Sierra Designs Light Year 1 Tent 1-Person 3 Season - 2009 BCS

What a great little tent. Packs very small, light and is a snap to set up. My Light Year has accompanied me on three thru-hikes on the Appalachian Trail and survived the Colorado Trail, with only minor injuries..!!

Still going strong...!!!

I recently had to replace my old light year tent, which was one of the best designed tents that I've ever owned. So naturally, staying with Sierra Designs and buying the new light year model was the logical choice. I inagurated the new tent with a week long backpacking trip in the grand canyon and here's what I found.

First Sierra Design replaced the pole fasteners with this contraption called the Jake clip. Why they replaced a simple threaded grommet with this complicated piece of plastic I don't know, but it definitely makes camping life more complicated. Instead of the end of the pole being held in place nicely with the grommet, it now has to snap into place inside this plastic divot. Guess what - if it's raining and the divot fills up with mud, you have to clean it out or else the pole won't snap into place. Also I had a hell of a time fastening the fly to this jake clip. You have to take your gloves off and align the clip just right or else it won't snap on. After five nights, I still had some trouble with it.
Fortunetly, Sierra Design kept the tent dimensions the same as the old model. Plenty of room to sit up in the tent and dress in the morning. They replaced the tent fabric with this fly netting which makes the tent breath even better. However the fly netting is not as strong as the old tent fabric - after 5 days, I'm already noticing small rips near stretch points and around the stiching. My old light year lasted 5 years and would have lasted longer if I didn't damage it. I'll probably have to replace this new light year after 2 or 3 seasons. And when I do, I'm going to go with a different model.

I don't have any complaints about this tent. It is super easy to set up, roomy enough for me, has a nice little vestibule, super light, and looks pretty cool too!

Nice tent for the price and weight. i have had two of these and they have never failed me- been in torrential downpours and crazy wind. you need to make sure you stake down the corners before raising the tent to assure it is taught. good ventilation and the vestibule holds my pack, shoes and more. for being a one person, it is fairly large and have on occasion gotten my wife in with me. a little tight but not complaining. enjoy!

I've had a light year tent for about 4 or 5 years now and love it. I thought I wanted a freestanding tent but found this one on sale for 85 bucks at a local store and bought it. It has a large amount of room for a sub 3.5 pound tent, especially if you like to sleep with your arms streched out in front of you. Weight is actually less if you only use three stakes...even in stormy weather I have found I only need three. I believe the weight specs published include seven stakes. It has always kept me dry and is easy to set up and pack up. I've used it for multi-day backpacking and floating. All the freestanding tents in this weight range that I have seen are much more cramped than this design and I have never had a problem getting the three stakes in, so I have been very happy with the light year. I would have been happy if I had paid full retail for this tent.

havent tested it in the wild yet, but my initial setup at home was very easy. not sure about the stakes but we'll see. the poles clip very easily to the the tent itself and wfter switching from my eureka solitare the extra room is wonderful!!! really. it is so much taller and wider!. don't know if the width will be a prob in very small camp sites. also the rain fly is a bit heavier then i'm used to. the solitare's is built in so mabye i was spoiled. i think i'm gonna like it. cant wait to field test it