My Home Away From Home...

...This is how I referred to my Eureka Solitaire backpacking tent, my loyal friend and companion for two years and close to 20 backpacking trips.

It took me almost a year to accumulate a good set of backpacking gear. Being lightweight can be expensive! This particular purchase encompassed weeks of searching catalogs, websites, etc. to find something that would be light enough for someone as small as myself while still falling within an appropriate price range. While I love REI with all my heart, they have neither when it comes to backpacking tents. Their tents are not light and they are quite pricey. I had seen the Solitaire in my Campmor catalog and on a few websites, and, at $80.00 and 2.5 lbs, it seemed about as close as I would get. They had it in Dick's Sporting Goods, so I went to the store and crawled in. Satisfied, I went home and did what I always do first with big purchases: entered the name of the product into such websites as Froogle and Pricegrabber. Finally, at $64.00, including shipping, from some outdoor store I had never heard of and couldn't tell you to this day, my tent was on its way!

Cons: Tall people beware! This is not the tent for you. However, as I myself am a whopping 5'4", it was the tent for me. The Solitaire is what is referred to in the backpacking world as a "coffin". It's tiny. You have to change your clothes laying on the ground. Gear can be a tight squeeze. Sometimes, when someone on the trip has a big tent for one person, I will coax them into keeping my pack in their tent.

In addition, it's not the easiest to put up. There are two poles which bend into half circles, and it will not stand without the stakes. Once you get the hang of it, it's not that bad, but I have to admit, I yelled at it on more than one occasion and every so often I pinched my finger between the stake and the hook.

Pros: Well, first of all, it's light and cheap. You are not going to find many tents out there in this price range that don't weigh 3-5 lbs. The last I checked, REI didn't carry a single backpacking tent under 3 lbs, even the $300.00 models! They also do not carry anything under $100.00. This rule typically applies even with sale items on their website...

The small size isn't just good for lightening your load on those long hikes. It keeps you warm when it's cold! I have slept comfortably in this tent on more than one 15-20 degree night in the winter. There is also a zipper underneath the built-in rain fly to keep you cooler when it's hot.

If you think the low price tag means low quality, think again! This tent is extremely durable, and, unlike, the Walmart tent, it kept me dry without seam sealer. (Caveat: I have found the one thing this tent cannot survive: ME! Just as the North Face pants cannot stay fully intact in the knee when I do a triple somersault onto a rock while hiking, the Eureka Solitaire tent poles cannot survive being beaten repeatedly by a trekking pole to remove ice from the outside of the tent after a night of freezing rain. Who knew?!)

All in all, I think this is a fantastic tent for a small person on a budget. For several months, I spent every weekend in this tent, and never wished for anything more. While the REI Crysalis (Price tag $50 higher, even on clearance, weight 8 oz. heavier) has been purchased as a replacement and is next in line to vie for my affections, I will miss my old friend and starter tent.

Grade: B+