terra nova laserlite tent

Quoted message said:

Hi, does anyone no what the new laserlites tents are like.

No but I want to - buy one, use it and tell me.

:-)

--
Boo

"Boo" <boo@spam_me_no_spam.net> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Hi, does anyone no what the new laserlites tents
are like.

No but I want to - buy one, use it and tell me.

:-)

--
Boo

There was a review in a recent trail magazine. If I remember
rightly they said they were good but a bit limited on space.
They are light though. Someone who knows more will hopefully
provide a more informative comment shortly. Otherwise I will
try and track down the report and post a bit more. Otherwise
there are internet sites that test gear which may
help(although I notice most are US biased, I guess for
obvious reasons). Google is your friend.

Quoted message said:

There was a review in a recent trail magazine. If I
remember rightly they said they were good but a bit
limited on space. They are light though. Someone who knows
more will hopefully provide a more informative comment
shortly. Otherwise I will try and track down the report
and post a bit more.

I'd be really interested to hear what Trail had to say, if
it's not too much trouble.

Thanks,

--
Boo

Boo <boo@spam_me_no_spam.net> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I'd be really interested to hear what Trail had to say, if
it's not too much trouble.

The Irish magazine "Outsider" has a review of lightweight
tents this month, among them the Laserlite. They said it was
the "most fiddly" of the tents they tested to put up.

"The lightest double skin tent in the world. With the lack
of weight comes a penalty, convenience of pitching and
living. The tent is probably the the most fiddly to erect,
with lots of little cords to tension, attach etc. Those
little attachments are also vulnerable to breaking, being
pulled off etc, so handle with care. The inner slopes in on
you and whilst there is sitting height, it is not pleasant
to spend a lot of time in. It does buckle a fair bit in
higher winds too. If you need an ultra light package, then
you might put up with this, for the rest, it is probably
worth incurring a weight penalty for more convenience.

Liveability 5, Weatherproofing 7, Ease of Assembly 3,
Strength & Stability 4. Overall 6."

The Hillebery Akto, which is the tent it most closely
resembles, wasn't included in the tests, so I find it hard
to put this test in context. Most people seem to agree the
Akto is easy to erect, so I imagine it has the edge there at
least. I've also never seen the Akto buckle in wind.

Seán

On 30/3/04 2:38 pm, in article
[email hidden], "Se?n Hennessy"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

The Hillebery Akto, which is the tent it most closely
resembles,

Quoted message said:

wasn't included in the tests, so I find it hard to put
this test in context. Most people seem to agree the Akto
is easy to erect, so I imagine it has the edge there at
least. I've also never seen the Akto buckle in wind.

The Akto (and the Nallo) are easy to pitch. They will
bend quite dramatically in the wind but then simply
bounce back again!

Quoted message said:

The Irish magazine "Outsider" has a review of lightweight
tents this month, among them the Laserlite. They said it
was the "most fiddly" of the tents they tested to put up.

"The lightest double skin tent in the world. With the lack
of weight comes a penalty, convenience of pitching and
living. The tent is probably the the most fiddly to erect,
with lots of little cords to tension, attach etc. Those
little attachments are also vulnerable to breaking, being
pulled off etc, so handle with care.

That's unexpected - I've just been along to a local shop to
have a look at one. It pitches either outer-first or - as
demonstrated - inner and outer together. Although the velcro
carpet hooks didn't allow it to be pitched as well as pegs
would have done, it seemed to go up pretty easily to me. I
also didn't particularly notice that the attachment points
were fragile which is a good tip to look out for next time.

Quoted message said:

The inner slopes in on you and whilst there is sitting
height, it is not pleasant to spend a lot of time in.

I was able to sit in it in the shop and although it's been a
little while since I sat in an Acto istm that they are very
similar in living space and height, with the acto maybe
having the edge in porch space over the Laserlite. I wasn't
particularly aware that the inner slopes in on you, though
of course with any transverse-pole hooped tent this is true
- the two end poles help a lot here and the overall layout
is very similar to the Acto.

