The new 2019 Lightwave S10 Sigma tent is a single-wall, 1-person, 4-season tent. It is constructed with a breathable flysheet instead of an inner tent, which aims to control the problem of condensation. Review updated 3rd January 2022.
I’ve purchased the green and black version, and it’s also available in plain green. It weighs 978g without pegs and bags. The recommended retail price is £599.99.
Lightwave Sigma tent range
The Lightwave Sigma tent range was launched in 2016 with two models, the S10 and S20. Following customer feedback, both models have been updated and relaunched in 2019. The old S10 model has been renamed S15 (to reflect its larger size). The old S20 model has been renamed the S22 (to reflect the extra porch and door on this model).
This made room in the Lightwave Sigma range for a smaller, lighter-weight tent: the new 2019 S10 model, which I’m reviewing here.
Lightwave S10 Sigma tent features
New features on the 2019 S10 model are the pole arrangement, which has been simplified from three poles to just two. This means there is no longer a cross pole at the top. This does reduce the interior volume slightly, but there’s still just enough room to sit up without touching the sides of the tent.
The new S10 model has siliconised material for the pole sleeves to reduce friction. This makes it easier to push the poles through the sleeves. There are also two eyelets at the pole ends instead of one, making the tent easier to put up. This solves a common complaint with the old S10 model that the poles were too tight and difficult to locate in the eyelets.
The doors have also been enlarged on the new S10 model to make it easier to get in and out of the tent.
These are all useful updates and definite improvements on the old model. The new S10 model is now lighter and more user-friendly.
Lightwave S10 Sigma design
The new S10 is a single-wall tent, apart from a secondary inner wall which separates the porch area from the sleeping area.
Being single skinned means there’s no wasted space between the inner and the flysheet, so you can make full use of all the space. The 2-pole design holds the flysheet taught and makes for a pretty stable tent in windy conditions – as long as you’ve pegged all the guylines out!
The S10 is slightly heavier than most lightweight tent flysheets but you don’t have the additional weight of an inner tent. This means it balances out to be a very lightweight tent, especially considering it is designed for 4-season use. The X-tex fabric is also more waterproof than a lot of other lightweight tents.
I purchased the green and black model of the new S10 but I would say it’s more brown than black. This is not an issue to me, however, as it makes it even better for stealth wild camping as it is less conspicuous when it’s pitched.
Lightwave S10 Sigma materials
Single-walled tents usually have a problem with condensation on the inner walls but the Sigma S10 uses X-tex breathable fabric (as did the old model).
The X-tex fabric flysheet it reasonably thick and isn’t very light permeable so it can make the inside darker than you may be used to. It could be worth setting an alarm so you don’t sleep in. The porch fabric doesn’t need to be breathable (as it’s not part of the inner tent) so this is made from silicon-coated fabric similar to that found on other lightweight tents. This helps to make the tent lighter.
The Sigma groundsheet is made from 50-denier taffeta which is a reasonable balance between weight saving and adequate protection from moisture and abrasion. You shouldn’t need to carry an additional ground sheet with this tent unless you’re likely to be camping on extremely rough ground.
The ground sheet is a nice deep bath-tub design (meaning that the ground sheet wraps up the side of the tent).
Condensation
Single-walled tents are renowned for condensation running down the inside walls and dripping on you and your gear in the night.
The Lightwave Sigma S10 X-tex fabric on the flysheet reduces this problem. It manages condensation by using an activated carbon coating to attract and increase the surface area, improving the absorption rate of the water. This means it literally sucks the moisture into the coating to then be transported to the outside of the tent through the breathable fabric. This works really well most of the time, it only fails when it’s water logged or frozen. Then there will be some condensation build up inside the tent.
The bath-tub groundsheet isn’t made from breathable material and the seams on the flysheet also don’t breathe very well. When conditions are right for condensation, it will form there but it’s not been a serious problem so far. It’s worth having a lightweight cloth around to wipe the condensation off these areas in the morning.
