PDA

View Full Version : go lite- hut one



double j
07-05-2008, 11:51
i can get this tent pretty cheap.....has anyone used one of these .and was it good or bad?

Tinker
07-05-2008, 12:03
The only thing I've heard about these is that the nylon stretches more than lighter weight silnylon when it gets wet. It is also supposedly more durable. Check www.backpackinglight.com (http://www.backpackinglight.com) for a review. I know that they reviewed the poncho a couple of years ago, can't remember if they did the hut one.

Dirtygaiters
07-05-2008, 16:35
I used to own one that I bought on clearance a while back. I ended up selling it for a small loss because it didn't fit my needs at the time, and because it was slightly heavier than the alternatives. However, I wish I still had it. As far as shaped tarps go, it was a cut above the rest in terms of workmanship and fittings, and it was, what I think is, a good combination between low profile to wind and a decent amount of head room. The main problem with it, as Tinker pointed out, was that even though it's made of a heavier silnylon than something like the Integral Designs Silshelter, it's still silnylon, and thus is prone to all the problems inherent with this fabric. Namely: misting in very heavy rain (a pretty minor problem, even though it sounds bad), and stretching when wet (a bigger problem). Although it does have built-in guy line tensioners that you can reach without even having to go outside the shelter, the second a panel of a tarp becomes slack, a gust of wind can come up and shake it, knocking off all the condensation that was clinging to it previously and potentially getting you wet.

For about the same weight, the shaped tarp that I currently use is the rainfly from a solo tent made of urethane/silicone coated nylon (a Montbell monoframe diamond in fast-fly mode). That fabric is standard to most tent flies, and is superior to the heavy-silnylon that Golite uses in terms of UV resistance, waterproofness, and stretching. So if you really want to carry around a decent 17 ounce shaped tarp, you might as well find one in that type of fabric, or do what I did and get a solo tent that has a lightweight pole system so you can use its rainfly in fast-fly mode.

Otherwise, the Golite Hut 1 is well made and well designed. You just have to keep an eye on the tension of the fabric if it's both raining/humid and windy.