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Gossamer Gear’s “The One” Ultralight Tent Review

Gossamer Gear The One Tent Review

Gossamer Gear’s “The One” ultralight 1-person tent is an ultralight, single-walled trekking-pole tent that weighs 22 oz. It has a spacious interior that’s a palace for one, with excellent ventilation to help prevent internal condensation. Factory seam-taped, there’s no need to seam seal The One which is made with an ultralight PU coated silnylon fabric instead of Dyneema fiber to help keep its price competitive. If you’re looking for an easy-to-pitch ultralight tent that’s value-priced, it’s easy to like Gossamer Gear’s The One.

Specs at a Glance

  • Weight: 22 oz, includes guylines
  • Fabric: high tenacity nylon blended sil/pu coating, waterproof to at least 1200mm (7d canopy, 10d floor)
  • Dimensions: 36″ (head) x 24″ (foot) x 88″ (length) x 46″ (height)
  • Seam: Taped, no seam sealing required
  • Minimum number of stakes to pitch 6; 10 recommended
  • Color: Green, translucent

Design

The One is basically an A-frame style tarp-tent with front vestibule and rear awning attached. The front vestibule is quite large with a zippered center opening which can be closed shut in inclement weather or partially or completely rolled back for views and ventilation. It’s also large enough to store your pack under one of the doors and get in and out through the other.

The front vestibule is quite large with plenty of gear storage
The front vestibule is quite large with plenty of gear storage.

The wall facing the front vestibule is solid mesh, with an offset zipper so you can get in and out easily without knocking over the trekking pole. The rear vestibule is more of an awning than a full vestibule, designed to cover a large rear mesh vent that extends down from the ceiling.

The rear vestibul eis basically just an awning, covering the high vent over the solid back wall
The rear of The One is basically just an awning, covering the high vent over the solid back wall (interior view) and preventing rain from blowing into the tent.

The back wall below the vent is solid fabric and there is no access through it. When pitching the tent, you just need to be cognizant of the fact that one side has a door and the other doesn’t.

The One has mesh vents at the head and foot ends (show here) of the bathtub floor to vent additional moisture
The One has mesh vents at the head and foot ends (show here) of the bathtub floor to vent additional moisture

There are also two vents in the bathtub floor at the head and foot ends of the tents positioned where people tend to vent the most moisture at night, by exhaling it or through perspiration. While you can’t close these vents, you can block airflow by staking the exterior canopy outside them low to the ground or by blocking the vents with clothing or gear.

Linloc tensioners on the guylines make it easy to get a taut pitch
Linelocs on the guylines make it easy to get a taut pitch

Setup

Setting up The One in good weather is quite straightforward. Simply find a fairly flat pitch and, stake out one side of the green canopy keeping the guylines very loose with lots of slack. Stake out the other side of the canopy the same way, insert the poles and stake them down. Walk around the tent and tighten the guylines until you get a taut pitch. With the yellow bathtub hanging from canopy, you’ll need 6 stakes (10 if you also stake out the floor). If you want you can also insert your pole tips into grommets along the long side of the bathtub floor and attach the poles to tie-outs along the side walls to help open up the interior space. There are a lot of variations on this basic recipe that will work.

When setting up the tent, you can attach the tent walls to your poles with a piece of fabric and a cordlock for more structural support
When setting up the tent, you can attach the tent walls to your poles with an included piece of fabric w\ a cord-lock for more structural support and to help open the interior space.

Gossamer Gear The One Ultralight Tent

Comfort
Ease of Setup
Weather Resistance
Durabilty
Weight
Packed Size

Well Designed

Gossamer Gear's The One ultralight 1-person tent is an ultralight, single-walled trekking-pole tent that weighs 22.4 oz. It has a spacious interior that's a palace for one, with excellent ventilation to help prevent internal condensation.

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In bad weather, you can adjust the amount of air blowing under the front vestibule by lowering the pole height and pulling the front vestibule canopy guylines as close to the ground as possible. Gossamer Gear also provides you with additional guyline and attachment points on the tent so you can further secure the tent to the ground. However, given the size of this tent and its wind profile, your best bet is to stay out of heavy wind and find a more sheltered tent site.

