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A Review of My Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo Tent
In my attempt to lighten my pack and gain some much needed head room, I decided to sell my MSR Carbon Reflex 2 and get the Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo Tent instead.
My MSR
My MSR Carbon Reflex 2 was a great tent. It’s definitely a good option for thru-hiking if you’re looking for a light (2.2lbs) 2-person, 3-season tent, especially if you’re hiking solo.
The things I liked:
- lots of room for one person and gear
- lots of room in the vestibule
- easy to set up
- packs up small
- incredibly light for a 2-person tent
The things I didn’t like:
- it lacked decent headroom, with the peak being only 40”
- the fasteners on the vestibule doors were awkward to do up from inside and the hooks unhooked in windy conditions
- it would collapse in extremely windy conditions (which I fixed by using my trekking poles to support the ends of the small cross pole)
My Lunar Solo
I went with the Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo for multiple reasons:
- it has plenty of headroom (48”)
- has more than enough room for one person and gear inside
- weighs only 1.5 lbs
- uses one hiking pole for setting up, therefore no separate poles to carry
This was my first experience with a tarp tent, and after using it a few times, here’s what I’ve learned:
Set up
It sets up quite easily once you get the hang of it, although, it was a challenge to set up on a pre-built wooden platform.
The challenge of setting up on a wooden platform. At first, I tried to use rocks to provide tension, but with one gust of wind, it was down.
After moving to a smaller platform, I was able to solve the problem of keeping tension on the tent.
Luckily, where there was no overhang, I was able to reach the ground.
I was able to stake the rear corner as well.
Success!
Condensation
This took a bit of learning on my part. I had heard that single walled tents get condensation more so than double walled tents, and I found this to be true. A couple of things come into play with respect to condensation: the vestibule and the space between the canopy and the ground.
In cool, dry, slightly humid conditions, here’s what I found:
Vestibule is closed overnight – the entire inside of the canopy and vestibule had condensation
Vestibule partially open – some condensation near the peak only
Vestibule completely opened – no condensation
I also found that if the space between the canopy and the ground is not open enough, there is more condensation.
This resulted in poor ventilation and more condensation in the morning.
This is a much better set up allowing more airflow and less condensation.
When there was condensation in the morning, I would wipe it off with my tiny towel, and depending how much time I had, let it dry while I did other things. I found that it dried quite quickly.
Inside
The space inside the Lunar Solo came as a surprise. Not only does it have generous headroom, there is more than enough space for sleeping and gear. Of course, there’s room under the vestibule as well.
Wind/Rain
I have not used it in windy or raining conditions, so I can’t comment on the tent in these conditions.
Cost
This tent is one of the less pricey options out there for UL tents coming in at $215. I paid slightly more, because at the time, Six Moon Designs offered seam sealing, which I opted to get. However, they are not offering that service for the time being.
Overall
Considering I used to shy away from tarp-tents, I love this tent! It’s so small, light, easy to set up, and the interior space is amazing! It also fits perfectly in the outside pocket of my Gossamer Gear Mariposa (review coming soon). Yes, it has a few new challenges with it (condensation, relies on tension to stay up), but they are easy to adapt to and I don’t regret moving to the Lunar Solo one bit.
I love that I can open the vestibule and get this kind of view!
A Comment on my Polycro Ground Sheet
I just want to comment quickly on my Polycro Ground Sheet, which was also a new addition to my tent set up. I have to say I am not a fan of it. It had holes in it after one use, traps condensation underneath, and is a pain to fold in windy conditions. On the flip side, however, it’s inexpensive, super light, sheds dirt and debris easily, and packs super small.
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Comments 17
Annette, in regards to rain/wind I hiked with a lady who worked for REI and had one of these tents on a thru hike of the AT. There was one night where it was very windy and raining. During the middle of the night she woke up to the trekking pole fallen over and her tent full of water. When I talked to her she said this was a common occurrence which eventually led her to getting another tent. I am not sure if this was due to set up or the design of the tent but I hope it works better for you! I have also been eyeing the polycro groundsheet but have never heard of getting holes after one use. This is good info. Personally I always used tyvek and while its a little heavier that stuff was tough.
Hi Chris, thank for that info. I will be extra cautious setting up in windy/rainy conditions. I do really like everything about this tent and would hate to have to find another one. I had also never heard of polycro ground sheets getting holes in them, so I was quite surprised to have that happen. To be fair, the holes are at the corners where I put stuff to hold them down, but I was still surprised.
I have used a Lunar Solomon for about 4 years. If the tent came down, setup and staking has to be suspect. You can crank this tent down tight with the right site and stakes. The only issue I’ve had with this tent is condensation when the weather is really bad like on the AT this spring. The floor is tough, I’ve never used and ground sheet, from the Rockies to the AT
That’s good to know about the floor. Thanks.
I meant to also tell you I made a footprint for mine out of tyvek house rap. Noisy material at first, but worked excellent and weighed next to nothing..
Tyvek is sneakily heavy. A footprint for my 2P tent (around 45×80) is around 4 oz.
For now, I’m going to stick to the polycro, since it does work and it is light. We’ll see how it goes on the PCT.
Hey, I did the JMT a few years ago with a Lunar Solo, that became my favorite shelter. I encountered a few windy nights and properly placed the back of the tent towards the wind. As you mentioned, once you are adept at the setup, I had no issues with windy nights. I’m now looking to use it for bikepacking this season.
Best of luck and happy trails.. would love to thru hike the entire trail sometime, will keep an eye out for posts.
Drew
You set the tent up always TAIL TO WIND……NO collapse that way…..Just got mine 2 days ago….$160 SHIPPED NEW !
I never had trouble with wind–and we had several storms with 50 mph gusts. I did get it factory seam sealed and the sealing failed a few rains in.. after contacting support, they sent me more sealant and said that the seam it was coming through was not sealed in the process because it didn’t usually leak. I wasn’t jazzed about the customer service, but I do love the tent.
+1
Hmmm, which seam was it? I would like to check mine. Thanks.
The tent is very beautiful and sure. Very suitable for travel.
vex 3
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I’ve use this tent a couples of time and been fairly happy with it. Last night was the first night I had heavy rain. It was bad night. I had to close the flaps to keep the rain out. This maximized condensation and the hard rain caused the condensation to “rain” down on me get the whole tent wet inside. It was warm night so being could wasn’t an issue, but I did not enjoy the experience. That’s definitely a downside to this tent.