Any problems with the Lightheartgear Solo tent?
I have had a Big Agnes Seedhouse SL 1 for about 6 years. I am looking at getting a Lightheartgear Solo tent. Has anybody had any problems with the Lightheartgear Solo tent?
I took my lightheart solo on a 250-mile section hike this summer, and I loved it! It is very lightweight and compact, but once you set it up, there is plenty of space inside, and enough headroom to sit up. It is tricky to figure out the exact length you need to adjust your trekking poles to at first, but once you have it memorized, setup is very quick.
The thing I did not like about my Big Agnes tent was the poles / shock cord. I don't have that issue with the LHG Solo, because it uses your trekking poles for support. Also, a bonus with the LHG solo is you can get in it, as soon as you have it staked. This is especially beneficial when it is about to rain. I have staked this tent out, and gotten in it, just as the "bottom fell out," still setting it up from the inside.Originally Posted by Renee'
Hands down, it is the best designed tent I have ever used. That's just one man's opinion though.
They are on sale right now too! The Solo - normally sells for $245.00 on sale for $199.00
Judy - AKA HeartFire of LightHeart Gear
I got the cuben solo and have spent a month or so nights in it in all kinds of weather - snow, driving rain, high winds, etc. No problems, no complaints.
I think you'll be happy with the switch - it's really in a different league than the SL1.
I recently got the Solong 6, and love it. On my last hike, a friend was using my old tent, while I used the Solong. The difference in set up times was amazing. The difference in the amount of room was just as amazing. I have not had a chance to try it in adverse conditions yet, but look forward to the results.
Curious, what is it about the BA Seedhouse SL1 that you do not like?
I've got a solo and have never had any problems with it. I like the room inside. And the ease of setup.
1st of Ten...
You are killin' me girl... I was "First" of ten
... I set my Solo up in a "wash"(my bad) in wicked rain on the Skeenoh Creek and stayed "bone dry"... +1 for sure... Thanks Judy...
My Big Agnes has been a great little tent, I love the weight. The seam seal is flaking off (I can get a new fly for $70 or re-seam seal it), the front section of pole is bending, there is a small hole in the floor, and I have never really liked the front entry. I also like the idea of using trekking poles, since I already carry them with me. I have also been looking at the Tarptent Stratospire 1. I wish they would come out with a price on the Stratospire 1, so that I could make a decision.
I don't not like the SL1 but (IMO) tents made by the smaller companies like Tarptent, SMD, Lightheart Gear, etc. are just better designed in terms of weight savings, setup and takedown and use of interior space.
But, there's not a thing wrong with the SL1 - I've probably seen a hundred of them setup and not heard a single complaint that I know of.
I used a BA Seedhouse SL1 in 2011 and it worked well. I saw alot of Fly Creek SL1 and decided to check 'em out. I wanted to cut my pack weight some and the tent came into my sights.
Ended up with a BA Fly Creek SL1 off eBay for about $180. My SH SL1 weighed (actual) 2' 12", the FC SL1 weighs 2' 2" both with just pole bag and six stakes.
Things I like about FC SL1, relatively cheap, very weather proof, quick set up, durable, light.
Things I don't like, front entry, made in China.
Things like about the Lightheart Solo, light, uses hiking poles, very weather proof, made in USA.
Things I don't like, not free standing.
My Lightheart solo I purchased this summer was made in China, I think. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Love this tent. Only slept in it twice in good weather, but am sure I'm going to love it. Dropped a pound from my shelter weight. Used to use a Eureka Spitfire solo which is also a fine tent.
You are correct, the "standard" Solo & Duo were made in China. But I make all of the custom Solo's myself, and all of the SoLong 6's. As of now, I will not be outsourcing the SoLong 6 at all.My Lightheart solo I purchased this summer was made in China, I think.
Judy/ LightHeart Gear
I think that EVERY tent has problems, or at least I've never seen or heard of a perfect tent. IMO it's about being conscious of the trade-offs to make an informed decision. I own and have used a Tarptent Contrail quite a bit, and also a Gatewood Cape (much less experience with that, but still a number of nights spent in it), and I've used a poncho tarp and a heavier silnylon tarp, sometimes combined with a light bivy. Of all of those solo options, the Lightheart Solo is very clearly my favorite; I just finished a CDT SOBO thru-hike using a lightheart solo, and unlike on the AT, I slept every trail night in the tent (for exactly 5 months, finishing three days ago), apart from cowboy camping just the last two nights. If NM sand would have held my stakes I would have been in the tent those days too (it's warmer in the tent). FWIW, I got the cuben upper with awning and two bug-net side doors, with silnylon floor version of this tent.
