User Review: Sierra Designs Divine Lightning

Reviewed June 12, 1997 by Joel Dobson

Rating: rated 4 of 5 stars
Design: Single wall mountain tent
Sleeps: 1
Ease of Setup: Very difficult
Weight: 2 lb 10 oz
Price Paid: $350

This is really an outstanding tent from every point of view except ease of set-up. It is truly a one man tent which means that it will fit a 6' 2" man (or woman) quite nicely in both width and length, but your pack, even a daypack, will not fit. I like the fact that you can sit up in it quite nicely and entry/exit is very accomodating; essentially the door is to your left and opens from the floor to the ceiling all the way from your head down to your waist. It is not a stand-alone; 2 pegs are required. It is very well ventilated, having a low vent and awning at the foot and a high vent and awning at the head thus providing a foot to head movement of air.

The only difficulty with the Divine Lightning is set-up, as I've indicated. Here's the problem: it comes with 2 shock-corded, aluminum, 8.5 mm poles that bow when assembled; a short one that arcs over the feet and a long one that arcs up over the area above your upper body. The small one is no problem, but for the large pole the designers at Sierra Designs decided to install 8 velcro bands along the race the pole on the interior of the tent. The velcro must be wrapped around the pole and one end of the velcro inserted through a tiny slit in the other end of the velcro then pulled through until tight aroung the pole. As you are trying to feed (8 times for 8 of these velcro fasteners) the velcro into slits you have to (with your third and fourth hands, I guess) keep the pole in place. Okay, there is a knack to it and after you've pitched the tent 5 or 6 times you can get the knack of it, BUT I would never want to have to pitch this tent in the dark or with cold hands. In my judgement the tent may not be "pitchable" under these conditions and/or you will exhaust your entire vocabulary of profanity in the process. Bottom line: the otherwise outstanding design of this tent outweighs this shortcoming, but MAKE SURE THAT IF YOU ORDER ONE OF THESE YOU PITCH IT RIGHT THERE IN THE STORE BEFORE LAYING YOUR MONEY DOWN.

One last comment. When I used it last, a friend that was traveling with me liked the Divine Lightning so much he bought his own a week after the trip. I think you'll decide it has its ideosyncrasies, but it's THE lightest one-man tent on the market.

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