Talk me out of the Tarptent Rainbow

[tobydo55]

I have gathered a lot of information and knowledge reading this forum over the years, and would now like to post my first topic for the group. I am 48 years old, 5'10 and backpack solo about 5-7 nights a year, almost exclusively in Colorado. Currently have a SMD Skyscape Scout that works very well and makes good utilization of the trekking poles that I use anyway. I would like to purchase a freestanding (or close to it) solo tent that has a little more room than the Trekker. My reason is twofold. First, there are those rare days in the Rockies where it begins raining in the afternoon and doesn't stop. I would like a little more room for those days. This is the main reason. Second, I sometimes hike to a specific location and base camp for a couple days while exploring the area, and like using poles when I am out. Using the Trekker, I either have to leave poles at camp, or take the tent down. This is a secondary reason.

I have done a fair amount of research over the past year of so, and the two most attractive options are the Copper Spur ul1 and the Rainbow. I own a Copper Spur UL3 that my wife and I use on our backpacking trips and it is a great tent. After some deliberation I have decided to get the rainbow because it looks to have a little more room and maybe a tad bit lighter (although both are in the acceptable weight range). It will be my first true single wall tent, but I have not really experienced condensation issues on the single wall portion of the trekker.

Anyway, feel free to talk me out of the rainbow and steer me in a better direction. Thanks in advance for your input.

[HeartFire]

Have you looked at the LightHeart Gear SoLong 6? It's not free standing, and uses trekking poles, but we do have tent poles available for those times you want to do base camping. Lots of room inside for those days when you are stuck in there. I used mine on the Colorado Trail, it was awesome
Judy - LightHeart Gear

[rafe]

I wouldn't talk you out of it. I like mine. Lots of room, very quick set-up, very light for what it is. I haven't mastered the free-standing setup but never really needed it. It is single-walled, of course, and that means you need to be careful of condensation issues.

A double-walled tent offers a few advantages, but is likely to be heavier for a similar footprint/volume.

[Dochartaigh]

I really like my TarpTent Rainbow. Only have a weeks worth of time in it so far (including one deluge), but it's been very nice. LOTS more room than most other 1-person tents, and the full-length pole really gives you more room than any trekking pole tent could. Mine came in at 35.1 ounces with included stakes, stuff sack, seal sealing, and I ordered it with the carbon fiber poles (otherwise it would be a little over 37 ounces complete).

[Just Bill]

Why not the 2 person copper spur instead of the 1... seems a more direct comparison.
Slightly bigger than rainbow, hair lighter too. (52 head, 42 foot vs 40" rectangle on the rainbow)
And you know the tent design/pitching already and that you're happy with it.

Being in CO, I'd think you could easily get away with just a fly pitch on your existing UL3 as well to get you around 3lbs and have a rain palace.

True freestanding is nice in rocky or hard to pitch areas IMO... but with goal number 2 of walking away/base camping you'll be securely pitching and staking anyway so it's probably not a critical feature for you.

Although it's fun to try something new and you'll hear few complaints about the Rainbow.

[bigcranky]

Right, the Rainbow is only freestanding if you use trekking poles (and even then it needs to be staked down). So if freestanding is a required feature, *and* you want to use your trekking poles while leaving the tent set up, that won't work well. (I never got a tight pitch in frestanding mode anyway...)

Otherwise it's a terrific little tent, plenty of room inside.

If you can live without freestanding you might check out the Moment, too. Two stakes and it's pitched.

[swisscross]

My BA CS UL1 is a coffin.
I deal with it though if I were to purchase again I would opt for something larger.

Have never seen a TT Rainbow.

[Venchka]

I'm debating the purchase of a new tent. I don't need it, but I want it. Therefore, I find it hard to make up my mind and do it.
The two tents that keep bubbling up to the top of my short list are the Rainbow and Solong 6.
Judy is right. The Solong 6, with TWO side doors and a few ounces lighter is very appealing.
Dochartaigh: Thanks for the real world weight of the Rainbow. The carbon pole was on my mind.
I do have a dual purpose for a new tent: Backpacking and bicycle touring. I know that I could carry my hiking sticks on the bike. A pain, but doable. I know I can buy dedicated poles for the Solong 6. I just feel like it would be nice to buy the Rainbow and it would work for both of my needs right out of the stuff sack.
I know this isn't helping, except to say that both tents are highly regarded by many users.
Flip a coin.
As for the 2 person Copper Spur: I would buy the Double Rainbow or Lightheart Duo first. In fact, I may. My third reason for a new tent: One of my grand kids may yet want to go backpacking with me.
Buying new gear is always a challenge. Good luck!

Wayne

[Sarcasm the elf]

My BA CS UL1 is a coffin.
I deal with it though if I were to purchase again I would opt for something larger.

Have never seen a TT Rainbow.

I was lucky enough to borrow a BA CS UL1 for a few trips before buying my own tent, coffin is an adequate description. I hated that tent and can't understand why it is so popular aside from the fact that REI sells it nationally.

I opted for the Tarptent Double Rainbow, as it was only a few oz more than the rainbow but has a second door which I found to be quite nice, moreso it allows me to use it on the occasions that my wife hikes with me. I've had it since 2013 and so far I have been very happy with it. I think the design of both the rainbow and double rainbow makes much better use of the available space than the BA designs do, and the Tarptent is American made. For all the talk of condensation issues, I have found it to be a very minor problem and not the sort of thing that causes me any real concern.

