Vaude Power Lizard UL, Take 3

I’d decided the Power Lizard wasn’t for me so I’d offered it for sale on a few places but although I asked £250 including shipping and being open to offers there was no real interest. Having looked around I still couldn’t see anything else, no surprise as I’d been looking for quite some time prior to deciding on the Power Lizard so I decided to just keep it and try to sort out some of the things I don’t like. In the end in spite of the hype it isn’t really any better IMO than the Laser I had last year. I didn’t like the Laser for a variety of reasons.

At least on the Power Lizard the inner can be removed although the use of toggles and rings makes it more awkward than it needed to be. The worst ones as I mentioned before are the ones at the botom corners of the fly and at each end adjacent to the top of the end strut. For some reason while most of the fittings on the inner are toggles the ones at the corners are rings, this wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't for the fact that the toggles are attached to the fly with webbing thats only just long enough to allow you to push them through the rings. I've experimented with glove hooks on the fly, simply tied to the existing webbing and it makes hooking the inner on so much easier. I'd like to fit the glove hooks using thin shockcord without permanently altering the original fittings but it might not ne possible. At the ends adjacent to the strut the ring is attached to the fly but it's on a very short piece of webbing and suffers from the same lack of flexibility as the toggles on the bottom corners. When the fly is tensioned it's tricky to get the toggles through the rings. The toggles are attached using flat elastic but again I've attached glove hooks to the fly simply by tying them to the existing rings. The other attachment points aren't too bad as theres more room to work but the inner is very tight across the tent where it attaches to the webbing running from each end of the main pole. The webbing has rings attached, the fly has toggles but I'll simply add a shockcord loop to the existing ring at the porch side through which I can place the toggle.

I've already tried it out and it makes a big enough difference for me to be worth doing.

As I'm intending to remove the inner I'll need a footprint to keep the groundsheet clean and dry I haven't decided what to use. Silnylon would be my preferred option but it adds weight, temporary double glazing film is lighter and cheaper so perhaps I should try it 1st. If I use silnylon I could sew it into a bathtub form which would permit me to use the fly only but as the tent is pretty low I'm not about that. It would come down to how much weight I'd actually save by taking my Ti Goat Ptarmigan bivvy rather than the inner tent, I'm not counting the weight of a footprint as I'll be taking it anyway.

In the end as far as I'm concerned the Power Lizard is a better option only because I can remove the inner, in addition it's a bit lighter, about 200g IIRC. In every other respect the Laser is as good or better and while Vaude have attempted to address some of the criticism levelled at the Laser the solutions have in most case resulted in compromises elsewhere. I didn't have a Laser to hand for a direct comparison but my general observations and reasons for my comments are dealt with in the following paragraphs. Do bear in mind though that I couldn't do a direct comparison.

Vaude Power Lizard UL v's Terra Nova Laser

The Power Lizard was touted as a Laser with the problems sorted and on paper it looked good, it avoided the pole hood by using locking pole clips which simply hooked on to the pole once the pole ends had been inserted into the eyelets, it was claimed that locking the clips together with a Vangoesque internal tension cord improved the stability of the pole/tent. The end struts were 2 piece which helped reduce packed length and were fitted on the outside of the fly rather than underneath the fly. The inner was also removable to avoid getting it soaked when packed with a wet flysheet. In addition it provided extra space and was claimed to be more suited to those over 6’ tall, that wasn’t a particular concern of mine at 5’ 10”.

Someone said ‘In theory there’s no difference between theory and practice but in practice there is” and that proved to be the case with the Power Lizard. With regard to the method of locating the main pole I didn’t find the clips to be any quicker in the end than the pole sleeve/hood on the Laser. On the Laser once the pole is fitted and tensioned from the outside using the tension cord on the pole hood you’re finished. On the Power Lizard you fit the pole, then attach the clips but leave them unlocked, then when the fly is fully pegged you need open the door, tension the cord, close the door again and lock down the clips so in reality it isn’t any quicker, just different. I didn’t notice the pole on the Laser being particularly un-stable and in any case the design of the clips suggests that it won’t take long until they don’t actually lock anyway, as it is even locked you can move them without too much effort. The clips even if they do offer a marginal improvement in ease of use or stability introduce another problem. Due to the way the clips are spaced the fly takes on a hexagonal form directly under the pole which in turn prevents the fly zip from following a natural curve, instead it’s forced to follow the same hexagonal form which places extra tension on the zip especially adjacent to the 2nd clip down from the apex, you can easily see the teeth on the zip being pulled apart at this point. Finally even if the fly tension had been improved it only really affects an area 3-4” either side of the pole, the main areas of fabric are still just as prone to flapping as those on the Laser. One final thing to consider is that as the pole isn’t a standard diameter and the clips are a unique design repairs are going to be more difficult/costly and should you need to use the pole repair section to fix a break close to a pole clip the clip will no lomger fit. In the end all things taken into consideration the pole clips don’t in my opinion actually improve on the sleeve/hood used on the Laser, they do however introduce their own problems.

