Companion forum thread to:

Gossamer Gear The One Shelter REVIEW

Hi Will

You suggested that the cut of the tent should be improved, and that the front vestibule particularly needed attention. My own opinion on this is that the front zipper has been sewn to the vestibule fabric at the wrong tension.

If you look at the first photo you can see that the zipper is taut while the fabric is slack. It is actually very tricky balancing the stretch in cases like this - I KNOW! It is usually better to make the zipper slack and put the load onto the fabric.

Otherwise I agree that a slight catenary cut on most seams would improve the stability of the design.

Cheers
Roger

I received one of the "The One" tents last week. It must have been one of the last ones since they are now out of stock.

I had been eagerly awaiting your review before setting up and seam-sealing it this weekend before I head out for the Tahoe-Rim-Trail on the first of july.

I agree about the rigging lines. I have gone through most of the lines and retied the knots and loops and am seriously thinking of replacing the lines with a different type before heading out for leg two of the summer ( a sort of JMT with a start at Horseshoe Meadows and meet the JMT at Crabtree, then north to Mammoth Lakes with a loop to Tuolumne and back over some of the passes east of the JMT.

My greatest worry about "the One" is wind. One year I got hit with 50-60 mph winds near the Minarets as a storm front approached. This summer I am taking a synthetic quilt just in case of a blowdown.

Thank you again for your insightful review! Randy

I have been using "the one" since it was released. I have used the one on fewer trips than randy (maybe I can catch up this summer)... so far I haven't had any of the knots come out... though I did retie a few when I first received the shelter to change the lengths a bit.

I would agree that the geometry could be firmed up a bit though I am not sure what to tweak to get that. I have had the one in winds up to 32mph (measured by a burton adc pro). I did have some side deflection, especially the rear corners, but I didn't find it severe... there was still plenty of room inside the shelter and I didn't have a sense that it was going to get a lot worse. I have seen significantly more deflection at those wind speeds in a number of other shelters such as tarptent's squall and the six moon designs europa.

One thing not mentioned in the review is that the aggressive slope of the sidewalls can take a bit of getting used to. The first time I used "the one" I found myself bumping into the walls repeatedly. I have to get use to the space inside. I am sure part of the problem is that the tallness in the center makes the shelter seem larger than it is. By the time I took my second trip I didn't have any problems moving around without hitting the walls and found that I had plenty of room... a palace compared to the spinnshelter in a locked down pitch.

I wouldn't call it a perfect solo shelter... but it's been very nice to use.

It has certainly generated a number of questions when I had pitched in near other backpackers.

--mark

Edited by verber on 06/17/2008 22:06:47 MDT.

Nice balanced review Will.
I particularly like you photos, especially the aerial view, that helps a lot in understanding a tent geometry.
Thank you for pointing out the fiddly set up. There are a few that have complained about the Contrail and the Lunar Solo in this regard but I think that this one needs a bit more practice than either of those two.
The side entrance is very desirable except that not having an almost down to the ground beak (as with the Lunar Solo) I would expect some rain and a lot of wind to get in , enough on the wrong night to warrant a re-positioning of the tent.
But I don't have the tent, just looking at the design....
I find strange that the normally fussy Ben2world hasn't mentioned the floppy bits. Will have to wait till tomorrow for his insight.
Franco
"Its eighty-four inch floor length is adequate for a person (just) over six feet tall, but a taller person is more likely to contact the end walls."

I've used this tent for 30+ nights now. The vestibule tension is actually fairly easy to adjust by changing the angle of the front ridge guyline via its lineloc. That, and by making slight adjustments to the position of the front corner stakes. I think the vestibule is pretty well done, as far as trekking pole-supported single-wall tents go.

As for achieving good tension on the rear panels, this can sometimes take a bit of practice, though I've yet to find it necessary to use the stabilizer pullouts at mid-panel, left and right. Will's photo of this part of the tent seems to indicate a somewhat high angle to the rear trekking pole. I find it useful to insure that the pole is pulled out via the bottom boot as far as possible, deepening the pole angle, both to tension the lower perimeter of the rear panels and to achieve a nice, taut bathtub floor.

The rear vent awning isn't especially taut, perhaps by design. I eliminated the loop in the rear guyline to which the bottom of the awning is tied, and instead tied the two directly together. This is fiddly to do, in terms of getting the right angle for the awning, and I don't recommend it, though it does reduce flapping in high wind somewhat.

