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MSR Flylite Backpacking Tent Review and Test



This sub-kilo single-skin tent made from ultra-lightweight 10D rip-stop Nylon caught my eye as a new model at last year’s Outdoors Trade Show. It pitches as a wedge shape supported by a pair of telescopic trekking poles at the front, and a short supplied DAC 9mm pole at the tail. If you’re camping two-up, both with trekking poles, you can leave the DAC pole at home and save further weight. OK, it only makes about 40 grams difference, but it’s the thought that counts!



Start by pegging out the four corners of the groundsheet. The short pole for the tail upright comes in two sections (no shock cord – saves weight), with blunt end going up into its pocket in the apex of the tail end, and the tip in a grommet attached to the groundsheet. The front of the tent has a cylindrical pocket on either side underneath the awning, and this is where the handle of each trekking pole goes. Then all you have to do is adjust their length to fit, with the tips located in grommets attached to the groundsheet pegging points. After that, you have just three people to peg out, and the tent is up. It comes with a couple of spare people (and pegs) which you can tie on to attachment points on the side awnings, but unless it’s windy, you probably wouldn’t want to bother.

More intriguingly, there are also loops attached to the outside of the fly above each pole. This is so – should the conditions exist – you can rig up lines and suspend the tent as you would a tarp. This might be in situations where you’d want to leave the tent pitched, but be able to wander off using your trekking poles. The door is double-zipped, and opens down to the groundsheet, where it’s secured with a couple of loops and toggles. Inside, it’s roomy enough for two to sit upright comfortably, and the abundance of mesh ensures good ventilation – important with a single skin tent where the risk of condensation is greatly increased over a tent with separate inner.

Awnings shelter all the mesh panels, but as they don’t go anywhere close to the ground, you can’t expect them to offer 100% shelter if the rain is accompanied by any huge amount of wind. That of course also means you don’t get a covered porch. However, there’s enough shelter to prop up a rucksack outside with a bit of awning over the top. If you camp solo, and at this weight, it’s certainly a consideration, then of course you can have more of your stuff inside.
There’s a mesh storage pocket for small items on each side at the front, and there’s a stitched-in loop in the ceiling on each side of the doorway, so you can tie a short line. The tent has no similar loop in the ceiling at the tail, which would extend options for hanging up things.

One point to bear in mind is that even with the large panels of mesh, rolling it up to break camp can prove entertaining if you haven’t worked out where any air trapped inside is going to go. Probably down to the fact that you have layers of coated fabric in direct contact with each other, which you would avoid when packing your average double-skin tent. The answer to any odd bits ballooning out as you roll it up is steady pressure and a little patience.

This probably wouldn’t be a first choice for a walk where the weather was predominantly cold and wet. However, for milder conditions, this is as close as you can get to a fully enclosed rainproof insect shelter with lots of space to move – and for the weight, it’s certainly a good deal more spacious than your average bivvy tent. This is a great option for three-season backpackers looking to trim weight from their packs.


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