I’ve not had a big problem with condensation in the tent, but I’ve found that because there’s not much air flow through the tent. I do find a little condensation on the outside of my sleeping bag, that has come from my breathing over night.
The inner material of the tent can feel wet to the touch and it’s best not to touch it, as it will transfer to your clothes making them wet. But the condensation on the inner has never beaded or dripped on me or my gear.
I find all small tents have issues with condensation on the inner, when conditions are right. Especially tents designed for cold weather, with a small amount of venting to keep you warmer. It’s just the lack of airflow through the tent and leaving the doors open if you can, always helps reduce condensation.
I’m very happy with the tent, there was less issues with condensation than I would have had on the inside of an inner tent of my usual light weight hiking tents. I’ve encourage condensation by camping on wet ground a few nights, and had temperatures below zero some nights. I’ve also spent some nights of between 12 to 14 hours in the tent and also cooked inside the awning.
The porch flysheet is not made with the X-tex fabric and is often wet with condensation in the morning.
The mornings when I would get a small amount of condensation on the X-tex fabric, was when it had been a still, cold night and I was camped on wet ground. But the tent dries quickly and it doesn’t cause problems. It would have been worse on a standard double walled tent with a solid inner tent in the same conditions.
I am very pleased with the tent so far and it worked really well in the conditions I’ve had.
John’s view of the Sigma S15. . . I would like to thank John for sending me a message of his experience of the similar Sigma S15 tent. He’s had trouble with condensation building up on the inside of the tent when the outer material is water logged from continuous rain. Otherwise he says the X-tex material works well.
Testing the Lightwave S10 Sigma tent
From feedback on the old Sigma range, we should expect the new S10 tent to be very good and control condensation well. Please watch this space and I’ll let you know how the tent performs as soon as I can.
I’ll update this review as I learn more about the tent.
Pitching the tent
The Lightwave S10 Sigma tent needs 12 pegs to pitch it for maximum stability. However, it will stand with only one peg (used to hold the porch open) because the rest of the tent is freestanding. This means that if it’s impossible to get pegs in the ground, you could sleep in the tent without pegging it down fully (as long as it’s not windy). I say this because I have had to do that on one occasion with a different tent. Anything over a slight breeze means pegs are essential though. Pegging a tent properly also maximises the interior space.
Pitching the S10 tent is really simple and quick. This is ideal if it’s wet or windy, or you’re just exhausted. It took me a little over two minutes to put up, including pegging out all of the guylines.
To pitch the tent, place the four smaller flash pegs into the four corners of the groundsheet, then push the two poles into their sleeves. The poles are both identical so that keeps it nice and simple. When the poles come out the other end of the sleeves, stick them into the outer eyelets at the pegging points.
All that’s needed next is to push both the poles in at the same time, until it’s possible to locate them in the other two eyelets. Then pull the porch out and peg it with a single peg.
The tent is pitched at this point (five pegs). However, if the wind is likely to get up (and for maximum interior space) it’s best to use all the pegging points and then pull all the guylines taught. This makes for a very solid and safe feeling tent. I’d be happy sitting out a storm in it.
Pegs and guylines
The supplied pegs are good quality and appropriate for the tent. They come in two sizes – lightning (thicker) and flash (thinner). I am impressed with the quality of the pegs. I have bought tents from other manufacturers in the past where I’ve had to throw away the supplied pegs and replace them with better-quality ones. Many manufacturers’ supplied pegs seem to be there for show and to reduce the overall weight figures, rather than to keep the tent standing. So well done Lightwave.
The 8 lightning pegs supplied with the Lightwave Sigma S10 tent weigh 10g each and are strong enough to take a bit of abuse. There are also four smaller and lighter-weight flash pegs weighing 6g each. These are used for non-critical pegging points such as the four groundsheet corners. The flash pegs are exactly half the width of a lightning peg but the same 160mm length.
The tent comes with 2.0 mm nylon guylines and there are enough for all the attachment points. You may wish to change these for Dyneema guylines to save a few grams, but these nylon ones seem fine to me, especially as they come with Linelok adjusters that adjust and hold really well.
