I’m considering looking for a used superlite or waiting it out for a v2. I do see that, for the most part, owners are still loving theirs. Is there anything that is wearing less ideally than expected? Anything you’re having to fix on your own? I saw something about ‘stretched out elastic’ but don’t know what that’s referencing.
No issues from what I’ve seen. From mine and some friends that have had it since release. It really is a great tent.
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Thanks for confirming, do you have a guess what “stretched out elastic” I might have been reading about? Someone locally is selling one and there is a comment from another owner than it happened, the seller then confirmed its also stretched for them. I can’t think of what part is elastic and if it’s stretched out, what that even means. Both say it doesn’t cause a problem, so I’m just curious.
I don’t know of any elastic. Possibly the straps to tighten down. But you shouldn’t be too hard on them to begin with. Some folks cinch those things down like crazy.
The cinch straps that go around the tent (10 of them) tighten the roof to the bottom — they have play in them so the tent thickness can go slim or if you keep bedding, it expands to 6+ inches or whatnot. These cinch straps have stretchy bands around them that keep them somewhat taut when you tighten to loosen them — think of the exposed elastic waistband in old school athletic shorts (now shorts contain that elastic) but more robust.
It has a decent amount of stretch in it so I imagine over time they’ll indeed stretch out. I find them to loosen up over time and allow the tightening/cinch straps to loosen consequently at high speeds or in windy conditions (I discovered this during some storms traversing between Arizona into Utah and the cinch straps loosening and the hooks coming out entirely).
I remedied both by using double-sided or loop-on-itself Velcro that goes around the belly of the cinch straps that also keeps the loose part of the cinch strap from flapping in the wind. That works great. I also added shock cord around each hook point on the roof to act as a failsafe and backup in case the hooks of the cinch straps loosen in the wind.
TL;DR Not a dealbreaker for me at all, but generally hoping the system overall can be improved in V2.
Some photos below hopefully illustrating what I’m talking about. The black bands on the cinch straps are my mod and the stretchy bands are just next to those but are grey so you can’t really tell. You can also see the shock cord loops I made.
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I did the same thing. Uses some Velcro cable ties and hold
Just as well
Thanks, that explains it clearly and is definitely not a deal breaker. Nice that the only real kicker seems to be an unsurprising issue with how materials age.
Yep. It’s held up really well for four 10-14 day trips so far (and more on the way) and while I’d love to go hardshell (limited by garage height, so we needed a lightweight RTT to take on and off before entering) at some point, the Superlite is fantastic. The nice thing is also that there are the usual things you can fix or mod to help that apply from typical tent camping or outdoor pursuits.
The more moddable it is, the better. I love me some flexible.
I’m interested in the SuperLite simply because of the lightness. I have a Gladiator and don’t want to get in the cycle of heavier and heavier, opted for a Softopper with aluminum rack over it to keep everything as light as possible.
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I posted this on Instagram which should give you an idea of how the shock cord is tied through the loop and then snugged around the hook.
https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17955242099108429/
The SuperLite is not watertight! If it rains, water will pool on the top and eventually seep inside of the tent. As soon as the weather clears, you should open the tent and let it dry out. Otherwise, it will get moldy. It is probably a good practice to open the tent periodically to ensure there isn’t any moisture inside of it from condensation.
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I have heard that recommendation before with respect to other roof top tents.
I feel for you trying to get rid of the mold. Depending on climate it’s not always easy to open it up to dry out.
Does anyone any good recommendations for ways to get rid of the mold?
I got rid of most of the mold using a spray can of Lysol. I heard OxiClean should take care of the rest. I’m going to give it a try next.
Btw, I had to unzip the floor covering as well to dry both the cover and the floor. After folding the cover back, I put some 1 x 2’s between the cover and floor to facilitate more air flow.
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