Henry,

I like my Tyvek Sublite just the way it is without the mesh door. This is your very lightest tent in your lineup so don't add either the extra 1.5 ounces or the extra $15 on the price tag (this is also your least expensive tent currently). If folks want the mesh door then they have that option already with the sil-nylon version. From the sil-nylon version people can trade up to the Contrail for extra space and weight. I personally think you should keep one really UL tent in your lineup and the Tyvek Sublite fills that niche right now.

If you add the mesh door then it is much closer in both cost and weight to the sil-nylon version. Since the sil-nylon version is more water proof I believe you will erode the unique niche of the Tyvek version and hurt its sales. That extra 1.5 ounces and $15 makes the Tyvek version only 1.5 ounces and $4 cheaper than the sil-nylon version. Why would you want to do this? I don't think you should.

Ow that sounds REALLY interetsing !! I'd buy one of those in a heart beat !!!!

Henry,

My vote is with "leave it the way it is" camp. Having used the prototype and only recently received the production model, the present model seems fairly enhanced the way it is.

Scott,
"...I'd buy one in a heartbeat...." I recommend you do it and not wait. You won't be sorry.

I've had the experience of hiding in my tent after a day of hiking, even though there were several hours of daylight left, waiting for the temperatures to drop and the mosquitoes to go away. (I rely on a mosquito head-net when stopped, and Deet when moving, but their constant keening and hovering can just get to be too much.)

So for me a mesh door would be well worth the extra weight and the extra cost. If I'm going to take a tent in late spring/early summer instead of a bivy/tarp (or just a bivy), it's going to be because of mosquitoes.

Order of tent priorities for me, from high to low: mosquitoes, condensation, wind (warmth), rain (sometimes intense, but never long)

The sublite seems to handle all of these, and a mesh door would enhance the first, by making the tent less isolating when one is stuck in it.

Edited by swimjay on 12/25/2008 01:06:09 MST.

I think a mesh door would be great, especially considering that this tent seems to do well in warm weather where it would be nice to have an afternoon nap with a view and no bugs.

Henry, if you're still looking for input on the Tyvek version, I would like to see the front window/vent be enlarged to match the size found in the Silnylon version. That way you can have views out the front (plus looking up)without adding a screen to the side entrance.

Thanks, everyone, for all your input. The next iteration of the Sublite will have a mesh door. I've come around to think that the added pleasure is worth the 1-ounce bump. We'll be out of Sublite stock (but not Sublite Sil) for the next month or so.

-H

How about making it with some non-noseeum mesh for increased airflow?

I too would like the increased air flow, but... There are folks who might be using this tent in areas where really tiny buggers would be able to get through a heavier mesh.

The Sublite, at present, has a total of approximately 10 square feet of screen. The mesh door would add about an additional 2.5 square feet. That's quite a bit for a one person tent.