Earlier in the year, as a birthday present, I bought myself a Mountain Laurel Designs Trailstar. I’ve got a few tents, but, hey why not? I know it’s meant to be a single skin shelter, but I like double wall shelters. I know many will disagree and think I’m a heretic, but I don’t care. So, some time ago I ordered an OookStar nest to go with it. As many of you know, I’ve made friends with Sean, maker of Oook things. He’s gone through some difficult times recently, so I was happy to be patient. Today, my bundle of joy arrived.
My OookStar arrived in a rather nice maroon stuffsack. The weight, including stuffsack, is 432g. The specification is Chikara floor, ripstop walls with half mesh doors plus a mesh inner pocket. One small addition is a grosgrain strip below the door zip, which I dubbed the anti-tick strip. The idea being that I will spray it with permethrin to deter insects from invading the nest. This morning I pitched it in the garden. Here’s some pictures:
The workmanship is first class.
I really like the new silky ripstop material.
The floor area is greater than I expected.
Easily enough room for a full length sleeping mat plus gear.
This is the grosgrain anti-tick strip.
The next step was to try it inside the Trailstar.
It fits very well. This is pitched at 120cm, but I found 125cm was better (not shown).
While there’s a lot of room, it’s not for tall people. It’s fine for average people like me.
I like pockets in tents 🙂
One little tweak was to add a cord grip to the shock cord attachment for the base of the pole. For choice, I’d like a slightly smaller cord grip, but it works.
Overall, I’m really pleased with the OookStar. The quality of the workmanship is excellent. It fits the Trailstar really well. Even with the nest, there’s a huge amount of space in the Trailstar. My only real reservation about the Trailstar is its enormous footprint. I’m now thinking of when I can give it a trial run.
Disclosure: This OookStar was purchased with my own funds. I have no formal relationship with OookWorks, but Sean and I are friends and we do talk about designs 🙂
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Great first review. I’d love to see some pics with your kit in there or maybe even you laying on your mat (how tall are you) to give me some idea of how I’d fit if I bought one. I have the largest Neo Air (196x63cm) and I wonder how that would fit into the nest.
I can’t wait to read a review of you taking the Trailstar and nest out on the hills for a proper thrashing…
I’m 5’9″. It fits me fine but users over 6′ are likely to have problems. A couple of tall users have sold theirs. If you don’t use a nest, it shouldn’t be an issue.
I’m 6’3”. No problem inside the nest.
Some tall owners seem to have had problems. As I said, it’s not a problem for me.
I’ve got the largest NeoAir and it fits fine inside the nest. The only thing I’ve done is to squirt some silicon strips on the floor, which is very slippery. They stop the NeoAir sliding around in the night.
I’ve got one of these. You’re right: it’s phenomenally well made, and fits the Trailstar beautifully.
You’ve put some nice touches on the nest Robin, looks really well made. Enjoy Tracy Trailstar!
Not sure about “Tracy” 😉
looks great Robin 🙂
🙂
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I’m not a big fan of the TrailStar (I know I’m in a minority there), but this looks quite good: it’s like having a bedroom, living room, and entrance hallway!
I’m in two minds but I’m going to give it a go. The only thing that slightly phases me is the huge footprint.
Looks grand… enjoy it. Will be taking my SL3 Bignest for a spin at the weekend.
I’m with Mark (see above). I am the same height as Dan at 6ft 3 inches (also see above) and, unlike Dan, I really struggle with the TS even without the nest. I’m hanging on to it, though, as I plan to take the new dog backpacking when he is old enough and it will probably do me better when he is there than the Scarp1! The Oooknest is a first rate product, but I would not really recommend this combo for anyone over 6 foot.
Lucky I’m a shortie 🙂
Great looking nest and good thinking re: grosgrain strip! I’m still eagerly awaiting a 2Oookstar from Sean but haven’t heard from him in a few weeks despite him saying it was ready to post…is he away on hols at the minute as I can’t reach via text or email?
Text usually works.
I’m considering buying a Trailstar + Oookstar nest. Can you set up the Trailstar first and then the nest? Is it also possible to leave the nest attached when packed? I can’t find any information on that on the net.
You pitch the Trailstar first, then the OookStar. You could leave the nest attached if you wanted.
Hi Robin. I know this is an old post, but I was just wondering how long you had to wait from ordering you Oookstar to it being delivered? Thanks, Andy.
It was a long time. Sean has been going through some problems. Contact him and see what the current waiting time is.