Sitting upright in the middle of the tent was absolutely no
problem for me at 1.725 m tall. The transverse pole
arrangement is perfect in this respect giving maximum
height just where it is needed. I thought the porch looked
just about big enough to use a Trangia in and the access
would have been good from a sitting position within the
tent. Much better than trying to cook while lying down as
some tents require.

Quoted message said:

It does buckle a fair bit in higher winds too. If you
need an ultra light package, then you might put up with
this, for the rest, it is probably worth incurring a
weight penalty for more convenience.

Liveability 5, Weatherproofing 7, Ease of Assembly 3,
Strength & Stability 4. Overall 6."

The Hillebery Akto,

I think you meant to type Hilleberg :-)

I was overall very impressed with the Laserlite. Measured
weight for the complete thing in its bag was 1.175 kg
which is 660 grammes lighter than the Acto that I measured
a few years ago at 1.835 kg. A 36% weight saving - well
worth having.

Reasons why I didn't buy it ?

Well, 1. I'm skint and 2. they only had it in "early-
adopters'" red :-)

--
Boo

"Boo" <boo@spam_me_no_spam.net> wrote

Quoted message said:

Sitting upright in the middle of the tent was absolutely
no problem for me at 1.725 m tall. The transverse pole
arrangement is perfect in this respect giving maximum
height just where it is needed.

For the way I use my tent, having the highest point in the
middle has always seemed a bit of a bad design. I spend the
majority of time either lying flat when trying to sleep
(obviously) or reclining on my rucksack or with my head
propped up on one arm stargazing or watching the clouds roll
by. Like this in all the single pole designs your head is
stuck down in the smallest bit of the tent and feels
claustrophobic for me. The tunnel type with big and small
poles as exemplified by the legendary Argos Pro Action on
the other hand has all the space around your head and
excellent views from the door. A far more pleasant
experience.

Se?n Hennessy said:

Liveability 5,

So how do people rate the liveability of the Akto? The
one thing that bothers me about that design is the very
low headroom. Does this bother most Akto users? What if
you're stuck in the tent for days in foul weather? Is it
roomy enough to stay in the tent in comfort or do you go
stir crazy?

Paul
--
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Boo said:

I was overall very impressed with the Laserlite. Measured
weight for the complete thing in its bag was 1.175 kg
which is 660 grammes lighter than the Acto that I measured
a few years ago at 1.835 kg. A 36% weight saving - well
worth having.

Though it's not quite that good a saving now: the original
Akto, probably your example, used a heavier gauge of
Hilleberg's Kerlon fabric than the current Akto and Nallo
models. The claimed weight of the Akto is now 1.5 Kg all in.

I'm curious about the LL's carbon pegs... carbon fibre
suffers quite a bit from cracks propagating from cut marks,
which stony ground may provide in abundance. I'd have
thought a carbon pole would be a more obvious thing to use
for weight saving, but I imagine TN's boffins may well be a
bit more up on the technical details than I am!

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext.
33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177
Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden]
dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗

Paul Saunders said:

So how do people rate the liveability of the Akto? The
one thing that bothers me about that design is the very
low headroom. Does this bother most Akto users? What if
you're stuck in the tent for days in foul weather? Is it
roomy enough to stay in the tent in comfort or do you go
stir crazy?

I've always found the Akto to be very liveable and pleasant,
but then I'm small at 5'6". Whatever gear I have I put at
the head end of the tent, so that my own head isn't right
down at the narrow end. I can sit comfortably cross legged
at the centre, and if things really start to close in you
can unclip the top of the innner for a really spacious
shelter. I've certainly passed long times in it, but never
an entire day.

If you're over 6' I'd imagine the Akto would be more of a
bivy than a tent.

Seán

Se?n Hennessy said:

"Paul Saunders" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:

Quoted message said:

So how do people rate the liveability of the Akto? The
one thing that bothers me about that design is the very
low headroom. Does this bother most Akto users? What if
you're stuck in the tent for days in foul weather? Is it
roomy enough to stay in the tent in comfort or do you go
stir crazy?