All that said, here's a complete list of every possible complaint I can think of with the Lightheart solo in particular (and read again that I like this tent better than any other option that I'm aware of, not just including tents that I own, but that I've ever *heard* of):
(1) If you're hiking in a lot of snow, a lightheart solo isn't too happy with snow baskets on your poles. I left them on at first but felt that the pressure of the wider snow baskets was putting too much stress on the fabric, so I took the snow baskets off every night and put them back on in the morning --- which was a PITA.
(2) Like some other tent designs, the lightheart solo can be a very effective bug trap. Bugs fly in under the outer fabric, fly up to buzz (or crawl) around on the mesh, and never seem to figure out that they can't escape by going upward. Really not much of a problem, it can just be noisy with them just outside the mesh some nights, and the tent gets a bit untidy looking with all those squashed bug bodies that accumulate.
(3) At times I had trouble getting a really taut pitch, something that's good in wind. Certainly the cuben fiber helped here as it doesn't stretch, but it seemed weird in that I would set my poles to a certain height one night and the tent would be perfectly taut, and the next night the same pole lengths wouldn't get it perfectly taut, and that with quite a bit of practice on my part. In general, however, it pitches quite taut and easily, not real complaint here, just observing that it doesn't seem to always come out perfect.
(4) After several months of continuous use, one of the zippers got a bit wonky. Not a big problem, as there are two zippers on the bug door flap, so I just remembered to use the other one.
(5) A very minor issue is that the provided cord is black. It's reflective, but easier for someone to trip over when it's not dark, and can be a little harder to see when you get knots in it. Obviously this is easy to fix (just not so easy for me on the trail, but I soon got used to it).
(6) Judy sewed in little buttons on short elastic loops to hold the "doors" open, but this spot didn't get seam sealed (or at least not well enough), so that in extended intense rain I got leakage at that point. Not a big problem, but something I hope to fix
(7) The carry bag for the tent was also cuben, but as I carry the tent in an external mesh side pouch and the CDT is an SOB of a trail, this got fairly shredded over time. Simple solution: wrap the carry bag in a cheap shopping bag from town. Nevertheless, I think the extra weight of a silnylon carry bag might be worth while here as cuben isn't too good against abrasion (which is why I got a silnylon floor, though the cost difference also factored in.
I'll also say that while I like the awning option, and in fact was one of those that encouraged (pushed?) Judy to add this, I found that I used it relatively little. I think I might use it more in more typical summer-time backpacking settings, however. Having two bug door flaps was wonderful, however, as it gave me different options to do such activities as cook, brush my teeth, pour out my pee bottle (is that TMI ?), etc. This is now by far my go-to tent for any solo hiking I do in future.
Gadget
PCT: 2008 NOBO, AT: 2010 NOBO, CDT: 2011 SOBO, PNT: 2014+2016
Thanks for the thorough review Brian. I too am considering this tent, and the current sale is attractive. I was trying to figure out the difference between the wedge and the awning. From the pics it seems they function pretty much the same way, it is just that the wedge is a bit smaller than the awning. Is that accurate? Do you think you would have found the wedge more useful than the awning? Do both need a pole to set up (assuming both trekking poles are used for the tent). Also you say that having two bug door flaps is handy. Is this the second door option listed on the awning version? I didn't see that option with the wedge. Is that standard, available, or optional with the wedge?
LightHeart Solo
OddManOut,
I don't want to speak for BrianLe, but I thought I would try to clarify a few things. BrianLe has the Cuben version (with the sil-nylon floor) of the Solo. The "Wedge" option is not available with the Cuben body and fly because the lightweight material cannot support the weight of the extra zipper. On the "standard sil-nylon" tents only the wedge is available as an option, you would have to get a "custom Solo" to get the awning style fly. The coverage of an awning and a wedge is approximately the same. You could use a stick to prop up the awning or wedge, tie it off to a tree, or use an awning pole. We offer either a carbon fiber awning pole weighing 1 ounce or an adjustable aluminum awning pole weighing 3.5 ounces.
You can get the second fly with a zipper and a second door on a "custom Solo" but this option is not available on the "standard Solo". The "standard Solo and Duo" are the only ones that come with the high hydrostatic head sil-nylon.
BrianLe,
Welcome back and congratulations on your CDT hike! Thanks for the positive and constructive comments.
Marc Penansky
LightHeart Gear
Thought I would comment as I have used both tents. The BA tent is nice, but I thought it was a bit of a coffin. I like to bring my pack in the tent with me, and it didn't provide enough room for that. I would say there really isn't a comparison to the LH Solo and the BA, as the LH wins hands down in my view. It is lighter, easier to pitch, roomier, and what I really like about it is you can set it up so that if it starts raining in the night you can put it in lock down mode in about 15 seconds. The only thing I don't really like about it is the little PVC thingy that you put the hiking poles in to pitch it. You have to be real careful to get your poles in it right, or you can slip and potentially put a hole in the tent. And if you lose that little piece, I don't really know if there would be a good plan B to get the tent up.
