View Full Version : Just some thoughts on finding the perfect tent.
RedBeerd
03-31-2014, 23:14
Does the perfect tent exist? No. It is all a compromise..
I've tried about half a dozen REI tents. Big Agnes, REI, Nemo. And then I bought a used TT Contrail thinking it was the one...nope. Played with it for about a week in my yard. Figured out how to pitch it different ways, get it taut. It survived some serious downpours but did not hold up to the snow. It seemed finicky..and then I realized the tents I liked the most were also the easiest to pitch, not saying the Contrail was hard but definitely a learning curve involved. The BA Fly Creek UL1 and 2 were probably my favorites. But I don't like front entry if I have a choice.. and there are lighter options. I don't always use trekking poles so that was something to consider too. What if I want to take my girlfriend on a hike? I need room for two but don't want a heavier tent..and I also want to get into winter backpacking so want the extra room and snow bearing capabilities. So I bit the bullet and dropped the dough on a Cuben Fiber Duomid with Silnylon Solo Innernet..we will see how I like it. I think Ive read every review or blog on this thing. Been about 5 years since I started backpacking. How long did it take you to find THE ONE??
There's no perfect tent, but most are decent these days. I've used and still keep Eureka, Sierra Designs, and Tarptent, not counting the heavy road-camping tents. Back when I last shopped for tents, the Big Agnes Seedhouse (the solo version) was the one I lusted after. The Tarptent Rainbow is perfect... well, as perfect as a single-walled solo tent can be. Setup couldn't be much easier, but I don't rely on the free-standing setup. In an all-night downpour, I'd much rather be in a double-wall tent.
Been looking for decades. Still looking. I have always regretted not buying a Moss tent when I had the chance. I recently discovered that the folks from Moss Tents are operating as Tent Repair Services (http://www.tentrepairservices.com/) in Camden, Maine. They can build new, real Moss tents.
Moss or Hilleberg? A toss up.
A friend has made me a standing offer to buy my North Face Bullfrog. I will always keep my Garuda Atman.
Pondering.
Wayne
I own six tents. I don't think there is a perfect tent. There is a pertect tent for the conditions, cost, and balancing the trade-offs or each design. Some will carry more weight for certain features, that's why some carry a tarp. I found the TT Contrail to be my go-to tent, but sure not taking it out in December. It's great that WB is here to provide guidance and experieice...
perdidochas
04-01-2014, 09:44
No such thing as a perfect tent for all conditions. You have to figure out what your major priorities in a tent are, and make sure they are covered. I think Q-tip pretty much sums it up best.
ezdoesit
04-01-2014, 11:43
My perfect humble abode a Hennessy Hammock
JumpMaster Blaster
04-03-2014, 21:36
I started out with a cheap Coleman Sundome 3 for solo car camping at the NASCAR races, broke the poles, bought another & aside from condensation & the rainfly not reaching all the way to the ground it worked for what I needed it for. Carrying it was NEVER an option (8 lbs), so I bought an REI Half Dome 2 (5lbs 3oz) and I love the light weight. Recently got a Eureka 3 person Grand Manan (for free) but I will probably never set this up (10 lbs and way too much room for me & dog), so I'm looking into a UL Big Agnes- Fly Creek, Fish Hook, Jack Rabbit or the Slater UL+1.
I will NOT buy a 1 man tent that is narrower than 42"- I'm slightly claustrophobic & don't want a faceful of tent while I'm sleeping, so the Slater (47" wide/ 40" high) is looking good to me.
Six Moon designs Lunar solo is minimalist shelter at its best, IMHO.
I don't get the affection for Big Agnes tents. Just an observation and a question.
Wayne
Sent from somewhere around here.
The Cleaner
04-04-2014, 08:38
I just got a TarpTent Moment DW. I don't do too much hot weather camping so I got the DW to stop the ever present mountain winds and with the optional center crossing pole high winds and blowing snow should not be a problem...
Weather-man
04-04-2014, 09:04
Hmmm....has to a balance of low weight and function. The functionality is the highest priority and should be satisfied by the lightest weight possible. Function is defined by purpose. You didn't ask about tarps so I'll avoid that discussion but suffice to say that a tarp can work well in some circumstances.
