Hi all of you- Let me begin by thanking you all for a execelent forum.

In light of your good publicity for the Lightwave tents, will now buy me my first-

But I have doubts about where my money is best spent?I only have money for T2 Trek XT a T2 Ultra XT or G2 Trek XT (I have not been able to find some on sale or used). My Girlfriend insists that it has to be the XT model...

My thoughts is whether G2 is so much more stable than T2 and whether it is worth the money to upgrade from T2 Trek to the T2 Ultra? The tent will be used for hiking in the highlands of Norway and Sweden and to kayaktrip in lakes and at coastlines around Scandinavia, mainly in 3 seasons.I really hope you guys/girls can help me out on this.

Regards Mikkel

My usual suggestion is a tunnel over a geo as they're lighter for the same space and still remarkably tough, but the place I personally use a geo is for paddling trips, because you can end up pitched on wee skerries that only have a passing acquaintance with soil and that can make pitching a bit of a game.  From my paddling experience thus far, it is a not uncommon experience on the Scandanavian coastline where plain rock is remarakbly common.

The porch on the g2xt will need pulling out, but you can tie that to a boat or something and the main tent will stand up okay on its own.

For hiking use I'd prefer the tunnel: lighter to carry, quite tough enough, a bit less fiddly to pitch, but for the paddling I'd take the geodesic: of course, haing both would cost quite a lot! .  Another more expensive option would be something like a Hilleberg Allak dome, which is ideal for camping on small plates of rock in fjords or the Baltic as it doesn't even need the porches pulling out (all done with internal tension).  You don't have an extended giant porch, but on the other hand you do get one good sized porch each.  It's also light enough to carry for the hiking trips, but it does cost quite a bit more.

Pete. 

Hi Mikkel, I've only seen a Trek series properly "in the flesh" (a t2 xt we were considering) so bear in mind my comments are speculatiive.  Personally I would pay the extra money for the Ultra.  Lightwave's designer knows his stuff and though lighter the fabrics will still be remarkably strong, and if you're carrying it then there's no question that lighter is better.

The one place the thinner fabrics are a potential problem is the camping on rocks, with the thinner groundsheet a bit more prone to abrasion and puncture, but of course if you're in a boat then extra bulk and weight are less of an issue and you can just pack an extra footprint for the paddling trips (I always use a second groundsheet when I'm camping on a paddling trip, there's simply no good reason not to).  You can get an "official" Lightwave one, which will be custom sized to the tent, or make your own.

Pete.