Paul Saunders said:I've got the Laser. Just had a quick look at the Laser Comp. What's this
"Weighing in at a mere 860g without pegs" nonsense? Who's going to use it
without pegs? And there's the waterpoof cover for the central pole,
generally essential in the UK climate. And what about the tent bags? Are you
going to throw it all in your rucksack without packing it up in anything
first?
The first two, fully agree, the last one, why not? I've frequently
taken my Spacepacker just by stuffing its component bits into
corners, I don't see anything silly about that. In fact, not using
a stuffsack for a tent often makes more sense than using one, as
you can pack 4 separate small things more efficiently than 1 big one.
Quoted message said:Yep, they are rubbish. Not only do they not have curved ends, but the metal
tips have fallen out of a few of mine and had to be glued back in. I really
should replace them, they wouldn't inspire confidence in strong winds.
My immediate reservations were cracking after use in stoney ground,
but now I've seen they have no hook that's a minor consideration.
Ridiculous! Terra Nova do titanium skewers, and even they admit
they're a sesnible replacement for "real" use.
Quoted message said:Don't know about the comp, but the standard Laser is about the same size I
think, with slightly higher headroom. When I sat in an Akto I found the
headroom a bit low. Definitely worth the switch if the weight saving is
important to you.
More to it than weight though. The Akto uses tougher fabrics and a
stouter pole, so it will last longer in frequent use and less
likely to, for example, have the groundsheet holed on a relatively
grotty pitch or suffer badly under snow loads. That's *not* to say
the Lasers aren't good enough, especially if you're not using a
tent /that/ often (to be honest, most of us probably don't, with
single figures of trips a year), but it's simply a case that
Hilleberg drew their line between light weight and ruggedness in a
different place. Outwith their ultralite range, Terra Nova draw it
in a different place too.
If you've an original Akto you can save about 200g by moving to the
later model, though same thing goes there, with lighter and less
tough fabrics used, though still heavuer and tougher than the
Laser's (Hilleberg's standard fabric is 1.3 times heavier than the
light one used in Nallos and current Akto, but 1.5 times as strong
(tear resistance) which shows how lighter fabrics really do
progressively weaken a tent... but even the light one is remarkably
strong). How strong is strong enough? I would guess the LC is
fine for the UK where you can pick and choose a pitch, but it won't
be as tough and dependable.
You choose, you lose...
Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
