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Reviews > Shelters > Tents > Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo > Russ Curry > Field ReportFIELD
REPORT
SIX MOON DESIGNS LUNAR SOLO 1.5 POUND TENT Tester Biography: Name: Russell Curry Age: 57 Gender: Male Height: 6’0” (1.83 m) Weight: 190 lbs (86 kg) Torso: 24 inches Chest: 42 inches Waist: 36 inches Email Address: dproATdatarecallDOTnet City, State, Country: Orange, TX, US Date: February 4, 2005 Backpacking Background: I began backpacking in the late 1960’s but really in earnest 7 years ago, as I had more free time from my career and my children were grown and out of the home. I have hiked extensively in Western and Eastern Texas, the Grand Canyon & other Arizona sites, Utah, Colorado, Louisiana, Alaska, Arkansas, and in the Bavarian Alps in Germany, in a variety of terrain, desert, mountains and forests. I am a 4-season backpacker and have hiked in temperatures as low as 5° F (-15 C) to as high as 110° F (43 C). I hike often, even if just locally. My gear ranges from mid-weight to ultra-light weight. Product Identification: Item: Lunar Solo 1.5 Pound Tent Manufacturer: Six Moon Designs URL: http://www.sixmoondesigns.com/ Year of Manufacturer: 2004 MSRP: $225.00 US Product Description: The Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo is a single walled, light weight, 1 person tent fabricated of 1.1 oz/ yd^2, (37 g/m^2) silicone nylon fabric for the canopy and floor, with an option for a heavier floor of 1.9 oz/ yd^2 (64 g/m^2), 70 Denier material. The specifications for the tent on the Six Moon Designs website are: Stated Weight: 24 oz (680 g) with a notation that weights may vary up to 2 oz (57 g) depending upon fabric coating thickness which varies between production runs. Weight as Received: 25 oz (709 g) Packed weight with stuff sack for field trials, after seam sealing and applying silicone strips to floor to reduce slickness of material: 30 oz (850 g ) Packed weight with stuff sack, tent, seam sealing and 6, 12 inch long (30 cm) Easton tent stakes: 34 oz (964 g) Color: Green or Gray with Black Floors and netting Color Received: Kelly Green with Black Floors and netting Floor Space: Sleeping – 25 ft^2 (2 m^2) Vestibule – 10 ft^2 (1 m^2) Floor Space as Received: Sleeping –25 ft^2 (2 m^2) Vestibule –10 ft^2 (1 m^2) Stated Packed Size: Approximately 15 x 4.5 in, 240 in^3 (381 x 114 mm, 3900 cc) Received Packed Size: 15 x 5 x 4 ½ in, 338 in^3 (381 x 127 x 114 mm, 5500 ccc) Stated Layout: 84 in wide x 54 in deep x 44 in high (2 x 1.5 x 1 m) Received Layout: 84 in wide x 54 in deep x 44 in high (2 x 1.5 x 1 m) PREPARING
FOR THE FIELD TRIALS
For a better understanding of this tent and to become familiar with its features and some concerns I have, it is suggested to review the Initial Report. After working with the tent in my yard for several days, during rainy and dry conditions, I took the advice of Six Moon Designs and purchased 6, 12 inch long (30 cm) Easton tent stakes. Six Moon Designs does not include stakes with the purchase, and recommends using longer stakes for the tent. I found that it was indeed very important to stake out this tent with the guy lines a few inches above the ground at the stakes. For me, this turned out to be approximately 6 inches (15 cm) between the ground and the guy line. This optimizes the ventilation inside the tent greatly, and prevents water from leaking into the tent if the canopy sags down onto the mesh netting from a rain.  12" (30 cm) Easton tent stake maintaing 6" (15 cm) from guy line to ground. Full stake shown for scale Long stakes required for proper setup. I had problems with the tent sagging after heavy rains when staked out with 6" (15 cm) stakes, and these short stakes caused ventilation problems and moisture buildup inside the tent. Using the 12" (30 cm) stakes maintains the proper height of the canopy at the edges when staked out. To further test the heavy weight floor that came with this tent, I set the tent up with no ground cloth in an area of my yard that was nothing but dirt, and that became soggy and muddy during a rain. No rain flowed into the tent during the three days of rainfall that I had the tent set up in this location. I was inside the tent many times and tried to "work" water through the heavier floor by constantly mashing the fabric down into the mud and water. I was unable to get any water through the tent floor by doing this. I did experience condensation inside the tent several times, but I