Zip being pulled apart adjacent to Pole Clip

Laser end Tape which hold the position of the Strut relative to the main pole

I found it difficult or at least time consuming to get a taut pitch on the Laser, unfortunately I found it equally difficult on the Power Lizard and it comes down partly to how the end struts are located. On the Laser the inner is fixed but the end tapes/pegging points are part of the inner. The struts are located in pockets, one on the fly (Top) and one on the end tape (bottom) in addition they’re held in place by a shock cord. Once you peg out the end tape the position of the strut and distance from the main pole is fixed, on the Power Lizard this isn’t the case as although the strut is located top and bottom there’s nothing to hold it at a set distance relative to the main pole, the bottom of the strut is free to move around and only really stays put if the end that protrudes through the eyelet penetrates the ground. This means that when you peg out the fly and fit the main pole you need to reset both end struts to the correct distance and angle before you can get a taut pitch, I found I needed to readjust the end strut position and angle more than once at each end and readjust the fly sheet pegging points a similar number of times before I had everything pitched to a reasonable standard. The end strut guyline runs from the vent hood at the top of the strut down at approx 45° to the pegging point which is a plastic ring then back to the bottom of the strut. The plastic rings are too small to allow you to use aluminium ‘V’ or ’Y’ section pegs but also means that when you try to tension the strut by angling it back towards the pegging point there’s even more tension trying to pull the bottom of the strut back towards you which is the last thing you want because if the bottom of the strut slides back towards the peg the top gets pulled forward towards the main pole and the end of the tent collapses. While it may be slightly easier to insert the struts the disadvantages greatly out weigh any advantage there may be. I personally didn’t like the 1 piece struts on the Laser as I felt they were too long for packing but in the end I feel the 2 piece struts on the Power Lizard are a weak point given the amount of tension they‘re under. On both the Laser and Power Lizard the stability and strength of the end struts is critical as the they take a greater share of the loading than any other pegging point, if they fail in strong winds the tent is likely to collapse as most of the tension will be lost and the main body of fabric will lose any wind shedding ability that it had, effectively becoming a sail. The Laser design does a better job of ensuring that the strut is set correctly and keeping it that way.

Short Toggle attached to Fly lower corners

Result of packing as 1 when the fly is wet

The issue of whether the inner can easily be removed or not takes on less significance if by making it removable you make the tent more difficult to pitch. I considered a removable inner a key point but as it takes me so long to achieve a taut pitch I’m unlikely to detach the inner anyway, had I intended to keep it attached on the Laser my opinion of the Laser may well have been different. In any case Vaude have chosen to use a combination of toggles/rings to attach the inner and it simply serves to make the job more difficult than need be. Shock cord loops and ‘S’ or glove hooks would have been perfectly adequate and vastly easier to operate, instead the toggles at each corner of the fly are attached with very short webbing loops which makes the rings difficult to attach, the adjustable straps at both ends of the porch side don’t actually do anything as even fully tightened the head end of the inner is as wide or wider than the fly. It would probably by possible to swap the toggles/rings for shock cord/glove clips but it would have been better if Vaude had concentrated on making things easy to operate rather than looking nice.

The Power Lizard of course has been touted as being more suitable than the Laser for 2 person use due to having more width and suitable for taller people due to having greater internal length. On the 2nd point unless you sleep stretched full length there’s little advantage as the headroom is just the same as the Laser at 95cm, extra length comes primarily through extending the inner relative to the fly which reduces both inner/fly separation at the ends and loses the under fly storage space that you have at the ends of the Laser. For 2 person use the Power Lizard is only wider from the mid point to the head end otherwise it’s the same width as the Laser, the footprint of the Power Lizard being asymmetric. The Laser on the other hand has a door on both sides (only 1 porch) which is something worth considering for 2 person use. In addition the Laser has bigger mesh panels at each end and the fly can be pulled up from inside the inner tent to increase ventilation if required which should reduce condensation especially when used as a 2 person tent. In attempting to optimise internal space the inner/fly separation on the Power Lizard is reduced generally with as little as 25mm between fly and inner at the head end corner on the opposite side from the porch. I suspect that most people buying a Laser or Power Lizard are buying it primarily as a solo tent and the reality is that both have pro’s and con’s when used as 2 person tents.

Inner/Fly separation on the Power Lizard

Inner/Fly separation on the Laser

Lastly there’s the weight advantage, the Power Lizard comes in at between 150-200g lighter than the Laser, changing the pegs from those supplied will more than likely tip the balance in favour of the Power Lizard as it comes with 8 decent ti skewers rather than the ti toothpicks supplied with the Laser.

