Not as Good as the Old Light Year

By marcmeiste384642 Ranked #408 - Tents January 22, 2011

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.

View Details: Sierra Designs Light Year 1 Tent 1-Person 3 Season

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