Six Moon Designs Lunar Duo Tent Overview

The Six Moon Designs Lunar Duo is revered within the ultralight backpacking world for its palace-like spaciousness, low weight, and reasonably priced price ticket.

We have been first intrigued by the Lunar Duo over a decade in the past after we noticed it whereas thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Path. Since then, we’ve pitched it lots of of occasions on journeys all through the Rockies and everywhere in the Pacific Northwest. Learn on to see how the Duo stacks up in opposition to dozens of different backpacking tent designs we’ve examined over time.

Fast Specs

MSRP: $395

LISTED WEIGHT: 2 lbs. 13 oz.

MEASURED WEIGHT: 2 lbs. 14.4 oz.

DIMENSIONS (LxWxH): 90 x 54 x 45 in.

Professionals

EXCEPTIONALLY SPACIOUS – One of many standout attributes of the Lunar Duo is its exceptionally spacious inside. With a 45-inch peak top that’s well-distributed by the arched forehead poles, a 7 ½-foot size, and beneficiant 54-inch width (sufficiently big for 2 broad sleeping pads), this tent is roomier than most 2-person tents by a good quantity. So, when you’re tall or need loads of elbow room to make sharing house with a associate extra comfy, this can be the proper tent for you.

AFFORDABLE – With an MSRP lower than $400, the Lunar Duo is among the many least costly ultralight backpacking tents available on the market. Comparable tents from massive manufacturers and cottage firms usually retail for $100-400 extra. We’ve gotten a ton of use out of our Lunar Duo and it’s nonetheless going robust after hundreds of miles on powerful trails. For sure, we predict it’s a wonderful worth, and also you’ll be hard-pressed to discover a lighter and extra comfy tent for the cash.

The Lunar Duo is obtainable in an Explorer mannequin ($395, 45 oz.) in addition to an Clothes shop mannequin ($210, 57 oz.). We’re keen on the Explorer mannequin for the load and bulk financial savings, and we predict it’s price the additional value over the long term. That stated, we’ve used each fashions extensively and we predict they’re each wonderful backpacking tents.

ULTRALIGHT – The Lunar Duo weighs 2 lbs. 13 oz. (45 oz.), which may be very gentle for a 2-person 2-door tent – particularly one with this a lot inside house. This weight doesn’t embrace tent stakes or poles, although, so be sure you take that into consideration when evaluating it to freestanding or semi-freestanding tents.

The Lunar Duo is ultralight, however it isn’t the lightest or most compact tent on the market. If you happen to’re actually severe about minimizing pack weight, you might wish to take into account even lighter choices. We’ll contact on this a bit extra later.

EXCELLENT VENTILATION – There are hooded vents on the prime of every door within the Lunar Duo’s rainfly, in addition to loads of airflow across the complete decrease perimeter. The cover is floating, so you may also elevate or decrease it to regulate how a lot of a niche you need between the underside of the fly and the bottom.

In clear circumstances, the Duo’s vestibules may be rolled again utterly for broad views and a cross breeze. Hooks on the guylines permit you to safe one, each, or no sides of the vestibules. This design provides you a number of management over your tent’s air flow, and means that you can shortly adapt to altering climate circumstances.

TWO DOORS & XL VESTIBULES – Two doorways and vestibules are virtually important in our e book, particularly when touring as a pair. The Lunar Duo has a big door on all sides, so there’s no ready in line to get out of the climate or crawling over your associate when nature calls at evening.

There’s additionally loads of room within the outsized vestibules for hikers to retailer and entry their gear. In reality, the vestibules on the Duo are a few of the largest we’ve seen on a backpacking tent.

DURABLE – The Lunar Duo is without doubt one of the few ultralight backpacking tents available on the market made with 30-denier ground and cover materials. Thicker particular person threads within the material make this tent harder than a number of backpacking tents which are sometimes constructed with 20, 15, and even 10-denier materials to avoid wasting weight.

That’s nice information for hikers with canines or anybody who needs to be a bit extra carefree with their gear. Because the ground is 30D, we normally don’t really feel the necessity to use a footprint to guard this tent, which retains extra weight and bulk out of our packs.

EXCELLENT WEATHER PROTECTION – We’ve waited out numerous downpours and hailstorms within the notoriously stormy Rocky Mountains within the Lunar Duo, and it’s at all times accomplished a wonderful job of conserving us comfy and dry. As soon as it’s seam sealed (extra on that beneath), the silnylon rainfly is totally waterproof and reliable in even the harshest summer time storms.

The Lunar Duo is non-freestanding, so it’s vital to pitch it taught, ensuring the stakes have good buy and also you’re utilizing all of the guyout factors when excessive winds are anticipated. We’ve been by some extraordinarily turbulent winds on this tent, and although the expertise wasn’t fully stress-free, it gave us full confidence within the Lunar Duo for climate safety.

FULL INSECT PROTECTION – Not like some ultralight tarp shelters, the Duo is totally enclosed to maintain bugs and critters at bay. It has a built-in bathtub ground and an connected mesh internal tent that zips shut, so you possibly can relaxation straightforward understanding you aren’t going to get up with a spider in your face. A single-wall tent just like the Lunar Duo is an efficient pleased medium for many who need their shelter to be gentle, but additionally bug-free.