expected this in my climate of 90 to 100% humidity. A quick wipe down with my towel in the morning as advised by Ron Moak of Six Moon Designs quickly solved this problem. I found that my initial seam sealing procedure did not apply a heavy enough coating of silicone to the seams. During the 3 days of rainfall, I discovered 3 small leaks inside the tent, all on the seams. My initial seam sealing procedure was to use mildly diluted GE silicone and a small sponge brush to seal the seams, but I had to go back and apply undiluted McNett Seam Sealer directly from the tube over all of the seams again. After this application, there were no leaks on any of the seams. My initial report indicated a water leak at or near the unsecured slit of the tent vestibule.  Area on vestibule with no Velcro® where the leak developed during a heavy rain I found the source of this leak as coming from the area of the canopy at the spot where there is no Velcro® on the vestibule.. The canopy sagged a little during the high wind and rains and allowed a small amount of water to get inside the tent. I have to fiddle somewhat while inside the tent to try to align and secure the vestibule cover to the canopy properly, since I am having to do it from inside the tent, and fasten the Velcro® strips from the inside. If I fasten the vestibule to the canopy from the outside, I can still get into the tent by sliding the vestibule up the front guy line and ducking into the tent, but this procedure invalidates the wide open access to the tent by using the door with the vestibule open. Another problem with the Velcro® strips is the alignment of them. When I lay out the vestibule and the canopy edges evenly from the apex of the tent, the strips only grab about one half of their opposing strip. Due to the difficulty of properly adjusting the Velcro® strips while inside the tent, and due to the leak that developed during the rainstorm, I respectfully suggest to Six Moon Designs to re-evaluate the use of the Velcro® strips to fasten the vestibule to the canopy and instead install a zipper the full length of the vestibule edge. Minimally, I suggest to install Velcro® the entire distance of the vestibule edge where it fastens to the canopy or to evenly space 6" (15cm) long Velcro® strips the entire length of the vestibule edge aligned so that they make full contact when the tent is in the erected position. FIELD
INFORMATION AND CONDITIONS
I have used this tent on three outings. The shortest trip was 3 days and the longest trip was 5 days. Elevations in this part of Texas and Louisiana average 25 to 300 feet (8 to 152 m). The trails were in Louisiana and in and around the Big Thicket area of S.E. Texas. All of the campsites were flat, primitive sites, in dense hardwood and pine forests. The temperatures ranged from a low of 35 F (2 C) to a high of 70 F (21 C). The humidity ranged from 60 to 90 percent. One hike was clear and sunny, and the other two were overcast and damp. Winds ranged from 5 to 15 mph (8 to 24 kph). I used a 3 mil plastic ground cloth on the two hikes with overcast skies and no ground cloth on the hike with clear weather. FIELD
TRIALS
The results I share on the field trials are typical for each of the hikes, so my comments are intended to reflect my overall observations and are not restrained to any particular trail. The trails used for the field trails were the Turkey Creek Trail in the Big Thicket, the Wild Azeala Trail in Louisiana, and the Trail Between the Lakes in SE Texas. I began the field trials for the Lunar Solo tent on a 28 mile (45 km) trail in Southeast Texas. The "Trail between the Lakes" winds through dense hardwood and pine forests between two large lakes in East Texas. The terrain is flat to gently rolling hills. The campsites are primitive on a leaf covered forest floor. I packed up my gear, tanked water where the trail crosses the main highways, and set out with the Lunar Solo strapped onto my pack. The tent is a snap to carry. It folds up very small, even when I put the ground cloth and the 12" (30 cm) long Easton stakes inside the stuff sack with the tent. I found that it is better to fold up and roll the tent before placing inside the stuff sack versus just stuffing it inside the sack. I get a much smaller pack this way and it leaves room for my plastic ground cloth, guy lines, and the tent stakes. The distance between the aluminum rails of my campchair in the photo below is 16" (40 cm). The tent with stuff sack, ground cloth and tent stakes, (black stuff sack on top of pack), fits neatly onto the top of my smaller sized Golite Pack.  