Terra Nova Laser Modifications

I made a few modification to my Laser, some to suit my needs and make things work a bit easier and some out of nescessity. Some of the mods were based on or directly copied from Blogpackinglight and some just general things that I wanted to do.

The 1st thing I did was to change the strut guys to V configuration and add guy line to the tabs already provided at each end. I bought the red ZeRo+ guyline from Team IO as I mentioned previously. I also doubled up on the pole guys using the guyline I'd removed from the support strut guys.





I made up a peg set that I think will provide a more versatile solution than the supplied ti wire skewers. I ended up with 6 Camcleat Y's, 6 Blacks Alloy Skewers and 4 Vargo Nails. I won't bother with the supplied pegs.




In addition I made a footprint from PU coated Ripstop which I bought from Point North I actually made it the day before I left on my last trip so the measurments aren't as accurate as I would have liked, the half porch section is a bit too wide but I can fix that. I might sew on a piece to create a small pouch which I can use as a peg bag.



I also sewed on 2 hanging loops on the inner made from plain black dressmaking ribbon to allow me to hang my (modified and lighter, 67g) Osram Dot-it LED tent light.





That covered the mods that were done only to make life easier. However I noticed on Saturday when sorting gear for another trip that the cordlock which is used to tension the pole hood was no longer holding, closer inspection revealed that it had worn quite badly.




I posted a warning on Outdoors Magic and have now adopted yet another idea from Blogpackinglight, linelocks to tension the hood. Unfortunately it looks as though the small webbing loop that held the cordlock in place and through which I now have to run the cord is starting to wear (the one on the opposite side is wider and looks stronger) so I have come up with 3 methods to attach the hood tension cords that should be stronger than the loop. I can either sew the Dogclip or D ring to the pole webbing or put an eyelet through the middle of the piece of webbing with 2 D rings and simply attach that to the pole underneath the locating tab.






One final mod that I want to make is to attach an additional shockcord loop to each of the corner flysheet pegging loops and then use glove clips on the inner tent shockcord to make it easier to unhook the inner/keep the inner attached when packed.

So far the modifications/additions have resulted in my Laser weighing in at,

Fly, Inner, Poles = 1348
Pegs = 251
Footprint = 184

Total = 1783

All in all the tent is fine, certainly the best compromise I could find at the time. Of the others the Big Agnes Copperspur UL1 looks interesting and the Saunders Spackpacker has always been on my shortlist but never quite made it. Last time (91-92)it lost out to a Phoenix Phreeranger EB, that in my opinion was one of the best solo tents ever made, unfortunately someone (Vango/AMG?) is sitting on the rights/design with no idea of what they have. I recently aquired an old (pre taped seams) Phreeranger and if you take pegs/stuff sacks alone out of the equation it's within 200g of my Laser 1487g - 1286g.

Not too bad for a 20-25 year old tent. I hope TN aren't feeling too smug............. ;-)

Trip to the Cairngorms

Just back last night after a few days in Scotland, my plan was to do a bit of walking/camping in the Cairngorms coming in from the Linn of Dee. I'd already booked the ferry so even though the weather forecast wasn't promising I had little choice but go. The trip didn't exactly go according to plan, for one thing I decided to leave my ice axe, crampons and stiffer boots in the car to save a bit of weight (my pack was already around 19kg what with gear that isn't exactly lightweight, 4 days food and around 1.5kg of camera and lens) I didn't really have any definite plans preferring to be flexible but with the benefit of hindsight I was perhaps a bit too flexible as I wandered around a lot and changed my mind too often.

In any case it was an opportunity to try some new gear and some older gear in a different environment. It was my 1st real try with my new Terra Nova Laser so I was looking forward to seeing how I managed, also I'd opted to take an EK Kombi as my sole means of cooking, I'd brought my C-3 mini gas stove but decided to leave it in the car reasoning that in the absence of suitable fuel for the wood stove I could rely on the back-up alcohol burner. Most of my main meals were made up of a variety of supermarket dehydrated meals but I did take a Wayfarer and a Mountain House main meal for variety.





