Mont moondance2

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Mont moondance2

Postby james cav » Tue 17 Feb, 2009 10:44 am

I just bought a Mont moondance2 for a walk in the western arthurs in april. Has anyone got any feedback on the suitability of this tent. It has a fair bit of mesh but not as much as a hubba hubba. I have a warm sleeping bag so I think it will be ok. Its also australian made and feels pretty solid. Good to buy local if the product performs well. Rated as 3 season but feels bombproof amd only weighs 2 kg.
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Re: Mont moondance2

Postby nvb » Wed 25 Feb, 2009 10:42 pm

I bought a moondance about 6 months ago and have used on about 15 hikes in all sorts of weather.

In my experience you could definitely take the moondance to the western arthurs in any conditions except heavy snowfall as the roof is a little too flat.
A friend of mine took the moondance 1 on a full traverse of the western arthurs january '09 and had no issues.
The inner has a half mesh so that cold winds circulate over your sleeping bag, so is not nearly as bad as other mesh tents in cold conditions.
In strong winds I use the four guy lines at each corner and guy out the ridge-pole loops as well. This provides a rock-solid shelter in high winds.

For anyone researching lightweight tents I can thoroughly recommend the moondance tents.
Pros & cons are as follows:

Pros:

Light (1.9 kg trail weight) & plenty of room considering the weight. I am 6 foot and can sit and lie down comfortably and not get end of sleeping bag wet.
Takes about 90 - 120 seconds for two people to pitch.
All parts of the pitch are taught (ie: no sagging inside or out) The internal walls are steep so you get the maximum living space out of the tents footprint.
Extremelely well considered design and materials used throughout. (and I am very fussy)
Quite warm considering the amount of mesh (see above)
Very durable floor (10,000mm waterhead). Rocks and sticks not an issue as in some lightweight tents with see-through floors.
Vestibules are on the sides which i find more 'liveable'. You can stow pack, boots & a bit more when asleep. To cook you need to bring some of this inside.
Have had the tent in driving rain and kept me bone-dry.
It is possible to set up the fly first if it is raining while pitching the tent.
Deals well with light snowfalls (snowed 5cm one night). Siliconised fly sheds snow immediately if you give the roof a shake from the inside. If it were to snow heavily I have worked there is a slot under the ridge-pole which you can brace the tent with a stick, ski pole or trekking pole.
Big side doors which can accomodate 2 people side-by-side for dinners or playing cards.
2 internal mesh pockets so you don't lose stuff.
Freestanding design. Minimum stake requirement is 2 (for vestibules) in fine weather, 6 in windy weather and 8 in really windy weather.
I like the colours, they seem to sympathise with the australian bush.
The small overall footprint of the tent means you are more likely to find a place to pitch your tent than if you had a big tent.
Inner and outer are a sensible distance from each other and I don't expect they would ever touch if pitched properly.
Good double zips with smooth action. Fly has 'rounded' vestibule opening so you can open the top and look out at the rain.

Cons:

More a couples or solo tent than a tent you would share with a friend.
The poles are superlight aircraft aliminium and need to be treated wil due care.
No gear loft for drying the wet stuff.
Only 2 internal pockets (I'd be happier if it had 10.... I think I easily misplace stuff).
If sitting out a day of bad weather (as I did recently) a more spacious tent would be nice... but then you'd have to carry it?
No option of integral pitch.
I find it better to use a bigger peg for the vestibules than the one provided as it falls out alot, otherwise the weird looking pegs they provide are fantastic... you can bash them in with a rock yet they are really light. I use them with my other tents.

Hope this is helpful for people looking for a lightweight tent. I researched forums like this for about 6 months before buying the moondance 2 and have been extremely pleased with it. There are lighter tents out there but none that I think offer the same combination of durability, space & livability. I also use the moondance 2 as a very spacious 1 person tent.
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Re: Mont moondance2

Postby woka » Thu 26 Feb, 2009 7:10 am

Unless there's something different between the Mondance I and Moondance II, it might be worth mentioning the ability to pitch the fly first requires the optional Moondance specific footprint.
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Re: Mont moondance2

Postby james cav » Fri 27 Feb, 2009 12:06 pm

At last. Thanks for the reply. I was starting to think i was the only person here with one. I had the same thought about attaching guys ropes to the ridge line in bad weather. There were a few tents that compare with the moondance but it alone seemed to have the best of all worlds given the conditions that one could expect. I have never used a tent with this much mesh before however the hubba hubba apparently has more. Given the conditions in tassie which tend to consist of more wind and rain than really deep snow (don't get me wrong Ive been though some extreme blizzard like conditions down there) I think the moondance should serve me well. I am a little concerned about the wind getting in though the fly seems to get pretty close to the ground and seems quite bombproof. Looking very forward to trying it out in April. I mostly walk solo. The other tent i was looking at was mountain hardware's sprite. $300 more and not as spacious but a true four season......hmmmm.
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Re: Mont moondance2

Postby nvb » Mon 16 Mar, 2009 7:31 pm

I set up the mont moondance 2 fly first this weekend.
It is more difficult to do this than inner first, but is not hard and doesn't take much longer.