Tent with stuff sack, ground cloth, and stakes on Golite Pack Having hiked with several different types of shelters of varying weight, I like the light weight of this tent. My entire pack with food and water for 3 days is only 15 lbs (7 kg), and the light weight of this shelter goes a long way in reducing my weight totals. On my first hike with this tent, there was a light rain falling when it came time to set up camp. Unlike my conventional tent with fly, this shelter when laid flat on the ground prior to staking out, protects itself from getting wet inside. I simply staked out the 5 corners, set my hiking pole into the grommet at the apex, ran the guy line out and it was done. I have been able to set this tent up in 2 1/2 minutes or less since working with it and experimenting with the stakeout procedure. I also like the straight forward approach that Six Moons designed for this shelter. There are no shock-corded tent poles to fiddle with, no added fly to pack or carry, no oversized stuff sack needed to accomodate the shelter. I can use the loop at the apex of the tent if I don't have my hiking pole, or I can whittle down a stick obtained on the hike. The only drawback I see to this is if I did not carry a hiking pole and was hiking in an area where there were no overhead limbs to use or no material available to use as a stick. At the end of the first day on the trail, I found a suitable, dry, level spot, removed the tent from the sack, unrolled and opened it up, inserted the 5 stakes on the "wings" of the canopy, adjusted my hiking pole to the length I had predetermined for it, ran out the front guy line and I was done. I did have to tweak the canopy stakes a little to get the tautness I wanted, but this was quick and painless. The light rain had stopped about the time I had the tent set up, and I was disappointed as I was hoping to have a good hard rain to further evaluate the waterproofness of the tent. It is important to exercise care in the selection of the tent site. The tent does not have a "bathtub" type floor, and if set up in an area prone to flooding or water runoff, there could be problems. In my case, even though the ground was wet from earlier rains, there was considerable forest debris that formed a nice pad to set the tent on. There are two side tie out loops on each side of the tent that can be used to increase the headspace inside the tent. There is also a tie out loop on the rear top of the canopy that is used to increase the headspace and add stability to the tent. I found that I was comfortable with the headspace without tying these off, however, if I were to be forced inside the tent for long hours waiting out bad weather, I would probably use these to increase the headspace.  Trail Between the Lakes - first day on the trail. One side tie out loop is visible, I didn't need to use it. Top tie out with yellow cord dangling was not used for this setup. Vestibule pulled over the canopy to enjoy the view. I like the relatively small footprint needed for the tent. This helps a lot in situations where there are limited spots for shelters. If I do not use the guy line on the top of the canopy to increase the headspace, I have only one line extending from my hiking pole to a stake to secure the front of the tent. I was anxious to experiment with the vestibule to determine if I could cook inside this area. This vestibule area is meant for gear storage, but there appeared sufficient overhead and lateral space to enable setup of a small stove. After getting my gear in order, I set up my stove to brew my evening cup of coffee and prepare my first meal. The vestibule, either half-opened or fully closed, forms a nice little windscreen for my cooking area. My little nit-pick about this is that there is no way to roll up and tie off the opened part of the vestibule. This did not cause me a problem on these hikes since I was in dense woods, but in a wide open area with a wind, this half of the vestiuble could be flapping in the breeze while in the open position and could be a problem in a windy situation. Again, I hope that on future shelters, Six Moons will install a simple string that can be used to tie the vestibule off in a rolled position. I found that I could also cook under the fully closed beak of the tent, (exercising great care on the location of the stove). I like that if inclement weather sets in I can still brew a cup of coffee or a quick meal without being exposed.  