Has anyone added extra guys to a Lunar Solo

[mtbmarkymark]

The wind really got up last night and it was quite flappy and loud in my Lunar Solo.
I already have a couple of guys attached to the 2 side panel tie outs
I wondered about adding a couple more tie outs and guys to the middle of the 2 rear panels.
Has anyone done this ? and did it help
Cheers

[Bearbonesnorm]

Never felt the need but you could try one of these ... they work very well and won't damage anything.

https://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk ... -clip-p447

[thenorthwind]

They look useful, thanks.

I've got some of these somewhere: https://www.clasohlson.com/uk/Holdon-Ta ... ps/30-9551

Useful things to have for general home use, but surprisingly heavy. The ones you linked look similar but much lighter weight.

[ScotRoutes]

I'd concentrate on trying to get a tighter pitch. When it's really bad, I've been known to tie the upwind guy to my bike too!

[psling]

In an 'emergency', you can always use the old pebble trick (as long as you have a spare line) - pebble or other suitable small object on inside, line looped around on outside (sorry, grannies & eggs sucked, etc..)

[Mike]

I was in mine on sat night too and it got a right battering from the wind. I just don't think its a great shelter for rough weather the seams even leaked water in after 3 hrs of rain. I'll be using this now only as a 3 season shelter and revert back to the laser comp for winter. Lunar hates wind and I guess as it's from the usa it's designed for their more warmer drier climates in certain states? Definitely not a British winter anyhow I'd say

[Cheeky Monkey]

Are the seams sealed Mike?

[Mike]

No not yet but they will be this week for sure!

[mtbmarkymark]

Hi Mike,

I hadn't seam sealed mine from new either and it started to leak after about 30 nights
A few months ago i seam sealed it using a 50:50 mix of clear silicone & white spirit.
Mix very very well. You don't need much about an egg cup full of mix should be enough. Apply with 1/4" brush
I pitched it in the garden on a sunny day, sealed it mid morning and it was dry by teatime

interestingly i felt the L.S shed the wind quite well and the pole wasn't moving.
The problem was the noise from the large flappy rear panels that were facing into the wind,
hence the question about adding a couple of guys to the middle of these panels

[Bearbonesnorm]

I know it's not always possible and the wind direction can quickly shift but I always try and pitch mine at 45 degrees to the wind ... wind hitting the corner of the back panel / side.

[mtbmarkymark]

Thanks Stuart, i'll give that a try next time

[fatbikephil]

I tested my Deschutes on the IOM back at the end of August - always a good spot for shelter testing as the weather can be amazingly crap for a low lying island in the middle of the Irish sea. Anyway day 1 inevitably involved some reasonably high wind (not gale force but 30mph plus gusts I'd guess) followed by 7 hours of horizontal super dense drizzle. It was pretty flappy but at no point did I feel it was going to blow over and the only leak was an odd drip from the very top where I guess water was soaking through the wee webbing loop. Its seam sealed and there were no other leaks plus zero condensation. In future I'll do Colins trick with the extra guy to a bike as this will make it a bit less flappy and keep the walls away from the inner and my face

[HUX]

On my Deschutes Iv put a guy on the inside from the top of the pole to the rear middle peg. Nice and right it stops some of the flappiness!

[Alpinum]

The wind really got up last night and it was quite flappy and loud in my Lunar Solo.
I already have a couple of guys attached to the 2 side panel tie outs
I wondered about adding a couple more tie outs to middle the 2 rear panels.
your thoughts ?
Has anyone done this ?
Cheers

I've got multiple patches of higher Denier fabric waiting to be sewn on to a Deschutes Tarp which is pretty much a Lunar Solo without intestines.
I don't quite understand why SMD choose to apply mid panel tie outs. My girlfriend's Locus Khufu was the same. There, I attached a total of 8 tie outs (4 outside, 4 inside) to have tie outs on the fold line/seam of each panel. Such tents (we could argue about mids with 4 corners, but at six corners a clear edge dividing panels will help splitting wind loads) live from the tension on corner tie outs to spread wind loads, so it seems reasonable to me to support the corner tie outs by bringing more tension to the panel sides. Funnily enough, the guy behind Locus gear has done the same on his tents now.

