BackpackGearTest.org - MSR Missing Link Cheri Tyre-Roberts

Field Report MSR Missing Link Tent

Name: Cheri Tyre-Roberts
Age: 43
Gender: Female
Height: 5'7" (1.7 m)
Weight: 137 lbs (62 kg)
Email address: tyrerob at earthlink dot net
Location: North Central Florida, USA

Date: 5/17/2004

Backpacking Background:

I have been backpacking for over 20 years. The majority of my
trips have been 3-6 day trips with "the big one" still looming in my
future. I backpack mostly in Florida, in extremely hot conditions
such as the Florida Trail in July, or the North Carolina Mountains.

The terrain in Florida is varied, trail conditions are extremely
sandy, swampy, muddy, or completely wet. In North Carolina the
terrain is muddy and rocky with drastic elevation changes. I also
backpack with my dogs and young children ages 8 & 9. I pack light
but am not obsessed with it as I enjoy some of the "creature
comforts".

Product Information:

Manufacturer: Mountain Safety Research (MSR) Year: 2004

Manufacturers Website: http://www.msrcorp.com

Materials: Fly: 30D ripstop nylon, 1500 mm PU/silicone coating Floor: 70D 190T, 5000 mm PU coating

Capacity: 2 person

Listed Weight: 3 pounds (1.3 kilograms)

Listed Size: Rear wall (farthest from door) 11 feet (3.3 meters) width 4 feet, 11 inches (1.5 meters) awning 6 feet (1.8 meters)

Interior peak height: 42 inches (1.1 meter)

Actual Measurements:*using 51 inch (130 centimeter) trekking poles. Rear wall 11 feet (3.3 meters), width 4 feet 2 inches (1.3 meters), awning 6 feet (1.8 meters), Interior peak height: 37.5 inches (.95 meter)

Weight as delivered: *without owners manual* 3 pounds, 9 ounces ( 1.62 kilograms)

Weight measured with U.S. Postal Scale

Color: Sunset Orange

MSRP: $229.95 US

Product Features and Construction:

The Missing Link tent is designed like a lean to shelter with an awning. The rigid support for the tent is supplied by the use of trekking poles or you could tie the peak off in a tree if there was one available directly overhead. There are nylon loops sewn to the tops of the trekking pole pockets for the tree tie option.

The tent has a nylon stake loop on the exterior of each of the four corners and in the middle of the rear wall. There is a nylon loop about half way from the floor to the peak on the exterior of the rear wall. The directions state that an extra guyout line may be used from here to increase the shoulder room inside.

The floor of the tent is made of a 70D 190T, 5000 mm PU coated nylon. It is a red color that makes it easy to tell which end goes down when taking the tent out of the stuffsack. The body of the tent is a Sunset Orange color and made of 30D ripstop nylon, 1500 mm PU/silicone coating. It is translucent (allows some light through) and reminds me of the texture of onion skins.

The door is huge easily allowing two people to sit shoulder to shoulder in the opening. The door has screen mesh on the top half that can be zipped shut with a layer of the same material as the tent body or left open to allow ventilation while keeping bugs out. The door zips all the way to the floor on both sides.

The ventilation inside includes the top half of the door, a piece of screen that goes across the top of the peak above the door well covered by the awning and almost at the highest peak. Additional ventilation is from a strip of screen mesh that goes across the back of the tent, right above ground level and covered by the rear staked down wall of the tent.

The peak of the tent is held rigid by using 2 trekking poles or by 2 guyout lines to a tree. I used Leki TiAirErgo Trekking Poles with a maximum extension of 51 inches (130 centimeters). The handle of the trekking poles fits into a reinforced pocket in the peak of the tent and the bottom of the pole sits on the ground outside of the tent body at a 90 degree angle. The poles are stabilized by the tension created by pulling the awning tight to the ground with two guyout lines and stakes, one at each corner

Set up:

The MSR Missing Link Tent was very easy and intuitive to pitch. My 10 year old daughter had the tent laid out, staked and was adjusting my trekking poles before I could read the instructions. It took less than 5 minutes to completely pitch the tent using the trekking poles for rigid support. I ran into a problem using my trekking poles that may be a problem to many others. My trekking poles are adjustable to 51 inches (130 centimeters) which is probably taller than most women use. The Missing Link directions say to extend the poles to 54 inches. I pitched the tent with my poles extended as far as they would go (51 inches / 130 centimeters). In this configuration the front part of the tent, where the door is, will not draw as tight as I would like.

Field Test:

Field Conditions:

I used the Missing Link on a 3 day backpacking trip on the Florida Trail in April. The weather conditions for this trip were hot during the afternoons 80-86 degrees Fahrenheit (27-30 degrees Celsius) and cool at night dropping to 60 degrees Fahrenheit (16 degrees Celsius). The Missing Link was pitched on level ground. The ground consisted of fine sand covered in a layer of pine needles. The humidity was high which is normal in Florida in the spring but it did not rain.

Observations:

On the April trip I really enjoyed how fast the Missing Link was to pitch. The Missing Link is easily pitched in under 3 minutes. On the first night I used two pieces of wood that I found near the campsite to put under my poles in order to pitch the Missing Link to the correct height. This worked fine and the tent was stabile enough to endure my crawling in and out many times. The design of the Missing Link really makes it seem huge inside. I had plenty of room for my backpack and headroom to spare. I was alone on this trip so I could not evaluate the comfort level for two people. In the morning there was a slight amount of moisture on the interior ceiling which dried in approximately 20 minutes.

On the second night of the trip I didn't place anything under my poles so the Missing Link had a noticeable "sag." The only effect this "sag" seemed to have was that I noticed a lot more condensation inside the tent in the morning. The "sag" seemed to cause the ventilation screen over the door to be covered, not allowing as much air to circulate as when the Missing Link is pitched to the correct height.

I plan to really get a good field test of the Missing Link in June on a two week 100 mile (161 kilometers) section hike along the Appalachian Trail this hike will allow me to test the MSR Missing Link Tent under a greater variety of conditions. Throughout the rest of the test period I will continue to evaluate the MSR Missing Link for interior dryness during wet weather and storms, stability in windy conditions such as spring and summer thunder storms, durability, ventilation and comfort.

Reviews > Shelters > Tents > MSR Missing Link > Cheri Tyre-Roberts > Field Report

Reviews > Shelters > Tents > MSR Missing Link > Cheri Tyre-Roberts > Field Report