These instructions are very close to the official instruction video from SMD but with much more detail on fine tuning the pitch. Excellent video. One thing I do differently after some trial and error is close the vestibule while pitching. I find I spend less time messing with the pitch at the front. Thanks!
EXCELLENT set up video bud! I want to see the set up vid and features for the skyscape trekker next! This is def the best way that I've found so far to set up a non-freestanding solo tent. It ensures that your corners are tight and the tent is best set up for the wind. Great job!!!
@@HuckOutdoors Definitely will eventually 👍 Taking the Flash Air 1P for the first time next trip. Doing a trail you have done already (Trans Catalina) Just watched that video last week of yours
Great video! I'm curious about the risks of kicking, bumping, or even the pole blowing out of place in the wind. I'd hate to get up to pee and end up collapsing my tent in the middle of the night.
I'm thruhiking the AT next year. How does this tent handle rain and snow? I know I'm going to get some condensation, being a single wall. I really like the design and room of it
How does the vestibule doors attach to the front guy line? I’ve got a black plastic hook on a short yellow loop but not sure how to use (without a biner as an anchor)? Cheers
@@HuckOutdoors Cheers. In the end, had to adjust/fix so that the vestibule could be easily attached and tightened by the front guy line (prusik was slipping). I.e. replace the front guy with something thicker. Once sorted, current approach is: 1. Loosely peg the centre rear, but only extend guy line half the possible distance (steeper angle is preferred, per SMD instructions) 2. Carefully peg the front two sides. SMD has a good tip: for the second peg, pull taut but then back off 15cm and stake. These peg directly in line with the front panel and door (ie 90 degrees to the front guy line), helping to get a flat tight front panel. 3. Close the vestibule, attach via prusik to guy line and insert pole. 4. Stake out front guy line, extending maximum out in front so that the vestibule is under tension. Tighten front guy so pole is under light tension. 5. Check the pole position, move as needed to be vertical and in line with the mesh zipper. Watch the front bathtub corners to get even positioning/minimise collapsing. Higher poles do help! Make sure the vestibule is taut. 6. Peg the rear corners, following seam lines. Tighten all corners as needed. 7. If needed reposition the rear peg, but preferably only if it’s really not in line with the front guy line. Tension as needed but be careful not to collapse the bathtub by distorting the bathtub floor - the four corner pegs control the bathtub shape better. 8. Check tension after 30 minutes. SMD recommend ‘walking’ the rear three pegs forward if the bathtub shape is wrong - a common problem is apparently having the rear stakes out at too acute an angle. It seems difficult to get a perfect bathtub with a 49” pole
@@HuckOutdoors good morning Huck I just returned from from a thru hike of the Batona Trail in NJ, actually did it NOBO/SOBO, and got a much better pitch. The zipper still is extremely close to ground at the opening. Thanks for your pointers. I am going to play with it at home when I have more time to tweak it.
Thank you for the video, that is how SMD recommends. However I'd recommend an alternative method. 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.
@@HuckOutdoors no sweat. As this has been knocking around in my head, something to simplify it even further occurred to me: Put the front stake in first, then put the pole in the pocket with the tip through the grommet. If you make sure the guy line matches the correct angle of the doors, you don't really ever need to change that again, so you can make it a 'hard point' in the setup and the angle will always be correct thereafter when the pole is standing straight up.
These instructions are very close to the official instruction video from SMD but with much more detail on fine tuning the pitch. Excellent video. One thing I do differently after some trial and error is close the vestibule while pitching. I find I spend less time messing with the pitch at the front. Thanks!
Take it from this guys. He knows his SMD products and has a lot of experience in the backcountry. Great video, Huck.
Thanks for the kind words Matt!
EXCELLENT set up video bud! I want to see the set up vid and features for the skyscape trekker next! This is def the best way that I've found so far to set up a non-freestanding solo tent. It ensures that your corners are tight and the tent is best set up for the wind. Great job!!!
I need to get a skyscape trekker video out soon!
cool tent and light!
Effortless set up. I love the Lunar Solo in green the best. Thanks!
