A Storm Is Coming

[Sierra Maclure]

ancient Sierra Designs Divine Light

And I thought I was the only one with one of those coffins. I love that tent!

[Hetchy]

My Sierra Designs Divine Light no longer kept me dry.(It was like losing an old friend but..) I swipped the wonderfull prebent aluminum main pole to use in my Eureka! Solitaire (replaces the horrendous fiberglass horror it came with).
All that was needed was to shorten the ends of the pole by 4 inches on each side with a tubing cutter. The ring and pin of the Solitaire even fits right into the open end of the aluminum pole!
I never thought I would be bringing a frugal tent ($70) like the Solitaire but the dang thing breathes, allows stargazing, and is relatively light... now that I removed the bathtub floor. I left tabs of floor material at the corners where the poles reach the ground, attatched grommets and strung parachute cord in between to hold the tent in tension sans floor. This setup allows condesation to drip down into the ground and not onto the bathtub foor where it inevitably soaks into the contents of the tent.
It also makes my Solitaire 2 lbs(was 2lbs 9 oz factory). Very competitive with tarp tent setups I have seen and used with the advantage of bug protection and the roll 'em up fly for stargazing! I already contacted Johnson Outdoors/ makes of Eureka! tents and suggested some mods (Did not tell them I cut the floor out of their tent.. thats my patent HA HA! But I will share it with all my buddies on HST!).
I also suggested they tone down the "safety-orange" color as the current trends are stealth colors and reducing visual impact etc. Surpisingly I got an immediate response by email. Said they would forward the ideas to the right people and thanked me.
I might become a Eureka! convert.. Hey the price is right, and if the thing holds together for any lenght of time on the PCT I will be a happy hiker! (Inside joke: I am always a Happy Hiker!)