The back wall guyline is substantial and well placed to keep the wall from blowing in. This is an important guyline to have pegged out well in case the wind turns. This wall is fairly large and very flat, so it will catch the wind if it ends up blowing onto it.
The guyline attachment points feel substantial, more so than on any other lightweight tent I’ve used. They look like they’ll hold together in a storm and last well.
Head room
The interior feels spacious enough, especially when laid down. It has plenty of head room and there’s space to sit up and get dressed.
Many lightweight tents can feel like coffins when you’re laid down, but not the Lightwave S10 Sigma tent. The material is kept well away from your face and feet. The interior height is 95cm when the poles are in the outer eyelets, so this could be increased slightly if the poles were placed in the tighter inner eyelets.
The flysheet tapers in with height but there’s enough room all the way up. Not having the cross pole like on the old S10 model (and the new S15) does reduce the interior space a little, but there’s still enough room to be comfortable. The two pole design keeps the flysheet tight. The material is therefore not being blown in if it’s windy, reducing the interior space with every gust.
Porch space
The porch is plenty big enough to hold a rucksack and boots, leaving enough room to cook in if you need to.
Interior space
The inside of the tent is the same width both ends (80cm) so you can sleep either way round. This is very useful if you’re camped on a slope or the wind and ground conditions are less than favourable.
The two corner pockets are a nice size and well placed in both corners on the back wall.
Tie-backs
The Lightwave S10 Sigma tent comes with two tie-backs for the outside door. This is really useful to hold the door material completely out of the way.
Doors
The inner door has a nice amount of mesh to help with airflow and the zip can be operated from top or bottom. This can be very useful to increase ventilation and help to reduce condensation.
The main flysheet door can be zipped from the bottom or top which is great for ventilation in bad weather and essential if you’re cooking inside the porch area.
Technical specifications
- 1 person
- 4 season
- Flysheet/inner weighs: 714g inc. all guylines
- Poles weigh: 251g + Pole bag 13g
- Total weight: 965g (excludes pegs & bags)
- Pegs 16cm long x 12 weigh: 103g (peg/tent bag 26g)
- Pole repair piece: 9g
- Tent all-up total weight: 1116g
- Internal length: 215cm
- Internal width: 80cm
- Height: 100cm (internal height 95cm with poles in outer holes)
- Porch width: 60cm
- Flysheet: 20d ripstop nylon, X-tex coating, 20,000 hydrostatic head.
- Inner wall: 20d ripstop nylon.
- Porch: 30d nylon ripstop, 5000 hydrostatic head.
- Groundsheet: 50d nylon taffeta, 5000 hydrostatic head, bath-tub with taped seams.
- Poles: 2x DAC 9.35mm featherlite alloy.
- Supplied with the tent: 4 x 2.5m and 2 x 1.5m (2mm nylon) guylines; 8 lightning pegs; 4 flash pegs; pole repair tube, pole bag and tent/peg bag.
Conclusions on the Lightwave S10 Sigma tent
I’m very impressed with the new Lightwave S10 Sigma tent. It’s well made with quality materials. This new simpler and lower weight model is an extremely attractive choice for lightweight hikers. It’s nice that it comes with everything needed and you haven’t got to add guylines or sensibly sized pegs.
There are lighter tents out there, but if you want to use it all year round or be able to sit out a storm in relative comfort, then this tent is a great choice. I think it’s a good choice for long distance hikes in the UK’s unpredictable weather.
The tent controls condensation well but doesn’t eliminate it completely. Condensation is the number one problem with small tents on long distance wild camping trips. I had good experience of this on my 62-day Lands End to John O’Groats and 3 Peaks walk, when I wild camped for 58 nights.
This tent material is a great compromise but doesn’t solve the condensation problem completely. I don’t think any small tent can if conditions are right for condensation. Were you pitch your tent and how much ventilation you’ve got, will have more of an impact on how much condensation you wake up to rather than the tent you have purchased.