I have considered this tent and probably will get eventually to give it a shot!
You can't go wrong with a Lunar Solo
@@HuckOutdoors Definitely will eventually 👍 Taking the Flash Air 1P for the first time next trip. Doing a trail you have done already (Trans Catalina) Just watched that video last week of yours
Cool video! Easy setup winner In my book! 👍🤙😎
Great video. My next tent for sure!
Awesome!
Great video! I'm curious about the risks of kicking, bumping, or even the pole blowing out of place in the wind. I'd hate to get up to pee and end up collapsing my tent in the middle of the night.
I've had the tent collapse one time and that was where I did not have the front stake in properly and the wind pulled it out.
You make it look easy! 😉
After a few tries it really is.
I'm thruhiking the AT next year. How does this tent handle rain and snow? I know I'm going to get some condensation, being a single wall. I really like the design and room of it
Haven't had it in snow before, but it handles the rain no problem.
That was the answer I was looking for...Thanks
How does the vestibule doors attach to the front guy line?
I’ve got a black plastic hook on a short yellow loop but not sure how to use (without a biner as an anchor)?
Cheers
Shoot me an email at Jason@huckoutdoors.com and i'll help you out.
@@HuckOutdoors
Cheers. In the end, had to adjust/fix so that the vestibule could be easily attached and tightened by the front guy line (prusik was slipping).
I.e. replace the front guy with something thicker.
Once sorted, current approach is:
1. Loosely peg the centre rear, but only extend guy line half the possible distance (steeper angle is preferred, per SMD instructions)
2. Carefully peg the front two sides.
SMD has a good tip: for the second peg, pull taut but then back off 15cm and stake.
These peg directly in line with the front panel and door (ie 90 degrees to the front guy line), helping to get a flat tight front panel.
3. Close the vestibule, attach via prusik to guy line and insert pole.
4. Stake out front guy line, extending maximum out in front so that the vestibule is under tension.
Tighten front guy so pole is under light tension.
5. Check the pole position, move as needed to be vertical and in line with the mesh zipper.
Watch the front bathtub corners to get even positioning/minimise collapsing.
Higher poles do help!
Make sure the vestibule is taut.
6. Peg the rear corners, following seam lines.
Tighten all corners as needed.
7. If needed reposition the rear peg, but preferably only if it’s really not in line with the front guy line.
Tension as needed but be careful not to collapse the bathtub by distorting the bathtub floor - the four corner pegs control the bathtub shape better.
8. Check tension after 30 minutes.
SMD recommend ‘walking’ the rear three pegs forward if the bathtub shape is wrong - a common problem is apparently having the rear stakes out at too acute an angle.
It seems difficult to get a perfect bathtub with a 49” pole
@@HuckOutdoors I was actually wondering the same. Could you give me some tips?
Good video thank you. 😊
Thanks for the setup tips, Great video!
Hope they were helpful!
Well done on the video
Thanks!
I can never get a good bathtub floor. Have you ever had that situation? Thanks
You may be pitching it with the center pole too low.
@@HuckOutdoors good morning Huck I just returned from from a thru hike of the Batona Trail in NJ, actually did it NOBO/SOBO, and got a much better pitch. The zipper still is extremely close to ground at the opening. Thanks for your pointers. I am going to play with it at home when I have more time to tweak it.
Thank you for the video, that is how SMD recommends. However I'd recommend an alternative method.
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.
Thanks for the extra tips!
@@HuckOutdoors no sweat. As this has been knocking around in my head, something to simplify it even further occurred to me: Put the front stake in first, then put the pole in the pocket with the tip through the grommet. If you make sure the guy line matches the correct angle of the doors, you don't really ever need to change that again, so you can make it a 'hard point' in the setup and the angle will always be correct thereafter when the pole is standing straight up.
Yeah my way is different then SMD as well. I think the triangle is key
Actually it's not how SMD recommends.
@@MidwestTaildragger literally a video produced by SMD on how to get the perfect pitch...
vestibule is so high
And? That is part of the design.