I've always found the Akto to be very liveable and
pleasant, but then I'm small at 5'6". Whatever gear I have
I put at the head end of the tent, so that my own head
isn't right down at the narrow end. I can sit comfortably
cross legged at the centre, and if things really start to
close in you can unclip the top of the innner for a really
spacious shelter. I've certainly passed long times in it,
but never an entire day.

If you're over 6' I'd imagine the Akto would be more of a
bivy than a tent.

Seán

I'm 6'2" and found the akto fine for sleeping in apart from
condensation which was occassionally considerable. I guess a
larger (ok, fat) person generates more of it though. I did
the same as you and have my feet near the end with some gear
behind my head so giving the least claustrophobic feel. When
I did spend time in the tent, I found the low headroom a
bind. A matter of 5cm makes alot of difference and it became
too uncomfortable so I usually resorted to lieing down (hard
to cook in this position in the akto though). You don't
realise when sitting in a tent for a few minutes how a
slight stoop can cause such bad neck ache. I tried
shortening the transverse tape to make the tent higher but
it didn't seem to achieve any more headroom. Having said
that, when you balance up the weight/space/stability/ease of
pitching I don't see there is any competition. I get the
impression the laser is as near as terra nova could get to
the akto without it being a blatant copy. I no longer have
the akto but instead have a 2 man tunnel tent. I like the
extra space but not sure how I'll mind the extra weight
(nearly twice the akto). I haven't been anywhere with it yet
and so time will tell.

Se?n Hennessy said:

I've always found the Akto to be very liveable and
pleasant, but then I'm small at 5'6".

Well I'm only 5'7".

Quoted message said:

Whatever gear I have I put at the head end of the tent, so
that my own head isn't right down at the narrow end.

So it's quite long then?

Quoted message said:

I can sit comfortably cross legged at the centre, and if
things really start to close in you can unclip the top of
the innner for a really spacious shelter. I've certainly
passed long times in it, but never an entire day.

I occasionally spend a day in the tent. One of the
advantages of not having a proper job is that I can afford
to stay out longer if I wish, provided I have enough food.
I've done a few 5 day backpacks in the past and if one day
was really foul I'd sit it out in the tent and wait for
better weather.

Occasionally I've gone out for a few days in the pouring
rain just for the pleasure of camping in the rain, but that
was specifically camping rather than walking so naturally
I'd take my Nallo if I planned to do that.

Paul
--
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Dean said:

When I did spend time in the tent, I found the low
headroom a bind.

Quoted message said:

Having said that, when you balance up the
weight/space/stability/ease of pitching I don't see there
is any competition.

I think the Akto would be ideal for summer backpacking in
fine weather, when you'd spend very little time in the tent.

Quoted message said:

I no longer have the akto but instead have a 2 man
tunnel tent.

Which one?

Quoted message said:

I like the extra space but not sure how I'll mind the
extra weight (nearly twice the akto).

I got the Nallo 2 which is a very roomy 2 person tunnel tent
and the weight is only slightly more than the Akto at 2.1kg.
Pricey but worth
it.

Paul
--
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Paul Saunders said:

Dean said:

When I did spend time in the tent, I found the low
headroom a bind.

Quoted message said:

Having said that, when you balance up the
weight/space/stability/ease of pitching I don't see there
is any competition.

I think the Akto would be ideal for summer backpacking
in fine weather, when you'd spend very little time in
the tent.

Quoted message said:

I no longer have the akto but instead have a 2 man
tunnel tent.

Which one?

Vaude Ferret. Very similar dimensions to Nallo but without
the sloping roof. I used to lug about a 4Kg 2 man tent for
solo use, so the akto seemed amazing at the time. The Vaude
is 2.8Kg 'useable' weight though I haven't used it yet. I
bought it recently secondhand and it seems like a nice
design with good build quality, though using lower tech
materials than the hillebergs.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I like the extra space but not sure how I'll mind the
extra weight (nearly twice the akto).

I got the Nallo 2 which is a very roomy 2 person tunnel
tent and the weight is only slightly more than the Akto at
2.1kg. Pricey but worth
it.