1: connect poles together and connect one end.
2: peg that end into the ground
3: flex poles and then connect the other end. This bit takes a bit of practice.
4: pass the ridge pole over the centre pole and clip inner and fly to the ridge pole. This bit takes a bit of practice.
5: attach all of the inner clips to the poles.
6: peg out tent as required

enjoy dry inner. nvb
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Re: Mont moondance2

Postby rodb2013 » Sat 28 Dec, 2013 7:20 am

After lots if research I bought the Mont Moondance 2 in the post Xmas sales. Set up first time yesterday and was a bit uncertain with how the fly connects at the corners. The only way is for the tab to loop under with eyelet onto end of pole but not sure if tab should go through the peg loop or around the side. Going through peg loop keeps it centered but doesn't seem right. The Mont video appears to go around the side but hard to tell. Any feedback appreciated.
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Re: Mont moondance2

Postby Franco » Sat 28 Dec, 2013 8:15 am

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Re: Mont moondance2

Postby rodb2013 » Sat 28 Dec, 2013 8:38 am

Thanks. Looks like around the side.
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Re: Mont moondance2

Postby FatCanyoner » Wed 30 Apr, 2014 5:54 pm

For anyone who is interested in this tent, a friend of mine has done a really detailed review of it. He made the purchase after a lot of research, and it was tailored to his specific needs, but he's been extremely happy so far. He's also included quite a few tips and tricks he's discovered along the way to get the most out of it.

http://fatcanyoners.org/bush-guide/mont-moondance-2/
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Re: Mont moondance2

Postby sthughes » Thu 01 May, 2014 9:12 am

james cav wrote: Its also australian made and feels pretty solid.

Mont are an Australian company, but manufacturing is in China & Vietnam, not Australia.
"Don't do today what you can put off 'till tomorrow." (Work that is!)
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Re: Mont moondance2

Postby rodb2013 » Thu 01 May, 2014 9:34 am

I started this topic a while back. Thanks for the input. Since then I've had the Moondance 2 out in the Tassy wilderness with no problems. Only tip would be to buy the Mont replacement tent small angle pegs as they hold better. As for size, I carry it as a one person tent with heaps of room for pack etc inside. Rained in for a while with two big non-couple people would be a challenge. I also always take the footprint to protect the base and also to string up like a hutchy for cooking in the rain during the day. Tips on the link above re carrying the tent parts in separate bags is good. Packing the wet fly into a WP stuff sack is necessary. Everything starts getting wet after a few days setting up and packing down in the rain so separate stuff sacks doesn't matter much then and it all went on top of pack outside the pack liner. I'm 6'2" and the tent fits me lengthwise and also sitting upright, which were key criteria. I didn't try setting up in the rain using the fly and footprint first then the inner. It looked like it was going to be tricky so just waited for a lull in the rain and did it the normal way. There was water flowing over the ground around the tent and it didn't come through the base. In summary, I'm very happy with the tent: it is light, well designed and constructed and does the job well.
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Re: Mont moondance2

Postby stevage » Thu 15 May, 2014 12:08 am

Thought I'd just add a mini review too. I've had mine for a couple of years, but despite numerous trips, I've encountered precious little bad weather. 6 days in Frenchman's Cap? Sunny and calm. 7 days cycling across the Snowy's? Boiling hot and calm. I've been a couple of decent downpours, but only a little wind. One night in Hobart we expected the worst (the previous day, SEVEN tents in the caravan park had been destroyed), but barely got a decent breeze.

Anyway, that said, I do like it a lot. It's definitely a couples tent, though. The 7 days cycling was with a friend and I found it a bit too close for comfort. We ended up top-and-tailing most nights, which was fine except you need very flat ground. It definitely handles the heat well, though.

My only complaint, which I haven't seen anyone mention, is that the little clips to hold the doors open don't work very well. They're too low down, so most of the door fabric isn't held by them, and comes free.

Also a warning to be careful with the interior ends of the poles, as warned by Mont. Once while setting it up, I didn't have the pole fully threaded into the connecting piece, and it cracked when bent into shape. It wasn't a huge drama (gaffer tape held it together for a couple of days), but a minor nuisance.

Also, I didn't seem to have any problems pitching it fly-first without a ground sheet. Glad I didn't know that this was meant to be impossible :) Just...do it. Fly onto poles, poles onto inner, clip the inner, then peg.
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