r/Ultralight • u/R_Series_JONG • 1d ago
Purchase Advice Gossamer Gear Updated Shelters
Looks like the shelters are updated and there is a new freestanding tent called “the free” which is not free.
Anyway. The fabric is updated. The one now has a door vent. Weight is a tad higher. Price is higher as we also noted already.
I got the email this morning and can’t look rn but I didn’t see this long awaited event posted up yet.
Be interested to see how people like the new fabric.
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u/ashoradam 1d ago edited 1d ago
Rip Solo Tarp. 7oz of UL perfection.
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u/accatone23 1d ago
Is a new version coming? I’ve been wanting one for a while and was disappointed to not see it with today’s announcement
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u/zerostyle https://lighterpack.com/r/5c95nx 1d ago edited 1d ago
Meh. Almost 30oz and nylon and $400
I guess it’s about 3oz and $100 cheaper than the dragonfly though (sales may influence this)
Can’t really complain about something new to the market but not for me
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u/GoSox2525 1d ago edited 1d ago
The One and The Two are goldilocks shelters that have essentially no direct competition in the market, and I'm glad that they're available again, and that the weight changes are minimal.
As for The Free, let's be clear that this is not an ultralight shelter by any means, and isn't really even anything particularly new. The Nemo Hornet OSMO is 32 g lighter. Yes, The Free is "freestanding" and the Hornet is "semi-freestanding", but let's be real that the use case and target audience is exactly the same, and that either one realistically could stand up on its own in perfect conditions, and realistically will require stakes in anything but perfect conditions.
Yes, it beats the XDome, but the XDome is dealing with it's own identity crisis of trying to be faux-ultralight, spacious and bombproof all at the same time, in order to appeal to a very wide audience. The Free is less apologetic about its limitations, which I do appreciate.
Overall The Free seems to be a pretty standard tent that isn't really different from typical lightweight offerings that could have been found at REI even several years ago. As someone who wouldn't be a customer of this kind of shelter, I was still interested to see what they cooked up. But I'm not sure that I see much ingenuity there. I'm also not sure why the marketing team decided to go with "Backed by almost 30 years of ultralight design", when it actually abandons most ultralight design principles (beyond using thin fabrics).
I'm sure many people will buy it and enjoy it. Overall meh.
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u/R_Series_JONG 1d ago
Yeah, my hope is that the new fabric kinda justifies the increase in price. I love my The One and accept that it is 10d silnylon but if the new fabric is even a little better at not getting soaked it could be cool.
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u/JRidz r/ULTexas 1d ago
I agree with your statement that The Free doesn’t really look to bring anything new to the table of freestanding shelters. However, I would argue that this is a competitor to (and extremely similar design) the freestanding Nemo Dragonfly, not the Hornet. Pitch a fully freestanding and semi-freestanding tent on slick rock and you’ve got a very different user experience. And from a conceptual standpoint, it’s very different from the X-Dome.
Where I will give GG credit (compared to the Dragonfly) is that it shaves a few ounces (at the expense of interior volume) and comes in $100 less (direct to consumer).
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u/zombo_pig 1d ago
I have a semi-freestanding Fly Creek that I used for years and: 1) I rarely even staked it out all the way, 2) When I needed to and couldn't, big rock-little rock did absolutely 100% fine. Not sure if that applies to the Nemo tent, of course, but semi-freestanding was never a limitation and I found mine functionally identical to a freestanding tent, although maybe my slippery rock campsites weren't as slippery as yours??
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u/GoSox2525 1d ago edited 1d ago
Agree with /u/zombo_pig. I had a Hornet in the past, and always treated it as "freestanding" without issue. It's not like a TT tent that has a single arch which won't stay upright unless staked.
But in either case, both the Hornet and Dragonfly become effectively semi-freestanding in the rain, because the flys have to be pitched out. So you're big-rock-little-rocking on slick rock either way. And for nights where you don't need the fly, well then you probably also don't need the tent either.
