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Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo Tent
Initial Report - November 29, 2004
Contents
Reviewer Information [return to top]
Name: Chuck Kime
Nickname: Fuzzy
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 8" (1.72 m)
Weight: 229 lb (104 kg)
Email address: ckime AT nelsononline DOT com
City, State, Country: Upper Darby (Philadelphia suburb), PA, U.S.A.
Date: November 29, 2004
Product Information [return to top]
Manufacturer: Six Moon Designs
Model: Lunar Solo
Year of Manufacture: 2004
URL: http://www.sixmoondesigns.com
Listed weight: 24 oz (680 g)
Measured weight as delivered: 23.6 oz (669 g), scale accurate to 0.1 oz
Color: Tent – Kelly Green, Floor – Black
Other color available (tent): Grey
MSRP: Tent – $225 US
Features (from web site) [return to top]
- Full Vestibule provides protection while still maintaining good ventilation when closed. Fully open, the vestibule maximizes ventilation and view.
- Optimized Sleeping Area is oriented to maximize usable space, ventilation and view. A peak height of 44 inches gives you plenty of head room.
- Canopy Wings provide 360 degrees of ventilation while maintaining rain protection. They can be raised or lowered for additional protection as conditions warrant.
- Center Pole Support significantly improves the ability of the tent to handle wind and snow loads.
- Single Hiking Pole Support reduces the amount of gear need. The rear can be supported with a second pole, stick or tied to a convenient tree.
- Internal Gear Area keeps your gear is easily accessible.
- Easy Tensioning Adjustment makes keeping your the tent taut a trivial task that can be accomplished while still in your sleeping bag.
- Oversized Screen Door allows easily enter and exit the shelter and keeps the front pole keeps it out of your way.
- Ultra-light Waterproof Canopy is made from high strength 1.1 ounce Silicone coated Nylon.
- Handy Mesh Cargo Pocket located next to the door provides quick access to needed
- Extremely Easy Setup requires only six stakes and can be preformed in less than five minutes, under virtually any conditions.
Arrival [return to top]
The tent was delivered on November 19, 2004, by the U.S. Postal Service. The complete tent, with stakes and guylines, was contained in a black nylon stuff sack (with black draw cord and toggle) measuring about 16 in long x 5 in wide (41 cm x 13 cm). Attached to the stuff sack was a single-folded retail hangtag, about 5½ x 4¼ in (14 x 11 cm), with product information plus setup and seam-sealing directions. I put the complete pack on my scale and it weighed 23.9 oz (678 g). Oops… should have removed the tag – make that 23.6 oz (669 g). There were no other items, nor packing materials of any kind in the box. I found no damage to the contents.
Description [return to top]
The Lunar Solo is, as the name might suggest, a solo backpacking tent. It is a single-wall design, with a sewn-in floor, large zippered door, and complete bug netting.
The Lunar Solo is designed for use with trekking poles, needing one for the front peak and one (optionally) supporting the rear of the tent. My plan is to test the tent out with two different sets of poles – my first pair, from a major U.S. department store, and a pair of Black Diamond FlickLock Carbon Fiber poles (shown) I am currently testing for BGT.
The tent body is a modified hex shape as viewed from above, with the vestibule along the longer dimensions (see sketch). It is made from silicone impregnated nylon (silnylon) that weighs 1.1 oz/sq yd (37 g/sq m) prior to the silicone being added. The no-see-um mesh is sewn to the body in somewhat from the edges, leaving ‘wings’ of silnylon hanging like eaves over the mesh walls. The zippered door, which is entirely mesh, takes up nearly half of the long wall of the tent and is located so that the trekking pole used as the front support does not block the opening. The zipper is a two-headed model that allows the opening to be any size and at any location along the length of the zipper. The vestibule flaps (beak) may be left completely open, for ventilation, or closed almost to the ground in inclement weather. A small pocket is located in the front corner of the interior, allowing for storage of small items.
The floor is made from black silnylon, the same weight as the tent body. A heavier floor, made from 1.9 oz/sq yd (64 g/sq m) 70 Denier Ripstop nylon, is available as an option for those who “camp in areas subject to heavy abrasion or excessive ground water”. The floor is sewn to the bug netting all the way around.
The corners are tied out in two ways at the same time – a bungee attached to the floor, and a guyline attached to the fly. These are hooked to the same stake, and allow some adjustment in the height of the tent, as per the instructions provided on the website. My only confusion is that the pre-tied loops at the stake ends of the guylines and the bungees are looped through each other, which does not allow much separation of the two. Perhaps Ron can enlighten me, but I’m at a loss. I did manage to set the tent up (alas - for photos, only), regardless of the confusion.
There is a strap and buckle arrangement at the top of the front guyline for adjusting the tension after the tent has been set up and allowed to ‘relax’ a bit, as silnylon does stretch a bit. It is configured to allow the user to tighten the line from inside the tent with only a very small opening at the top of the door zipper.