If it weren't for your hiking poles requirement then I would suggest you also consider the tarptent Notch or a Lightheart gear tent, both are excellent companies and I had trouble choosing between them.

[Franco]

"First, there are those rare days in the Rockies where it begins raining in the afternoon and doesn't stop. I would like a little more room for those days"
Given that you do use trekking poles, on those long rainy days you might be stuck inside the tent you could set it up like this :
Rainporch1.jpg
that came about after a mate of mine and myself had bought the first two Rainbows to land in Australia.(early 2006, mine was a 2005 pre-production model)
Given that the Double Rainbow did not exist, I then made my own :
Double Rainbow.jpg

[Franco]

BTW,
now it's franco@tarptent....

[tobydo55]

It appears that both tents use ripstop nylon. According to Tarptent, it is 30d (not sure what that means). But i cannot find any specs on Big Agnes web site. Does anyone kn
ow the comparison? Thanks

[Franco]

I found this comment at Backpackinglight :
"The reps at Big Agnes stated the fly is 15 denier and the floor is 20 denier. They were also quick to point out that they denier alone is not always an accurate representation of the performance of the fabric - many other factors can be at play, such as treatments and the composition of the material."
(my emphasis)
In theory at least, a denier is the weight in grams of 9000 meters of the yarn used.
So 30D means that (before coating) 9000 meters of the filament used for the TT fabric is 30g (just over 1 oz)
The TT fabric is double coated with a silicone layer on each side.
Because of the process used it becomes impregnated with silicone.
The BA version has silicone on the top and PU on the underside so that the tent can be factory taped.
(common with several large brands)
If we had our nylon done with the same process (silicone/PU) the tear strength of our material would drop by at least 30%.
BTW, the silicone both sides on the TT tents is the reason why they need to be seam sealed by hand.

[tobydo55]

Thank you very much for the info.

[Dochartaigh]

I opted for the Tarptent Double Rainbow, as it was only a few oz more than the rainbow but has a second door which I found to be quite nice

Do you happen to have the exact weight of your double rainbow (seamsealed, in stuff sack, with pole -regular or carbon?- and stakes)? I was torn between the Rainbow and the Double Rainbow, but when I know my Squall 2 came in over a quarter pound more than the listed weight (and my Rainbow being 3-4 ounces heavier) I didn't want the Double Rainbow to come in at (realistically) ~10-11 ounces more than the Rainbow weighed so I went with the lighter option...hope I made the right choice (although I would have LOVED having doube doors).



Back to the OP: I specifically stayed away from tents like the SoLong because all trekking pole tents* slope straight down from the high point of the pole, to the ground in a straight line, and I really don't like a triangle-like peak in my tents (makes headroom be in such a small central area). I tried many like it and just missed the room a tent with an actual full-length tent pole gave you which is why I went with the Rainbow.

*my back-up tent is a TarpTent Moment which although a little bit lighter than the Rainbow has a lot less room. One exception to the trekking pole tents is ones like the TarpTent Moment and it's brother the Notch. They have built-in carbon stays/poles on each ends (kinda making it a combo trekking pole tent with small tent poles built in each end) and this does help with the headroom some since the tent fabric doesn't slope quite all the way to the ground with a setup like this - still not nearly as nice as a tent like the Rainbow with a full tent pole arch.

[JumpMaster Blaster]

I have a Big Agnes CS UL1. The weight is pretty good for a freestading tent. Downside: It IS a coffin. I couldn't imagine spending an entire day stuck in it due to rain. Also, it only has one door, and a pretty shallow vestibule. My ULA Catalyst completely empty still leans against the rain fly when I leave it outside. I'm about to pull the trigger on a TarpTent StratoSpire 1 for a bit more room, 2 doors, a bigger vestibule, and lighter weight.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Do you happen to have the exact weight of your double rainbow (seamsealed, in stuff sack, with pole -regular or carbon?- and stakes)? I was torn between the Rainbow and the Double Rainbow, but when I know my Squall 2 came in over a quarter pound more than the listed weight (and my Rainbow being 3-4 ounces heavier) I didn't want the Double Rainbow to come in at (realistically) ~10-11 ounces more than the Rainbow weighed so I went with the lighter option...hope I made the right choice (although I would have LOVED having doube doors).

Since you ask: 2lb 10.25oz with everything, carbon stay. I should mention that this is a 2012 or 2013 model, if I recall they did a modest update and may have added a few ounces to it, Franco can probably confirm that one or correct me.
image.jpg

[Franco]

The DR with 6 stakes and main pole is listed at 41 oz.
From memory that is about the weight of the last one I had here but they can vary a couple of ounces or so.
The Carbon pole will make it about 2 oz lighter.
The weights were updated on the TT site after we changed the fabric to the current version (a bit heavier than the previous type)

[Odd Man Out]

All the trekking pole tents can be pitched with very light tent poles, so you are free to take your trekking poles with you on day hikes while base camping. If you include the minimal weight and cost of adding those poles to your current tent, then that consideration becomes irrelevant.

[daddytwosticks]

I now have an MSR Hubba NX 1. I've owned two Tarptent products and a tarptent from Lightheart. All great products and many many hikers on this site rave about them. However, I have found it was tuff for me to get a tight, consistent pitch with silnylon. Plus, messing with my hiking poles in order to use them for the pitch was a pain in the butt. Sure, the Hubba is almost a pound heavier than the other products. I love the freestanding nature and it seems to be bomb proof. It has about the same interior space as my Notch. No more saggy silnylon tarptents for me. Just my opinion.