I'm getting older and sorer so I define purpose as solid 3 season weather protection, comfortable (size and weight balance) and 100% bug protection. I want my shelter big enough to hunker down for a day or two, if required. Based on this criteria a bivy tent is out. In my younger days none of these things seemed to matter much and I went weeks with a small tarp only. Not so much anymore :)
So for me, in my current state of hiking, a general statement is that the perfect tent is in the 1-2 lb range and ideally self standing. I currently use a CS-1 but am looking at a TT rainbow and will give my daughter the big agnes tent. I also have a Zpack Hexamid solo that works well, is very, very light but isn't free standing. If I think tent site selection will be easy I'll take that one; e.g. an upcoming section through the Grayson highlands.
Situation also drives tent selection. For example it would be a bit silly to bring a 2.5lb tent when hiking a section in the GSMNP as you're required to use shelters. In those cases I bring a tarp and ground sheet only as odds are that it won't be used except in an emergency.
I'm also wondering if Zpack isn't going to come out with some type of free standing tent that uses a combination of hiking poles and carbon fiber, ala the TT rainbow but in cuben. Something in the 20oz range. Now that would be close to perfect.
I don't get the affection for Big Agnes tents. Just an observation and a question.
Wayne
Sent from somewhere around here.
Waiting delivery today on a BA CS1. For me it came down to size, weight, cost (what else). I borrowed a friend's last year and just liked it. REI dividend, gift card and 20% certainly helped. Ymmv.
Six Moon designs Lunar solo is minimalist shelter at its best, IMHO.
+1 on the lunar solo
Tipi Walter
04-04-2014, 09:25
I used to have a list I wrote of the qualities I need in a tent, but as others have said, no tent is perfect. Even Hillebergs have their numerous flaws. There were other discussions on this subject---
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-86257.html
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-91186.html
For me a tent has to---
** Be durable for 200 nights a year and keep working for at least the next 5 years.
** Have a high denier floor at least 70 denier, and not the thin crappy 30 denier floors so popular nowadays (with low hydrostatic head whereby when you sit down ground water/wet ground seeps up thru the floor like a sponge).
** Be long enough and not too angled to touch the foot of your lofted sleeping bag. This is a Hilleberg problem (too short and too angled) and so you end up with the foot of your down bag shell wet from in-tent condensation. Not good. Most popular light tents nowadays are too short thereby allowing part of the tent to touch the sleeping bag, a big negatory.
** Be robust and a "multi-tool" to go from 95F in calm conditions next to a river to 60mph winds on an open mountain bald and to a minus 10F blizzard with high winds and spindrift. A good tent should not be a simple tool for a single job---summer camping---when in fact summer camping often sees the highest winds of all when perched on an open bald in a thunderstorm or microburst.
** Ergo a good tent should have ample guyouts and the ability to use at least 14 to 20 stakes for security. As noted above, there are times when you will need such protection. A good tent overpowers the fast and light tendency to favor Site Selection over the freedom to set up anywhere. You wouldn't set up a tarp on top of a 6,000 NC mountain in a hell blizzard? But a good tent can handle such conditions and you therefore have more freedom.
** A good tent can take a Noah-like deluge and not leak a single drop, especially with sheeting ground water or "lake effect" whereby your spot gets a half inch or inch underwater and the tent floor becomes like a mini water bed. A good tent floor will not let in a drop. (Hillebergs have the best floors I have seen). And a good tent can take a horizontal rainstorm with wind whipping fabric and 60mph winds.
Another thing that I have noticed, in addition to the lightweight tent fabrics, on par with ultralight sleeping bag shells (15 denier, crazy light), are the shrinking flys. Once upon a time, a long time ago, a tent fly went to the ground, or at least very close to the ground. Today I am seeing tents with a body built almost entirely of mesh and a skimpy fly that barely covers the coated lower portion of the tent. It wouldn't take much wind to blow rain under the edge of the fly and right through the mesh body.
The two tents that I currently own were built before the current UL craze. They are very well made and very sturdy. However, both suffer from "taperitis". They taper in all directions from a single wide, upper horizontal apex. My next tent will be more rectangular and box like.
I have been looking at the dimensions of some of the Moss tents designed in the 1980s. The floor plans are huge compared to current practices. The 2 person Stardome II in particular would probably be marketed today as a 3 person tent. No wonder the current thinking says that the best 2 person tent is a 3 person tent. Not too long ago, the 3 person tent today would have been a 2 person tent.
Good luck shopping.
Wayne
My "perfect" tent would be the Notch in cuben fiber! Or better yet a Notch Plus in cuben fiber!
QHShowoman
04-04-2014, 12:32
Not to veer off-topic, but has Henry ever said why he will/won't work with cuben? I know that Judy from Lightheart was doing cuben for a while and just gave it up because she didn't like working with the fabric.
