Black Diamond Lighthouse 2-Person 3-Season Tent

Have used the tent for a five night backpacking trip so far in the high sierras. Upon rolling in to camp on night one, the skies began to cry and continued on for about an hour. I was forced to set the tent up in heavy rain. The set up worked great being that you set the tent up from the interior. Quick set up, about 5 minutes, including the vestibule. Setup will probably get quicker seeing as I had only done it once before. Minimal water got into the tent during setup, but I was being careful. After the rain stopped there were large puddles on the ground for about an hour. Because I used the ground cloth the water had gotten trapped between the tent bottom and the ground cloth. It stayed there for the remainder of the night. (Note: in my opinion the (accessory) fitted ground cloth is a little big being as it lets water puddle but is definitely necessary to help against punctures. You'll know what I'm talking about when you receive your tent. The silnylon floor is thin, very thin, but also seems to be durable in nature.) I slept with big puddles of water around my body and under my thermarest. No wetness ever seeped through... I was just blessed with a little extra cushion for the evening. The morning came, still puddles but no water had migrated through. The bottom is truly waterproof. Not a single drop of water or condensation came in through the walls of tent either. This was more reassuring after stepping outside to see the ground covered with due. This tent has great storm-proofness but is loud in the rain because it sets up so taught. The taughtness is a good thing though because this tent is very sturdy. Cons: The tent is a tad on the tight side for two but then again Black Diamond was trying to shave weight, right? A great way to fix this problem is sleep head to toe. Then the tent becomes roomy. Another semi con is the screen and door have two independent zippers. Adds a little weight. But its only kind of a con because if you only want to use one, the other can be rolled up at all times with the tie loops which are integrated at the bottom of the tent / zipper runs. Note: When you get your tent, be sure to seem seal before using for the first time. You'll be sorry if you don't. Dust dirt, etc. will get everywhere and your seem sealer wont last as long. The best method I found for applying the seem sealer was to use the included syringe and then smooth over with your finger. Allow for several hours of time and a couple rolls of paper towels. Tip: A lot of people have complained about the static of the fabric. I got concerned myself before buying this cause I didn't want a ton of dust sticking to the tent. I called Backcountry and the rep. recommended to rub dryer sheets over the interior / exterior surfaces of the tent. This worked like a charm. NO MORE STATIC. Try to use non scented or minimally scented sheets so the bears won't think your tent is candy. Another option to de-static the tent would be to buy the static spray. I'm sure that would also work great if not better. Finally, the tent has three different stuff sacks, assuming you buy the vestibule. 1) Tent (ample space for the ground cloth as well) 2) poles and stakes 3) Vestibule. This is great for distributing your weight evenly over your pack. All in all. Great tent, I'm very happy with it. It's pricey, but well worth it. When taking down be sure to leave zippers partially open to let the trapped air out. I look forward to trying it this winter. My buddy has the ahwahnee which is 2" bigger in every dimension and is a 4 season tent, but it has the same exact floor plan and pole setup as the lighthouse. So I'll try this tent when I'm with him just in case I have to jump over into his tent. I gotta say, this tent is about a third the weight and way more compact in the stuff sack, about 3x more compact. In my opinion the only time the ahwahnee can be justified is in temps below 20F in the snow. Otherwise, its an overkill, go with the lighthouse.

Solid Tent for all seasons

By: whenry253380
June 25, 2008

I spent 14 hours in this tent in a driving Sierra rain storm at ~8,000'. Winds gusting to 50-60 mph, rain coming down in buckets and this tent was dry as could be inside. In the winter, camped at ~9,800' on a cold cloudless night. A little snug for two, but sleeping sardine style helped a lot. Barely noticed the other person in the tent. I'm pretty confident this tent will suit my needs in the high Sierra for some time to come - for all seasons.

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THE BEST (UNLESS BIG RAIN IS EXPECTED)

By: rwporter2246775
June 5, 2008

Pretty roomy for an extremely light tent. I also don't understand why the seams couldn't have been sealed at the factory (a nuisance), but after completing this chore I didn't have a problem in the Colorado high country. Condensation is a bit of a issue (as with any single layer tent), but tolerable. Setup is more difficult than with most of my tents because the poles are on the inside. (The pretty young gal in the store who told me that this was an asset because you could be sheltered inside the tent while setting it up had obviously never tried it. You can't do it from the inside.) Setup in a wind is also challenging. All things considered, this is my favorite tent (because of the light weight) when significant rain is not in the forecast. (The odd shower is not a problem.) When it does rain, because the tent is so taut, it sounds like you are inside a drum, but the tautness is an asset if it is windy.