One issue that might be addressed is the use of this particular type of #3 zip/slider combo for the large doorway track, which seems to have a fairly short service life, especially once grit accumulates in the system. It helps to close the door via both zippers, meeting in the middle, though I've yet to make it more than a couple of months' accumulated use without a zipper failure. (The sliders can be replaced fairly easily, but a worn zipper track will tend to wear out new sliders faster than the originals.)

A really nice design, by and large. Anyone else seize the opportunity to install a clothesline along the interior ridge?

Edited by blister-free on 06/17/2008 23:13:59 MDT.

I bought and returned The One. For what its worth I sleep under a 9x7 BMW tarp and bivy and I found this shelter:

- A little smaller than I would like, definitely much less room than a tarp and,
- Difficult to get taught as discussed. It was quite messy to pitch tight. In fact I never got it tight,
- Plus one of the knots came undone on me almost immediately which was a bit unnerving as it wasn’t obvious how to thread the components together.

A friend bought the Squall Classic at the same time and we set them up together. Although very different, I'd say it's much more to my liking. However, I'd take a tarp + bivy over either!

Edited by PedroArvy on 06/17/2008 23:42:38 MDT.

A bit more on the "size of the backpacker" issue would be appreciated, Will. I am 6'3" and fit nicely in the Rainbow but am always looking for a lighter alternative but haven't found one with its combination of roominess and height. I sleep in the MB line of bags in the long size. Would you say that this would make the One a non-starter for someone my size in the bags I use?

Both SMD Refuge tents are lighter than the Rainbow and have more space, including greater length (8 inches!!) Great tents and truely for two people.
S.

Great review.

It should be mentioned (obviously to anyone with much experience with spinnaker) that the spinnaker fabric gets quieter with use. One way to accelerate this it to put it in the dryer with no heat and a couple of tennis balls.

Hi Mitchell. I would say that your 6'3" height is at the limit. You would have to push the foot of your sleeping bag against one end to maximize headroom at the other. That would give you 9+ inches beyond your head. The slope of The One is not as steep as the Rainbow, so you are more likely to brush against the canopy. Sleeping diagonally would help. You can probably adapt to this tent, but extra length for tall hikers is not one of its attributes. Best, Will.

Edited by WilliWabbit on 06/18/2008 16:10:37 MDT.

I just replaced my Squall with a Lunar Solo. I get up during the night and the side opening is easier to exit. How does this tent compare to the Lunar Solo?

Any particular locations that you recommend giving a double-dose of seam sealant?

Am presuming that spinnaker would use the same seam sealant as silnylon?

As always, Will's reviews are a pleasure to read and with great photos.

I called up gossamer gear about seam sealing the squall classic and they (he) confirmed it was okay to use the method I like best, which is the method advised at tarptent.com which is mixing GE Silicone II caulk with mineral spirits, which I like best as the sealant is more liguid and permeates the fabric better and the seal stays more permanent, which I did do on the squall classic to deep satisfaction.

I would say that the top ridgeline seam is the most important. That's where I had a little leakage after seam sealing it once, so I sealed it again to make sure. Also the lower seam on the sides and back has mesh sewn into the seam, so its important to seam seal that one well. Otherwise, the mesh will draw water in through the seam.

Also, be sure to paint some silicone stripes on the floor to prevent your sleeping pad from sliding on the slippery fabric when you camp on an incline.

For seam sealing silicone impregnated fabrics, read Jay Ham's article on this website: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/make_your_own_gear_sealing_silnylon_seams.html

The One is my third iteration in lightweight single wall shelters (and I am glad I bought it!)

The One has two traits that will endear itself for me. Because it is spinnaker fabric I notice that in the time I set it up this morning and seam sealed it the fabric stretch is virtually nonexistent. I did not need to reset the lines. One corner line did unknot itself though.

The most important point about The One is that it has a "logical set-up". Every time that I either moved a peg or changed the length of a line I knew what to do to adjust the other lines. The other two tents that I had before always appeared to be a trial and error experiment in frustration.

A couple points for version 1.1 would be these simple changes.........

The two loops for the optional poles need to be sewn as they are for the front pole. Both of mine have an extra half twist in them.

and

The little "pocket" in the front for the pole needs to be a fraction taller (3-5mm). I do use the optional poles and the tips stick through the grommet further than trekking poles do.

All in all a fantastic taut little gem........a 9.5 out of 10, Randy

PS I contacted GG about having Easton make some carbon fiber poles for The One as an option. They would look to be about half of the weight for the same diameter.