Lightwave t10 raid under the microscope

Well Ehelloo. And welcome to the brand new Lightwave t10 raid. My first impressions? Impressed.

Here’s the run down:

The whole experience of buying this tent from the Lightwave website and importing it into Ireland were summed up as efficient but pricey! Lightwave has this tent reduced on their website (more on that later), and with UK VAT subtracted, the total was rather attractive at only £250. But things quickly added back up with express delivery and no choice of carrier, I ended up being paying a total which was equivalent of the tent’s price before the reduction, thanks to all UPS charges and fees. That made me feel a little deflated.

But upon opening the box of my very first ultralight tent, in my excitement I forgot all about that. The materials are so shiny, smooth and ethereal. This might suggest negative connotations where tents are concerned but there is surprising strength in the ripstop, silicone coated nylon constructing the fly, and the tent and pole bags. The weight of this material is only 45 grams for every square metre! To touch the material is like something smooth and slippery and when the surfaces rub together it makes a gentle swish-like noise and you don’t want to let go of it. (That’s in case you are like me and have never felt the fabric of a lightweight tent.)

The Raid presents itself nicely, wrapped tidily with the peg bag sewn into the outside with zippered access. Inside is the operators manual, four 3mm nylon guy ropes and a smorgasbord of pegs, all about 12cm long:- their names in order are: Lightening, Wavelight and Flash pegs. I’ll test them but probably add a few lengthier ones. Their weight is included in the overall 1.45kg of the tent.

Inside the pole bag are two separate aluminium poles (DAC) to form the cathedral arches of the tunnel design. One is short and grey for the back, the other is long and red, seemingly for the front. They slot into continuous mesh sleeves which are colour coded, and click into Jake’s Foot style ends to erect the inner. The inner is a split fabric combination of a really fine ripstop nylon weighing only 25g per square metre which covers the roof, and the sides are made up of a white mesh. There isn’t any specification of this mesh being noseeum and it feels a little coarse and rigid compared to other tents I own that do have noseeum mesh (*although its equally as fine). That’s still a little bit unexpected, however it is also possible this mesh has more strength to it than noseeum, as the inner staking points are constructed of it.

The inner has a dual zipper and the door is top third mesh. Inside the tent looks particularly long – it really lives up to the tunnel tent name! Near the door are more convenience pockets sewn into two sections on either side. In order to secure the fly to the inner tent, there are seven attachment points at the front (excluding the foot attachments at the base): five Velcro (joined to the fly) and two clips (part of the inner). Four guy ropes are attached from points secured by Velcro straps. The back pole has three Velcro loops with a similar two-guy rope system and two clips.

Unlike may inner-pitch first tents, the fly on the Raid isn’t secured with buckles. Instead, there is another slot which the Jake’s Foot clips into, and then the fly can be tensioned with a strap (which you can see below). On the bottom hem, half way between the aluminium poles, is one more pegging point to help prevent flapping in winds. The tent is recommended to be pitched feet-first into the prevailing wind, with a variation of no more than 30 degrees. It’s normal for a tunnel tent’s optimal performance.

There is one vent in the fly at the front. Underneath the fly is a mesh opening which is secured with two Velcro patches and your hand can fit inside the vestibule when you’re outside. Seems an odd design since a dual zipper is right below it but I imagine this makes it easier for securing the inner to the fly when pitching. The entrance into the vestibule is similar to drawing two curtains open. The half doors on each side can be secured open with toggles, or if you prefer, it is possible to peg one side in the closed position and open the other. The doors also have a buckle to hold them closed for pitching the tent taught.

The groundsheet is bathtub style and to me it feels so thin and delicate I’m afraid to use the tent with out a footprint to protect the 70 gram/sq. metre nylon. This nylon has a PU coating rather than a silicone coating which means the floor inside is rather grippy – it holds your sleeping mat where you want it. Both the fly and the groundsheet have a 3000 hydrostatic head, which isn’t a lot for a groundsheet, especially considering this tent claims it can hold up to all four seasons. A heavier person may find water seeping through when they kneel. Adding a footprint will help with water repellency and add much protection on rough grounds, and I have some polycro to use.

One thing I really would have liked to see included is a gear rail – two little tabs on the ceiling which a string can be tied between for hanging things, even just if its a lantern. There is enough space to keep a few things beside you when you sleep but the floor dimensions are more generous in length than width. There are a lot of little tweaks I’m already planning, and some people would shun this after spending so much on a tent however, I see this in a positive light because its really going to make the Raid feel like me.

Now for the biggest disappointment, one which wasn’t mentioned on the website and I referred to at the start. The reason the tent is reduced. An earlier photograph illustrates the colour of the pole is red, however the tent is indicating that the grey pole should be used at the front. Instead, its back-to-front. An error in pole printing means the grey pole actually fits at the back – which is also indicated with an incorrect colour coded sleeve. (The disappointment is probably a little worse for me because of the customs and import charges I was slapped with, which ironically equalled the value of the t10 raid before Lightwave’s discount.)

Things I already love

• There are dedicated vestibule pockets which are incorporated into the inner tent structure. That is pure genius – my cup of tea sits perfectly inside them, with room for my coffee paraphernalia beside it, too.
• Even though the tent is inner-pitch first, there is no need to entirely detach the fly for disassembly or construction as some straps wrap around the peak of each arch connecting poles, inner and fly and still allowing the pole to be threaded though without obstruction. Very helpful in inclement weather.
• The colour is very nice – it was hard to tell in photos exactly what shade it would be, but has a lovely Autumnal/honey tone which isn’t too bright. It also comes in a bright-looking green.
• The tent comes with a variety of interesting pegs: four extremely thin lightweight pegs for non-essential pegging points, six pegs which are double the width of the lightweight ones – for most of the main securing points, and four twisted Y style pegs for ultimate holding power against gales.
• Much of the design of this tent is thoughtful and clever and makes it a real pleasure to learn about.

Things I’m questioning

(I’m being critical here but,)

• The pole at the back is really tight when in position, and looks like it’s putting a lot of pressure on the groundsheet. Especially compared to the tension of the front pole. There is no strap to support the pressure so I’ve already threaded a length of spare guy rope across this section to stop the floor stretching so much.
• Interestingly, the vent has no way to prop it open, and when the fly is well tensioned, the vent is pulled tightly shut so no air flow happens. It simply seems to exist, covering the top of the zip, in a superfluous manner.
• The inner door zippers are surprisingly heavy to operate and sound stiff, particularly for their YKK branding. Possibly the stiffest zippers I’ve had in a tent, there is no way they can whiz open or closed in a second.
• The buckle at the front which should support the zip doesn’t. Its positioned a bit too wide for where the zip needs it, which means tension remains on the closed zipper. To stop it, the door needs to be opened a few centimetres, and then cannot be shut.

Most other quirks and small irritating aspects of user experience show shortcuts in the name of cost saving, design oversights or human error. This is always the case with every tent however, and most of the time it’s a case of adjusting to things. t10 Raid is no different; but many of these things can be changed in the name of personalisation. The rest, if anything should happen, are covered by a repair warranty from Lightwave.

In the end…

I really like t10 Raid and even starting to reconsider that perhaps the perfect tent does exist after all. That is, if you’re not being too much of a stickler for details and preferences. I bought it for long-distance hikes, and I can already tell its going to fill the gap like a foot fills a shoe. There is something nice about the way it flows and I can’t wait to get out and use it on an epic trail.