This tent is the first ultra-light tent I have ever owned. It weighs in at 1.6kg As the name states it’s a single person there is a Moondance 2 as well. It`s a 3 season tent and is suited to Australian conditions. I have taken this tent to Tasmania & used it in some pretty rough conditions & it held up very well.

I was given this tent to help me with the Tassie Traverse a 670km run through Tasmania, where I had a few nights camping out alone and had to carry all my own equipment. This tent was perfect. It takes around 5-6 min to put it up. Perfect after a hard 9+ hr day of running.

 It has a fully sewn in base. The seams are factory seam sealed so this sucker is not leaking. The floor is rated to 10,000mm PU coated rip stop nylon. Just be sure when you set it up you are not on any sharp objects 

It is so simple to put up it even has colour coded poles. All you have to do is match them up.  Once the base is constructed throw the fly over and do up the Velcro job done. There is ample room inside to sit up whilst preparing your sleeping gear or eating food. There is also a very convenient zip in the top of the base to allow you to get to a small flap that holds the fly open allowing the condensation to escape.  I learnt this after a night with it closed J

The vestibule is not huge. In fact it is probably the only down side to this tent. It is pretty small, I don`t really expect a huge one when it is a single person tent. However I can squeeze my shoes and pack in there. There is enough room in the tent to house shoes and pack which is what I did as I was worried an animal may run off with my shoes and who needs that J

Another problem I have come across is on the warmer nights even with the flap open to let the condensation out I have woken in the morning and it has been horribly wet. This is not fun when packing the tent up knowing you will have to get it out later to camp the following night. Again I am not sure if this is a common problem with ultra-light tents.

The price is great for under $400 you can have one of the best tents on the market. That is light weight and will stand up to almost all conditions. I have had this tent in some pretty windy situations and it was nice and warm inside and didn`t flap around. 

One of my favourite features is the bag it comes in. It`s not a token bag that once you take it out for the first time, that`s it your never getting it back in. It has plenty of space and a strap that you can pull tight to compress everything once it`s in!

This tent was provided to be by Bogong Equipment in Melbourne 

By Shane Hutton, Ultra and Adventure Trail Runner, who recently completed the epic Tassie Traverse in these Helios.

Where to begin.....

These shoes are by far my favourite. I had never run in a pair of La Sportiva`s, all I knew was they made great mountaineering/climbing shoes.

The first thing you will notice when you put these shoes on is how light weight they are. They are sold as lightweight, highly breathable shoes. The mesh used is light and welded with overlays to give you a snug fit. 

They drain extremely well because of this. I have run in mud, snow, rain, & dry conditions and find my feet dry quickly and the shoe does not weigh me down being waterlogged. 

These shoes have a low drop 4-5mm. So by most standards a minimal shoe . If you are new to minimal shoes I would suggest wearing these shoes in slowly. 

The sole has some cushioning but is still light weight enough that you can feel a good contact with the ground. I enjoy being able to feel the different surfaces under my feet so this is not a problem. The only time I have had a problem is on the odd occasion when I have been running over very sharp large rocks. You can sometimes get one on the ball or mid sole of the foot & it does hurt.

The toe box on these shoes is very solid. I have kicked many rocks and tree roots and have loved the fact that I did not hurt my foot. Some people have said they think the shoe has a narrow toe box. I have medium to wide feet and have not found this to be a problem, However the sizing of the shoe is a little off from regular so I order mine a half size larger than usual.

Down to the best part..... The GRIP....... La Sportiva use a product called " FriXion" rubber. This rubber is extremely grippy. I was a little dubious when I first looked at the tread pattern on these shoes. It did not look like it would do a lot but wow was I wrong. 

These shoes give me traction on every surface, they are simply amazing. I guess when you make climbing shoes you may know a thing or two about grip. I have 100% confidence in these shoes sticking when I need them to stick. A friend of mine said ** You could run up a tree in these shoes**

The tread pattern is very different from most. It doesn`t have huge lugs to trap all the mud in. Each of the small lugs is slightly higher or lower than the opposing one giving a unique traction on all surfaces.

They have a sewn in tongue which helps stop the mud and debris from entering the shoe. I find that once these shoes are on that`s it, leave them alone. No fiddling mid race.

Cons: The only downside I have had with these shoes is, being a lightweight shoe they have the tendency to rip or tear easily. I have also had the outer around the top laces fray and come apart quickly but this does not alter the performance of the shoe and will not stop me from purchasing another pair....


** Disclosure: I paid for these shoes. They were not donated to nor am I sponsored by La Sportiva. 

I purchased mine from Bogong Equipment in Melbourne CBD.  Pop and see the team, or grab a pair online!

I would highly recommend these shoes to anyone. You won’t regret it.  Happy Running :)

UPDATE 17/7/2014 - Additional disclosure: I have recently been asked to become a brand ambassador for La Sportiva.   Please note that when this review was written i had no affiliation with La Sportiva at all.  I'm super excited to be brand ambassador now , as I love their shoes!!