Six Moons Lunar Solo - Pt2 three questions answered.
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- As a followup to my previous view of this tent in this video I have answered the three most common questions I have been asked.
These are:
1:10 Does this tent suffer from condensation?
3:00 How do you keep the doors back?
3:45 How does the door mechanism work?
I hope this helps and if you have any further question please put them in the comments below and I will be happy to answer them.
Nice vid. To those bangin' on endlessly about condensation: FFS stop whining; until very recently a double wall tent didn't exist; we all grew up with single wall tents. The ventilation in these tents is radically superior to the single wall dome tents we grew up with.
Door tip: Fold the door a couple of times and then roll from the bottom. It'll be just as tight but takes less time.
Setup: SMD got the instructions wrong. People sometimes complain about the trickiness to set it up. The reason it seems tricky is that SMD approached the setup as though you were building the tent from the bottom up instead of the top down (you're really just hanging the canopy at the end of the day). This is my advice from a guy who's done a lot of aviation industry tooling development/design, etc.:
Preface. The entire shape is defined by the front door panel; if that's correct, the entire tent will pitch correctly, and to do that you have to work around a solid, fixed point. That point is the grommet on the bathtub at the base of the door in the center of the tent.
1. To attain this datum point, put the TIP of the trekking pole into the grommet. Now the entire tent pivots around that point and it is fixed in space. Extend the HANDLE of the pole up into the 'pocket' where the tip is supposed to go. You can flip it around later if you want, but there's no reason to. Extend the pole to the correct dimension.
2. Set the front guy line so that the pole is sitting vertical and cannot tip toward the rear of the tent. Ensure this matches the zipper line as well as the slope of the vestibule doors; this relieves pressure on the zipper caused by the guy line being at a more obtuse angle than the doors naturally are, and that makes it easy to open and close the doors without any strain on the zipper.
3. Set the FRONT corners and ensure that the pole is not leaning toward the head or foot of the tent. As with the front guy line, make sure the lines match the seam line as well as the slope of the canopy. This now ensures the primary structure of the tent is correct, and that the rest of the tent points will fall in their correct spots to ensure the bathtub floor will sit perfectly.
4. Stake out the rear line, matching the slope of the canopy. Double check that the pole is standing vertically and hasn't tipped toward the rear of the tent.
5. Stake out the corners, again following the seams and slope of the canopy.
6. Snug everything down and admire your perfect pitch.
Good points well made.
I've used the Lunar Solo for years now Jonathan and like you sleep with the door open - just like being in a tarp. As for condensation I lie flat on my back go round with the cloth and in a jiff all moisture has been taken care of. It takes seconds as you well know. Single skin? No Problems. Well, good going. Have a great week ahead. Mark
Good tips. Thanks. I just got this tent
Jonathan
Thank you that clarifies my problem. Patq
Glad it helped
Interesting fix for the doors. Your mod is similar to the method that Zpacks uses for the doors on my duplex.
Good discussion about condensation. Every single wall tent has it, and people raise this as a reason to get a free standing tent with separate fly. The extra weight and set up hassle simply aren’t worth it to me.
I agree with you, I will be sticking with single wall tents. I picked up a duplex in their sale last year and have used in half a dozen nights, so far it’s a palace and so light, it is so easy to put up too. I will do a review of it at the end of the year.
I’ve had this tent for a couple of years now. Have used it on multiple hikes. Overall I love the tent. Lots of room, packs down small. The one major problem that I have w the tent is that the material absorbs water. If it’s a night where heavy condensation has occurred or it has rained there is no amount of wiping w a chamois or micro towel that will get all of the water. This negates the benefit of a light weight tent. I pray that SMD brings this tent out in Dyneema (sp?). Zpacks has copied this design in their latest tent but at much smaller dimensions (WTF?). I’d gladly pay for the Lunar Solo in Dyneema.
I know what you mean, I have read many times people wanting a lunar solo in dyneema, wake up SMD.
single wall double wall in the same conditions both will have exactly the same condensation ( it comes from ground and your breath) but you just don't notice it with double wall and less likely to touch the outer sheet. pitching into wind is the only solution with this. But if no wind then condensation for sure.
You could rig one door to the tie out, and let the other door dangle with a bit of weight holding it from flopping in the breeze.
Courtesy of Half Vast Flying
Very true, that would work. In the second part of the review I did sus out how you are supposed to used the tie backs.
Thank you
Hi.Just found your hiking videos .And they are very good .
Can I ask .I notice you were wearing it looks like a pair of lone peak wide fitting shoes .How do you rate them and if they are how did you cope with them .
Apparently even the waterproof ones aren't that waterproof according to reviews .Did you have to take seal skins socks to keep your feet dry ..
Keep the videos coming .
Thanks
Hi William, thank for the kind comments. You are right they are lone peaks, I had the 4.0 and loved them but they gave out above my right little toe in two pairs after 500 miles. I now have the 5.0 and have a few hundred miles on them they seem to be holding up better. Mine are not water proof, I use waterproof socks dirt thing in the morning to help against dew, after that unless it’s very wet they dry very quickly about 20 minutes on a warm day. I am off again this week for a overnighter and would not take anything else.
Jonathan
Hi Johnathan.Thanks for your quick reply .The reason I asked about the lone peak I bought the 4 a few years ago they were lovely only thing was they let in water .I did the Shropshire way in them no blisters great .But come the rain yuk!!. But having said that I've tried many a boot but not as good and comfy wise as the loan peak .So I've just bought the series 5 today. cause my 4s are worn out .So thank for your reply .Will look forward to your next hike .
William.
i like the tent but how do i strip down with that huge vestibule gap. I'd rather not put on a show for the woodland creatures.
You can lower the centre pole but that flattens the bath tub, the other option is to angle the centre pole forward which brings the back up a bit and drops the front. Must admit I almost never closed both doors as I found it help reduce the potential for condensation.
Yeh but what about the condensation?!
😆 that was quicker than I expected, well done
@@JonathanDowe 😂