3F Lanshan 1 Review – First Impressions
I bought the Lanshan 1 tent (not the pro version) and it arrived a couple of days ago. I took advantage of the stormy weather that happened here in the last 2-3 days, and set it up to see how it endures wind and rain. The tent weights 770 gr (~27 ounces) without pegs.
Gusts of wind up to 80 kmh (50 mph) were reported and quite a few trees fell in the area, however the tent wasn’t in the plain, but rather in my backyard. Having said that, it was very windy even behind the backyard fence. The tent comes in something that looks like waterproof compression bag, 9 stakes, pretty similar to MSR groundhogs, but shorter and X version, not Y version. In addition, there is some material to help with fixing holes in the tent and a spare guy line.
My initial observations:
1. It took me around an hour and a half to set it up for the first time. Not because it was particularly hard, but because I did it in the dark and the wind wasn’t helpful. Also, the last time I set up a tent that somehow looked like this was about 20 years ago, in the army. The tent wings were the most complicated part to set up correctly, with the connection to the main guy line. It looks different from videos I have seen online. I am sure that the next time it will take me just a few minutes.
2. I left the tent up for two days and nights, through very strong winds and rain. The stakes are a bit on the short side, so I am glad I ordered MSR groundhogs (although, didn’t receive it yet). The tent performed really well in the wind. Occasionally I pulled the guy lines to increase the tension, but it was more out of curiosity.
3. From time to time I sprayed water on the tent from the garden hose, in addition to the rain. Overall, the tent remained dry in these two days, except for insignificant leaks where guy lines are connected. These connections should be seam sealed (I didn’t do it yet).
4. I didn’t have my trekking poles with me, so I improvised with a bamboo stick. It was a bit on the long end (125 cm). The set up should be a bit lower (120 cm?).
I need to practice the set up a couple of times before taking it to Iceland (Laugavegur in July), but overall, for a $100, it looks like a great buy.
