Originally Posted by
staehpj1
Certainly cheap enough, but it has some drawbacks that I personally can't forgive.
- It takes a bajillion (actually 12) stakes to pitch, they add weight and are a pain to deal with.
- It has really cheapie poles. Again heavy and given the tight bend of the one at the foot end prone to breakage. When it was being sold more widely there were many reports of pole breakage. It can probably be avoided with really careful handling while pitching though.
I've been using the Eureka Solitaire for over 10 years now. I agree that the fiberglass poles are an issue. When I bought mine they offered aluminum poles for about $30 more but I opted for the cheaper fiberglass and they have since dropped the option. A few years ago the one at the back broke and I've replaced it with a lighter and stronger aluminum one. (Even when broken the tent was still usable with a piece of duct tape around the pole.)
I've never used 12 stakes with mine. Used to carry 7 stakes: 4 for the tent corners, one for the back of the fly and two for the front corners of the fly. I've since cut it down to 5 by tying some string between the two front corners of the tent and corresponding corners of the fly. So my Solitaire has gradually been losing weight by replacement of one of the fiberglass poles by Al, elimination of a couple stakes, and replacement of the steel stakes with Ti ones as I find them abandoned at campsites.