There are two main reasons why Henry Shires is not producing Cuben Fiber shelters : cost to the consumer and manufacturing problems.A tent like the Notch, mentioned above, would be about 5 oz lighter but cost about twice as much.
To some saving a sip of water in weight is worth the extra $200 or so , Henry does not see it that way, in other words he would not buy one for himself at the extra cost.
Essentially the shelters he designs are the shelter that he uses so the first requirement for a TT shelter to exist is to work for Henry or him and his family.
To make a shelter simply because it would sell is not the point at TT.
As for manufacturing, Henry only makes his own prototypes, the shelters are made in a factory in Seattle.
To make them in Cuben for a start would require a re-design because the fabric does not stretch at all , next a few workers would need to learn how to deal with this fabric so neither easy nor practical for Tarptent right now.
If you were found of the BA Fly Creek, then take a look at the BA Fishhook. It appears to be the same tent but with side entry.
Right now, the Clymb has the Fishhook UL1 for $300. If you are a member, sometimes you get notified of their flash sales and can get their stuff at 20 to 30% below their discounted prices. Right now is not a great time to be getting a good sale. Usually early February is when you can pick up your backpacking gear cheap.
Giuseppe
04-04-2014, 19:24
The perfect tent for backpacking for me is a Lightheart tent- well made, lightweight, easy to set up, doesn't break the budget to buy, dry inside when it rains, good ventilation, great company- easy to do business with. The solong 6 was my fourth tent on the AT, but the first one that I was happy with. Returned on tent, sold another tent, and gave the third tent to the Troutville Fire Dept to raffle at Troutville days or give to their boy scout troop- whichever they felt would be best. Guiseppe
Been looking for decades. Still looking. I have always regretted not buying a Moss tent when I had the chance. I recently discovered that the folks from Moss Tents are operating as Tent Repair Services (http://www.tentrepairservices.com/) in Camden, Maine. They can build new, real Moss tents.
Moss or Hilleberg? A toss up.
A friend has made me a standing offer to buy my North Face Bullfrog. I will always keep my Garuda Atman.
Pondering.
Wayne
Many years ago I had the pleasure to visit Moss in Camden. Thank you for helping me remember them and their great products.
CarlZ993
04-05-2014, 07:11
If you were found of the BA Fly Creek, then take a look at the BA Fishhook. It appears to be the same tent but with side entry.
Right now, the Clymb has the Fishhook UL1 for $300. If you are a member, sometimes you get notified of their flash sales and can get their stuff at 20 to 30% below their discounted prices. Right now is not a great time to be getting a good sale. Usually early February is when you can pick up your backpacking gear cheap.
The fishhook looks almost identical to the Copper Spur UL-1. About the only difference I see is that the foot end of the Fishhook UL-1 doesn't taper like the Copper Spur. Hence, the Fishhook is slightly heavier. Just basing this on the spec sheet on REI's website. Never seen the Fishhook in person. Recently purchased the Copper Spur w/ my REI dividend. Still haven't field-tested it yet.
The fishhook looks almost identical to the Copper Spur UL-1. About the only difference I see is that the foot end of the Fishhook UL-1 doesn't taper like the Copper Spur. Hence, the Fishhook is slightly heavier. Just basing this on the spec sheet on REI's website. Never seen the Fishhook in person. Recently purchased the Copper Spur w/ my REI dividend. Still haven't field-tested it yet.
The Fishhook UL1 has a floor width of 42 inches for the front (i.e. head/shoulders) and about 32 inches for the feet end. I'm not 100% if it is 32 inches or 30 inches at the feet end.
It really just depends on what I'm doing, weather, and terrain. Most of the time I use a cuban tarp and borah bivy. Other times a dream hammock Darien UL with a cuban fly. For really bad weather I love my TT Notch with solid inner partial.
double d
04-06-2014, 05:58
A tent is one of the most expensive gear items one can buy and of course lots of options and opinions (I think TipiWalters answer is a very good one, see above), but overall it has to be well made and stand the test of time to endure multiple weather conditions. For me, that tent is the MSR Hubba Hubba, it has met all of my needs. I usually like to sleep alone, so I use the two man tent version of the Hubba, thus I can put my gear in the tent at night and still have room. I think the OP has lots of good advice in buying/testing out various tents, but at some point, you gotta go with what you like, as one wants to have a tent that can achieve many functions at once while also giving one a good nights sleep.
cabbagehead
04-08-2014, 22:31
I have the coffin shaped Canadian Eureka Solitaire. It works well after spray waterproofing. The fabric is thick; so its heavy.
something from Sierra Designs or Tarp Tent