golite SL3

[Backpack Hunter]

I bought 6.5 Titanium stakes for my SL5. For those that have tried this type of stake....is this enough to secure the tent in a "windy" situation?

Depends on the soil conditions your putting the stakes into, but more than likely it will.

 

[jquarnberg]

I am wanting the SL5 but I dont really know that I want to go floorless. Its to heavy with fly and nest. Maybe you guys could tell me if this idea is possible or straight crazy... Why do I need that whole nest I just want bug proof and a floor. Could you cut the floor and door out and sew that directly to the fly? Does that make sense. I thinking the floor and like like 3-6 inches up of the netting and the netting from the door and attaching that right to the fly? Would that be a good idea? Would it save me a good amount of weight? Would it pitch and such fine?

 

[Floorguy]

you could do that but you would only loose essentially 2 sides of netting and the weight for the nest is all in the floor. Get the SL5 selll the nest and buy a smaller nest if you want to save weight and have bug protection with a floor.

 

[Ray]

I am wanting the SL5 but I dont really know that I want to go floorless. Its to heavy with fly and nest. Maybe you guys could tell me if this idea is possible or straight crazy... Why do I need that whole nest I just want bug proof and a floor. Could you cut the floor and door out and sew that directly to the fly? Does that make sense. I thinking the floor and like like 3-6 inches up of the netting and the netting from the door and attaching that right to the fly? Would that be a good idea? Would it save me a good amount of weight? Would it pitch and such fine?

If you want bug proof and a floor there are dozens of other tents to look at. The SL5 allows for some of us short folk to stand up. It also allows those of us that camp/hike with wet dogs a shelter that does not get muddy and soaked by the dog. For river floating its a great shelter when you can get into it all dressed in waders and wet rain gear and not worry about where the water is going to go. If you want a bug proof tent with a floor for backpacking the SL5 should not be very far up your list. The SL5 is a huge tent, and even with just the shell, pole, and stakes makes for a large load that needs to be shared between two people.

You can send your floorless tent to Bearpaw and have him sew in no-se-um mesh ground curtain around the perimeter. Then for floor protection you can use any number of ground cloth options from sil-nylon sheets to tyvek house wrap.

Or you can buy one of Bearpaws tipi tents all sewn up with mesh ground curtain installed when built. He sews his stuff one at a time as its ordered and is good to work with.

Check out the photos of his options for his pyra tents. Neither are as large as an SL5.

http://www.bearpawwd.com/tents_tarps/pyraTent.html

 

[luke moffat]

The SL5 is a huge tent, and even with just the shell, pole, and stakes makes for a large load that needs to be shared between two people.


Check out the photos of his options for his pyra tents. Neither are as large as an SL5.

http://www.bearpawwd.com/tents_tarps/pyraTent.html

The SL-5 with fly and stakes isn't exactly "huge" here is the nest, 20 stakes and the fly of the SL-5. I have since swapped stakes around and still have 20 stakes for full guyouts in high winds and am at 3.25 pounds for everything as I use trekking poles as a center pole. So not "HUGE" and certainly no need to split it up between two people:


jquarnberg ,

Here is what my wife and I have been doing since 2010 and well over 100 nights in an SL-5 with this setup as you can see plenty of space outside the nest/sleeping area to store gear and hangout in and cook in while still having a fully bug proof sleeping area with a bathtub floor.



This video review I ddi might help as well:
http://vimeo.com/45182137

 

[Rucker61]

Luke, what nest are you using?

 

[luke moffat]

The one I use is the Mount Laurel Designs Duomid net. I like it a lot but Bearpaw Designs also makes a good one as well. Nearly identical from what I can tell having looked at both in person.

 

[Rucker61]

Bearpaw is about 3 miles as the crow flies from where I'm sitting. I'll go check them out. Thanks.

 

[NEhunter]

Just got the SL3 in the mail today. I think this will make a great versatile shelter for 1-2 plus gear.

