I’ve summarised my various modifications to my Laser Competition here so you don’t have to search the blog:
The reason I started modifying my Comp.
Pole hood, door threshold cord and other useful tweaks.
Securing the door, double end guys, ventilation.
Porch groundsheet and minor tweaks.
Inner tent end tensioners and venting option.
Inner tent pocket, improved end venting option, zip pulls, long end guys.
The perfect pitch?
blogpackinglight 
Hi I’ve taken delivery of a Laser Comp today.
I’d like to double up the end guys and carry out your pole hood modification.
What type and size of cord and line loks did you use, and where did you obtain them from.
Great site by the way!
Regards Geoff Edwards
I got the cord and lineloks from Bob and Rose at http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk. I kept the original cord in the pole hood as I figured it would be fiddly to rethread it. An alternative source of cord and lineloks is team io ( http://www.teamio.co.uk ). Have fun!
This is so utterly fantastic! I’m now working my way through the whole boiling, including the ones I’ve seen before. It’s truly great information 🙂
I’m making great progress now, thanks 🙂 I’ve replaced the two guys that attach to the pole cover with dyneema and line-loks, and I’ve done the same with the guys that attach to the ends of the tent. I’ve also put 4 line-loks on the cord threaded through the pole cover, but I’ve not yet changed that cord for dyneema as one piece of mine seems to have been sewn into place. Not sure whether that was deliberate or not. I’ll need to try to get two small krabs tomorrow to attach the pole cover line-loks to.
I’m now going to add various loops and things, and check out the ventilation suggestion. I have only 2 line-loks left so I’m not sure whether I’ll be able to do anything more before I set off. If necessary, though, I can ask Bobs to take some for me as we hope to meet at Loch Etchachan on the middle Friday for a haunted camp 🙂
Thanks so much, once again, for all this wonderful help.
Glad you like the mods. The mini karabiners are so useful. Alpkit are very good value.
Buy an Akto, yo need’nt modify the Hilleberg 🙂
I already have an Akto. Although it’s a good tent it weighs 0.5kg more than a Comp.
Great blog, you’ve put me in a right dilema, I thought I had made a decision and darn it all you’ve put that doubt in my mind again.
What do you reckon the packed weight of your TNLC is now with all the modifications?
Minimum weight with mods and titanium pegs is 1.1kg. My tent is heavier by about 200g than the advertised weight. If you want the absolute minimum weight you might want to consider the Photon Elite. The LC is a good tent and I’m happy with it (after a difficult start!). The reason for going for the Scarp 1 is I want a more robust and stable tent in high winds. The LC won’t blow away, but it is noisy. I also like the idea of a bit more space with two porches.
DOH, thanks for that, the Scarpa 1 I had dismissed but seeing the new specs and that the flysheet has been lowered its really put the cat amongst the pidgeons.
The Scarp should arrive soon, but in the meantime look at Baz’s and Martin’s blogs for info and pictures.
http://bazbackpack.blogspot.com/2009/12/henry-shires-scarp-1-first-look.html
http://summitandvalley.blogspot.com/search/label/Scarp%201
What has happened to teamio? I get error 404 why I try to access their site. I was tring to get theit footprints and the other accessories mentioned here. Thanks. BTW – fantastic site – I’m expecting my Laser Comp as a Chrissy pressie so I’ll be implementing some of these improvements straight away.
There’s been some comment on threads at outdoorsmagic that team io have gone missing. I don’t have any news.
Hello,
I have just bought the Lazer 2010 model on my fly sheet I can add more guy lines where would the best place to the guy lines from.
Thank’s
John
best place: http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/product266.asp?PageID=106
Thank’s for your help I shall buy from the company you have said.
Regards,
John
Great pictures Robin, and explanations
i just bought a laser comp
and will no doubt add some of your mods to mine
thanks for sharing
Chris
Great site. Have just purchased a laser competition (2nd hand) and used on a 3 day trip on the South West Coastal Path. 1st night superb – but very noisy due to wind and rain. 2nd night bit of a disaster due as tent leaked – it was torrential rain. Managed to stay dry but the floor of the tent was wet. Back home decided to strip tent down and separate the inner from the flysheet. Thought it would be easy to re-assemble. You guessed it. Have you a diagram or photo of how the inner attaches to the flysheet? Will phone TN customer services tomorrow. Will also look at your mods.
Sorry I don’t have a diagram but best to pitch the fly and then attach the inner. Mine has never leaked despite very heavy rain. It doesn’t have a bathtub groundsheet which can be a problem with waterlogged ground. Although it is noisy in wind, it seems to be very storm worthy. I’ve mainly use my Tarptent Scarp in the past couple of years, which is a bit heavier but more stable and larger. The Laser Comp is a good tent though.
Here are my modifications to the Competition.
I made a footprint based on the outline of the flysheet out of polycro to protect the groundsheet from sharp objects, and the gear left in the porch from the damp ground.
Most of my backpacking these days is in lowland countryside. I use plastic pegs shortened to 5 inches which are permanently attached to the tent and guy lines. I’ve made holes in the top of the pegs through which I’ve threaded short lengths of Dyneema cord to facilitate removing the pegs when striking camp. I find that if the tent is loosely rolled it is possible to arrange the pegs so that they lie parallel to the roll and thus cannot damage the fabric. I keep the tent in a plastic bag and carry it in the rear pocket of my Mariposa rucksack.
