Sierra Designs Meteor Light CD

Review Date
August 19, 2004

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by: aemter21 ,  Backpacker

Price Paid:  $179.00 at Hilton's Tent City

Summary:
I've only used this tent for about 6 nights so far, but I have had enough experience to warrat this review. Overall, this tent is a winner. There are only a few drawbacks which I feel should be taken note of. My first complaint is that (like many others reviewing this tent) the fly zippers suck. They get stuck almost every time the zipper is opened or closed. I agree that SD could have used some more rigid material on the zipper rainflaps to prevent the material from getting stuck in the zippers. This problem is more irritating when you have to whiz at 3am and it's pitch dark and cold and your zipper is stuck.
The second complaint I have is that the ventilation does not seem adequate. The air was a little muggy the few nights I spent in the black hills, but the condensation on the fly seemed excessive considering the situation. One solution I have not tried yet would be to stake the vestibules out more so to increase the amount of air circulating under the fly and through the tent mesh.
As for the positives of the tent--The construction seems excellent. There are ample guyout spots--actually much more than they give you stakes or guywire for. I bought the footprint and the portable attic also and would reccommend that everyone do the same. The attic is especially clever for storing a headlamp, snack, or any other thing you want up off the ground. The legroom is great in this tent too. My friend is 6'6" and he had plenty of room to stuff gear at his feet and still have headroom. At first the tent seems to be vertically short, but to be honest, there's ample room to dress and sit up in the tent. Any more vertical headroom would simply increase the amount of wind problems. I have not had this tent up in wind, but from assessing the construction and strength of this tent after it is properly guyed out, I would not hesitate to put it up against a 40 mph wind.
Overall, I would purchase this tent again in a heartbeat.

Customer Service:
Have not needed to contact SD yet.

Similar Products Used:
Kelty Yellowstone 7

Review Date
June 29, 2004

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 2 votes

Reviewed by: foldack ,  Backpacker

Price Paid:  $300.00 at I forget

Summary:
This review is only partly applicable, in that I bought this tent in 1988, long before it was the CD version, which is now defunct anyway.
The point is that I've been using this tent regularly for 16 years now, and it's an amazing piece of gear.
I've had one experience with SD's Canadian customer service, and they were brilliant. After having the tent for about 4 years, I started to get a bit frustrated with the fly always being a bit wonky and the seams not following the poles exactly as I thought they should. After many comments from friends like, "is there something wrong with the fly?", I called SD. I was sure the fly was sewn a bit funny, but they insisted I send them the whole thing. I did, they paid, and they rplaced the entire tent, and said that it was in fact the tent that was cut ever so slightly off. They were just great the whole time. So the second coming of the tent has been a workhorse for 12 years.

Customer Service:
Fantastic. See above.

Similar Products Used:
Eureke Domension, Wind River, Apex,

Review Date
June 14, 2004

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Reviewed by: johns913 ,  Paddler

Price Paid:  $179.00 at Moosejaw

Summary:
Overall this is a very nice tent. My only complaint other than a customer service complaint which I will get to is that the vestibule zipper constantly was getting caught in the rain flap that protected it. I eventually quit using the big vestibule as a door because I got tired of dealing with the stuck zipper. Other than that, I enjoyed this tent and found it roomy and comfortable.

Customer Service:
I sent my tent in for some repairs including a small hole in the mesh. The tent came back to me with a plastic patch that was 1/2 off when I opened the box. I sent the tent back in to SD and requested a better job. I purchased this tent in part because of the glowing reviews I had read here about the SD warranty department. But, my experience has not been good. This is my last Sierra Designs purchase. I am giving this tent a 1 star rating -keep looking- due to the poor repair job. I would have done this repair myself but I also had warranty issue for a buckle that was not put on during the manufacturing process.

Review Date
September 2, 2003

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Reviewed by: timbarnes(Unregistered User) ,  Snowboarder , from Bath, UK.

Price Paid:  $300.00 at Somewhere in Seattle

Summary:
I've had mine since 1996, probably used it for 70 nights or so in that time. In terms of durability I can't fault it, it looks the same to me now as it did when I bought it.

Its best feature has to be its size, it's *really* big for two people, with a big porch too. Nice and tall too.

I've got a few niggle with it, it's quite heavy, but then I bought it for its size, not its weight. The fly doesn't fit perfectly, it needs severe pegging out to stop the back of the inner and fly touching.

It's pretty damp in the UK, and although it keeps the rain out fine, it's quite prone to condensation inside the fly, which then drips through the inner on to me. The inner groundsheet is now quite porous too, on damp ground you need extra protection to keep the damp out.

The outer fly zips are a *total* pain in the ass, they almost always catch when un/zipping. I see they don't appear to have improved this in the more recent models. It's not hard to fix, my Mountain hardware sleeping bag has zips which never catch, thanks to slightly more rigid material sewn in next to the zip. SD really should fix the zips...

I probably wouldn't buy another, it's a decent solid tent, but I'd be looking at a Macpac, lighter with better groundsheets.

Customer Service:
No idea.

Similar Products Used:
North Face Tadpole, No-name tunnel tent.

Review Date
July 18, 2003

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Reviewed by: markj1(Unregistered User) ,  Backpacker

Price Paid:  $239.00 at RiverSports--Knoxvil

Summary:
This tent is ultrareliable. We have used ours for 4 years without failure, including a number of nights in thunderstorms, and one horrific occasion where we set up the tent in 50 mph+ winds with blowing rain. I wouldn't recommend doing this, since one of the poles was slightly bent during setup. In spite of this the tent DID NOT FAIL once staked out and all guy lines were in place.

As a side note, I strongly recommend buying the footprint for this tent.

POSITIVES: Many attachment points for guylines and staking out the tent; good ventilation; excellent durability; plenty of space (inside and under the vestibule); storgage pockets inside; tie points for hanging up items in the interior (clothesline, gear loft, lighting, etc.)

DRAWBACKS: The tent is a little heavy for 3-season backpacking; extra guylines and stakes are needed to set up for high winds; the stakes are average--a couple have small bends in them now.

Customer Service:
N/A

Similar Products Used:
Eureka Zephyr XT (1 person)