 

[jquarnberg]

If you want bug proof and a floor there are dozens of other tents to look at. The SL5 allows for some of us short folk to stand up. It also allows those of us that camp/hike with wet dogs a shelter that does not get muddy and soaked by the dog. For river floating its a great shelter when you can get into it all dressed in waders and wet rain gear and not worry about where the water is going to go. If you want a bug proof tent with a floor for backpacking the SL5 should not be very far up your list. The SL5 is a huge tent, and even with just the shell, pole, and stakes makes for a large load that needs to be shared between two people.

You can send your floorless tent to Bearpaw and have him sew in no-se-um mesh ground curtain around the perimeter. Then for floor protection you can use any number of ground cloth options from sil-nylon sheets to tyvek house wrap.

Or you can buy one of Bearpaws tipi tents all sewn up with mesh ground curtain installed when built. He sews his stuff one at a time as its ordered and is good to work with.

Check out the photos of his options for his pyra tents. Neither are as large as an SL5.

http://www.bearpawwd.com/tents_tarps/pyraTent.html

I don't know of any other tents out there that will sleep 3-5 that are this weight and price? Breaking it up to pack it is no problem either. But my idea I was hoping would shed some weight but still give me my needs in a shelter. Which are: Big enough for 4. Lightweight. Affordable. Bug proof.

Luke I have seen your reviews and posts and its what made me want it. Your nest is perfect for your and your wife but I am wanting a bit different set up. I want to get 3 or 4 of us in it which it has the room for but I want to lighten it up cause the sl5 nest is heavy. I have thought about the mesh curtain around the bottom, that may be best. But the idea im asking about is to do basically the same thing. Just cut the top of the nest off and sew the bottom section to the fly. So I would have a sealed bottom and door but not all that extra mesh that I don't see a purpose for. But I have no idea if it would work or be effective?

 

[Chad44]

Seems like that would work to me but the bulk of the nests weight seems to come from the floor. At least with my sl3.

 

[Chad44]

Forgot to add that if you have 3-4 guys just give one the nest and one the fly and one the stakes and pole.

 

[jquarnberg]

Ya breaking up the parts makes the most sense I guess. I would assume you are spot on that floor is the bulk of the weight. Ummm. Sorry to get off topic on the thread.

 

[larryschwartz]

I have the SL-5 and nest. If you cut off the top of the netting you are not going to save much weight at all. As noted, the main weight is in the floor of the nest. Also, the footprint of the nest is not the same as the flysheet. The next has the front third of the floor cut off where you enter the tent. This gives you a floorless vestibule for wet gear which I find very useful. Using a small nest like Luke and Becca do is probably going to be your best bet, especially if you want to fit 3-4 sleeping bags inside of the nest. Also, don't plan on putting packs and other gear inside of the nest if you are going to get one that is not the same size as the flysheet, there won't be room for it.

 

[muleman]

I don't know of any other tents out there that will sleep 3-5 that are this weight and price? Breaking it up to pack it is no problem either. But my idea I was hoping would shed some weight but still give me my needs in a shelter. Which are: Big enough for 4. Lightweight. Affordable. Bug proof.

Luke I have seen your reviews and posts and its what made me want it. Your nest is perfect for your and your wife but I am wanting a bit different set up. I want to get 3 or 4 of us in it which it has the room for but I want to lighten it up cause the sl5 nest is heavy. I have thought about the mesh curtain around the bottom, that may be best. But the idea im asking about is to do basically the same thing. Just cut the top of the nest off and sew the bottom section to the fly. So I would have a sealed bottom and door but not all that extra mesh that I don't see a purpose for. But I have no idea if it would work or be effective?

I have a SL3 fly and floor, SL5 fly and nest, Hoopla4 fly, and BCS fly and add in panel. I have used all of these except the BCS which I picked up used late last year. I have used the SL5 with four people on several occasions with the nest. Of the four people I was the only adult and the rest ranged from 3-12 years old. When using the nest you loose 12" off the sides and one corner of the 9.5' x 9.5' footprint. These outings with four were basic overnights with my kids. In a hunting situation with gear I do not feel I have enough space for four with the SL5 nest.

