Just saw this on a tech blog.

http://www.gizmag.com/sierra-designs-high-tech-tent/23474/

Pretty much the most expensive 2 person tent ever, but the lightest freestanding I've ever seen. It almost looks like it has a tyvek shell, but I think that would be too heavy.

Cuben fiber fly and carbon poles.

Golite will compete with that next year.

"Coup: Next year we will have the lightest free-standing tents on the market, at a very affordable price. It’s ultra-light for an ultra-low price."

hmmm... It's only two ounces lighter than the Big Agnes Fly Creek 2 Platinum ($380 street), which is claimed to weigh 1 pound 13 ounces.

Hmm....interesting to see SD using cuben. I'm not quite sure they have the panache to sell a tent at that price level, but I'm glad to see them dabbling with these materials.

The design looks very similar to the Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2, with the main difference being the externally located poles. It's nice to see the poles located outside the fly to allow a 'protected inner' setup. Like the Fly Creek tents, I imagine the doorway is a problem area with the sloped door allowing rain to fall into the tent (likely) and the long vestibule likely being a big stretch to fully close.

I'm not sure what's up with the extra fabric at the sides - perhaps they're intended as extra vestibules you can slip some gear into? They look a bit small for this....the tent fly looks like it was accidentally baggy so they guyed it out. Tough to judge from one pic though.

$1800 is too much for what this is. People will easily spend $1800 on cool camping gear, but $1800 seems out of line for a cuben + carbon tent. You can get full cuben tents for $600 or so (ie. SMD Haven, Lightheart etc) plus a few hundred extra for carbon poles. I think Big Sky was selling their cuben Mirage tent for $1000 with full cuben and carbon poles.

Not really freestanding if you have to peg out the fly to get usable space is it?

Terra Nova have a 'true' freestanding tent that is similar - 900g....and an eye-watering price...

Funny to see the outrageous mark up on UL shelters when the big manufacturers "step in" using offshore production and "state of the art" materials like cuben fiber, carbon (albeit a few years late to the game).

If anything, this just shows that handmade cuben shelters from the cottage industry, built by people with a shared passion, aren't outrageously priced.

"If anything, this just shows that handmade cuben shelters from the cottage industry, built by people with a shared passion, aren't outrageously priced."

I've always thought that the hand-made cottage stuff using Cuben was astonishingly low in price, given the cost of the fabric itself. They're probably getting better prices on Cuben than an individual who's not buying in bulk could, but even so my guess is that they're able to get away with their likely relatively small profit margins by avoiding overhead and middlemen.