Back in August Will Rietveld reported on a new floorless twin peak shelter made of cuben fiber to come out this fall from Hyperlite Mountain Gear called the "Traverse Shelter". I have yet to see it on their website. Anyone know what the delay is all about? Are they still planning on bringing it to market? Anyone know what's up? I'm chomping at the bit to get a new winter shelter.

Do you think this would this be like the shelter that Bender is selling on Gear Swap or the one like Lawson (Mountainfitter) had prototyped about a year ago?

I haven't heard anything either since these posts

http://blog.hyperlitemountaingear.com/?paged=2

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/orsm_2011_shelters_sleep_gear.html

It says due fall 2011.

If it comes out before Dec.31st you can use coupon code HMGHOLIDAY at take 25% off your entire order.

Edited by annapurna on 12/09/2011 15:55:03 MST.

This sounds like the more exciting part for me:

"A smaller two-person version is planned."

I would honestly buy one of each right now.

the two person version is also interesting for me. HMG told me that this tent is planned for 2012. they have lots of things to do at the moment

@ Eugene, I tried looking for the two shelters you mentioned and couldn't find them. I'm also not the best when it comes to BPL searches.
@Anna, I didn't know about the coupon code. Good to know. That might come in handy. Thanks.
@Bradford, the 2 person version is what I'm REALLY curious about. I figured if they were making the Traverse Shelter that they would also make the 2 person version as well.
@Steve, Me too.
@Benjamin, Thanks for bringing the inside scoop. I'll keep an eye out for new things to come from HMG in 2012. Do you know of any other new products HMG has in store for next year?

From Will's article it sounded like the 2 person version of the Traverse would be like a Cuben Fiber version of a Golite Shangri-la 2, MSR Twin Sister, or something similar. No one seems to be making a twin peak floorless 2 person cuben mid. I see a hole in the market here. I wonder if we can convince any of our favorite cottage manufactures to make one.

Here's the tent that Lawson made:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=39259




It wasn't Bender selling it, it was Ben Smith. Here it is:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/xdpy/forum_thread/54956/index.html?skip_to_post=479005#479005

Did Lawson ever bring that into production? Last I checked on his website he wasn't selling the tarps anymore. I don't visit BPL as much as I used to so I may have missed out, but I offered to buy his prototype in the thread you posted the link to. Great looking shelter...I love my Duomid, but I have made 2 shelters (one is in my avatar) with the double pole configuration and man do I love having that extra head room and space.

Hi Guys.
We've been working on finalizing our first generation of the Traverse Shelter. It's a great shelter and we're excited to start sharing it with the world! We're looking at doing a special production run, so for all of you interested in getting in on it and for more details, contact us at Info@hyperlitemountaingear.com.

Thanks for your interest.

@Mike
Awesome, you'll be hearing from me for sure. THANKS!

Mike, thanks for the update. I'm look forward to seeing the two man version of this shelter become available in the future.

Edited by thomdarrah on 12/12/2011 08:12:01 MST.

Mike, thanks for popping in. Check your e-mails...I want that shelter! :)

Steven, in another thread Lawson said that there was little to no interest in that shelter, so he decided against putting it into production.

We've had a great flurry of interest in the Traverse Shelter! Looking forward to getting our special production run started. Once we have enough pre-orders to fill it, we'll get to work. Call us at 800-464-9208 or email at info@hyperlitemountaingear.com if you'd like more information.

Thanks and happy trails form HMG!

"Did Lawson ever bring that into production? Last I checked on his website he wasn't selling the tarps anymore."

Recently I inquired with Lawson twice via email about a tarp. The first time I got no response. After a reminder/followup from me, he asked about what I wanted in a tarp. I replied, and he never responded again.

I guess he really, really doesn't want to sell tarps.

I checked in on this a couple of times and never saw an order form or price. It is hard to imagine no interest in the prototype considering the weight and apparent east of pitch and simplicity. I wonder if it was a capitalization issue? That is a tad easier to understand. It would be quite a leap to invest in the material and other production costs without sufficient capital and other bills to pay. If you had to put your house up for this kind of venture it would certainly give pause. Easy to understand.

Edited by johnk on 12/16/2011 16:58:00 MST.

Lawson once explained on here a while back that the initial announcement of the shelter didn't get enough attention to act on it (if I remember correctly). Its been brought up a few times since, but I'm guessing that just not enough people have shared interest in it for it to be worth the effort of making.

Anybody have insider info with what's going on with the Traverse Shelter? I reserved one back when I posted in this thread and sent a follow up last week but never heard back. Just want to make sure I am not the only one waiting :)

Steve, you are not the only one to hear nothing. At this point I'm not holding my breath.