Hey, I have been updating my gear and the only thing left is a tent. Any advice on a lightweight tent, that packs small and is under 2 pounds. Solo or 2 people. I prefer something with a floor. I see there is a TarpTent Virga-1 up for sale on gear trader right now. Anybody have any experience with the Virga-1? I do carry treking poles, so I would like something that can utilize them. Thanks!

I strongly recommend the Lunar Solo

http://www.sixmoondesigns.com/tents.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_smd.tpl&product_id=38&category_id=7

I don't know if you've checked it out already but I have one and it's the blood and sweat of my pack. It is way under 2lbs and even has enough room for another person in there with you, or your pack or some other goodies on the back side.

A lot of people put it down for it's difficulty to pitch but if you just play with it for a while you can get it no problem.

hope this helps

I would suggest the Lightheart Solo. It comes in at about 27oz. The views are absolutely magnificent. I absolutely love this tent.

You can find more information on their website www.lightheartgear.com

There is also a thread about it here http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=32103

Mine has easily withstood moderately high winds and has handled condensation very well. I can't say enough good stuff about this tent.

The Virga is a nice tent. The Contrail is sort of an updated Virga, if you want a new tent. Both are solo, of course.

I've been liking my new Tarptent Moment. It's a little heavier than the Contrail or Virga, I think, but it sets up very quickly and has a lot of room. Also, I like having the door on the long side of the tent rather than at my head. Personal preference, of course.

I'm in line for one of Judy's Cuben Solo tents at Lightheart. I really don't need it until next spring. It'll cost you twice as much as her 27 oz nylon tent, but will weigh 14 oz if you got all 0.6 cuben fiber. I'm getting a 1.5 bottom and that should add approximately 2 oz to the total = 16 oz.

This was on BPL a few hours ago.

https://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/process#forumtop

I used a Virga 2 for a couple of years. Good solid tent.

There are lots of good choices out there in that range. I haven't used the Virga, but I have used the newer version, the Contrail. I ended up going back to the Gossamer Gear SpinnShelter/Alpinlite Bug Tent 1.25 combo I was using before but it wasn't a bad tent. There are two Gossamer Gear "The One" Shelters on gear swap (one 2008 posted today and a 2009 posted a few days ago) and they have always interested me.

"A lot of people put it down for it's difficulty to pitch but if you just play with it for a while you can get it no problem."

The same can be said of Gossamer Gear's "The One". I have a 2009 model and love it. Kept it when thinning out the herd and let a contrail go instead.

Second on this one, I'm probably going to pickup a cuben solo myself. After trying out Judy's, and seeing how easy it was to pitch, I gotta have one.

Andy,

What sort of price range are you working with? If you've got ample money to put towards this then you've got some really nice cuben options like:

- LightHeart Solo in Cuben (14oz, $550)
- Zpacks Hexamid with optional sewn in floor (12oz, $410)
- HMG Echo I ($490, 21oz)
- MLD SoloMid w Bug Inner (19oz, $470)

All of those are double wall designs except for the Hexamid. I personally would be nervous about the LightHeart because they are using a really light (0.48oz) variant of cuben which should work, but it's not nearly as strong as the standard 0.74oz cuben. You'd definitely need to use a good groundsheet with this, whereas the other shelters can be used without one if you are careful. Both the MLD and HMG shelters can be used without the inner so you have the option of a really light shelter when bugs aren't a concern.

Edited by dandydan on 10/18/2010 17:49:06 MDT.

"I'm in line for one of Judy's Cuben Solo tents at Lightheart. I really don't need it until next spring. It'll cost you twice as much as her 27 oz nylon tent, but will weigh 14 oz if you got all 0.6 cuben fiber. I'm getting a 1.5 bottom and that should add approximately 2 oz to the total = 16 oz."

Are you sure about this? The Lightheart website says that her 14oz solo tent uses CT0.6K.08, which is NOT the same thing as 0.6oz cuben. CT0.6K.08 is 0.48oz/yd stuff, whereas when people say '0.6oz cuben' they are normally referring to CT2K.08 which is actually 0.74oz/yd2 (The '0.6oz' number comes from the weight of a 'sailmakers yard' which is a smaller 28.5" x 36" piece). 0.74oz cuben contains over 3x as much spectra as 0.48oz cuben and it has a breaking strength of nearly double. I'm happy to see a 0.48oz tent on the market but I hope people understand what they are getting.

To my knowledge, no gear company has ever sold a tent or tarp using CT0.6K.08. Some individuals have used this or even the lighter 0.33oz cuben, but a lot of respected companies (ie. MLD) feel that 0.74oz cuben is needed to ensure long life and durability. Honestly, 0.48oz stuff would probably work okay if it's designed well to eliminate stress points and the user is careful with it. I still wouldn't expect to get years of use though.

The 1.5oz cuben floor is a good call. I can't see 0.48oz cuben lasting very long as a floor. A 1.5oz cuben floor is actually probably lighter overall because it can be used without a groundsheet with reasonable site prep.

Edited by dandydan on 10/18/2010 18:01:35 MDT.

Please allow me to clarify any misunderstandings - The cuben LightHeart Solo in CT0.6K.08 weighing 0.48 oz/yd (body, floor and flys) is Judy's personal tent which she used and tested on the JMT last month. Any tent made from cuben fiber requires an appropriate amount of special attention to assure long life. The material is clearly expensive and delicate, and should be treated with care. We are actually recommending that to improve durability, customers either order the CT5K.18 (1.5 oz/yd) cuben or a 30D sil-nylon (1.35 - 1.4 oz/yd) for the floor while maintaining the CT0.6K.08 for the body and flys. Our testing showed that using our design, this material is completely suitable for the body and flys. Using the heavier materials for the floor will raise the weight by about 3 oz. over the CT0.6 base weight.
We understand that there are variations in the product use, skill level, expertise, and weight tolerance of the customer base and want to offer options to meet those varying needs. That is what is nice about being able to offer custom made products. If there are other materials that customers would like to pursue, we are willing and able to consider those.
Marc Penansky
LightHeart Gear

Thanks Marc.

Have you guys looked into using CT3.5K.18 for the floor? It's a new variant of cuben that uses the same durable mylar layers as 1.5oz cuben (CT5K.18) but it's a bit lighter (1.2oz) because it doesn't have as much spectra. 1.2oz cuben has the same great abrasion resistance as 1.5oz cuben, so I think it makes a great floor material and it would save an ounce or so...not a big deal...just something to think about. Zpacks is starting to use this for their groundsheets.
http://zpacks.com/shelter/cuben_groundsheet.shtml

Dan,
I had not heard of that variant until now. We will look into it.
Thanks for the heads up,
Marc

I had a TT Contrail and liked it.

Now I own the TT Moment and LOVE it. Take a look. That tent is hard to beat considering its many features, weight and price. Then there's the one minute setup time as well as it's great aerodynamics in a heavy wind.