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Not good for the desert or the rain

By: priebev116539
April 29, 2008

I was surprised that I had to seal the tent seams myself (for the price it should be factory seam taped), but I followed the directions to the letter. There were no leaks during 4 or 5 nights of rain in Patagonia the month after I got the tent. The following month the zipper malfunctioned after the wind in Utah blew that red sand into the tent. I called Black Diamond and was told that the zippers are not covered by a warranty and that they should be cleaned after every trip. To prevent the problem I had, I would have had to clean them during my trip. Black Diamond gave me the phone number of Rainy Pass Repair, who replaced the zipper pulls with some sturdier ones for about $75. The next time I used the tent about 5 months later it rained for 2 days. The tent leaked at the top seams, and I had to borrow a tarp to cover the tent. I wrote a letter to Black Diamond about the zippers and leaking seams and received no response. I called Rainy Pass Repair about taping the seams, but they said they can't do it if the seams have had seam sealer on them. If you really want one of these tents because of its light weight and want to avoid problems, you should send it to Rainy Pass before you use it or put seam sealer on it and have them tape the seams and replace those flimsy zipper pulls. It will probably cost you about $150, but it will be lighter and a lot less trouble than carrying zipper cleaner to clean the zippers if the wind blows and a tarp to cover the tent if it rains. Rainy Pass Repair's phone number is (800) RIP-STOP. Don't expect Black Diamond to stand behind this product.

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WINTER SNOW STORM TESTED!!!

By: Davide
February 27, 2008

I just used this tent on a weekend trip to Glacier Point, Yosemite during a winter storm in February. We were expecting blizzard conditions on Saturday night and I was a little worried about the Lighthouse tent holding up to this sort of weather because I had only used it in ideal conditions up to this point. Also, I was a little confused about the rating of this tent because Black Diamond describes it as a 4-season tent, while BC.com said it is only 3-season worth. In addition, some reviews here said that it is a good winter tent, but not if you 'expect to get dumped on.' Thus, since I could not get a definitive answer, I decided to try it out for myself in blizzard conditions with 65-mile an hour winds. However, my brother and cousin did hull up their 10-Ibs REI Mountain 3 (4-season) tent. If the Lighthouse didn't work out in the storm, my backup plan was to abandon the my tent and squeeze into REI Mountain 3 tent with my brother and cousin and ride out the storm. At about 6:30pm, in a blizzard at night using our head lamps, we setup our tents in a snow covered meadow. The lighthouse setup fast and I barely got any snow in the tent. I basically secured the 4-corners of the tent first and then quickly open the door, put in the poles in place, and zipped the door back up (I secured the tent to the ground first since I was afraid it would blow away with all the wind). I finished by setting up the guy-lines, which is what really make the tent wind resistant. Since I was tired, cold, and hungry this did not take long. Then I jumped in the tent and secured the poles to the velcro straps and that was it. I was in my sleeping bag and eating dinner while my brother and cousin were still out in the cold setting out their tent in the storm (also, cooking inside the tent works very well if you are using a JetBoil and open up the vents enough to allow the steam to exit the tent). I am very happy to report that the Lighthouse stood up just as well as a heavy duty 4-seasons tent. The REI Mountain 3-tent was completely covered with snow, all I could see were the guy-line strings. However, with the Lighthouse's high upright walls, I barely had any snow on the top of the tent. But, all sides of my tent were surrounded by 3-feet of snow. I got very little condensation from the walls, about the same amount as a traditional tent with a rainfly. I was only able to unzip the door about a foot from the top; otherwise, the snow wall would have come crashing in. The tent held up amazingly well. I was able to slide thru the small door opening and dig out the tent. However, I did have to purchased after market snow stakes for the tent corner and the guy-lines. I highly recommend this tent for Summer and Winter backpacking. However, I wouldn't recommend on using this tent in extremely wet or humid climates, it's not designed for that. I would go with a Big Agnes Seedhouse SL2. This is truly a 4-season tent and I am extremely happy with my purchase.

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