Name:	Russell Curry
Age:	58
Height:	6'0" (1.83 m)
Weight:	190 lbs (86 kg)
Torso:	24 inches (61 cm)
Chest:	42 inches (107 cm)
Waist:	36 inches (91 cm)
Email:	mrqcace@yahoo.com
City, State, Country:	Orange, Texas, USA
Date:	May 24, 2005

Backpacking Background:

I began backpacking in the late 1960’s. I have hiked extensively in Western and Eastern Texas, the Grand Canyon & other Arizona sites, Utah, Colorado, Louisiana, Alaska, Arkansas, Italy, Greece, France, Turkey, Germany, and many other locations, 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 have seen my gear evolve over the years from ultra-heavy, with pack loads at 60+ lb (27+ kg) to ultra-light with my current pack load weighing 12 to 20 lb (5 to 9 kg) depending on the season and other weather considerations.

Product Identification:

Item:	Lunar Solo 1.5 lb (0.7 kg) 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, lightweight, 1 person tent fabricated of silicone nylon fabric for the canopy and floor, with an option for heavier material for the floor. The specifications as shown on the Six Moon Designs website follows:

Weight:	24 oz (680 g)
Capacity:	1 person
Floor Space: Vestibule:	Sleeping: 27.5 ft^2 (2.6 m^2) 10 ft^2 (1 m^2)
Packed Size:	15" x 4.5", 240 in^3 (38 cm x 11 cm, 3.9 l^3)
Stakes Required:	6 (not included)
Ships with:	Tent, stuff sack, guylines
Canopy:	30 denier Silicone Nylon
Mesh:	No-see-um netting
Light Floor:	30 denier Silicone Nylon
Heavy Floor:	70 denier Silicone Nylon
Zipper:	#3 YKK
Suggested Use:	Three seasons with support for light to moderate snow loads

FIELD CONDITIONS

My long term testing for this tent has resulted in me taking it on several outings, from Big Bend National Park to the Ozark Highland Trail to camping at my local beach on the Gulf of Mexico and in the Big Thicket of East Texas. Temperatures have ranged from 25 F (-4 C) to 80 F (27 C); elevations have ranged from sea level to 7825 ft (2.4 km). I experienced dry, desert climate; humid, dank swampy campsites; strong, windy conditions, especially on the beach, and on one hike to Arkansas, it rained for 3 straight days.

FIELD PERFORMANCE

The tent has performed well for me on all of my hikes. Once I properly sealed the seams, the water leaks I had reported on the Initial Report ceased. I found that it sleeps a little cool in winter. The weather in Arkansas was raw, cold and damp, and the cool dampness extended into the tent at night. I was well prepared with my down sleeping bag, liner and air mattress, but I did find that I should have prepared a little more than if I were in my conventional tent with fly. Staking the tent with the canopy closer to the ground helped in the winter conditions. The tent endured the rain very well, and the gear I had stowed under the vestibule remained dry. However, as I reported on the Field Report, I am not a fan of the Velcro on the vestibule. If I exit the tent at night by opening the vestibule, I have a difficult time trying to align the Velcro strips in the dark when I return. The strips being black don't help. Even with a light it's not the easiest thing to do. I finally gave up fiddling with trying to properly align and close the Velcro while inside the tent, and instead fastened it while outside, then just slid the vestibule up and down the front guy line anytime I went into the tent, with the vestibule staying fastened to the canopy by the Velcro. I found this worked better, I could unclasp the vestibule from the front guyline and fold it completely over the top of the tent if I wanted it open, or I could do the opposite and re-clasp to guyline and slide it down. If I set my hiking pole to the correct height, I have no problems getting into or out of the tent in this fashion. I discovered the first night in the rain in Arkansas that it pays to use the side and rear tie outs in hard rain and damp weather. I expected the material to sag some and in this I was not disappointed. I had used all 3 tie outs and it helped considerably to maintain headspace inside the tent and keep the canopy more taut than if not used.

I indicated in my Field Report that I would test how well my gear was protected under the vestibule. This I did during the 3 days of rain on the Arkansas hike, and found that my gear did stay dry. It rained so hard one night that when I checked the tent rigging in the early morning hours, there was water running underneath the tent and on the ground through the vestibule area. I had used a waterproof groundcloth under the tent as recommended and this worked well to keep my gear from getting soaked with ground water. When set up, the floor of the tent is suspended from the canopy by bungee cords. When I began working with the tent initially, I had to re-tie every knot on every line that was attached to the tent, since they failed on my first tent set-up. The way that I tightened the bungee cords and staked out the tent caused the edges of the floor to ride up some when the tent was pitched, and this proved very important during the rain. This allowed the water to flow under the tent instead of through it during my hike. Do not underestimate the importance of a good tent site and ground cloth when pitching this shelter; there is no bathtub type floor to prevent water from getting inside. Once I got away from the high humidity of the Gulf Coast in Texas, the humidity problem I experienced inside the tent in those conditions lessened considerably. Even though the Arkansas hike was cold and damp, there was no condensation on the inside of the tent canopy when I awoke in the morning. The ventilation is substantial in the tent when properly pitched allowing the air to flow unimpeded.

SUMMARY

Will I continue to use this tent? Absolutely. It is everything I want in a one-man shelter, lightweight, adequate overhead, easy to pitch, has kept me dry in hard rain, has a vestibule that allows me to keep my gear dry, and as a bonus, the vestibule is large enough for me to cook in. In spite of the problems I have encountered with the way the vestibule is secured to the canopy, the tent works for me and my system of ultra-light weight backpacking. My suggestion to Six Moon Designs is to look again at the Velcro on the vestibule, and find a way to secure it using a zipper or other full-length fastening system that can be easily closed from within the tent, especially at night.

While visiting the Six Moon Designs website in the course of completing this report, I noticed that Six Moon Designs is now offering an enhanced version of the Lunar Solo, with many if not all of the improvements recommended by myself and others who have been fortunate enough to test this shelter for Six Moon Designs. The new enhanced version appears to be a substantial upgrade to the Lunar Solo and I am excited that there are so many new improvements to this shelter. I believe it is definitely in the top of its class for a 1 person, lightweight, durable shelter.

Russell Curry

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