If I had to do it again I would definitely get a second door and zipper put in the fly. That gives you access to the second vestibule and also would give you better options for how much of the fly to leave on at night.
The LH is almost a perfect tent for me. It would be if it was maybe 6 inches wider, which would be awesome for the pack explosion that happens in my tent nightly. I wish they had come out with a "So Wide" rather than a "So Long."
Thanks, Persistent, I have no idea about the 'wedge', it wasn't to my knowledge an option when I ordered my tent. I'm impressed, however, that you and Judy are still innovating, and like very much the idea of the longer version; at 5'10" I think I'm towards the taller end of people for whom the standard solo works fine without much risk of the foot end of the sleeping bag pushing up against the combined bug net and fly towards the end --- in fact, this can be an occasional problem when pitched on sloping ground if you tend to slide a bit (the tent is pretty good about holding things in place, but still).
StealthHikerBoy said:
"You have to be real careful to get your poles in it right, or you can slip and potentially put a hole in the tent. And if you lose that little piece, I don't really know if there would be a good plan B to get the tent up."
True dat, and at one point this year one of my pole tips broke and the remaining blunt end did slip out a couple of times, so I had to take care until I got a replacement, but with care I was able to make it work. And ditto the risk with the little plastic ridge piece, but FWIW in five months of use mine has held up just fine. I'm not saying that therefore everyone's will, but rolled up inside the tent fabric everyday protects it quite well when carried, and so long as reasonable care is taken when setting up and taking down, the piece is mostly just under static pressure when the tent is set up, so I'm pretty comfortable about that aspect now.
Speaking of which, Judy had sewn in a couple of velcro loops to hold that piece in place in high wind, but my own experience was that after the first month or so I stopped bothering to connect those loops even on windy nights. It just didn't seem to be a problem there, at least for me. Maybe it's different with a silnylon tent, dunno.
Final note, I saw no need to have a zipper on both sides of the fly, just the inner mesh. That's what was useful for me with my personal camping "style" at any rate. Typically I would use the non-entrance side to cook on (the awning side, but generally I cooked just outside of the tent fly without deploying the awning). And I would use it to stick my pack just outside the tent in a black plastic garbage bag (with a neo-air, I don't need the pack as padding, and like a roomier interior). And occasionally it was nice to stick my head out on that side to look at an animal going by (had a coyote in my camp one night) or if people were walking nearby, that sort of thing. Certainly with the awning deployed, however, a person could use it as an alternate exit and just crawl under the awning, but in general I don't see the point; my shoes were always kept on the other (out)side.
Gadget
PCT: 2008 NOBO, AT: 2010 NOBO, CDT: 2011 SOBO, PNT: 2014+2016
BrianLe,
I've made a few changes to cuben tents since you got yours!
The button loops for the tie backs are seam sealed now with Aqua Seal rather than silnet - it holds better.
Stuff sacks for cuben tents are now silnylon,
the upper portion of the side walls - where the baskets of the hiking poles hit - are reinforced with heavier cuben.
One reason why you may have had different pole lengths,- think 3 dimensional, if tip to tip is a different length (even one inch different) then the height of the tent will be different. so if you stretched the tips a bit more one night, the pole height would have to be a bit shorter. You wouldn't be able to push the ridge line up to the height it was before because it's stretched out too long. (I do hope that is clear as mud)
We are having new tie out cord made for us - the supplier (in Georgia) we were using quit making it, so we have gone to having custom tie out cord manufactured for us - Locally I should add, here in North Carolina. It will be blaze orange with a reflective tracer in it, Not sure how soon we will get it, in the mean time we have some nasty cord - it's all I could source or now, -
Zzippers - this is a big issue and I don't really know how to solve it. I've had 3 or 4 tents come back after a thru hike (AT, PCT, etc) with zipper problems. I am using YKK zippers, and YKK zipper pulls. I have noticed grooves in the zipper pulls that I replace (it's only the zipper pulls that are the problem, unless the zipper coil becomes obviously creased or broken). (and I have replaced them all at no charge). I don't know if it's dirt and grit that causes the groove in the pull that prevents it from closing the zipper, or if it's just wear and tear from so much use that causes the groove. I have replaced zipper pulls for other items that were not YKK zippers, those were just soft metal causing the pull to widen, but that is not the case with the YKK zipper pulls. So, if the zipper fails, the easiest thing is to take it to someone that can replace the zipper pull or send it back to me, and I will do it.
Judy aka HeartFire
LightHeart Gear
www.lightheartgear.com
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