Ideally that is the tent I would buy now, and over the akto
at the time, but it was about £300 IIRC and the akto was
£225 (1999). I see there is now an akto ultra (not sure what
ultra gets you) but no way I'd pay the £310 asking price.

Peter Clinch said:

Boo said:

I was overall very impressed with the Laserlite. Measured
weight for the complete thing in its bag was 1.175 kg
which is 660 grammes lighter than the Acto that I
measured a few years ago at 1.835 kg. A 36% weight saving
- well worth having.

Though it's not quite that good a saving now: the
original Akto, probably your example, used a heavier
gauge of Hilleberg's Kerlon fabric than the current Akto
and Nallo models. The claimed weight of the Akto is now
1.5 Kg all in.

Well, the claimed weight was 1.3 kg at the time I weighed
mine :-) Seriously though I do also intend to have another
look at the Acto since its reached "MkII" status. I will
report here with weights etc when I do...

Quoted message said:

I'm curious about the LL's carbon pegs... carbon fibre
suffers quite a bit from cracks propagating from cut
marks, which stony ground may provide in abundance.

Yes I must say I looked at those with a jaundiced eye. I
still intend to get hold of some titanium tent pegs when
finances allow. Till then it'll be ally - if I decide to buy
the Laserlite then those pegs will be left at home.

Quoted message said:

I'd have thought a carbon pole would be a more obvious
thing to use for weight saving, but I imagine TN's
boffins may well be a bit more up on the technical
details than I am!

I think the two end poles are cf btw.

--
Boo

Quoted message said:

I get the impression the laser is as near as terra nova
could get to the akto without it being a blatant copy.

They're certainly very similar. I've been hoping that
someone will make an exact copy of the original Spacepacker
only with more modern lighter materials. I emailed Mr
Saunders (not you, Paul 🙂 but he wasn't persuaded.

--
Boo

"Boo" <boo@spam_me_no_spam.net> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I get the impression the laser is as near as terra nova
could get to the akto without it being a blatant copy.

They're certainly very similar. I've been hoping that
someone will make an exact copy of the original
Spacepacker only with more modern lighter materials. I
emailed Mr Saunders (not you, Paul 🙂 but he wasn't

persuaded.

Quoted message said:

--

Shame - that's something I'd be VERY interested in. I sold
off my SP+ ages ago as I wanted a lighter alternative when I
gave up biking and started walking. I still miss those
cavernous porches though.

druidh

Boo wrote

Quoted message said:

Yes I must say I looked at those with a jaundiced eye. I
still intend to get hold of some titanium tent pegs when
finances allow. Till then it'll be ally - if I decide to
buy the Laserlite then those pegs will be left at home.

Carbon fibre and Titanium tent pegs sound a bit serious as a
weight saving measure. I got some Al ones looking identical
to the MSR needle stakes on this page mainly because they're
nice and neat in fitting together but they are pretty light
too. I think mine were branded Hi-Gear in Blacks at a
reasonable £6 for 10 weighing about 8/9g each.

backcountry-equipment.comtentOpen ↗
stakes.html

Boo said:

They're certainly very similar. I've been hoping that
someone will make an exact copy of the original
Spacepacker only with more modern lighter materials. I
emailed Mr Saunders (not you, Paul 🙂 but he wasn't
persuaded.

More modern in what sense? The high tenacity dual silicone
elastomer ripstop is still a very good material, not being
compromised so much in strength as the great majority of
tents on the market by PU coatings and seam taping.
Hilleberg's Kerlon is basically similar stuff, the only real
difference is they use more than one weight now they've
introduced a finer version for Akto and Nallos.

I still use a Spacepacker for light work, haven't seen
anything I'd want to change it for. It's still only 1.9 Kg:
compare and contrast to the Nallo for Hilleberg's light 2
man tent at 2.1 Kg, and that has only one door and one porch
where the SP has 4 and 2 respectively. You could go down
Macpac's route for their superlight and use a comedy
groundsheet, but I want something that can be pitched on
other than bowling greens and survive!

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext.
33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177
Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden]
dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