DIMENSIONS - CLAIMED vs. ACTUAL
| DIMENSION |
CLAIMED MEASUREMENT |
ACTUAL MEASUREMENT |
| Weight * |
24 oz (680 g) |
23.6 oz (669 g) |
| Floor Length ** |
84 in (213 cm) |
84 in (213 cm) |
| Floor Width at Head/Foot ** |
None given |
36 in (91 cm) |
| Floor Width at Midpoint ** |
54 in (137 cm) |
54 in (137 cm) |
| Fly Length *** |
None given |
94 in (239 cm) |
| Fly Width at Head/Foot *** |
None given |
40 in (102 cm) |
| Fly Width at Midpoint *** |
None given |
62¼ in (158 cm) |
| Fly Width at Midpoint **** |
None given |
94½ in (240 cm) |
| Height at Peak |
44 in (112 cm) |
47¼ in (120 cm) |
| Packed Size * |
15 x 4.5 in (38 x 11 cm) |
16 x 5 in (41 x 13 cm) |
Note: All measurements are approximate.
* Tent and guylines, in stuff sack
** Inside mesh sleeping area (see sketch)
*** To outside edge of 'wings', not including vestibule/beak (see sketch)
**** To outside edge of 'wings', including vestibule/beak (see sketch) |
First Impressions [return to top]
The tent appears very well made. All seams are straight, all zippers and adjusters work smoothly, and I saw no loose threads anywhere. It is everything I expected from viewing the website, although I could have sworn I saw something about it coming with stakes when I read it before. It’s probably that “advancing age” thing again. Sigh...
I received an email on November 23 from Ron Moak, founder of Six Moon Designs, providing links on their website to pages for Seam Sealing, Lunar Solo Setup, and Using Ultralight Tents. Great info from someone who really cares about his products. Now if I can just figure out why the guylines and bungees are looped together...
Following many years of trailer camping with the family, I experienced several years of camping Army-style in 2-man pup tents. Having moved through larger military tents, and now through various scout troop tents, a 10-pound (4.5 kg) Wal-mart 8’x8’ (2.4 m x 2.4 m) family tent, and the Big Agnes Seedhouse 3, I have begun experimenting with tarping and hammocking in an attempt to lighten my load. Now that my son has begun tenting with other boys during our Scout outings, I can now really spend time evaluating solo shelters. I have spent a few nights under tarps, and one in a hammock under a tarp, since embarking on solo sleeping. I really appreciate the size and weight of these options.
Field Information [return to top]
Our Boy Scout troop camps monthly. Almost all of these outings include a minimum of 2 nights of camping, with temperatures expected to be from lows around 25 to 30 ºF (-4 to -1 ºC) to highs around 95 to 100 ºF (35 to 38 ºC), although I don’t expect it to be over about 60 ºF (16 ºC) during the testing period for this bag. Elevations will range from sea level to approximately 2,000’ (610 m). We have two cold-weather trips definitely on our schedule so far for this winter: Thanksgiving weekend (just ended), and a Winter Survival campout that is usually held the first weekend in January. I am still trying to talk the troop into attending the Valley Forge Pilgrimage and Encampment in February, where conditions are historically (pun only slightly intended) as bad as when Washington was there over 200 years ago, generally with a fair amount of snow on the ground, if not actually falling during the event.
My main priorities with a shelter, and the items I expect to follow and report on, are as follows:
- Ease/speed of set-up. Can I get it up easily in bad weather? When I’m tired? When it’s dark out (I prefer to know all of my gear by touch)? How long does it take?
- Pack size/weight. Experience to date tells me that bulk is more of a problem for me to pack than weight, since my Deuter Futura 32 is not the largest pack around, although a recent car accident and... ahem... advancing age have been nudging me to lighten up even further. The Lunar Solo is listed as both small *and* light – a big bonus. With winter coming, my pack is likely to be even more crowded than usual, so this gets increasingly important.
- Packability. Can I get it easily into the stuff sack? How about when wet and/or dirty?
- Does it have everything I need for set-up? It needs six stakes, and comes with guylines. Are the guylines sufficient for various pitching options?
- Dimensions. Do I fit? Comfortably? With my gear? How large a site do I need?
- Durability. Are there any significant wear points, especially over time? The spots where hiking poles contact the shelter will be investigated, along with tie-out points, zippers, etc. I will be carrying a ground sheet (Gore-Tex fabric) – that serves double duty as my hammock fly – so I can protect the tent floor in case of particularly rough ground, but will set the tent up without it when I feel confident in my site selection.
- Waterproofness. I don’t mind being wet, but I do prefer that my gear – particularly my sleeping bag – be dry when I use it.
- Ventilation. Do I need to worry about condensation?
- Adjustability. How high/low can/must it be pitched? Is this adjustable?
Things I like [return to top]
- Lighter than every shelter I have, besides tarps.
- Includes everything necessary for setup.
- Fits in my pack.
Things I don't like [return to top]
- Nothing yet.
Backpacking Background [return to top]
My family started car/trailer camping when I was about 5. I spent 17 years in the Army Reserve fine-tuning my packing methodology – when I got out, I was down to a fairly respectable 75-80 lb (34-36 kg) load in my ALICE pack. Advancing age, arthritic knees and a car accident have led me to seriously rethink my gear choices, experiment with tarps and hammocks, make some of my own gear, and take a closer look at my ‘toys’ with an eye for multi-use and light weight. I now have a sub-30 lb (14 kg) 3-season load, and should be able to reduce it to 20 lb (9 kg) – before food, fuel and water – without much more effort.
Thank you for your time.
Chuck Kime
a.k.a. Fuzzy
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