Trailstar Wars

From left: Cricket, Cuben Fibre Trailstar, Silnylon Trailstar

Backpacking shelters can be curious things. Following my trials with Tony Hobbs' Cuben Fibre (CF) Mountain Laurel Designs Trailstar tarp (see posts for March 1 and 4) I was interested in seeing the silnylon version, especially as I couldn't pitch the CF one to look like the images I'd seen of it. Luckily, Colin Ibbotson who has a silnylon Trailstar was keen to see the CF version so we decided on a day walk together with shelter pitching at its heart.

On a pleasant, mild spring day we headed up the little hills above Grantown-on-Spey, wandering up nice little wooded dells then across some broken ground recently planted with saplings to a heathery summit with excellent views across Strathspey to the Cromdale Hills and the Cairngorms. Now we needed somewhere to pitch the shelters. So far the ground was all too steep, too boggy, too tussocky or too wooded. We headed down to a little burn but the main result was wet feet as the land was saturated. Further down the glen we finally found some rough pasture that was suitable for pitching the Trailstars.

The results were interesting and to me quite surprising as we found it impossible to pitch them the same way even though the only difference is the fabric. It soon became clear the silnylon version is more functional, more versatile and easier to pitch. Initially we pitched them both with 120cm poles. The edges of the silnylon one were down to the ground, the CF edges were high above the ground - so any wind would blow straight in. Later Colin tried pitching the CF one down to the ground. It proved possible - as long as you were happy with a door that was a tall, narrow slit with almost vertical side walls that would catch the wind. Pitching it with a sensible door like the silnylon one is impossible. Next I pitched the CF with a 100cm pole. With this the edges will go down to the ground. However the door is still quite tall with side panels that would catch the wind if it came from the side and a big entrance that let in rain if it came from the front. Pitching it with a low protective door, as is easy with the silnylon Trailstar, wasn't possible.

My conclusion is that the silnylon Trailstar is a superb shelter but that the CF one, whilst pretty good in some respects and certainly much lighter weight, has some flaws that would prevent me choosing it.

Colin also brought a Mountain Laurel Designs CF Cricket shelter, which has a fixed shape. This looks excellent for sheltered sites - it would have been fine on the Pacific Northwest Trail - and shows that with some designs CF can be pitched quickly and tightly. Talking it over we decided that CF is best for fixed shaped shelters or flat tarps but that for flexible shaped ones like the Trailstar the complete lack of stretch makes it unsuitable.

Update: following comments and requests I'd like to make it clear that I'm judging the two Trailstars on suitability for UK wild camping, and anywhere else where exposed sites and stormy weather are expected, as I think this is the big strong point for the Trailstar design.

From left: Cricket, Cuben Fibre Trailstar, Silnylon Trailstar

Tarp pitching practise over we ambled back down the glen to Grantown-on-Spey, pausing to wonder at the stupidity of a pheasant that thought crouching down in a ditch made it invisible, admiring a heron flapping slowly overhead and being entertained by a mass of toads on the track, many of them mating, and all heading for an unsavoury looking dark and reedy pool, which I guess I'd find attractive if I was a toad.