No More Laser Mods!!

I finally admitted defeat and sold the Laser. It was a great tent once up, plenty of room for 1, nice and light even with the added footprint that I made and the upgraded pegs but I found it to awkward to pitch/strike. I've no idea what I'll go for next, I like the look of the Big Agnes Copperspur but PTC has one for review so I'll wait and see how it performs, the other contender would be the Terra Nova Voyager Superlight.

In the meantime I'm going to use the mk1 Phreeranger fly with a later inner (the later one has a full mesh door as well as a full plain one, the early one only has a plain door) it should easily see me through the summer. I'm using the same footprint I used with the Laser for the time being. I'd bought some Terra Nova 5.5g Titanium pegs with the intention of using them with the Laser so including a Sea to Summit Ultrasil 8L drysack and pegs the all in weight is 1860g, the last trip my complete Laser set-up weighed in at 1709g so there's only about 150g difference.

Of course when I last used a Phreeranger I was happy enough with it as it was, now I'd like to make a few changes to reduce the weight. I'm going to replace the guylines complete with their alloy rings and alloy sliders with 2mm Dymeema and Mini Lineloks, I might change the fly pegging points, they're all webbing with alloy rings but I think I can swap out the 4 corner ones for shockcord loops and cut the rings off the remaining webbing loops. I also have some mozzie net so I'd like to use my mk 1 inner but make the door half mesh, that would save the weight of the extra zip on the later inner.

Anyway, all good fun and I didn't lose too much on the Laser.

More Laser Mods

Laser Tarp?

One of the things that I don't like about the Laser is the fact that the inner is fixed. I find that trying to re-insert the end struts and get all the vent cords etc untangled makes pitching awkward. In addition and probably worse is the fact that the inner gets soaked if you need to pack the tent wet. There are a few things that prevent the inner being removed, the vent cords for one, but I think I've managed to sort the problem and gain an additional side benefit.

I removed the vent cords completely which allowed me to detach the inner, however with the inner removed there's no support for the end struts. What I did was make a webbing tape that runs the full length of the tent and that replicates the function of the inner with regard to supporting the end struts and pegging down the fly. I've just made a prototype so far so I'll need to order some suitable webbing.

Using 25mm webbing for the tape the 1st thing I did was measure the distance between the strut pockets on the inner tent tapes, I folded the webbing and sewed it up to form a vertical pocket at each end. The tape extends under the fly in the same way as the original tapes but I sewed a D ring as a pegging point (Permits the use of Y or V pegs as well as Skewers) and incorporated a Dog Clip and ladderlock. The fly end shockcord hooks to the dog clip and can be tensioned via the ladder lock. I can keep the fly shockcord attached to the dog clip so that the strut is raised into position when the tape is pegged out. You can see a split ring in the pics where the new longitudinal tape crosses the pole tape, this won't be on the final version, it's there simply as I didn't have webbing long enough. The longitudinal tape still needs attached to the cross tape to keep everything in line but I'll use a velcro loop on the final version.

I added a glove hook to the fly end shockcord at each end which allows me to hike up the fly for venting by clipping it to the now redundant vent cord rings attached to the inside of the fly. Obviously if you need to un-vent the fly due to a change in wind direction then you've got to go out to do so.

The tape complete weighs 94g wet (it was raining when I made it) I could offset this by cutting the original tapes off the inner tent but I'll keep them on in case I ever want to sell the tent.

It seems to work okay, I can now keep the inner separate from a wet fly for packing, hopefully be able to get the fly up and tensioned off more easily and also use the fly on it's own as a semi-tarp if I want.

I have a love/hate relationship with the Laser, not quite what I want but close enough to keep me working on it, I really think this has cracked it for me, can't wait to try it out for real.



End tape with D ring pegging point, ladder lock tensioner and Dog Clip (Fly shockcord unhooked)



Fly Tensioned, Fly shockcord hooked to Dog Clip



Layout from Inside, Logitudinal Tape crossing Pole Tape (Split Ring Temporary)



Fly Hiked Up for Venting



Viewed from Inside, The Fly Shockcord is simply Tied to the Strut here, I've now added a Glove Hook to clip the fly up to the Redundant Vent Cord Ring.



Pegged and tensioned Off.

I only need a way to connect the inner to the tape at the pointed ends, the tape on the original version pulls the inner out at this point. It isn't strictly nescessary as the inner still attaches at the corners to the fly shockcord loops. (I'd previously added glove hooks and an extra 2mm dia shockcord loop to each of the corner tie-outs to make it easier to attach/detach the inner)

Laser/Phreeranger Hydrostatic Head, Update

I've had some e-mail discussion with one of the guys at Terra Nova regarding the Laser/Phreeranger. Opinions vary (obviously) but it was pointed out to me that the Phreeranger rather than having a higher Hydrostatic head figure is actually much lower. I'd mistakenly claimed that the figures were 8000mm/4000mm Phreeranger/Laser respectively, in fact it's 80cm (800mm) not 8000mm which puts the Laser well ahead.

