• Name:  Craig Jones
• Age:  39
• Gender:  Male
• Height:  5 feet 6.5 inches (1.7 meters)
• Weight:  137 pounds (62.14 kilograms)
• Email address:  argot [at] webjones [dot] net
• City, State, Country:  Madison, Mississippi, U.S.
• Date:  May 16, 2004
  
  Backpacking Background:  I was introduced to backpacking at age 13 when my Middle School Band Director took a group of students on a loop of Mt. Leconte in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. I immediately joined the Boy Scouts and later became a High Adventure Explorer Scout. After a long hiatus, I began getting back into the woods in 2000. Most of my camping experience has been in the piney woods of Mississippi, and the rocky box canyons of the Sipsey Wilderness in northern Alabama. I day hike at least once a month close to home, and try to get out twice a year for a weekend backpacking trip with friends. I plan to add longer, annual backpacking trips beginning with a weeklong visit to the Smoky Mountains in the summer of 2004. While I like to pack light, I do not aspire to be an “ultralight” hiker. I enjoy the comfort of a tent, warm food, and I refuse to go without my coffee.

• Product:  2-person, 3-season tent
• Manufacturer:  Sierra Designs
• Year of manufacture:  2001
• Manufacturer’s web site:  www.sierradesigns.com
• Listed weight:  4 pounds 8 ounces (2.04 kilograms) tent, rain fly, poles, stakes, sacks
• Floor space:  32 square feet (2.97 square meters)
• Vestibule space:  6 square feet (.56 square meters)
• Number of doors:  1
• Number of poles:  2, DAC Featherlite aluminum
• Pole attachment:  Clips
• Number of stakes included:  9
• Length:  89 inches (2.26 meters)
• Width:  58 inches (1.47 meters) at widest point
• Height:  43 inches (1.09 meters) at peak
• Materials:  Nylon taffeta, ripstop nylon, and no-see-um mesh
• Pack size:  5x20 inches (12.7x50.8 centimeters)
  
  The weights and measures above are from the manufacturer’s website. I checked all measurements with a tape measure, and most of the differences were so small as to be of no account. The two differences worth noting are listed below:
  
  
• Weight as delivered:  4 pounds 10 ounces (2.10 kilograms)
• Pack size as delivered:  4.5x18 inches (11.43x45.72 centimeters)

The tent has a sage green lower body, a strip of no-see-um mesh around the two long sides and the back end, and a white top. The white top allows good light into the tent, which makes it feel roomier. There is a large door on the front end, also made of no-see-um mesh. The tent floor is sewn-in and a custom groundsheet is sold separately. The rain fly is a slightly lighter sage green. Reflective material is woven into the guy-outs and zipper pulls.

The Clip Flashlight is not freestanding. The tent body is pitched first, and then the rain fly is draped over it and secured. Two poles arch from one side of the tent to the other, one at the front and one at the back, and the tent is attached to the poles with "c" clips. Four of these clips, two at the peak of each arch, feature a “cam-lock” which is twisted to firmly attach the clip to the pole. The ends of the poles fit into grommets at the base of the tent. The pole arches form two peaks, with the front end nearly twice as tall as the back end. There are 8 stake-outs, four corresponding to the ends of the poles and four at the tent's corners. It is possible to set up the tent with only the four corners staked since the poles provide outward tension at the other four points. The rain fly is thrown over the tent, attaches to the poles with hook-and-loop tape, and attaches to the stake-outs at the bottom of the pole arches with quick-release clips. It has two additional stakeouts to form a vestibule outside the door and a third in the middle of the back end. There are also two guy-out loops halfway down the length and halfway up the sides of the fly. The fly can be staked out adequately with five stakes, two to form the vestibule, two at the back corners, and one in the middle of the back. The tent comes with 9 stakes, which covers the minimum setup for the tent and fly. To stake the tent out completely, including the guy-outs, would require 15 stakes. Inside there are two mesh pockets on either side of the door end, and there are loops near each end of the tent's canopy for hanging items.

I've used this product in the field on three occasions, twice in the Sipsey Wilderness Area in northern Alabama, and once in the Flatside Wilderness Area near the eastern end of the Ouachita National Trail in Arkansas. The Sipsey Wilderness is a hilly, rocky area with numerous small rivers, waterfalls, cliffs, and box canyons. The Flatside Wilderness has larger hills, but is gentler and less rocky. Both areas are heavily forested with a mix of coniferous and deciduous trees. Rain and general humidity are common to both areas.