Great tent though and I can recommend it for the shoulder seasons and it’s especially good in winter.
Future testing
I will be testing the Lightwave S10 Sigma tent extensively and I’ll update this review as I learn more about the tent.
Please sign up for emails, or follow me on Facebook or Twitter @wildwalkinguk to receive updates.
Further reading
My best stealth wild camping tents
Leave No Trace 11 Wild Camping Rules
I purchased this tent with my own money. This is an independent, honest review but just my opinion. All information (including prices) on this post are correct at the time of writing, to the best of my knowledge. The weights are from my kitchen scales. I do my best to not make mistakes but cannot be held responsible for incorrect information. If you have an opinion on this tent, please get in touch – I’d love to hear from you! If you find any mistakes on this site, please let me know so I can correct them for future readers. Many thanks.
Wildwalkinguk is a blog run by myself in spare time, and I pay for its running costs myself. I do have some Amazon affiliate links and adverts on the site. If you click on these adverts or links and buy what you need (it doesn’t have to be the item I’ve linked to), the company will pay a small commission to us. This money goes towards the costs of hosting the blog. I would be extremely grateful if you could consider using our links when you next need to buy something from our advertisers. Alternatively, you can buy me a coffee here. Thank you so much for your support. Mark.
Hi Mark, I thought you may be interested in my recent experience with the Sigma S15, as you know I’ve had the slightly larger model for a year now and have some reservations about it’s ability to handle condensation in all conditions.
I had another overnight in it this weekend on Kinder and conditions allowed me to see both sides of it’s performance. I camped on understandably damp ground after all the recent rain, and for the first half of the night it was very windy and the X-tex coating worked extremely well. At 2 o’clock in the morning it was still perfectly dry to the touch. Then it started raining, and once the outside of the tent had received a thorough wetting, the X-tex coating began to get damp. By morning it was quite wet to the touch, and lying in my sleeping bag I could feel slight spray being flicked from it each time the wind gusted strongly. The rain stopped around 7 o’clock in the morning, but it wasn’t until the wind had dried much of the outside of the tent that the X-tec started to transport the moisture outwards. I packed up with the inside still damp, and my sleeping bag also slightly damp.
This pretty much confirms my thoughts that in dry weather the X-tex works very well. But once the tent is wet on the outside from rain or mist, I’m certain that the wetness acts as a barrier to the X-tex transporting moisture out. In that way I think it suffers in much the same way as Goretex which works best (ironically for a waterproof) when it is dry. I’ve yet to trust it sufficiently to take it on a multi-day trek where I might have to pack it with a damp inner.
Nice to see that Lightwave have replaced the door tie backs with elastic on the new S10, as on my S15 they use a polyester tab (like on cheap tents). And those new corner tie-outs look better too with a single line for the adjuster, which should also cut a few grams from the weight.
Hi John. Thank you very much for your message. It’s a great help and I hope you don’t mind if I add it to the post to help future readers. I haven’t been able to test it enough yet and it’s not looking good for the 2 month testing I had plan for April and May. Thanks again. Mark
Interesting comment from John with regards to the fabric ‘wetting out’. You want a 4 season tent because of 4 season conditions, and that means lots of wind and rain usually, or maybe snow. If that’s the case, is the single skin worth the comfort sacrifice for a bit less weight? The MSR Access 1 is 1312g, the Tarptent Scarp 1 is 1470g including crossing poles, both have loads more space for gear, living space and so on, and inner/outer…
Hi Jason. Yes it is a really useful comment from John. Tents are a real compromise and it’s finding the tent that suits each particular situation or personal preference best. I’m coming to the conclusion that one tent just cannot do it all. I’ve a 807g Tarptent Stratospire Li which is the perfect tent when pitched but it’s sometimes a problem finding a large enough area to pitch it and it also takes up a too much room in my pack when hiking. I love how quick and easy the Nordisk Telemark 1 is to pitch and it’s pack size. But I have trouble with condensation and it’s too warm in summer, not enough mesh/airflow. In summer I love my tarp and mesh inner but it sometimes has too much airflow. So I try and review the tents in a way that allows others to make up their minds whats the best compromise for them. Thanks for the message.
