“The Star Dome was my first Moss tent. Soon after I made the purchase, I took it up to the Dolly Sods in West Virginia for its maiden outing in a spring fever to go camping. Although the day had been sunny and warm, overnight a significant amount of snow dumped from the skies, over 12 inches, but the tent kept us warm and dry.
Later, on a fall trip in the Monongahela National Forest, an unexpected hard rain fell overnight, which then turned to an icy rain. I listened as ice pellets struck the drum-taut fly and the droplets froze to the tent fly. Safe and secure in knowing that I would not awaken wet, I slept well. In the morning all I had to do was shake the fly and watch the ice droplets slide off, then fold up my dry tent as usual.
In 1999, on a trip to the Muir Trail of the Big South Fork in Tennessee after a 20-year hiatus from camping together, several of my college friends and I met up for a weekend. In the planning communication in advance of the trip, one of those friends said he did not have a tent. By then I had purchased a Moss Olympic, too, so I offered to bring my spare Moss tent — a Star Dome — for him to use. Over the course of the weekend trip, my friend liked the Star Dome so much he made a fervent offer to buy it which I accepted. My thoughts then were that I did not need two tents and that he was a friend. However, my logic did not take into consideration that we were talking about a Moss tent. Luckily for me, many years later he returned the tent to me in good condition.
Years later, I still own my Olympic and my Star Dome tents, and each is in excellent condition thanks to the team at Tent Repair Services. You can bet I exercise my options as often as possible with these two classic tents.
Even today, with two Moss tents in my possession, I’m always looking for a Moss tent to add to my collection.
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Photo: Clint Robertson