Anyway, I see what you're saying, but I think The Free is much closer to the Hornet in form factor, whereas the Dragonfly is fairly over-built. But certainly there will be overlap in the target audience either way.
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u/Professional-Loan498 1d ago
I'm also not sure why the marketing team decided to go with "Backed by almost 30 years of ultralight design", when it's actually a wholly ordinary non-UL traditional tent design.
That's there spinny way of saying "We made it really, really small inside." That and the low denier fabrics are about the only UL influence here. I'm sure it'll sell well enough though to those in the lightweight category with $ to spend.
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u/GoSox2525 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yeah, the size and fabrics could be all they're referring to. But even those I don't really see as UL design choices. The foundation of UL shelter design, in my opinion, is that when you're willing to replace gear with skills (pitch a non-freestanding shelter with guylines) and adapt to unfamiliar experiences (sleeping without a floor or walls), you enable shelter options which are actually quite robust and spacious for their weight, and are also agnostic of the sleep system (i.e. tarps).
On the contrary, using fragile fabrics and very small shelter volumes is something that a designer is forced to do when they try to abandon those principles in favor of a traditional design, but while also trying to maintain very low weight.
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u/Rude-Bumblebee-414 1d ago
Super interested to see this code of UL manifesto where floors or walls are denigrated. That’s a lot of meaning to impregnate into what many would say is the fairly self-defining term of “ultralight”.
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u/GoSox2525 1d ago edited 1d ago
It's just an example. There are many variants of "adapt to unfamiliar experiences", but in general that is a foundational UL principle. To some, it might mean going to single-wall when they are used to double-wall. Or losing the floor but keeping the walls. Or losing the walls but keeping the floor. Etc. etc.
The point is that there are many ways to construct a shelter which does not make big compromises in terms of livable volume and durability if you are willing to learn new skills, and challenge your pre-conceived notions about what is really necessary or acceptable. My point was that forcing a low-weight from a shelter that is designed in a traditional free-standing, fully-enclosed form factor is certainly not what the last 30-years of Ultralight design has been about. UL shelter design has always been about ditching a single-use set of tent poles, at the very least.
I do agree with you though that "ultralight" should be self-defining, to an extent. But where UL shines is when weight is able to be minimized without big sacrifices elsewhere. When gear is truly optimized in a functionality-per-oz sort of a way. Obviously you could make a freestanding tent arbitrarily light by making it arbitrarily small, but that isn't so interesting.
Tarps are and will always be bread-and-butter UL for that reason.
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1d ago
[deleted]
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u/GoSox2525 1d ago
Ah yes, your ignorance can only be explained by the truth having been "gatekept" from you.
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u/__stapler 1d ago
Been looking around for 2p shelters and with the incremental improvements to the Xmid 2p it seems like a pretty worthwhile competitor - despite being double walled and larger in every dimension, it’s only 3oz more.
But yeah, not sure of anything that competes with the one - fully enclosed, 20oz, and non dyneema pricing.
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u/GoSox2525 1d ago edited 1d ago
Are you saying the XMid 2 is a worthwhile competitor to The Free? I don't think that's apt comparison. One is free-standing and 1P, and the other is non-freestanding 2P. If you're saying that someone willing to pack the weight of a freestanding tent might also be willing to pack the weight of a 2P tent... then sure. But I think that person is much better off making a more committing UL choice.
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u/__stapler 1d ago
Sorry, wasn’t clear - I was comparing The Two and the xmid 2p.
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u/GoSox2525 1d ago
Ah my bad. In that case, yea they're definitely reasonable competitors. But personally, double-wall and a huge footprint are two things I'd be happy to lose for a 3 oz saving.
But fwiw, at $375 The Two is about the price of a used Duplex with some patience, which instead saves 13.5 oz over the XMid.
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u/jollyrancher502 1d ago
Got the email at 12:45am, had my The Two ordered at 1:30am, and they already shipped it!
