Gear

Used my SL1 for a wild camp in the Arans this weekend. It was windy and some of the gusts were a bit stronger. Had the tail pitched into the wind (thou it became apparent this was slightly off later on).

Every so often when a bigger gust came, the top pole would shift over to one side making the other side collapse inwards. The wind direction was obviously slightly off centre from the tent but as the wind direction may change during the night I doubt I could get it perfect everytime. From inside the tent, I was able to push the pole back into the centre and make the structure rigid again. However it kept happening. I got out twice and tightened the side guylines and also pushed the tail pole inwards so the curve was tighter. This helped and I thought I'd cracked it, however it started happening again a couple hours later. Eventually I gave up and just reset the pole from inside everytime it happened. It was a long night!

Anyone else experienced this with their SL1? Any tips for pitching it better? Apart from this it seemed very stable in the wind. A had alot of time to think about it during the night, and it seems the side guys have to be as tight as possible to keep the centre pole in place. The guy adjusters are quite fiddly so I'm gonna replace these with lineloks.

Thanks
Amit

I've the SL2 and immediately changed the guys over to Dyneema with line-locks. This helps immensely. I've also added a couple of alpkit mini carabiners to the inside fly attachments to make attaching faster and easier to the fly.
I am quite picky about the erection of the tent and guying out and will usually adjust a couple of times after putting up before I'm satisfied. This does reap rewards when the weather (usually) turns!
Good luck and keep it wild!

the sl2 is a different design......

Thanks for the suggestion Miko.

Emailed BigAgnes and they said they'd never had this kind of feedback before and that maybe it was just the right combination of wind speed/direction/pitching that did it. However they did offer to swap the SL1 for a SL2 (if i pay shipping both ways to the US) if I try it again and still get the problem which is nice of them. They thought the design of the SL2 would be a little more stable in wind.

I've just looked at the different designs and indeed they are noticeably different at the rear. I bought mine as a bigger alternative to my Laser Comp as I was getting "older" and wanted a bit more space - to be honest I haven't noticed the weight difference in the slightest although the space difference is huge. There's c.£60 diff in the price of the two SL's. Shipping back and forth from the US will negate this completely but you will have a much better tent and you can sleep safe! You may see my Laser Comp in the classifieds!