RE-TENSIONABLE FROM INSIDE – One other characteristic that makes the Lunar Duo distinctive is that the primary guylines may be re-tensioned from contained in the tent. This is available in actually useful – particularly when it rains – as a result of silnylon tends to sag when chilly and moist, leaving you with a floppy shelter blowing within the wind. With the Duo, you possibly can re-tighten your guylines with out having to get out of your sleeping bag.

Cons

HEAVIER THAN SOME – The Lunar Duo (45 oz.) may be very light-weight, however it’s considerably heavier than a few of the lightest ultralight non-freestanding tents. You would save 1-2 kilos by selecting a tent just like the Zpacks Duplex (18.5 oz.), Triplex (21.6 oz.), or HMG Unbound 2 (24 oz.). These tents are all made with Dyneema Composite Material (DCF) although, which nearly doubles the fee. If saving weight is a prime precedence for you, it could possibly be nicely definitely worth the funding to purchase one in all these top-of-the-line ultralight tents. If you happen to’d moderately carry a bit extra weight and save a bunch of cash, the Lunar Duo is a superb selection.

The Gossamer Gear The Two ($320) is a strong possibility for ultralight backpackers on a price range. It prices lower than the Lunar Duo, and it’s fairly a bit lighter at 23.5 oz., however it’s made with skinny 10-denier material and isn’t practically as roomy because the Duo. One other price range possibility for ultralight backpackers is the SMD Haven ($375). It weighs 38.1 oz., so it’s a bit lighter than the Lunar Duo, and it comes with a tarp and internal web that can be utilized collectively or individually. It’s not as spacious, however it’s an excellent various for hikers that need the flexibility of a tarp for quick and light-weight journeys.

STAKES & POLES NOT INCLUDED – Tent stakes and poles will not be included with the Lunar Duo, so that you’ll want to think about the added value and weight of those to finish your setup. Most hikers use a pair of adjustable trekking poles to help the Lunar Duo. If you happen to don’t use trekking poles, you’ll must pack two carbon fiber poles ($40, 1.8 oz. every) or aluminum tent poles ($15, 3 oz. every) to pitch this tent.

We virtually at all times use eight tent stakes to pitch the Lunar Duo; 4 for the corners, two for the vestibules, and one every on the head and foot of the tent. It’s vital to decide on stakes with strong holding energy for this tent. These All One Tech Aluminum Stakes are reasonably priced and have labored nicely for us in most terrain.

NOT FACTORY SEAM-SEALED – The Lunar Duo must be seam sealed to be totally waterproof, and we predict it’s a bit unlucky that it doesn’t mechanically come that means. You possibly can pay Six Moon Designs $35 for his or her seam sealing service, or you are able to do it your self with a product like Seam Grip. If you happen to like DIY tasks, seam sealing isn’t too unhealthy to do your self, however we usually advocate paying for the producer to seam seal so your tent might be able to go when it arrives.

LEARNING CURVE TO PITCH – There’s a little bit of a studying curve to organising a non-freestanding tent just like the Lunar Duo. We advocate following SMD’s Lunar Duo Setup Directions and training earlier than your first journey to discover ways to get the pole top and spacing excellent. After a pair follow pitches, it’ll solely take you 5-10 minutes to arrange the Lunar Duo. That stated, it is going to by no means be fairly as fast and simple as pitching a typical freestanding tent.

Non-freestanding tents just like the Duo may also be trickier to arrange when the bottom is simply too laborious for tent stakes or is so delicate (suppose sand) that tent stakes received’t maintain. In conditions like this you’ll must get inventive with logs, rocks, or different objects to assist tie down your shelter. In the long run, with a non-freestanding tent just like the Lunar Duo you’ll usually spend a bit extra time in camp perfecting the pitch of your tent, however your pack will really feel lighter all day lengthy on the path.

CONDENSATION – A basic con of single-wall tents is that they don’t have a mesh barrier to separate the hikers inside from the rain fly. Which means you can doubtlessly have condensation droplets on the within of the tent in chilly, humid circumstances. When this occurs, it’s uncomfortable to rub in opposition to the inside of the rainfly, which can really feel chilly and moist. On the uncommon event it’s vital, we use a small PackTowl to fastidiously wipe down the within of the fly.

In our expertise, the Lunar Duo performs higher than most single-wall tents so far as inside condensation goes due to its wonderful air flow. It additionally has extra headspace than your common tent, so it’s much less possible that your head or the foot of your sleeping bag will make contact with the rainfly.

REQUIRES BIGGER CAMPSITES – We love the Lunar Duo’s spacious inside and outsized vestibules, however the draw back is that you simply’ll want an even bigger space to pitch the tent. Often, we’ve needed to go up smaller campsites in search of an appropriate place to pitch the Lunar Duo, however that’s hardly ever a difficulty.

BOTTOM LINE

If you happen to’re searching for a roomy, ultralight shelter at an exceptionally reasonably priced worth, there are few tents that evaluate to the Six Moon Designs Lunar Duo.

Although there are inherent downsides with any non-freestanding tent – a bit tougher to pitch and condensation administration – we usually really feel that the advantages of the Duo closely outweigh the cons.

It’s powerful to search out backpacking tents that strike such an amazing stability between weight, inside house, and worth just like the Lunar Duo. As well as, this tent is extra sturdy than many ultralight tents, so you possibly can rely on it to final for years of journey.

We predict the Lunar Duo is a superb selection for backpacking pairs, which is why it’s featured on our lists of the Greatest Backpacking Tents and Greatest Ultralight Tents.

MORE INFORMATION

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