Cooking under the half-opened beak Be careful where you set up the stove! My bedding consists of an Exped Air Mattress and a Marmot down sleeping bag. There was ample room in the tent for the mattress with the bag on top. The rest of the gear stowed away inside the tent in the "internal gear area". I definitely do not like any of my gear outside of the tent when camping, and I was able to get my pack, extra clothes, food, emergency gear, shoes, etc. stowed away in the internal gear area. My night light went into the mesh cargo pocket by the hiking pole. I found the ventilation inside the tent while sleeping to be more than adequate. In fact, it was a little airy in the early morning hours when I felt a breeze waft through the tent. The way the vestibule is configured keeps it away from the large mesh doors, so it is easy to get air movement inside the tent.  View from inside the tent towards the fully closed vestibule through the mesh door There was some rustling of the tent fabric during the night when the wind picked up, but this did not affect the tautness of the fabric. I can adjust the tautness using a strap that is on the tent at the apex, but have not had to do so on any of the 3 hikes. Upon awakening in the morning, I touched the top of the tent and found to no surprise, condensation on the surface. I had taken Ron Moak's advice and kept out a small towel to use to wipe down the condensate. The air on all of my hikes here in S.E. Texas and Louisiana is very humid, so condensation is something I am used to. In spite of sleeping in one of the most bug infected places on earth, I had no problems with any critters finding their way into the tent during the night. The problem was more one of the loud noise they created when darkness settled onto the campsite. I was able to sit up-right comfortably while inside my sleeping bag in the morning to make that first cup of coffee with my stove protected by the vestibule. I like the shelter that is provided by the vestibule for cooking.  Air mattress, sleeping bag, & internal gear area with all my gear stowed inside the tent Taking down the tent is as straight forward as setting it up. I tend to rise and hike early, so I had to shake off the condensate and dew from the shelter, then a quick wipe down with my towel and I was ready to fold and roll it up for the stuff sack. I like the headroom I have inside the tent when I am deflating my air mattress and rolling up my sleeping bag. I can do this and get everything into or on my pack except for the tent and still be protected by the vestibule if raining.  Taking down the tent, hiking pole removed and ready to fold and roll up LIKES
Lightweight
Ease and speed of setup Large beak area for cooking/gear storage Internal gear storage area Excellent Ventilation Really great view when the vestibule is fully opened  Nice wide open view through the fully opened vestibule. Rear tie out used on this site to increase head space, side tie out visible, (black tab on side of tent), but not used. DISLIKES
Velcro®
strips used to secure vestibule to canopy
Existing strips do not fully align with each other LONG
TERM TESTING
The Lunar Solo works very well as a part of my ultra-light
system. In spite of the problems with the Velcro®, the
tent
has performed well for me on the hikes that I have taken it on.
Further testing in other terrain and conditions will determine how well
the tent performs under more strenuous conditions. I
have more hikes scheduled in much colder climes than I experience here
in S.E. Texas. I will be using the Lunar Solo for all of these hikes to
determine how well it protects me in colder temperatures, and in much
different terrain than here locally. My plan is to use this tent in as
many different terrains and weather conditions as possible. I am
interested in how it holds up to
extended use and
how the fabric, seams, sewing and other features endure during more
trials. I will also be carrying more gear for the cooler hikes so
will evaluate how much gear storage I have for those items. I will also
store gear under the beak, outside of the tent, to determine how well
the gear is protected by the vestibule.
SUMMARY
Special thanks to Ron Moaks of Six Moon Designs and Backpackgeartest for allowing me to review this tent. Read more reviews of Six Moon Designs gear Read more gear reviews by Russell Curry Reviews > Shelters > Tents > Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo > Russ Curry > Field Report | |||