The Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo is a small-ish, light-ish, 1 person single wall tent, which requires a trekking pole to pitch. I’ve owned mine for a couple of years now, and spent many nights in it in a wide a variety of weather and ground conditions. There are a wealth of reviews online with more detailed images, so I’ve kept mine to pictures from the trail. You can read my thoughts below.

Lunar Solo Initial Impressions

Before choosing the Lunar Solo I had only ever used freestanding, double wall tent designs with multiple poles. I was intrigued by the Lunar Solo, but also slightly concerned about the single pole, single wall design. Condensation would be an issue, and I was worried it might be tough to pitch in certain ground conditions. On removing it from its stuff sack its material feels light, but not too flimsy, striking a good balance between something that will last a good amount of time without being too weighty.

It took a few pitches to get comfortable with the Lunar Solo and getting the bathtub floor to sit at the right height, and I’d definitely recommend getting it set up in a garden or park a few times before heading off into the wild. If setting it up in a park, sit besde it with a cuppa and see how long it takes before somebody says ‘you can’t camp here mate’.

I was struck by the interior size of the tent, and despite being 1 person it feels like a much nicer place to be than some coffin style tents I’ve used in the past. I’m 5’11” and the roof is high enough for me to sit up straight, and there is plenty of room beside you to organise your gear. I wouldn’t suggest planning on it, but in an emergency situation you could get two people in in a pinch.

This does mean that the total area required to pitch it is larger than many freestanding shelters, but I’ve yet to come across many situations where this is an issue. How often when camping do you find a pitch exactly the size of your shelter and no bigger?

Pitching the Lunar Solo

Fast forward a couple of years and I’ve pitched the Lunar Solo on soft boggy ground, loose earth, on rocks, on beaches, up mountains, and everywhere in between. I’ve even managed to pitch it indoors, tying the guy lines to random objects. Although some would-be camp grounds offer more of a challenge than others, I’ve yet to find myself in a position of it being impossible, you just need to use a little ingenuity.

For example when pitching on sand, you’ll need to hunt around for some rocks or logs with which to anchor your guy lines into the sand, or on loose ground some rocks to put on top of your stakes to make sure they hold firm. This might be a bit more hassle than using a freestanding tent, but its part of the trade off for a shelter so light and minimal, and in my opinion, part of the fun. Another great trade off is that however long it takes to pitch, it is incredibly quick to pack down. I’m almost always the first to be ready when camping alongside those with more complex tent designs. You’ll have the lunar solo stuffed in its tiny sack while others are still fiddling with thier poles.

How weatherproof is the Lunar Solo?

At a mere 732 grams, with a single wall, and one central pole, you could be forgiven for expecting this shelter to be a bit of a nightmare in bad conditions. To the contrary I’ve found it to withstand high winds suprisingly well, Holding up to an absolute battering up Bealach Ban along the Cape Wrath trail, and again near the top of Pen Y Fan on a night when the wind was gusting at 50mph and I’d have been much wiser camping on lower ground. On both occasions I got no sleep, and was expecting the tent to collapse or fail in some way.

Neither happened, and though I may have had the tent itself slapping against me, I’m convinced most 3 season freestanding tents would have suffered pole failures in similar conditions. My Big Agnes Copper Spur certainly would have. The Lunar solo does have the benefit of being able to lower the central pole and put it into ‘storm mode’ hunkering down as much as possible and stopping the wind from whipping underneath it.

Similarly the Silicone coated polyester material of the Lunar Solo has to date proven exceptionally waterproof, and has gotten me through nights of torrential rain without showing sign of leaking. You’re far more likely to get damp from condensation from within, but i’ll touch on this later. The tent doesnt come seam sealed, which was offputting to me at first, but following a little internet research I dived in and found the sealing process to be very easy. It didnt take more than half an hour. The key in my opinion is not to stress how neat it looks. It’s a tent, not a work of art.

Condensation

Condensation is the biggie when talking about single wall shelters, and will effect all of them to some degree.

The lunar solo’s entrance side is intended to sit much higher than the others, this is to promote good airflow and prevent a build up of condensation within. All tents will suffer with condensation, but in a double wall design you’re kept seperated from it. The trick with the Lunar Solo is to avoid touching the inside of the tent without first wiping it. On a single night trip this really doesnt matter much as long as you unpack it and dry it at home.

On a thru hike, I would wipe the inside down with my microfiber towel as soon as I woke up. This sounds like more of a chore than it is, and can be done almost entirely from your sleeping bag and without moving much. Sit up, wipe from the top down, job done. Another useful tactic is to wear your rain jacket over the toe box of your sleeping bag, that way you won’t get condensation on your toes if you slide about in the night.

If you commit to the Lunar Solo (or anything similar) you’ll fast become a master in condensation reduction, and learn various tricks to prevent it. The below are all worth keeping in mind.

• Ventilate as much as possible at all times. If it’s a dry night, keep the doors open, or partially tuck the entrace side door up under itself to raise it higher.
• Avoid pitching on long wet grass. If you’ve no option, pitch a little higher to try and keep airflow under the sides of the tent.
• Avoid bringing wet things into the tent with you. This can be tough, but avoid it if you can.
• Avoid getting steam in the tent. Again sometimes this is tricky, but try and enjoy your evening cuppa with a lid on your flask.

Durability

After at least 50 nights in the Lunar Solo I’ve yet to have any issues with durability with the exception of the long front guy line failing. This didn’t cause any issues on the trail as it was easy to tie back together, and was cheap and easy to fix and replace. Otherwise the tent has been solid, and shows no signs of damage to its floor despite being pitched on plenty of stoney and rugged ground.

Final Thoughts

Overall If you new to backpacking or wild camping and looking for a light weight 1 person shelter that doesnt totally break the bank I would say the Lunar Solo represents a great choice, but one that you’ll have to learn to live with the quirks of. Whether or not you’ll enjoy this comes down to your personal threshold for comfort. If you’re nervously taking your first steps into wild camping then It might present some unwanted faff and make life a bit more difficult. How to get it pitched best and manage condensation are all part of the experience of using a shelter like this, but to me they are worthwhile trade offs. You dont camp in the wilderness to have home comforts, and a single wall tent with the doors rolled back on a dry night feels a step closer to bivvying or laying under a tarp than a more full featured shelter. I Love it, and look forward to using it for years to come.

If I lost or damaged my Lunar Solo, I’d buy another in a heartbeat. The only options I’d consider replacing it with would be similarly deisgned Dyneema shelters such as the Zpacks Plex Solo or Hyperlite Mid 1, but with eywatering price tags I’d have to be taking on a seriously long challenge to feel able to justify the price in the name of weight saving.