silverorange stuff

View Larger Image The Zoid 1 with the fly on and both parts of the vestibule rolled open.

What I was looking for

Size: As I’m a bigger guy I’m very picky about the length of my tent. There is nothing worse than lying down and having your head and feet stretch out the fabric on either end. Any tent I own needs to accommodate my 6’2, 190 pound frame.

Weight

While it’s not an issue when you’re camping out of your car, weight is a major issue for those of us crazy enough to carry our gear around on our backs. I was looking to reduce the weight of my pack by a few precious pounds.

Weatherproof

I like to hike in remote places. Often these places are alpine and quite exposed. Storms and rain are frequent. My tent needs to be able to keep me warm and dry in the harsh conditions that occur during the three seasons of use.

Vestibule

Like most people I hike with things other than my sleeping bag and clothes. My boots, jacket, pack, and a few other things need to be kept dry too. Having a vestibule that allows me to store these things is a must.

View Larger Image The quick clips of the Zoid 1.

Footprint

A tent footprint is a piece of fabric that is shaped to fit under the tent floor. The footprint keeps the tent body clean and protects it from damage. I do a lot of hiking in an area of Newfoundland that has the gnarliest sharp prickly rocks I’ve seen. Pitching a tent directly on these rocks is guaranteed damage. It’s easy to repair or replace a footprint, it’s not so easy to replace the floor of your tent.

Quick Setup

It’s always nice when it’s raining to be able to setup your shelter as quickly as possible. When guiding others this becomes even more important. The faster I can setup my tent the more time I have for instruction, helping others, cooking dinner, and relaxing.

Durability

A quality tent should last many, many seasons. Solid construction, manufacturer’s reputation, and excellent materials are all important aspects of a good tent.

How the MSR Zoid 1 measures up

Size

When doing my research I found The Zoid 1 information to be a little misleading. Yes, the tent is 9.5 feet long , but a lot of that length is in the very tapered ends. Would it fit my 6’2 height? I’m pleased to say that yes, it does. I am able to fully lie down in the Zoid 1 without my head or feet touching the ends of the tent. The only time this is an issue is when I raise my feet or my head. Even then I only slightly brush the mesh interior.

The long tapered ends of the tent provide nice extra space. I am able to stretch out my arms above my head while sleeping and store my rain gear down at the bottom of the tent without getting in the way of my feet. I also find that the feeling of having more room length wise makes the tent feel much bigger than it actually is.

View Larger Image A shot inside my Zoid 1 during a hike in Newfoundland, Canada.

While lying down the tent widens at my shoulders and stays wider until just above my knees. There is enough width to the tent to lie your arms flat beside you and to store extra gear. I find that I can easily store my camera bag (full size SLR), large group size first aid bag, and various other odds and ends beside me without compromising my needed sleeping space.

The tent, with an interior peak height of 34 inches, is not possible to sit up in. This makes dressing and undressing a little challenging. After a few experiments with position and clothing I was able to make it work for me. It is not a glorious process to get dressed in the morning…but it works. If you are looking for tent that allows you enough room to sit up and take your shirt off comfortably this is not the tent for you.

Inside the tent there is enough room to lie on my side and read a book, write in my journal, or completely reorganize my first aid kit. I do not feel claustrophobic or overly cramped. The light tan tent fly, white colored roof, and mesh panels make for pleasant interior light during the daylight hours.

Getting in and out of the tent body itself is quite easy. There is a zipper with dual heads on it that run almost the entire length of the tent in a large ‘J’ shape. You can literally roll your entire body out at once. It is very slick and makes transitioning from inside to out much more pleasant that it could have been.

View Larger Image A good shot of the J shaped zipper that allows easy entry and exit to the tent.

Overall I am surprised at how much I enjoy being inside the tent. I would not want to be tent bound for too long, but a full day would not be the end of the world.

Weight

The advertised packaged weight is 3 pounds and 6 ounces. With the footprint and a few extra pegs this is just shy of 4 pounds. This is almost half of the weight of my Meteor Light. Total weight savings: Approximately 4 pounds.

