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Breakthrough in tent weights? The Laser Ultra 1

By Dave Roberts   

on February 23, 2011    No ratings yet.

Posted in NewsLaser Ultra 1, shiny shiny, terra nova, ultralightweight, wild camping

Breakthrough in tent weights? The Laser Ultra 1

I’ve just caught wind of the following tent that’ll be available soon (not soon enough!). It’s a significant drop in weight since the previous Photon, from a porky 720g down to a svelte 560g maximum weight. Terra Nova quote a minimum weight of an astonishing 495g, which knowing TN will be a minimum usable weight including a quorum of pegs and not a gimmicky, “ah yes, that’s without the pegs…

” – Update from the guys at TN- they are quoting the weight without pegs – as that’s becoming the industry standard for comparison, though they think it’s a bit absurd as well – important thins is that the 6 pegs you need will push the weight to 501g, which is as close to 500g as you’re ever going to get when you consider that there will be minor variation in weight from tent to tent and within the accuracy of my household scales i’m not going to be able to tell the difference!

While, i’ll be honest and say that I don’t see going lightweight as the universal panacea for unfit hill walkers who want to go wild camping any more, the idea of a tent that weighs in the region of my bivvy/tarp combination really does appeal. Leaving the inner at home, you can cut weight even further. This is a welcome addition as i’ve used the original Laser before as an overhead shelter while ‘bivvying’, but still had the full weight as i could not detach the inner. The main deisgn drawback, and that’s common to all the smaller Lasers these days, is the single door. The original opens all the way across so you can lay in your tent and enjoy the full view and is part of why I find that tent so appealing. You’ve got to ask if the material is durable as well seeing as the heavier photon has been marketed, quite honestly, as being less durable than the heavier tents. They’ve even got a 50g bivvy bag from the same material! Here’s a few shots of the tent which classifies as being more of a shiny shiny than any other I’ve seen..

It’s going to be available at the start of next year – February, so if you were going to write to Santa, don’t bother 😉

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Dave Roberts

Dave Roberts founded Walk Eryri in 2004, with the aim of providing routes that are off the beaten track. Walk Eryri is now part of Mud and Routes which continues to provide more off beat routes and walks in Snowdonia and beyond. Dave has been exploring the hills of Eryri for over thirty years, and is a qualified Mountain Leader. Dave also established Walk up Snowdon, Walk up Scafell Pike and Walk up Ben Nevis just to mention a few.

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