[pct-l] Gossamer Gear 'The One'

[Len Glassner]

Thru-wallet alert - if you are adept at sheltering yourself for $4.95
or less, I recommend that you delete this message now.  Likewise if
lightweight gear offends your sensibilities.

I put some pictures of the new Gossamer Gear tent here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/len5742

Disorganized thought dump:

I got the tent on Friday night, too early to take with me this past
weekend.  I set it up for the first time this afternoon.  I took it to
the park, thinking that it would be a first attempt that would come
out looking goofy, that I'd have to go home, study the video and pics
again, repeat, lather, rinse, etc.  Instead I got a result that came
close to the web site, IMO. Boy was I surprised.  Just took a few
minutes, without a lot of redoing.  Left the tent where it was, raced
home, grabbed my gear and a camera, and raced back, hoping no one
swiped the tent.

To my great relief it was still there.  So I spread out my bag and
threw my gear inside, same way I do with my current tent.  I was
surprised that I could get all that I usually do in there, I had
thought the thing was going to be too narrow.  Thankful I downsized
(get it, downsized) my bag to a regular length, good clearance at both
ends.  A long might touch the mesh, IMO, I didn't measure anything,
but I don't see that as a problem as the mesh is well away from the
outer canopy.  Bottom line, I was ecstatic that all the stuff fit.

Spinnaker is noisy.  The wind where I set up was in the 5-10 mph range
with higher gusts, I'm guessing. (You can see that one side of the
tent was slightly bowed inward, not my fault, the wind was doing it.)
Once the tent was up and taught, it was quieter than I expected.  I
understand this stuff quiets down with time.

One thing I wish were not so, is the amount of room required for the
front and back guy lines.  Sites will be required to be a few feet
wider than my Lunar Solo requires.  I tend to get stressed trying to
find a site with enough room.

Usable room:  I was 5' 10.5", what I am now I don't know, senior
shrink is starting to set in I think.  When I sat up from a sleeping
position my head very slightly brushed against the canopy, this on the
end that was slightly concave due to (I think) the wind.  This could
easily be avoided.  Once upright, no problem at all sitting up
straight.  Really roomy  Much more room than the LS.

The netting around the bottom seems to provide good ventilation.  The
netting does not go vertical, rather goes up at an outward angle,
giving a little better sense of room.

At the top of the front, where the pole goes through a grommet, I
ended up the pole tip pressing on the spinnaker fabric, as if there
wasn't enough clearance there.  I haven't checked yet, but I think
there must be a little peak in the fabric that didn't get extended,
got to be careful not to punch a hole here.

Vestibule:  No problem leaving my pack and shoes out there.  doesn't
extend down as far as LS, and can't slide up and down like LS, but
nice you can see out while lying down.

Zippered door.  Location is a minus for me.  It's on the opposite from
where the LS locates it.  If you have a LZ bag, and you want your head
at the door end, your zipper will open to the back of the tent and
you'll have to slide over the topof the bag.  A small irritation.

Bathtub floor has no problem 'bathtubbing'.  It seems that the back
pullout put a bit more tension on the floor than was optimal,
resulting in a tendency to pull the front wall back a bit, reducing
floor space a tad, not otherwise seemed inconsequential.

Weight.  Spec'd at 17.5 oz., 17.85 on my scale.  I'm pissed.  (No, I'm
not).  'Recommended' polycro groundsheet adds another 1.5 oz.  So
19.35 oz. for me.  About a 7-8 oz. improvement over the LS with the
standard floor.

Summing up, I'm happily surprised at how this tent will fit my needs.
Setup is much easier - for me- than the LS.  Much more usable
headroom.  Not as much floor space, but enough for me.  Hoping the
fabric quiets down quickly.  Only thing that really bugs me right now
is need for larger tent site.

IMO, FWIW, YMMV