I recently went on a bike tour in New Zealand, riding from Auckland to Wellington over ten days, and I was faced with the difficult decision of which tent to carry with me. As New Zealand is known for having extreme weather, I decided to pack my most durable and highly rated waterproof tent, the Mont Moondance 1P.
Features of the Mont Moondance 1 FN
The Mont Moondance 1 Person FN (full nylon inner) is a a three season tent made by the legendary Australian outdoor company, Mont, and it has plenty of characteristics that make it an excellent choice for hiking and bikepacking.
Waterproofing: As mentioned above, the Moondance is some of the most highly rated waterproof materials out there, meaning you have extra confidence when the weather turns nasty. The Fly is made from 20 denier ripstop Nylon with a 2000mm waterhead rating but it’s the floor that is the real star featuring a WaterBloc™ 25,000mm+ waterhead PU laminated 40 denier Nylon. I’ve been using this tent for a couple of years and both fly and floor have proven to be bombproof, no leaks and no tears to be seen. This waterproofing does come at a cost though, and that cost will hit your wallet and your scales. The Moondance costs around $800, which seems a lot, but is actually reasonably fair for such a high-end tent. With the Full Nylon inner, it weighs around 1.5kg. This is pretty light, but certainly not as light as you can go in the world of ultralight hiking and bikepacking. For example, I have another tent that is around 650g, but it’s not as tough or sturdy as the Moondance.
Internal space: the living space in the Moondance is one of the features I value most, after the waterproof/toughness mentioned above. The inner floor is asymmetrical, providing enough room for a full length, wide sleeping mat AND enough space for a backpack next to you. I like this feature when bikepacking and hiking as it keeps the spare gear out of the elements, even though there is room in the outer vestibule, without it feeling cramped and crowded. There is a decent amount of headroom to sit up in the middle of the tent and the crossbeam adds to the feeling of space. The inner door opens to reveal nearly the whole side of the tent, which is great when the weather is good and the door on the outer fly can be folded away for a similarly large opening. It can be a bit of a squeeze to exit the tent if the fly door isn’t fully tucked away, but such is the nature of a small side opening tent.
Packability: The Moondance comes in a 28cmx13cm Nylon stuff sack (when compressed) which is nice and small for such a rugged tent. It easily fits in a hiking pack and can be packed in variety of ways when bikepacking. While it can fit in a saddlebag or handlebar roll as is, I tend to split the tent across two bags, often attaching these to my forks, so that I can pack the tent away wet without the outer fly drenching the inner, or other bits of my gear. On my New Zealand ride, I also swapped out the full Nylon inner for the half Nylon, saving a little bit of weight, but mostly adding a bit more air flow. The poles fold to 42cm which means they will fit in a saddle bag, framebag (if you have a large frame like me) or on your handlebars.
Extra notable features: These extra features certainly aren’t game changers, but I thought they’d be worth briefly mentioning. There is an internal pocket going across the width of the tent on the right hand side as you enter, plenty of room for a book, jacket, small items etc. There is a carabiner clip in the centre of the roof, ideal for hanging your head torch and there is a small mesh window also in the roof that can be fully opened for greater airflow or to encourage flies to exit the tent. The tent is mostly freestanding and can be pitched with just two pegs if you were desperate to save some weight, but I tend to use the full complement for peace of mind and optimum tension.
Pros:
- Tough and waterproof
- Extra internal space
- Small pack size
Cons:
- Light, but not ultralight