Weatherproof

When reviewing gear you hope for some extreme weather to really test the product. Over the course of the season I spent 16 nights in this tent. Of those 16 nights it rained 10. Of those 10 rainy nights 6 were some of the hardest rains I’ve ever camped in. From pounding thunderstorms while canoeing in Maine to whipping wind and driving sheets of rain while backpacking in Newfoundland backcountry: this tent kept me dry. In Newfoundland there were times the rain and wind were so intense that I was positive I was going to wake up to a soggy sleeping bag only to awake to a bone dry tent interior. On some of these mornings my tent was actually in an inch deep puddle of mud and water but still dry on the inside.

There is also a vent at the peak of the tent. It is easily accessible through a small zipper on the inside. I left the vent open most nights, even in rain, and had no condensation inside and the rain was never able to find its way in. With the vent closed you are able to keep the tent a little warmer on cold nights.

If you are looking for a weatherproof tent you will not go wrong with this one.

View Larger Image A shot of the vestibule pegged out in Newfoundland, Canada.

Vestibule

The Zoid 1 has a vestibule that extends out the same side of the tent as the tent door. While not huge, the vestibule offers enough cover to store a pair of size 13 boots, some wet rain gear, and a pack on its side. The vestibule is very weatherproof and kept my gear as dry as I was inside the tent.

Due to its small size and its gentle slope down to the ground the vestibule is challenging to open and close from the inside. Again, with a little practice and experimentation you get the hang of it.

Footprint

Like most new tents the Zoid 1 has one available (not included with the tent).

Quick Setup

The Zoid 1 is such a small tent (as are most solo tents) that setup is really a breeze. Due to its design the Zoid 1 is not a freestanding tent. It needs to be pegged in at the ends to remain standing. While this does not slow the setup, it does require you to be careful with your site selection and preparation.

With only two small poles and a clip fly this tent sets up very quickly. I am able to pitch it from start to finish in just over 5 minutes. This is quite handy on rainy days. Taking the tent down is equally as quick. I appreciate that, due to its small size, I am able to shake the fly out on my own without it dragging on the ground. The stuff bag that comes with the tent is just the right size. I am able to store the footprint in the main bag with the tent.

View Larger Image The sometimes annoying pockets of the Zoid 1.

Durability

MSR is one of the leading outdoor gear companies. All of their gear that I have used/own is built to last. The Zoid 1 is no exception. After over two weeks of heavy use in harsh conditions the only noticeable wear is a slight pin prick hole/tear in the footprint. Hey, isn’t that what a footprint is for? While durability is only truly tested over years I am quite certain the Zoid 1will hold up.

Nit Picky Details

While my overall review of the tent is quite positive there are some things that in my opinion can be improved.

The Pockets

The tent has two large pockets on the inside. The pockets are opposite of each other in the head portion of the tent. The issue I have with the pockets is that when there is something of moderate weight (i.e. a headlamp) in the middle of the pocket it sags down and cramps the area around your face. I have to make sure that anything of any significant weight is placed in the corners of the pocket to avoid this.

Cleaning the Ends

I don’t know where it comes from but somehow during a week of backcountry camping your tent starts to collect dust, hair, dirt, and pebbles. In the Zoid 1 these various things collect in the two ends of the tent. The points of the tent are actually quite narrow and thus make them hard to clean. You aren’t able to fit a small tent broom into them and if you don’t clean them regularly it can get quite nasty. The best method I found was to flip the corners inside out during tear down and shake them out. This is not ideal (can’t be done in inclement weather, etc) but it works. I’d be interested to see if the design could be modified to eliminate the points and make the ends flatter, even just by an inch or two.

View Larger Image A shot of the my Zoid 1 in Newfoundland, Canada.

Pegs

The Zoid 1 comes with very small (and light) pegs. While I’m sure these pegs do well in forest camping they did not hold up well camping on gravel, rock, and the other surfaces typically found in an alpine area. For my Newfoundland trip I swapped these pegs with more sturdy, larger, aluminum ones that gave me more hook to work with. While I applaud MSR for cutting down weight with these smaller pegs I’m not sure they are the best all around pegs to offer.

Overall

I would not hesitate to spend weeks in this tent in any weather conditions (within the 3 seasons of course). If you are very claustrophobic then this tent is not for you. The tent packs well and keeps you and your gear dry. If you are a taller person and are are in the market for a strong, sturdy, weatherproof, light solo tent the Zoid 1 should be on your list.