My kit list was as follows,

Shelter
Terra Nova Laser

In addition to the 12 supplied pegs I took
4 x Vargo nails
10 x Camcleat Y's

That added 250g

Plus a Footprint at 194g

Cooking Gear
EK Kombi c/w Meths burner
Alpkit Mitymug
Tibetan ti 450ml mug
Plastic Mug
Tibetan ti Folding Spork
GSI Long Handled Spoon
Mora Carbon knife c/w flint
Cosy for Ziplock Bags
2 x 250ml Bottles of Meths
6 x 14g Esbit Tabs

Sleeping Gear
Field & Trek Moonlite Down Bag (bit of a misnomer as it weighs over 2kg)
Highlander Thermalite Compact Self Inflating Mat (another misnomer as it's neither compact or lite, just over 1kg)

Water carrying
Aquagear Bottle
L Ortlieb Bag (only filled prior to setting up camp)

Food
I made up 4 foodpacks which consisted more or less of the following,
Breakfast - Muesli, Coffee
Lunch - Fruit/Cereal Bar, Mini Smoked Cheese, Garibaldi biscuits, Cuppa-soup*, Instant Mocha/Cappuccino*, Chocolate (Mars)
Main Meal - Cuppa Soup, Cup Pasta, Mrs Mathesons Smoked sausage, Coffee.
Night Snacks - Cuppa Soup, Coffee + whatever was left from Lunch/Main Meal.

I tend to drink a lot of coffee and eat constantly when I'm stuck in the tent with nothing to do so everything was used up, in fact the Mountain House Rice and Chili was so utterly disgusting that I couldn't eat it, that resulted in using additional fuel (fortunately using the wood stove at that time) and a raid on the next days meal. I'm definitely going for a dehydrator, one from Westfalia at £26 will be fine. I don't expect to see a massive weight saving as the only stuff that wasn't dehydrated was the sausage but at least I can make something I like in the quantities I need.

Lighting
Osram Dot-it LED light
Energizer Headlight

Clothing Carried
Gaiters
Shell Gloves
Lowe Mountain Cap
Goretex jacket
Light Trespass Overtrousers
Montane Flux
Spare L/S Sub Zero Thermal
Pair light Fleece Trouser Liners
Spare pair short Socks

Misc
1st Aid Kit
Trowel
Maps/Compass/GPS
Repair kit
Wash Kit
Panasonic SDR-S7 Cardcam + 2 spare batteries (carried in a CCS Belt Pouch)
Olympus E-3 & 14-54mm lens + 2 spare batteries & spare CF Cards (carried in a CCS Pouch clipped to the rucksack shoulder straps)
Lens Pens/cloth
Pair Highlander Trekking Poles
German Army Penknife

Clothing Worn
Chocolate Fish Merino L/S Base layer
Mountain Equipment Liskamm Trousers
Fleece Zip Neck Top (£2 at Primark)
Tacgear Windshirt
Fleece Hat
Salomon Socks
Meindl Borneo Boots



I used a Karrimor Condor 65l SA rucksac to carry it all.


I think the only thing apart from the 1st aid kit that didn't get used was the spare base layer top, the fleece trouser liners I wore once at night. Of the other stuff I could probably manage without,

Folding Spork
Plastic Mug
Mora Knife (retaining the Flint)

That would save 172g. I won't take the TN wire skewers again, they're light but compromised, instead I'd take 6 Camcleat Y's, 4 Vargo Nails and 6 Blacks Alloy Skewers for a total weight of 249g. As it turned out I was glad to have the TN Wires, I accidental left the EK Kombi Windshield support rods behind after stopping for lunch on day 1 and had to use 2 TN Wires that evening, actually picked the 2 rods up again on the way back!!

Of the rest I'm not sure where to make a saving, the sleeping bag is sorted as I'd already ordered a PHD bag at around 900g, a saving of over 1kg, I should and probably would have taken a smaller camera but for the fact that my wife had taken it with her to Spain. That would save 889g (E-3 + Lens 1418g, C5050 529g) As for the sleeping mat, well I could have taken an Alpkit Wee Airic or gone retro with a Karrimat Extreme strapped to the outside which incidentally I had to do with the Thermalite. Either option should save about 500g although I'm considering a Pacific Outdoors Ether Thermo 6 at 623g. It seems pointless saving 100g but all the 100g here and there add up and at 10st I can't afford to carry any unnecessary weight.

Although the trip was a bit shambolic due to poor planning and indecision everything worked pretty much as it should, the Kombi performed flawlessly, used 3 times in wood stove configuration, once with an Esbit tab simply to see how it performed and all cooking that was done inside the porch was done using the meths back-up as a stand alone stove. I had no problems with stability as a skewer through the baseplate kept it rock solid.