For the SMD Deschutes I have prepared sewing the tie outs with some additional diluted silicone. Once I find 30 min time they will be sewn on about 40 % down from the top. One each on the side 'edges' and two about 30 % and 50 % down from the top on the rear 'edge'. Pretty similar to this



Two critical points on mids are then improved and come with consequences; more space inside (more so in a 2 person mid), more stable in high winds. Thus I feel more confident to camp on exposed spots where the view is good and condensation doens't exist

[Alpinum]

I know it's not always possible and the wind direction can quickly shift but I always try and pitch mine at 45 degrees to the wind ... wind hitting the corner of the back panel / side.

Same here with roughly rectangular shaped tents.

A few months ago i seam sealed it using a 50:50 mix of clear silicone & white spirit.
Mix very very well. You don't need much about an egg cup full of mix should be enough. Apply with 1/4" brush
I pitched it in the garden on a sunny day, sealed it mid morning and it was dry by teatime

Same here. I dilute it about 1:5.

Lunar hates wind and I guess as it's from the usa it's designed for their more warmer drier climates in certain states? Definitely not a British winter anyhow I'd say

In North America 'back country' camp grounds are mostly on low level, tucked away and protected by trees. SMD/Z-Packs et al. have such camping in mind. Many long distance hikers prefer hiding from the elements rather than not care much about exposure but go with a more stable option. After all, that's just another way to save more weight. For this, tarps also work in Scotland...

[benp1]

America is quite a big place, each environment can be quite different. Despite that, our UK weather is different to US weather so shelters don't always work

For seam sealing try using a sponge rather than a brush. I cut down a kitchen foam scourer and used the soft (not the scratchy) side, I found it neater

[mtbmarkymark]

@ Alpinium
i think the main reason SMD fit the 2 mid panel tie out points is to help with headroom and footroom
I like the look of what you have done with the extra guys on the seams.
I can't decide which position for the extra tie outs will work best now.....mid panel or on the seams.

i have just ordered some 1.5mm dyneema cord to make some guy lines and have some mini line locs in stock

[Alpinum]

@ Alpinium
i think the main reason SMD fit the 2 mid panel tie out points is to help with headroom and footroom
I like the look of what you have done with the extra guys on the seams.
I can't decide which position for the extra tie outs will work best now.....mid panel or on the seams..

You're right about the head room, but it would be easy to make a combined edge/mid panel tie out for one stake or part of the bike. Shaped like an A where the top of the A is stake and bottom of A two tie outs. I'd probably go for the front/entrance facing edge and mid panel rather than the rear.

Sorry about the image, it's from Colin Ibbotson
http://www.tramplite.com/2017/04/trampl ... s.html?m=1 and not mine.

[mtbmarkymark]

Looking at the Colin Ibbotson design it's very similar to the Deschutes
I think i will add what he terms the Extreme weather kit to my Lunar solo
The twin attachment points on the seam with an A guy going to a single peg is an often used configuration ( lots of Hillebergs do this )
I'm not sure i need the guy from the peak to the leeward side, on the Colin Ibbotson design this guy tensions the door side whereas the Lunar solo already has the door guy as part of the the design

The guys seem to have a section of elastic shockcord at the attachment points......what function do you think this has ?

[Alpinum]

I was thinking of a horizontal A guy, not a vertical A like Hilleberg use.

Exactly, SMD has the door guy inside. I just changed the type of cord and have set the tensioners up with easier to use clips.

Elastic cord lessens peak strain in gusts which can help the stackes stay put but also save seams and fabric in the tie outs. Another effect is the consistent pull which is especially handy with silnylon and silpoly as the fabric stretches when wet. With elastic cird less retensioning is needed.

[mtbmarkymark]

Just laid the Lunar solo out to have a look at the seams and discovered the flaw in my plan !
The Colin Ibbotson tarp has definate seams. The Lunar solo, although it has the same hexagonal shape when pitched doesn't have physical seams on its side or back. The "seam line" is a notional one simply caused by pegging it out tautly.
So option 1 seems to be add the guys on these "seam lines"
option 2 to simply add a couple of mid panel tie outs to the 2 rear panels to compliment the 2 end panel tie outs. This would give me a total of 4 mid panel tie outs. This is exactly the same arrangement as on Zpacks Hexamid solo-plus tent
What i can't work out ( as it has been a long day ) is which would be better.

[Bearbonesnorm]

I'd attach them to mid-panel because that's where the flappy / unsupported material is. Attaching them to the (already) taught seam lines will produce limited effect.

[mtbmarkymark]

I tend to agree, so that's where i'm putting them. I'll report back after the weekend as i might camp on Saturday night.