As for the pole cover, I find that all you need to secure it is a length of shock cord attached to each end of the cover which is secured by a simple hook to a short length of Dyneema cord attached to the ends of the tape into which the poles fit. It takes but a few seconds to attach the cover. The cords attached to the tape into which the poles fit serve yet another purpose. I sometimes find it difficult to fit the poles into the tape when my hands are cold but it is easy to pull the tape into position by using the corded loops.
In order to get the tent to pitch properly, it is important that the end pegs and guy lines are in a straight line. The easiest way to ensure this is to carry a length of Dyneema cord. I first lay out the polycro ground sheet, then I peg the Dyneema cord beyond the estimated distance between the guy line pegs and secure the other end of the cord which I’ve tensioned with a short length of thin shock cord to another peg beyond where the other guy line will be pegged. This provides a helpful template showing the line along the four pegs securing the tent ends and the guy lines must be placed. I use short, thin pegs which are then used to hold down the porch groundsheet.
As for storing,wallet, cash specs etc I hang a small freezer bag with tie handles from the tent roof.
Hugh
Hi, Hugh
Just got my old Laser competition out of storage. IMHO the worst tent to correctly pitch. hey ho because Terra Nova just wanted to have the lightest tent in the World back then.
I hardly used it because of the hassle. Just tried all the other Mods mentioned here, none of them work to make it a more stabler tent IMHO.
But your suggestion of using a length of cord to peg out exactly in a straight line seems a brilliant idea! Can’t see how I didn’t think of that myself;-)))
Giving it a try today and if it does work great. If it doesn’t, I will be inclined to think the tent I have has seams and panels that are not symmetrical at each end and badly made.
Then, I’ll dump it another waste of brass:-(
Hey Ho!
That little tip use a plumb line helped:-) Got a decent set nearly every time. Although I am still convinced the said tent is badly made.
As for wind flap some guys need to be fitted to the middle of the 4 side panels. Can’t be bothered to be honest The hood? I came up with the same idea as you works a treat just use shock cord & mini – S hooks. Doesn’t need tying to tent at all.
Glad to know that the plumb line trick helped, CRF!
Here’s another tip that helps to prevent the tent sagging overnight that was posted on the OutdoorsMagic forum:
Make a loop of 30 cm of 3 mm shock cord. Double this loop when staking out (i.e. 4 strands are running between tent and peg and really pull this double loop tight when staking out.
This makes it difficult to both tension the shock cord and drive in the tent peg. A simple solution is to run a flat bootlace through the doubled shock cord, tension the shock cord and then kneel on the bootlace. This holds the shock cord at the required tension and makes it easy to drive home the tent peg at the correct angle.
Hugh
Hi.
Not quite with you on that one?
Do you mean at the 6 pegging points on the outer, double the shock cord up? i.e making the shock cords act as 6 mm shock in strength? I assume this is it? Therefore more tension on the tent? The bootlace idea seams reasonable to get the most tension on the guys etc. But I am not sure about it? Might rip the material;-)
Using tent backpacking in N Scotland next week but am having doubts whether it will be up to the job. Maybe I’ll take my trusted N F Tadpole a lot heavier but easier to use, stabler as quick to pitch but ruddy draughty with all the mesh inner;-) .
Cheers,
Chris
Chris
‘Do you mean at the 6 pegging points on the outer, double the shock cord up? i.e making the shock cords act as 6 mm shock in strength I assume this is it?’
Yes, and I also use shock cord on the two guy lines!
‘Therefore more tension on the tent?’
I’ve used this system on numerous backpacking trips during which the tent has withstood howling gales in Glencoe and on the Southwest Coast Path. I have not experienced any tears or other problems.
I’ve been told that silnylon is prone to stretching when wet which is why the tent sags overnight. Using shock cord as I’ve described overcomes this problem and prevents the inner from touching the fly.
The Laser Competition is marketed as an ulltra-lightweight tent so every effort is made to keep the weight down which, in my view, is at the expense of utility. With advancing years, the weight of my pack is important to me but as long as I can keep it down to five kilos, excluding food and water, I’m content; a few extra grammes here and there are of no consequence.
Enjoy your trip!
Hugh
Great info. I have a 2016 Laser with the black vent covers at each end. I have also adopted some of these mods including re-threading 1mm Dyneema through the pole hood. However, I added 15mm plastic rings to hook under the end of the pole, with pre-adjusted tension – works a treat. Door tensioner mod to help when closing the zip works too, For the door tie back, I have a length of shock cord with a loop at each end. One loop is attached to the fly’s end guy where it joins the vent cover and the other has a mini karabina attached. Open and roll up the door (outwards), retrieve the cord, pull it round and clip it to the inner’s tensioner tape connected to the fly. I have also removed the hook velcro on the hem of the door as it catches on my very expensive technical clothing!
I’ve actually done some more mods which are even better. I should do another post on them.
Hi Robin. Sorry, just seen this. Another blog or piece on Mod Updates would be great. I think this is a crackin’ tent, (and I’ve had a few over the years) and one which I will be using on the TGOC – unless of course, something even better comes along in the meantime!