The Moondance 1 Tent: By Geoff Murray

"Last night I headed off from home a bit after midnight and drove up to Mount Field National Park. The forecast was for clear weather overnight and I wanted to try out the new Moondance I from Mont Outdoor Equipment. At 1.5kgs this tent is remarkably light and packs up into a really compact package. As a result my pack weighed dead on 20 kgs before the walk. Now a lot of people would say that's not light, but when you take into account I had a full sized professional DSLR, 4 lenses and a tripod packed into the Backcountry pack as well, I think it's pretty good!

I walked for an hour and a half, up to the gorgeous Tarn Shelf and found myself a suitable tent site beside a small tarn. Because the Moondance I is a one person tent, it was easy to find a tent site that was adequately sized. I said the tent packs up into a very compact package. So do the poles, so much so that when I was reaching into my pack to find the tent and poles, I couldn't find the poles. Contemplating a night sleeping on the Shelf without tent (fortunately a not unpleasant prospect on that night) my fingers finally felt the poles deep in my pack. Pitching the tent was quick and easy and I prepared my sleeping gear.

The night was perfect for a bit of photography so I started to search out a suitable angle. The stars glittered overhead as I experimented with light brightness in the tent vs exposure time for the Milky Way. I had a preconceived idea of having the tent reflected in a tarn with the Galactic Core overhead and had been waiting for a clear, calm night. It all came together rather nicely.

Finally at 4.30am (and a temperature of 1°C) I crawled into the tent. Now at 186cms, small tents don't really do it for me but even though the weight is low, the space is excellent with this one. Headroom is not an issue, the tent was easily long enough for me and the extra space opposite the entrance in the form of a V was perfect for storing my clothes, food and pack. A really good tent for one.

I have to admit I didn't catch the sunrise 2 and a half hours later. I had a nice sleep in instead and went home happy with one good image."

Adventure photographer & Mont Ambassador Geoff Murray

Have you got an adventure story and photos of a recent trip with Mont gear that you'd like to see on our Blog? Then please send it to mont@mont.com.au with the subject line "Adventure Story for the Mont Blog". Please note that we get a large number of submissions and cannot post every story.