Help me decide...

[VT-Mike]

I just picked up several tents at a yard sale. Please help me decide which to keep.
Round one is Tarptent Sublite Sil vs. Six Moons Designs Lunar Solo. If you have any experience with either of these tents, what are your likes and/or dislikes?

[HooKooDooKu]

I just picked up several tents at a yard sale. Please help me decide which to keep.
Round one is Tarptent Sublite Sil vs. Six Moons Designs Lunar Solo. If you have any experience with either of these tents, what are your likes and/or dislikes?

Keep them both.

I currently own 4 tents, all in current use for various purposes.
I can even bump that number up to 5 if you want to include the tent I've kept but retired from back country duty because the waterproof layer de-laminated after 20 years of ownership.

[Bronk]

You should get rid of them both. That is probably why they were at a yard sale to begin with.

[VT-Mike]

Getting rid of one because I already have three other tents, one hammock and one tarp set up. The current collection has me covered for shelters all year in all conditions. As I see it the two mentioned are very similar and would replace an older one person lightweight shelter.

And no both tents are brand spank new, one still in the box it was shipped in!

[Studlintsean]

Getting rid of one because I already have three other tents, one hammock and one tarp set up. The current collection has me covered for shelters all year in all conditions. As I see it the two mentioned are very similar and would replace an older one person lightweight shelter.

And no both tents are brand spank new, one still in the box it was shipped in!

That is a hell of score. I dont have experience with either tent but it would depend on what my other tents were.

[Franco]

There are two versions of the Sublite Sil, one has a vestibule the other a larger floor area.
They need poles at 53" or slightly longer to work otherwise you can get dedicated poles from Tarptent.
It has a smallish footprint for the available room inside.Takes a person up to 6'6".

[VT-Mike]

The Sublite Sil came with the dedicated poles, no vestibule. Both tents in question are older, circa 2010's.

[MtDoraDave]

Pitch them both, sit inside and lay inside ... decide if you want one with a vestibule or not. The TT may be crowded with your pack inside, since it has no vestibule, or maybe you use your pack as a pillow or knee support?

[cmoulder]

Wow, finding a SMD Lunar Solo at a yard sale?

You live in a better neighborhood than I do!

Yeah, at least keep them both for a while and test drive 'em.

[VT-Mike]

Oh yeah, first thing I did when I got home was set'em all up in the yard and crawled in. These are both great tents. I was hoping to "turn" one of them into winter gear. Wondering if anyone had good or bad things to say about either. But at this point I will wait till spring to take them for a test drive. Winter has taken hold in my parts and the 0* stuffs coming out.

[Franco]

Because of the two poles at the front and the struts at the rear, the Sublite Sil can take some snow but after several inches (if you don't shake it off) the attachment point at the front may give .
This is a photo posted by Quoddy when the tent first came out :

he left the tent out in the snow and took some photos of the increasing load. Eventually the front gave but the shelter was still somehow standing.
DeadSublite.jpg

[Franco]

BTW, it was sold as a 3 season tent.

[VT-Mike]

Yep, it won't be seeing any snow and has way too much ventilation for winter use. I have a BD Firstlight for that.
And the other score at the yard sale was a Stephenson Warmlite 2R that I am excited to use this winter.

[lunatic]

I don't know the TT, but I used an older version of the Lunar Solo on thru hikes of the AT, JMT, and LT before retiring it for a hammock this year. needless to say, I like it a lot. I feel like there is enough room in it for me and all my gear, and I never had too much condensation- sure some. It takes practice to learn to set it up properly, but once you figure it out it will only take a few minutes to get it setup. My only frustrations are: I feel like it needs more space to setup than other tents I've used because of its shape, and the bathtub floor on mine is super slippery - so even a slight slope means sliding to one side or another. Great piece of equipment though. Enjoy!

[VT-Mike]

Thanks Lunatic! Good to hear the set up gets easier. It was not intuitive at all. One of the only tents I had to read instructions after a first failed attempt.
Yeah, I've used a slippery floored tent before, solution "paint" stripes of seam seal across the floor.
The biggest "for" this tent is the number of thru's you pack it!