LL bean microlight 2
Is there a reason this tent is not popular here?
Light, great warranty, two door, etc....
Had the one person version, was a great little tent.
Not light.
2 person is under 3 pounds if you swap in Ti stakes and / or leave the stuff sack. Not the lightest, but I'd say it's light?
It's popular with me. And I have the previous incarnation - sooo heavy at 4 lbs w/o stakes! But you get 30.5 sq ft and 2 side entrances ... not so bad.Originally Posted by MelatoninPenguin
I can't speak for everyone else but I sense that cottage manufacturers who employ the latest clever designs and lightweight/high performance fabrics are favored here. So you see more testimonials for zpacks, Tarptent, SMD, LightHeart, etc. REI and LLBean house brands seem to be perceived as employing a strategy of playing it safe with proven designs and fabrics for the middle market and which reduce the chances of warranty (or other) returns.
It may also be that many here view tents as a wear item and are willing to put more of their budget into buying lighter and replacing it as necessary, as opposed to buying something less performance-oriented and expecting it to last indefinitely, assuming no mishaps or abuse.
it seems to me that advances in ultralight gear have primarily been made through ever-thinner fabrics. I think the denier of the fly on the new LLB Microlight UL2 is half (15) of the one I have (30). IIRC the floor of the new one is 20D with 1200mm hydraulic head, down from 70D, 1500mm.
Looking at a Nemo recently, I've seen as low as 7D on one of their ultralight tents. At this rate, we'll soon get to "emperor's new clothes" territory. Perhaps heavier denier does automatically mean more durable, but I suspect there's a strong correlation. I don't know where the line is between "unnecessarily heavy" and "too light and fragile", but I have a hard time with the notion of paying more for something that will wear out quicker. Guess I don't prioritize going light as high as some.
That is the peculiar part now.
Retail brands like LL Bean are down to 15D and some even down to 7D, Tarptent is still using 30D and having a higher waterhead than before the weight of the fabric has gone slightly up.
LL Bean is not as mainstream as Big Agnes which has the copper spur which is remarkably similar. Going a few more $ to drop the weight in half is a good trade off, hence the rise of the cottage business model.
For what it is worth, the packaged weight difference between the Copper Spur 2 and Microlight 2 is 1 ounce and you save $100 with LL Bean.
I was referring to "cottage" companies like zpacks where for $250 more you can drop to 21oz using your own trekking poles of course.
Ah, got it! Sorry, I guess my mind was on the OP question on LL Bean vs BA.
Well, if $250 (+71.6%) is "a few more $" then OK. But the differences are not merely +$250 and half the weight. There are other differences that may matter to some people. For one, the warranties are not comparable - Bean's is far superior. The LLB tent is a true double-wall tent, and that has implications for condensation. And so on. People vary in how they weigh all these factors.
Yes, for sure there are multiple facets that we all must evaluate what is important. The OP seemed curious as to why this particular tent didn't seem popular. The gear review lists for backpacking tents rarely if ever mention LL Bean, they all have the mainstream brands like Big Agnes, REI, NEMO, Marmot, and MSR which all seem to have options in the type/cost level as the LL Bean tent. People are also increasingly opting for cottage brands like zpacks, tarptent, lightheart, HMG, and SMD. Although the microlight 2 is surely a fine piece of gear that will bring a lot of enjoyment, the LL Bean brand is not on the radar of gear reviewers or the casual users. Hard core gear heads that seek high performance in specific respects but are willing to trade-off certain criteria are likely going the cottage route.
If I'm by myself I use a tarp poncho and a bivy. But I just can't bring myself to buy a 2 wall expensive ultralight tent where I could rip the floor and not be backed by such an extensive warranty.
You see Big Agnes recommended all the time and the fact that this tent has two doors is very convenient for two....not to mention I would highly suspect bean has contracted them to make this tent anyways. They seem to have a close relationship.
At under 3 pounds this thing is highly competitive and I have heard they showup in beans outlets in the east coast from time to time. Doesnt help us Californians much....
actually, the tent has a small and loyal following, kind of like the REI half dome.
The two tents are remarkably similar in terms of weight, long term use and warranty.
It shows up a lot on lists of almost and also ran and bang for the buck and alternative or small presence of users.
I expect that the reason REI, LL Bean, and others do not make true ultra light gear is the warranty. They could never afford it on gear that doesn't last. There is room in the market for both approaches.
"It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss
I'm curious, how do you manage condensation in your bivy, or do you hike in such arid areas that its not an issue with the bivy you carry? Some of us are in the humid east.
I don't think LL Bean even makes their own tents. I suspect they design them and send the specs to a manufacturer that only deals with retail brands, not directly with the public. It's possible that both LLB and BA use the same supplier, just with different specs, but even that's not necessarily the case.
I also don't see LLB having a closer relationship with BA than other brands they carry, like Sea to Summit or Thermarest ... do you? There was once that LLB offered an inflatable sleeping pad that struck me as strikingly similar to one offered by Exped. It was so similar I suspected a private label arrangement there. But I don't see that level of similarity to BA with their tents, or their marketing, etc.
That seems like a reasonable inference, but have REI/LLB ever stated that? Just curious how they explain the lack of UL gear. Heck, even forgetting about UL specifically, I don't think either makes (i.e., sells under their brand) a backpacking tent that is trekking-pole supported.
FWIW I had a tiny bit of misting the other night in my Microlight 2 ... this had been during a pounding rainstorm and it was a warm and humid night. I could find no leaks anywhere; after reading up a bit in the forums, I suspect that the "internal condensation being knocked off by external rain" hypothesis is probably true and was what I was experiencing.
There was enough rain that it ran under the tent before soaking into the ground. The tent floor got that "wet-out" look where the water made parts of the floor look darker as if soaked through. I was concerned, but upon touching the floor there on the inside, it felt dry. So that was a relief. The tent does get stuffy in a rainstorm - there is no gable vent on it, though I don't know how much good it would do. It was 81F and 85% RH at sundown, there was no breeze at all, and all that makes it stuffy pretty darn quickly. Of course, once the skies opened up, the RH went to 100% and it was still mid-70s temp-wise.
Other than the possible benefits of a gable vent, I don't know what design would make a double-wall tent better in terms of stuffiness, when there is no breeze and you're in a pounding rain. There was a good gap between the fly and the inner, and the fly was not cinched to the ground. If there was a breeze, air would have circulated OK from underneath. Possibly I could have/should have made a "covered porch/awning" out of the sides of the fly to allow some air to escape. Andrew Skurka demonstrates what I have in mind with the SD High Route tent here:
https://youtu.be/aVFozeZ0P3E?t=6m33s
Guess I'll have to try that next time - and stake it out before the rain hits. I didn't think about it in advance, I just went from a rolled back rainfly to a fully closed one.
I think you're right. Its interesting to note how REI has gone into lighter weight materials and more "adventurous" designs for gear once they changed their return policy to one year.
One year is for any or no reason. Defects are still covered indefinitely, I believe. Is wearing out quickly a defect? Who knows?
"It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss
https://m.llbean.com/product.html?sk...2F&csp=a#90933
for a link
I think it is interesting that they got the weight down to three pounds. That is a huge improvement on weight.
User reviews were good.
But, I think that normal wear and tear wearing it out at some point is not defective at the lower weight.
Having used 2p tents that are 30 ft^2 and ones that are 24ish, for long term use and dealing with rain the 30^2 is a true 2p.
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