The Laser was mainly fine but I have to say there are a few areas where I feel that a compromise was accepted in an attempt to save a few spec sheet grams. It seems to be extremely prone to condensation, even with the ends vents hiked up, that wouldn't necessarily be a major issue if the inner and fly could be separated easily but they can't so by the time it was packed and bagged the entire tent, inner and outer was saturated. I have to say that once pitched it does offer a comfortable amount of space for 1 especially if you're sitting out bad weather as I did in Glen Nevis when it rained constantly from arrival late afternoon Tuesday until I left late morning Wednesday. I'll post a few thoughts on the Laser comparing it with the Phoenix Phreeranger/Phreeranger EB but that'll keep for another time.

Of the clothing I used everything was fine, the Liskamm's were warm, pretty windproof and water resistant and dried quickly, the Montane Flux was fine but I expected that as I'd almost worn it out when I got it, the Tacgear windshirt did what it was supposed to do and was pretty cheap, my fleece cost £4 from Primark (zip neck, shockcorded hem, elasticated cuffs, 2 handwarmer pockets) and did what a fleece is supposed to do and the Chocolate Fish Merino top worked away in the background keeping me dry, warm and socially acceptable.

The biggest problem I had was my rucksack, for some reason I couldn't get it comfortable, it seemed to press on the belt of my trousers or cut into my shoulders, never had a problem with it before, the only thing I can think of is that since I last carried that amount of weight in it I've had a bad RTA on a motorbike, a few broken ribs and a broken shoulder blade among other things resulted in my right shoulder being 1-2" lower than the left, either that or my wife is right, I've just had too many birthdays :-)

All in all not exactly how I imagined it but I'm looking forward to a return visit with a lighter load and some idea of where I'm going. Perhaps the weather will be a bit more predictable next time!!

New Tent

A few post ago I mentioned I was looking for a new tent, the criteria was side entry, dual porches preferred, Geo rather than tunnel, non-mesh inner, around 2kg and less than £250.

So I ordered a Terra Nova Voyager which is of course geo, with a non-mesh inner, but has only one porch, front entry was a little over 2kg and cost £270. Of course when I tried it I thought it was a bit big so..........

........ I decided to look at the Terra Nova Laser which of course is side entry, less than 2kg but not a geo and has only 1 porch!!

I decided to return the Voyager and ordered the Laser instead and it arrived yesterday. I have to say I was surprised at how light it was, 1.25kg or thereabouts, even more surprised by the tent pegs which are small to say the least. A few question on Outdoors Magic forum and I'd been sufficiently reassured so nothing to do but pitch it up. It went up with relative ease, inner and outer together, given that it was a bit windy and I was trying to read the instructions stitched into the stuff sack, keep the stuff sack from blowing away and hold onto the tent all at the same time.

The next thing was to throw in my sleeping bag and try it for size. Very good indeed, loads of space and very easy to move around/get in/get out. It has a good usable porch too with plenty of space to cook even with the fly closed. Of course I had to test it last night, turned in about 1.00am (early for me) made a quick soup drink using the EK Kombi meths back-up as a stand alone stove, had a quick read of TGO by the light of an 'Osram Dot-it' 3 led light. A nice little tent light, very compact and can be used with 3/2/1 LEDs lit. It has a magnetic base so I cobbled together a holder out of a screw on jam jar lid with a piece of para-cord and a bulldog clip. Finally switched off at about 2.00am, slept to about 5.00am then to around 8.00 when I made a quick brew.

There was a fair bit of condensation on the inside of the fly but as it was still and just above freezing I'd expect that, the inner was totally dry. I had the end vents fully closed as I hadn't at that stage figured out how they worked, I'd pegged them down by the shockcord loops.

All in all I'm happy with the tent, there are a few little mods that I want to make, some/most of which I read about at blogpackinglight laser-comp-mods
I ordered some Vargo Nails and a ZeRo +1 Guyline kit from 'team io', I was tempted by the Laser footprint but opted to make my own out of PU coated Ripstop which weighs in at 120g per linear meter. I'd previously ordered some Camcleat 'Y' pegs which also arrived yesterday so together with the Vargo Nails and the supplied ti wire skewers I should be sorted.

I need to pitch/strike it a few more times and get things sorted pretty quickly as I intend to use it not next week but the following in the Cairngorms.


Porch Space, Stove and Mitymug


End Fly Vent Opened


Osram Dot-it Light with screw cap and paracord hanger.