Apologies for that.

I still think the Phreeranger is a better design though :-)

Sorted?

This time next week I should be at the Linn of Dee. After the last trip and suffering with a too heavy pack I've been working away at getting it down from 19-20kg to something a bit more manageable. I'm pleased with how it's worked out, weighed my pack this morning at the local Post Office and it's just a shade under 12kg including 4 days food and camera gear. To be honest I'd never have got close to 12kg if I hadn't bought a new pack, sleeping bag and sleeping mat, well thats not strictly true, I could have used my summer weight bag and Alpkit Wee Airic and the weight would be about the same as it is now, the difference is that the bag and mat I'm using should be much warmer. I saved about 2.5kg over the gear from last time through replacing my old pack/bag/mat, the rest of the weight saving came from;

a. cutting down on gear (still got enough to be comfortable though)

b. Getting my camera gear weight down thanks to MSO.

I'd been using a DSLR and we had an old Olympus C5050z that we shared, that has now been replaced with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150 which is strictly speaking my wifes but I get to use it 1st as she doesn't go away until July. I tried to convince her that what she really needed was a Panasonic DMC-LX3 but unfortunately she can read me like a book. The FX150 weighs in at 190g including card & battery, the E-3 with lens/card/battery weighed 1420g, adding spare cards/batteries/pouch etc took that up to 1894g.

Last trip was my 1st time out with the TN Laser, this may be it's last. I was pretty close to taking the old Phreeranger as the lack of grief compared to the Laser is well worth the extra 200g but I need to give the Laser another chance. I still might change my mind though.

This time it's a 1st real run out for the Gregory Z55, PHD Minim 500, POE Ether Thermo 6 and a Montane Venture so I'll see how it goes. Hydration wise I'm using the the new Eliminator which I know will work, my cooking set up is the same as before so no problems there. One other thing that'll be new to me, Trekmates Bamboo Base Layer. I'm always intrigued by alternatives, I've tried synthetic (who hasn't?) and Merino (worked really well) but you have to keep looking at what else is out there.



Wet Gear, 998g





Laser, 1710g



Food Pack, 1 day, 500g approx





Cooking System, 546g. Fuel 350ml 324g





1st Aid and Misc, 270g

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!!

Tent Pegs & Minimalist Cooksets

Left to right,Pencil (not a tent peg) Vango Y Peg, Camcleat Y Peg, Vargo Nail, Phoenix Phreeranger Alloy Channel (Bulldog Brand IIRC) Terra Nova Laser ti Wire Skewer.



I got my Vargo Nails and ZeRo+ guyline today from team io, top service, they only got the order yesterday as I ordered it really late on Monday night. I bought 4 which together with 4 Camcleat pegs and the standard Laser ti wires should hopefully cover most bases. The ZeRo+ guyline is strange stuff, it's almost wiry, if you coil it it stays coiled. At 1.5mm it's even thinner than the Laser guys but it also comes in 1mm!! must look like thread. The nails look really tough but I've so far resisted the temptation to hammer them into a piece of wood. I'll have to wait until I finish my shift before trying the Laser with the new/extra guys. I also need to make a groundsheet protector from a thick poly bag just to finalise the shape and in case the Coated Ripstop I ordered from Point North doesn't arrive on time.

ZeRo+ Dyneema, 1.5mm 195kg b/load

On a slightly different note, I was messing around again with meths burners and I might just have a really light set-up that should work for me. I reckon I can easily get away with about 300ml of water for a main meal which at present is basically a Bacheleors 'Cup Pasta' with some Mrs Matheson's Sausage added (No dehydrator yet) I have a Tibetan ti 450 mug and a poly mug with the handle cut off which fits into the ti mug or onto the base of my Aquagear bottle. My burner is simply the Tealight style burner and 4 section welded ire pot stand that comes with the EK Kombi. It together with a 0.1mm foil windshield fit into a small plastic food container which in turn fits the 450 mug. The whole set weighs 60g, less if I made a mini stuff sack for the burner set rather than the plastic container and takes up virtually no space. I've already tried using it in the Laser porch but with the Mitymug and it worked fine. It's pretty stable and if need be I can put a tent peg through the eyelet in the burner base plate. The burner has a magnet on the base so it doesn't get tipped easily and as i demonstrated in the EK Kombi vid isn't prone to spillage even when lifted and tilted from side to side. Depending on the ambient temp and how well sheltered it is 20ml of meths will heat 500ml until it's too warm to drink even if it isn't strictly speaking a rolling boil. A few more trials need to be done at the weekend.