Trip 1, Sipsey Wilderness, April 2002, 2 nights:  The weather was clear and dry, with daytime temperatures around 75 degrees F (24 C) and nighttime temperatures around 40 degrees F (4 C). Setting the tent up was easily accomplished in 5 minutes. With the dry forecast and clear skies, I opted to leave the fly off on both nights. Dewfall was minimal, and there was no discernable condensation inside the tent. There was plenty of room to lay out a sleeping pad and bag, and store my backpack inside the tent. The tall peak is well-positioned for sitting up, facing either the back or the front of the tent, and allows enough space for changing clothes and other such tasks. The door has this tent's only serious design; it unzips down each side, leaving the mesh to sit on the tent floor. There are loops and toggles to roll the door up and store it close to the tent edge, but the door is still underfoot and will experience unnecessary wear and tear over time. The tent door was redesigned in the 2002 and later models. It now opens to the side, the zipper pulls meet at a point, and the door is stored in a sewn-in pocket on the inside of the tent wall to keep it out of the way.

Trip 2, Flatside Wilderness, October 2002, 1 night:  What promised to be a clear weekend early on turned into mostly cloudy skies with daytime temperatures around 70 degrees F (21 C) and nighttime temperatures around 45 degrees F (7 C). Again, setup was quick and easy; this time I added Sierra Designs' custom groundsheet and put up the fly in anticipation of rain or heavy dew. Shortly after turning in it did, indeed, begin raining. A light, steady drizzle continued for most of the night, about 6 hours, punctuated by heavier drops from the trees. In the wee hours of morning, after the rain stopped, a dense fog rolled up from the valleys. The Clip Flashlight did not leak at all, though some water dripped into the tent when I unzipped the fly in the morning (I've learned since to "drum" on the fly door to knock the water off before opening it). If I touched the canopy of the tent, I could feel a trace of moisture from condensation, but there was not enough to drip or run.

Trip 3, Sipsey Wilderness, May 2003, no nights:  This day started out sunny and warm with temperatures around 80 degrees F (27 C), and a 10% chance of thundershowers. I hit the trail early and hiked in to a rendezvous point where my camping companions were to meet me. While napping on a boulder, I was rudely awakened by a sudden clap of thunder and torrents of cold rain. I hurriedly found a likely spot, unpacked my tent, and set up. Even though the tent got fairly wet before the fly was put on, it shed the water nicely. I soon found out that I was set up in a less than ideal spot; there was enough run-off that the floor of my tent felt like a cold water bed, and when I set up my stove (MSR Pocket Rocket) in the vestibule to make coffee, I estimate that it was sitting in about a half an inch (1.25 centimeters) of water. This rain continued full force for around two hours, and then stopped as suddenly as it had begun. I did not experience any leaks in the tent at all (and this is with the factory seam sealing only). Condensation was a little more noticeable than on the Flatside trip, including some on the floor, but was not enough to cause inconvenience. Since I was not prepared for rain on this trip, I decided to make it a day hike and packed out as soon as the rain stopped.

Things I like:

1. Light weight and reasonably compact pack size.
2. Easy and quick setup.
3. Lots of room for the solo camper.
4. Excellent rain protection.
5. Color is pleasant and blends well with environment.

Things I don't like:

1. Not freestanding.
2. Small vestibule.
3. No mesh on canopy.
4. Door sits on floor when opened (redesigned in 2002 as described in trip 1 of the field information above).

Conclusion:

The Clip Flashlight is marketed as a two-person tent, but I would consider it more of a large one-person tent. I have not shared it with another person, but I have shared it with all of my gear. The extra space inside is useful for keeping my pack out of the weather, especially since the vestibule is rather small. Compared to the Sierra Designs Light Year CD, a solo tent, I feel that an extra pound (.45 kilograms) is a small burden for the extra space and versatility.

This tent is not a stargazing tent. The mesh extends around the body, but not into the canopy area. The best view is through the door, which is entirely meshed. With the fly on, there is no view at all.

The pack size of the tent is 5x20 inches (12.7x50.8 centimeters), but that is with the poles included in the bundle. I was able to pack the tent, fly, and groundsheet in the original stuffsack at 5x14 inches (12.7x35.56 centimeters). This allowed me to fit the tent horizontally in my pack.

The quality and workmanship of my tent is excellent. Stitching is neat, construction details are consistent, and materials seem strong and durable. I have had no trouble spot cleaning the tent floor and groundsheet. The factory seam sealing kept the tent dry and comfortable even in a veritable flood.