High Sierra Topix

Anyone have any experience with GoLites Imogene or Wolf Creek Tents? I'm interested as they are very light and relatively inexpensive, but how are they in the field? The material looks pretty thin.

I have a GoLite Jam2 pack. Super light and well made. If the quality is equal to the pack, should be a good product.

John

Have you compared with Tarptents?

Mike

Troutdog 59 wrote:Anyone have any experience with GoLites Imogene or Wolf Creek Tents? I'm interested as they are very light and relatively inexpensive, but how are they in the field? The material looks pretty thin.

I used a GoLite Imogene UL3 on a handful of trips last summer and overall I'd give it a A-. I actually sold it to fund the purchase of a Golite SL3, but more on that later.

Like most lightweight tents, despite the claim of a 3-person tent it's really a 2-person plus tent. I purchased it to use with my wife and toddler son. Also, as a spacious 2-person tent when the family stayed at home and a friend joined me. As for space, it worked quite well for these scenarios.

I like the design and think it does a good job balancing the competing needs of livability, weather worthiness, and weight. My only nitpick in this regard would be the door entrance being a bit low, but not bad and on par with other manufacturers' offerings. It offers full protection from storms and maintains decent ventilation when buttoned up thanks to a full coverage taut fly and high/low vents. When it's nice out, remove the fly and you have a good amount of bug free space. Lots of other tents do these, but not at the weight of this tent.

The quality of the construction and materials are really good. I was especially impressed with the quality of the extra guyline and stakes. Like you I was concerned with how thin the materials felt, but everything worked fine with no problems. With that being said, I'd definitely use some type of ground cloth (e.g. footprint, polycryo) to keep the floor safe. I generally don't use ground cloths, but for this tent I did. I'm happy to say that the floor did survive the wrath of my toddler son and Sierra granite.

The tent was very sturdy during the multiple nights of high winds I experienced last summer near Thousand Island and Garnet Lakes (pictured below).

Setup is fairly straight forward, but there are a couple of quirks if you're unfamiliar to the type of hardware used. So a couple of practice rounds in the backyard wouldn't hurt.

The reason I switched this tent for the Golite SL3 was so I could further reduce the weight when I went on trips with a friend. Since we usually just sleep out under the stars, the full on tent felt like a bit much, but of course if storms threatened I'd like a roof overhead. So, the SL3 (fly only) fits this need better.

I have the Imogene UL2 which works great as a 1 person tent. I find it to be very well made. It sets up easy but as mentioned above, it doesn't hurt to practice in your back yard or living room a couple of times. My only issue is condensation. I had it out in 19 degree temps last fall and had condensation dripping in my face in the mornings. Other than that, i think its a good tent

I have a Shangri-La 2. I really like it...very easy to set up, very light and pretty large inside. It is also fair inexpensive. I only use a tent in wet weather, but used it several times in the high sierra last year during rain and hail storms. It held up great, however as with all tarp-like tents, you need to make sure it is well secured and the fabric is tight esp. in windy areas. I do not use a mesh liner.

Thanks everyone!! I appreciate the feedback.