I’ve been lusting for a SS Li for a long time, as it would be perfect for 3 season UL backpacking. However, my goal is to get down to a 45-50 litre pack, and a lot of comments about the large pack size for the Li are putting me off. It’s super light for the space though!
I would like to test the Tarptent Notch Li because of it’s smaller pack size and footprint. But I don’t think that’s even going to be perfect because of the mesh overhead on the solid inner tent. I think the condensation on the outer is going to splash through the mesh when it’s windy. I haven’t had my StratoSpire Li long enough to say but there is a possible question mark about how long Dyneema will last for how much it costs. It is nice to wake up in a tent that hasn’t sagged overnight thou. All a compromise…
I don’t feel so bad now after reading about your tent collection. My biggest problem is normally deciding which one to take, I have too many. Thank goodness for changeable seasons, weather, and mood, otherwise many of then would just sit in the gear room.
The flysheet fails to transmit water vapour out of the tent when it is raining heavily – that is one helluva failing in a tent billed as weatherproof. Moreover, the groundsheet is actually permeable to moisture. Also, water droplets run down
the outside of the white porch material, hit the seam with the groundsheet and actually enter the tent! Unless I have received a defective model, these Sigma tents are simply not fit for purpose. Best of luck with your 2 month trek across Scotland in one o these!
An update. Have spoken to the retailer and it seems that this may have been a ‘rogue’ item after all, am happy to report that a full refund has been offered.
I think the smaller space in the S10 won’t help but I’ve also got an (untested) theory that the large inner door vent will allow more moisture from the vestibule to get in the inner adding to the workload of the fabric? The S15 had a much smaller mesh area , just a thought ?
The Notch Li doesn’t look very comfortable if I’m honest, in terms of space etc. I have the Dan Durston X-Mid 1P and although it has nice large vestibules the amount of space in the inner is tiny. I’d imagine the Notch to be a bit like that – just enough space for your mat and a few bits and bobs.
I also have the Stratospire 2, and the amount of condensation getting knocked off and through the mesh is minimal. Although I haven’t been in a situation yet where it’s absolutely dripping – but I put that down to the superior ventilation of the Stratospire in the first place.
Like many I went on-line shopping during lockdown. One of the new toys was an S10. I camped high up on Ingleborough last week. It had been raining since mid-afternoon & I pitched just before dark. I was pretty wet. It continued to rain all night & only stopped the middle of the following afternoon. The camp spot was in the clouds.
Not a comfortable night. In this situation condensation is a problem.
However this material is branded, the material cannot work if the occupant is already wet and it is raining. Hydrophobic, gas permeable, has to work c/o difference in vapour pressures either side of the material. Water is going to condense on the coolest thing it can find, the groundsheet , the tent wall. The inside wall is going to be wet. The outside wall is wet too, c/o it raining. The humidity outside is high, it is raining and one is inside a cloud. Can’t unzip the vestibule as that’ll let the weather in. The vestibule pretty much at ground level ;= no ventilation & the water from the wet clothes evaporates and forms puddles inside the tent. I don’t see how water vapour is meant to get across two films of water either side of the fabric. The side panel is large with a single guy in the middle, does billow in with the wind & does wipe condensation on your now damp/wet sleeping bag.
Perhaps I should have been a real man & stripped off & left the wet clothes outside.
Come the morning – you have a bag of water & nowhere for it to go. When it stopped raining I had to turn the thing inside out to get the thing dry.
I have to believe that a 2 layer silnylon effort would have been more pleasant in these conditions ( netting or solid inner ).
When not raining, condensation really isn’t a problem. There is a bit. But isn’t like a sil-nylon horror story.