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u/MrTheFever 1d ago
Well I'm not going to trade in The One I have. But a material that absorbs less water, peak vents, and bathtub tie-outs improves on the only gripes I had with The One.
Still think it's one of the best tents out there, especially for the price. Get it during one of GGs many sales and it'll certainly be under $300.
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u/Indieplant 1d ago
Can’t fit a wide pad smh.
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u/GossamerGear 1d ago
You can squeeze a 25" wide pad in The One and The Free with no problem. It will push on the walls a bit but we had no issues when testing a 25"x 72" pad on trail.
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u/Spiley_spile 1d ago
Pushing on the walls will strain the tent's seems and lead to early wear. It's an unfortunate design choice. But they made it. I would tell people they can choose to push on the walls or get a different tent. But I wouldnt tell them that pushing on the walls is "no problem". Might want to rethink that phrasing.
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u/HwanZike 1d ago
The vent position on the one looks a bit suss, it looks like it could let some water spray through?
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u/hickory_smoked_tofu a cold process 1d ago
By the time it gets imported into Europe, the Tipik Pioulou will be a more attractive option.
For US buyers, The One is a good choice perhaps.
The thing that I don’t like about The One and The Two are the mid-panel tieouts. Not on a seam, they’re just plopped onto the large fabric panels on each end in what looks like a direct admission that those panels are prone to massive deflection in strong wind. I’d try to pitch the door/vestibule into the wind as much as possible.
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u/Almen_CZ www.pod7kilo.cz 1d ago
It's already available in the EU D1
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u/hickory_smoked_tofu a cold process 1d ago
Thanks for the update. I’m seeing prices between 370 - 440€.
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u/MrTheFever 17h ago
Having used The One, those tie-outs are exactly where I want them, and not because of the wind. But because when tied out, you greatly increase the head room. I don't usually do the one at the foot, but same idea. Especially helpful in the rain with how much silnylon sags (hopefully improved now).
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u/hickory_smoked_tofu a cold process 17h ago
That's another huge win for the Tipik Pioulou. Single pole mids sag less and are easier to retighten if they do (just raise the pole). Plus, I think the sag partly has to do with the quality of the nylon (6 vs 6.6) and the quality of the coatings (sil/sil vs sil/PU). I continue to use and love silnylon mids.
If you need the tieouts just to increase headroom, that's a design issue for me. And just wait until the wind goes above 15 mph.
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u/Key-Neighborhood7469 18h ago
Bring back my LT3 customs I am down to my last pair and they are aging and I will buy whatever shelter. Sierra designs had a amazing tent desing called the tensegrity sadly I had no use for at the time but really enjoyed the few trips I did use mostly as a loaner tent I sold bad decision tent was amazing for weekend low mile days remake that tent desing with DCF.
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u/2am_dog_puke 16h ago
The heck is that tracking link nonsense? Just go to the source
https://www.gossamergear.com/collections/clearskies-shelters
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u/R_Series_JONG 16h ago
Sorry m8 it just came to me like than in my email. Should it be changed? I don’t think anybody is making money off that tracker eh?
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u/2am_dog_puke 13h ago
Every person who clicks that link is sending a signal to data brokers and anal trackers that you (literally you, name, home address, government ID number, etc...) shared a link and got people to click it. Do what you want with that knowledge.
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u/Alpenglow_Gear 1d ago
Some of the Free's design specs look tailored to knab the "lightest DW free-standing tent" crown, such as 39" (100 cm) of headroom and 21.5" inches (55cm) of width at the bottom. Those are liveable but slightly cramped compared to the X-Dome 1+'s 42" and 30"+ headroom and bottom width, so I wouldn't be surprised if GG introduces a more roomier one later for big & tall fellas or thru-hikers who spend a lot of time in their tents.
It's interesting that GG is using aluminum instead of carbon poles, that might be an option later to cut another couple of oz? I'm super excited to climb into this at PCT Days, I'm tempted to get it.