I find the SL5 a little large to find an ideal spot to pitch where I hunt. If I were planning on four people I would opt for two SL3s or Hoopla4s. By being floorless I can pitch the the larger footprint over brush, rocks or stumps, that would otherwise prevent you from pitching a floored shelter. When I went ultralight floorless I was nervous about biting flies and mosquitos. This has yet to be a problem for me. However I'm also prepared with a 9oz long wide Katabatic Bristlecone bivy if needed.

If you are set on one shelter; here is an idea based on my experience with my wall tent. In my wall tent I use a 3/4 floor that is placed on top of the sod skirt. Send the SL5 to Seekoutside to sew a sod skirt on for $95. Then source a some Tyvek house wrap and cut to fit the 9.5'x9.5' footprint. When you pitch the fly with sod skirt place the Tyvek over the sod skirt and you now have a lightweight floor. Here's the bad news sewing a sod skirt on and putting a floor over it will cut off ventilation. Ventilation is a critical component for SilNi shelters. So I would say that this puts you right back into the traditional tent market.

 

[luke moffat]

The gentleman above that posted are very correct in that most of the weight of the SL-5 nest is in the floor so your weight savings would be minimal. If you are ok with putting your pads on the ground however to sleep on with no bivy or maybe just some tyvek, Seek outside will add a sod skirt and that setup will be lighter than an Sl-5 nest, but its a trade off of not having a floor under your bag/pad, but that will keep the bugs out...or atleast the ones that fly.

Honestly, for 4 people the SL-5 nest isn't really that heavy when you look at it. I have used the SL-5 with four people on a couple occasions and in such instances it makes perfect sense when you think about the alternative options. The SL-5 nest is "roughly" 2.5 pounds or around 40 oz. If you had 4 guys with TI goat bivies then you'll be looking at 28 oz of bivies or who two man nests would be roughly the same 28 oz. For $300 for the SL-5 fly as it is the nest is a nice bonus and I will continue to keep mine for such a reason.

Then I'd get either a simple square flat 8X10 or so tarp or even an Sl-3 for gear/page storage and also doubles as an emergency bivy in a pinch. But thats how I roll atleast right or wrong but I haven't died yet doing such.

 

[jquarnberg]

I have a SL3 fly and floor, SL5 fly and nest, Hoopla4 fly, and BCS fly and add in panel. I have used all of these except the BCS which I picked up used late last year.

Does that hoop system in the hoopla give you a lot of extra headroom and make the shelter feel bigger? I am really liking the hoopla, I hadn't seen that shelter before. Thanks.

 

[muleman]

Does that hoop system in the hoopla give you a lot of extra headroom and make the shelter feel bigger? I am really liking the hoopla, I hadn't seen that shelter before. Thanks.

I will answer your PM question here too. I think the SL3 and Hoopla4 are apples to apples to compare where the SL5 to Hoopla4 is an oranges to apples comparison.

The Hoopla4 definitely gives you more usable headroom than the SL3. Even though the Hoopla is 12 inches shorter than the SL3, 50 inch vs 62 inch. The footprint of Hoopla also has more usable space than the SL3, because the walls of the shelter are more vertical. The Hoopla is also 5sq feet bigger than the SL3, 64sq feet vs 59sq feet to begin with.

The Hoopla4 and the SL5 have similar headroom while seated. The SL5, with or without the nest, beats the Hoopla4 for sleeping floor space.

Over the weekend I messed around with the BCS and really like that shelter. I tried several pitches with and without the add-in panel. I really like the BCS and plan on using it a lot during scouting season to get a feel for it.

Not sure if you have seen this or not; it's a long term review I started on the Hoopla4. http://www.rokslide.com/forums/showthread.php?3203-Mountain-Hardwear-Hoopla-4-Longterm-Review