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OutDoor Show 2010: Tents

Posted on 30 Juli 2010

The third part of my OutDoor Show review is about tents. There were lots of tents at the show this year and I wanna show you some of the most interesting tents.

Let’s start with a winner. Terra Nova won a gold award in the tent category for their new tent the Laser Ultra 1. It is the lightest double wall tent on the market und the first made with Cuben Fiber. Terra Nova tries every year to lighten up their tents. They have managed this again. Furthermore they are the first company which wants to establish Cuben Fiber on the market. Don’t worry the Laser Ultra 1 is not a complete new tent. It is based on the basis of the Laser Photon 1 which was the lightest tent till now. The Laser Ultra 1 has the same body proportions as the Laser Photon 1. Terra Nova only changed the heavy silnylon flysheet and floor against the lightweight Cuben Fiber fabric. The result is a double wall tent with a weight of round about 500g (17,64oz). Now the question is how the new tent works under real conditions because Cuben Fiber is a complicated fabric. One of the most susceptible points could be the floor, because Cuben has poor abrasion resistance and therefore this could break after repeated construction. Another cracking point is the flysheet. Most seams of the Terra Nova Laser Ultra 1 are sewn and that is a problem of Cuben Fiber. If the wind load on the flysheet is very strong, it is possible that the seams can split because cuben doesn’t extend.

Easton presented at the OutDoor show 2010 their new ultralight three season tent with the name Kilo. The name is program. The tent weighs less than one kilogram, exactly 910g (32,1 oz). It is a two person tent made with 20D ripstop-nylon and 30D ripstop-nylon for the floor. Easton used the Carbon ION pole system with Airlock. This system is 59% lighter than standard aluminum connectors with shock cord. If it’s hot in summer you can use the tent without flysheet for better ventilation. There’s enough space for two persons in the tent and it is one of the lightest two person double wall tents of the world and it looks more stable than the Vaude Power Lizard UL which got an Award last year.

Sea To Summit released two new tents. The Specialist Solo and Duo are the new tents in the range. Both are single wall tents mad with 20D ripstop-nylon with a breathability of 6000MTVR. They look a lot like the Six Moons Designs Vamp and Heaven. The Specialist Solo weighs 625g (22 oz) and the Duo 845 g (29,8 oz). Both weights include the weight of two poles, but it is also possible to use your trekking poles.

The Vaude Power Lizard UL got a little brother. Tokee is his name and it is the 1-person version of the Power Lizard UL. The new tent has a weight of 800g (28,2 oz) and it is made with the same fabrics as the Power Lizard UL.

In the heavy tent section I found a new tent from Hilleberg. They released their new 4-person tent Saitaris. It is a mixture of geodesic and a tunnel tent. Furthermore it is very suitable for trips in winter. If you interested in some pictures, please have a look at this page here.

MSR presented their new tents Hoop and Holler. The Hoop is a 2-personen double wall tent with small pack size and a weight of 2,05kg (4,52 lb), the holler is a 3-person tent and has also a small pack size and a weight of 2,73kg ( 6,02 lb). Both tents have spacious vestibules and an interior length of 2,30m for tall hiker.

At least I want to show you another tent made with Cuben Fiber. I was surprised to see this tent at the OutDoor Show. The producer of this tent is Big Sky International. They got an Industry Award in Gold for this innovative tent. It is a Cuben prototype of their Mirage 2P, a single wall freestanding tent with lots of space. I wanted to contact Big Sky  International at the OutDoor Show, but they were not present. There are no informations about the shelter available at the moment. Bob Molen from Big Sky International assured me to send the details as quickly as possible.