be pretty harsh. Only time will
tell if this material is up to handling these conditions. I hope so, as so far I
like this tent.
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Testing strategy:
MSR makes a number of claims in respect of
the Missing Link. In particular the following claims will be subject to
analysis over the next six months:
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Plenty of interior space, including
great headroom for two plus gear;
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Awning provides 180° views and a
covered food prep/boot storage area. The functionality of the awning
will be reviewed in varying conditions;
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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. While my first impressions support the easy
pitch claim, I hope to assess this claim in varying weather
conditions. I will also be looking at testing the ease/effectiveness
of the guy cords approach;
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Well ventilated. High and low vents
provide constant airflow to reduce condensation. The
effectiveness of the ventilation will be tested in varying weather
conditions.
In addition I will be examining:
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The durability of the fly and floor in
varying Australian bushwalking conditions;
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The stability of the tent in windy
conditions;
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Functionality of the interior design;
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Waterproofness of the fly and floor.
The above will be tested over numerous
bushwalks in the following six month test period.
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