So S10 – nice try, not suitable for UK. ( I will keep on looking for my ideal tent … and the fairies at the bottom of the garden )
Roy, that pretty much mirrors my own experience. The worst night I had was also after prolonged rain with wet gear in the porch and wearing a slightly damp shirt in the inner. By the end of a rainy night my sleeping bag was wet and condensation was running down the inner walls. As mentioned previously the tent works well in dry conditions, but if you have any damp kit, and it continues to rain overnight then it doesn’t make for a comfortable home.
Thanks for the detailed review of the S10. I currently have the S15 but the later version. I have yet to get a chance to use it and have been back and forth on its merits. I have a CWT trip planned for Feb next year and had this tent on the shortlist. I will be testing it out over the next couple of months and hope I can manage the wetting out issues. Initially I will be testing with a tyvek sleeping bag cover to aid management of any condensation inside. Its going to be wet so as long as I can keep the sleeping bag dry(ish) all should be good. A cold snowy Feb would be preferable……
Hi Rob
There ‘should’ be plenty of snow around in February but if you know condensation is going to be bad, maybe take a synthetic sleeping beg. I’m trying a synthetic quilt over my down sleeping bag this winter, as my waterproof sleeping bag cover didn’t work last year, it trapped condensation inside it. Best of luck with your trip. I would like to hear how it goes. Thanks. Mark
Hi Mark, I have also just found an old Buffalo liner (think its pertex) that fits over my bag, so will try that also. Good idea on the synthetic quilt option. If the above doesn’t work I will give that a go. I am trying to keep space down as my route will require 7 days food to be packed, so would look at a very light packable quilt. I think Valley and Peak do some. Cheers Rob
Hi Mark, just a quick update. I used the S15 this week on a two night test in the Highlands to see how it performed before longer usage. In short I was impressed. First night camp was on a bog (when standing water pooled around my boot), it also rained most of the night until about 4am. Inside the tent the fly sheet had condensation but inside the tent it remained dry except on the taped seams where condensation did start. Strong winds and gusts started at 4am and I was awoken by ‘rain’ on my face, which was only the condensation on the seams. A quick wipe with a small cloth I keep inside and all was well. Luckily for me (!!!) the wind changed direction in the night and the full force came on the back of the tent as opposed to the smaller foot end which I had pitched it for. There were occasions during gusts that I was a little concerned but it held up really well. Also I found it to be the quietest tent in windy weather and it was also significantly warmer inside. The wind and gusts remained with light showers but by the time I pulled pitch it was almost dry. Second night was on firmer ground and although intermittent showers, remained dry throughout the night in the vestibule as well. Bone dry in the morning despite clear sky’s and colder air at night. My model does not have a 2 way zip so I am going to sew in some clips for the bottom of the zip to keep it together when cooking inside with the zip open. I also stole your idea of a synthetic over quilt. I ended up making one myself with 10den and APEX67. To make sure it did not impede the loft of my down bag I made it simple with a sewn in foot box (350g). I was able to use a summer bag/quilt (Sierra Designs hybrid) and even then that thin overquilt kept me a little too warm until the early hours. So for a first test its a cracking 3 season tent for me and I see no reason as yet why it won’t do the 4th season. But will test that when the temps get below freezing.
Will also be doing the Cape Wrath trail sometime this winter, chances are the date will be chosen the day before I go. I will not be taking this tent. Its routine condensation problems are too much for me. I am particularly concerned about drying myself out – I get into the tent wet , I expect body heat to dry out clothing and for that moisture to find its way outside and not stay inside the tent; experience so far is it stays inside the tent.
I have been camping with a humidity sensor, a very sad thing to admit and am not much wiser to when this tent does and doesn’t have dripping condensation on the inner.
Last week I had two nights around Beinn Eighe. Ground conditions – sodden. Difference between the temperature and dew point , perhaps of the order of a degree , basically the air is saturated , being above or below the cloud base didn’t seem to make much difference. One night there was light wind and I woke up to the inner being dry as a bone. Other night there was no wind , I went to sleep in the clouds and woke to a completely clear day and a dripping inner. On both nights I was dry getting into the tent. I did not attempt to air my sleeping bag, it travelled during the day inside its waterproofed bag then inside a bin liner. After two nights it was the soggy side of damp. Treated down so I don’t know if it is actually a big deal ; it just didn’t look happy.
