I'd put together a short tour and first impressions on a Eureka Spitfire 1 tent back in September, but after a couple of real trips it's worth noting that it's performing as well as initially expected. Just a few things to add, and they're all positive:
- The non-door side vestibule is just big enough to hold a 50 liter pack vertically. It leans snugly against the aluminum frame, is out of the weather, and is essentially invisible this way.
- The MSR mini-groundhog stakes aren't quite big enough to hold down the vestibule reliably. A couple of the full-sized model (actually, similar from Coghlan's... $0.75 each at Wally World) do the job.
- Some reviewers complain about the pointy ends of the tent (see below) being wasted floor space, but I find them handy for shoving clothes down by the foot or for room to keep a flashlight and other implements for when things go bump in the night up by the head. Can't do much else with these ends, so nothing else impedes on these key functions. Call it a feature, not a bug.
- Similarly, the stand-out points midway up the tent make for a little bit of bedside room for odds and ends. Even room for a fully-equiped ham set-up, as you can see in last Sunday's post.
- While it's not completely free-standing, it's close. It could be set up and moved much like a dome tent. It'd be a little floppy until the two end stakes were driven in, but it'd work. It's impressive how this eliminates about five feet of aluminum spine-pole and shaves the corresponding weight.
Bottom line is that with a winter's use of this thing, it's looking handier by the trip.
Weird Pointed Ends: Feature, not Bug
No comments:
Post a Comment