Livability

The interior of The One is spacious and well-appointed. A clothesline runs along the ceiling where you can dry your socks at night along with a hook so you can hang a light. There’s also side mesh pocket where you can stow your glasses or phone so you don’t roll onto them at night.

While the tent fabric is translucent, you really can't see into the tent in daylight unless items are flush against the fabric
While the tent fabric is translucent, you really can’t see into the tent in daylight unless items are flush against the fabric

But the clincher is the amount of space in the interior of the tent. Measuring 88″ long, you can easily fit a 6 foot sleeping pad inside without your face or toes touching the ceiling at the ends where the roof slopes down. The bathtub floor is tapered, with a head end that’s 36″ inches wide and a foot end 24″ wide, and there’s plenty of extra space next to a 20″ sleeping pad to keep gear close at hand during the night. You can also easily sit upright inside the tent (the apex height is 46″) and get dressed or undressed without having to be a contortionist.

The only livability issue with The One is the translucency of the canopy fabric. While it is opaque enough to block anyone from seeing through the tent, the canopy lets a lot of light into the interior. This can be good or bad, depending on your to light sensitivity. If you like to wake up at first light and get an early start, the translucent fabric will be a win. But if moonlight lighting up the inside of your tent bothers you, you may be less thrilled. Just be aware that it’s a potential issue with this tent. (I can’t use most Dyneema fiber tents or tarps for just this reason.)

Comparable Trekking Pole Tents

Make / ModelMaterialWeight
Tarptent Notch LiDyneema20 oz
Gossamer Gear "The One"Sil/PU17.7 oz
Tarptent ProtrailSilnylon24 oz
Zpacks Altaplex ClassicDyneema16.5 oz
Dan Durston X-Mid 1 ProDyneema15.5 oz
Sierra Designs High RouteSil/PeU28 oz
Zpacks Duplex ClassicDyneema17.6 oz
Tarptent Stratospire LiDyneema30.35 oz

Recommendation

Weighing just 22 ounces, Gossamer Gear’s “The One” ($299) is an awesome value if you’re looking for a spacious and well-ventilated ultralight backpacking tent. With abundant floor space and covered storage, The One is long enough to fit tall backpackers as well as those who want more headroom and floor width. Factory seam-taped, there’s no need to seam seal The One before use, which is a definite improvement over other cottage tentmakers who are still using all silnylon fabrics. But like most ultralight tents, good campsite selection skills are important to minimize floor abrasion and wind exposure.

Likes

  • Factory seam-sealed
  • Roomy interior
  • Easy to set up
  • Lightweight
  • Packs up very small
  • Great value for $299

Dislikes

  • Translucent fabric transmits light
  • Limited wind worthiness, best used in sheltered locations
  • 1200 mm waterproofing is at the low-end of the range
  • Low denier floor requires extra care in campsite selection
  • Tent stakes not included
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Disclosure: Gossamer Gear provided the author with a tent for this review.

17 comments

  1. Bill in Roswell, GA

    As always Phillip, your reviews are excellent.

    I’ve had my share of shelters over the years. Two details I’ve come to value from camping in forest, desert and above treeline are ability to setup dry interior in pouring rain and 4 stakes needed, 6 max. for strong winds. As mentioned by some Sierra hikers, one may have to camp places without soil, using only deadmen to hold the corners. Some shelters with a lot of stakes are more fidgety and some less so. Some people enjoy fiddling with tents and hammocks, some of us have other things to do. To each your own.

    Paper thin fabrics have a limited life span. For a few ounces more you can have a shelter that can last twice as long or more. I don’t mind giving up 4-6 ounces to have room, performance and durability for a good value in a single (or small two person) for less than $400.

    • I concur. There are two categories of backpackers. Those who do it a few times a year and those who are out every weekend. The latter are always willing to carry a few ounces more for gear that will last and does what they need. Take a Hilkeberg Niak for instance. Awesome tent. The design and quality are simply unbelievable. Checks all the boxes you describe. I’ve reviewed it naturally. :-)

  2. I’ll take the new Tarptent AEON single wall solo tent.
    Great design solutions that overcome problems of other Dyneema ‘mid tents.