Last night I was below Sca Fell, reasonable breeze, ground was wet but not that wet, humidity was still high & temperature difference to dew point not much. I was hoping .. “washing dries better in the wind” ; the immediate air layer above the fabric is going to be saturated , the wind nudges it back towards ambient allowing room for more water to evaporate on the external surface of the fabric and hence water vapour to flow from the inside. Again I was dry on entry to the tent. This time I did boil a pan of water for an instant meal, and for the first time in my life had a rehydrated meal that tasted nice, I didn’t think that was possible. Different subject. Source of water vapour will be breathing and whatever comes off the patch of earth in the porch. Breathing takes the approximately saturated ambient air , increases its temperature to blood heat and returns saturated air at blood temperature ( approximately .. ) . I should fill in the gaps of how much water that is for a night sleeping , but that means I might have to open the ASHRAE fundamentals book that is 2 ft above my head .. a small matter of round tuit. 3C outside when I woke this morning , drips on the inside of the tent and a fabulous sunrise.
I was intending doing one or more of the Pyrenean routes this summer, lockdown stopped play, I will take this tent when it is possible to do those walks again. Sure, in summer it gets below zero, just not very often. Sure it rains , but it wont be in the next valley or the next few hours. When the sun is out it is warm & things get to dry out.
Leaves me with Q:Which tent to take for CWT in winter ?
Good write up Roy. My question is do you think it is any worse than other options? I feel that in similar conditions, other tents I have and have used would have suffered worse condensation. The fact that only the tape on the seams had condensation meant that for me it was negligible considering the ground conditions.
I emailed a few times with Carol from Lightwave before buying the tent. His comments as follows: ‘Yes, the X-tex does absorb the water – that’s how it works, and yes, of course in prolonged and sustained wet weather the fabric can become over-saturated. What happens then is that the water doesn’t really bead, but, subject to gravity, starts to seep out at the seam where it joins the groundsheet. However, I would maintain that in conditions with that degree of humidity, the air is so damp throughout that it doesn’t matter if the tent has single or double walls – moisture pervades everywhere and everything gets damp anyway. But I am very sceptical of the X-tex fabric giving a shower – I’ve never been able to get it to do that. I’ve had condensation around the top of the groundsheet walls, and water seeping down the seams, but not a shower, not even in wind. For a true all-weather tent with full protection, it is very difficult to make one under 1.5 kg (for a 1-person tent, and(with any degree of durability and wind resistance) – see our t10 raid for example. However, this has half the space of an S15 (which is spectacularly roomy, and touching the sides would be of little concern). But, if you want to go very lightweight, then the easiest way to do it is to have a waterproof sleeping bag, and build a shelter system around that – you can just tarp everything then.”
As I experienced, the ‘shower’ was just small flecks off the seams due to the very strong gusts. I think I would have had worse from a silnylon single wall pyramid. Add in an inner and that would capture most droplets but space is less inside and that pole drives me nuts. In my Soulo, that too would have a wet inner and be stable in wind but a Kg heavier. So still hopefully the S15 will “cut the mustard”. I will be back up to Scotland as soon as the weather turns to test further.
On the dehydrated foods I used the Adventure food range this week, they were very nice (comparison to years of dehydrated arctic military rations which were bland).
The condensation Mark shows in his picture is my normal. Exceptional has only happened once, the combination of my clothes being very wet, it raining all night and being in the mist/clouds ; there was cup full maybe cup fulls of water inside the tent that time. One of the other things I have been playing with is a quilt & I had been using a synthetic one. Now I am using a down sleeping bag and am I expecting too much of the treated down bag (?) I will be in the hills again, covid resolution to spend a couple of nights a week outside , twin skin tent ( with its own problems ) , I know I can dry off in it , down bag , I want to see what the bag looks like after a couple of nights.