Gemini

At a packed weight of 2.3kg, and sitting .4m wider; this tent may have trumped the Tarn 2.

I checked out the Tarn 2 last night at MEC - and was not as impressed by the size as I wanted to be. This tent is like a mummy sleeping bag, it narrows at the feet. Not so good if there is more than one person in the tent. Sleeping pads will be overlapping, and the comfort just won't be there. And, it wasn't as easy to ventilate...which could be problematic for condensation among other things.

A MEC rep talked to me about the other tents in the same category as the Tarn 2, and Mr. Gemini came up. Unfortunately, more costly than the Tarn 2 by almost a hundred dollars. It does save 400g on packed weight and is a lot more spacious than the Tarn 2...simply by illiminating the narrowing at the foot of the tent. An added bonus is that it has two doors, so if there is more than one person in the tent, you aren't climbing over one another. And - two vestibules.

A bummer - the footprint on this tent doesn't cover either of the vestibules. The Wanderer 2, another tent, does have a footprint that extends through one of the two vestibules, but it weighs 3.7kg (no thank you!).

It's a trade off I guess.

Anyway - I'm going to MEC on Sunday to set up the tent with a rep (yay!). After that, I'll know if it's the one for me. :)


On another MEC note - I saw the new Kokanee 2 Gaiters and was very happy to see the change in the strap. The original Kokanee Gaiters were flawed in their under boot strap design...which held me back from purchasing them earlier. Also - they have replacement strap kits - which is an added bonus to bring a spare set in case anything does happen.

Amazing.


Yeah - so the next few blogs on this page will probably be either about my readings or MEC purchasing/shopping.

Probably not the most entertaining part for some readers - but it's like candy for me. :)