  3. I must have missed the news announcing the change but I just saw on their website that Gossamer Gear has made a material switch in this shelter, moving back up to a 15d nylon (same 1200MM PU blend) for both fly and floor. The dimensions are listed as the same and to me everything looks pretty much the same as far as lines and cuts and amount of inner fabric/mesh. I see they dropped down to a wimpy #3 zipper. Stuff sack size changed. I might have expected it to be the same weight through magic and trickery, but they say it has lost a couple of ounces. Cannot find mention of this in previous GG news/blog or Facebook entries but it sounds like a win-win improvement other than the zipper. And maybe I am mistaken after reading your specs in this review but I had thought the “new” reissue from a few years back was using 7d for both rather than 10d on the floor.

    • Gossamer Gear has a long history of fidfling with the specs of their products so you never know what you’re getting or whether any of the tweaks really matter.

      • I’ve owned many iterations of this tent. I just took delivery of a new “The One” tent last week. I set it up for the first time yesterday. It is pretty much the same shelter, with a few tweaks. The best, and only really substantive change (IMHO) is they added reinforced side pull-outs located in the center of the side panels – the previous versions had side pullouts on the side seams). This was an obvious need, and allows for side pullouts that actually increase the interior space. Other changes include fewer stakes, and different (blue) guyline. It’s all 15D (tent body and floor). In my opinion, this is the best version I’ve owned. For reference, I owned the original Spinnaker version, the first updated 2016 version, and the 2018 grey updated version that went to the 36×24 floor.

  4. How would Gossamer Gear’s ‘The One’ fair on an AT thru-hike ???

  5. I bought one of these about 2 months ago, in part based on this review and others, as well as YouTube reviews. In short, I’d be returning it if I could. Look out for one on sale soon on GearTrade :)
    This is my first lightweight tent, bought to take to Philmont Scout Ranch this July, so I might have mismanaged my expectations of what to expect. At 5’11, sleeping on a 2.5″ Klymit pad I don’t seem able to prevent my footbox of my quilt from touching the end. The one night in Texas so far that it was cold enough for condensation I got a wet toe box. The material is slippery as ice which doesn’t help although I’ve mitigated that to a certain degree by adding a cut down 1/8″ yoga mat under the sleeping pad.
    This thing sucks in the wind! Incredibly noisy. You can stake out the end lower so the wind can’t get up underneath but that then lowers the fly/internal space.
    On the pros side, very reasonably priced, it’s very light, does come with stakes now, and stuffs into anywhere there’s small gap in my bag and it does look cool when setup in no wind. I’ve had lots of dad’s ask me about it.
    But the bottom line is that I just don’t feel confident enough in it to take on a 12 day trek :(
    The search continues!

    • Unless you’re stuck on a single wall trekking pole tent, check out the REI Quarter Dome SL1. It’s slightly heavier than the Gossamer. I’m 6’6″ and was probably at the max of the floorspace but on a recent trip the temp dropped quick and there was significant dew on the outside and condensation inside – never did anything IN the tent get wet though.

      Oh, and if you find it doesn’t work for you – return it to REI for what you paid.

    • I’m sorry you had a bad experience and that this tent didn’t work for you. What you describe are all common complaints about ultralight tents and the compromises they force you to make. You can’t get reduced weight without giving up something. But I appreciate the comment. I plan to write something that addresses these issues so others know what to expect.

      Here’s that followup article.
      https://sectionhiker.com/ultralight-tents-common-pitfalls-and-complaints/

      • I’m waiting on a TarpTent Rainbow to arrive so I’ll see how I get on with that. If nothing else I learned the value of setting it up before camping with it.

        Very informative article Philip. I think the big takeaway for me was that reviews of The One were done by people who had accepted/understood the limitations/tradeoffs and so were reviewing it with those in mind.

        It’s hard to blame the tent when the failings were mine.

  6. Dare I use this on a 7 day hike on Iceland’s laugavegur and fimmvörðuháls trail (in July)?

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