Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL-1 Comment

Having recently acquired and erected one of these American tents for the first time, I thought I'd share a few findings.

I was looking for the lightest, smallest one-person tent for countries/weekends where reasonable weather was to be expected most of the time. So, not a Hilleberg that can withstand earthquakes, but something where you balance weight and space with the need for care, and where a howling gale is not the anticipated environment.

I have a Hubba Hubba 3-person text, and MSR have a one-person Hubba NX, but it's about 400g heavier than the Big Agnes. Otherwise, I'd have got this, as I really like the Hubbas.

Anyway, impressions...

Very light, packs fairly small (with some squeezing, really quite small - maybe as fat as a wine bottle, and 1.5 times as long). Haven't weight it, but maybe 1200g?

Fabric of all tent elements seems amazingly light; only time will tell if htis means it falls to bits, though some online reviews suggest hundreds of nights without issue. Tent floor in particular feels really thin - I put it up on wet grass, and no wet came through, but a footprint (a bit of tyvek would be best) is certainly a good idea, and costs maybe 50g?

The peg lines at the tent corners and (especially) the fly are crazy thin. I hope they are dyneema...but have anyway replaced them with 2mm guy lines, as they just look stupid thin. Also, there is no way to tension the fly lines, which is daft IMHO, so I added guyline tensioners. MSR use nylon webbing for this, with friction tensioners, which I think is much better. Other than the tensioners, I added loops of guyline to the pegs, and added two more pegs.

Tent goes up easy in ideal conditions, pretty idiot proof. Feels very spacious inside - oodles of elbow, shoulder and head room. The one-person version only has one usable vestibule adn only one door, but there's room for a reasonable rucksack or a couple of panniers. I do like tents with spreader bars at head hight (unlike, say, the Hornets). The end of the spreader bars are slightly bette managed in this tent than in the MSRs; you don't feel there is a chance they will burst through the fly, under pressure.

Overall - feels thin, but we have to get a tough night to test it! Certainly v light, fully waterproof in moderate rain, dry floor (no damp end on sleeping bag), very spacious as one-man tents go. I"d only buy one if I wanted a really light one-man tent that isn't a miserable bivvy bag or coffin experience. But that's why I bought one. For times when an extra 800g is no big deal and you have space (e.g. sea kayaking, or a shared-load tent), the MSR Hubba Hubba or Mutha Hubba are better again, IMHO.

350 euro odd, so important to take good care of it, of course.