A few personal impressions about this shelter, since review are hard to come by (at least in English). This is a very comfortable 1 person shelter, much nicer then a bivy but very light. Still, it's not the same comfort as a Big Agnes Copper Spur UL for example. There are no guy-out points, and that should suffice for most uses since the tent is low to the ground. The vestibule is not large, but big enough for an upright pack and pair of shoes, and coverage is to the ground. The tent requires trekking poles, or you to make your own tent poles. It's mostly single wall, with ok ventilation, but I wouldn't consider this ideal for high humidity areas of the country (nor would I recommend many other single-wall tents for those areas either). I think the value and the weight and simplicity are the three strong points of this shelter, and I hope I set your expectations properly.
Don't be surprised if you haven't heard of Zerogram. This South Korean company is a few years old but hasn't made much of a splash yet due to distribution challenges in the West. This may change for the better with our Community's engagement. So go vote on this pole for the next product to drop: https://www.massdrop.com/vote/Next-Zerogram-Product
Thanks!
DannyMilksWould be interested to learn more about the "sil-coated nylon polyurethane." Am familiar with sil-nylon -- silicone coated nylon-- which is stronger than the underlying nylon, but absorbs some water when wet and stretches, requiring tent retensioning. In the old days, urethane coated nylons could over time start to smell terrible as the urethane degraded; the urethane coating might even flake off, requiring recoating, a very difficult job. And on the internet one finds reference to "sil-poly," which is silicone/polyurethane coated polyester (not nylon), is not quite as strong as silnylon, but probably strong enough. It absorbs much less water (doesn't get heavier) when rained on and stretches much less when wet (retensioning not needed in the middle of the night).
swimjaySwimjay, "sil-pu" is something that I, and many others, first came across in 2015. I actually make my own gear and I'm really excited about this material. I cannot attest to this specific supplier/manufacturer but I've worked with a similar fabric from ripstopbytheroll and I've been very happy with it.
I wouldn't worry much about the new coating. From what I've seen (actual lab tested results by Roger Caffin of Backpacking Light) the material is at least as good as silnylon as been.
jordoThe Sil-Poly that rbtr is selling is Silicone coated _polyester_ with urethane on the backside - there isn't any nylon in there. This tent sounds like it is using a nylon fabric with silicone and urethane coatings.
Part of what rbtr did right was to go with a really tight weave, and use polyester - so the material doesn't absorb water (polyester) and the waterproofing holds up well under wear (the tight weave doesn't come loose). I wouldn't assume that this tent is made of the same material, especially since it is nylon and not polyester.
SteveChan@dannymilks, could we get some definitive information on whether the "sil-coated 15d nylon polyurethane" behaves more like silnylon (absorbs water/gets heavier, stretches when wet) or like "Silicone coated_polyester_with urethane on the backside" (maybe not quite as strong (?), but doesn't absorb water/ stretch when it gets wet)? Thank you.
swimjay@swimjay - here is the response from Zerogram. This is word for word, though I have cleaned up the English to make it a bit more readable.
"The outside is silicon coated and inside is polyurethane coated. Silicon coating is better than PU coating, in comparing strength and water-proofing, when they are coated the same thickness. But we can not seam tape on the silicon coated face so it coated PU on the inside."
DannyMilksSo, we still really don't know about water absorption, etc. What they say, though, makes sense, in terms of construction. The ability to seam tape easily (and so make repairs) is one of the qualities that makes Cuben fiber so great. If it's silicon over nylon, on the outside, I'm guessing that the overall material would behave more like sil-nylon than sil-poly, maybe even drying a little slower (the inner polyurethane coating less pervious than a silicone coating would be on the inside).
swimjayI dont know anything about their fabric but this design is a near copy of a Luxe X-Rocket, with a significant difference in that the X-Rocket has a removable top portion that acts as a poncho. The comments about wetting out in humid or rainy conditions from condensation are spot on. But it is a clever design and if you set up in a place with good airflow, you should be able to stay pretty dry. Similar to what you would do with any other single wall tent.
kdfooNever heard of the Luxe X-Rocket, but it looks more like a Marmot Nitro to my eye.
Seems to be a pretty neat shelter though. I like the poncho integration.
Don't be surprised if you haven't heard of Zerogram. This South Korean company is a few years old but hasn't made much of a splash yet due to distribution challenges in the West. This may change for the better with our Community's engagement. So go vote on this pole for the next product to drop: https://www.massdrop.com/vote/Next-Zerogram-Product
Thanks!
I wouldn't worry much about the new coating. From what I've seen (actual lab tested results by Roger Caffin of Backpacking Light) the material is at least as good as silnylon as been.
Part of what rbtr did right was to go with a really tight weave, and use polyester - so the material doesn't absorb water (polyester) and the waterproofing holds up well under wear (the tight weave doesn't come loose). I wouldn't assume that this tent is made of the same material, especially since it is nylon and not polyester.
Seems to be a pretty neat shelter though. I like the poncho integration.