TT Cloudburst pitching question

[ex-tennesseean]

Howdy, folks, from out here in the West. I've read your posts of praise for Henry's Tarptents above all other contenders. And the products did seem to be well-conceived and executed. So imagine my delight when I arrived at an REI member's gear swap last Sunday to find a used Cloudburst 1 for sale at $120. Sure, it was twice the price of the little Marmot solo freestanding coffin at the next table, but it was twice the volume, too--- or more. Though I had been leaning towards a Squall to make use of my hiking poles, curiosity plus availability got the best of me, and now it's mine.

Setting it up on the lawn, I was amazed by its breadth. I can lay down sideways by the door! Just try that with my old Clip Flashlight, which weighed 1 lb+ more, or one of those two-foot wide Hubbas. The height is adequate, though I'd appreciate a little more uprightness.

Getting around to my question, I noticed that the sidewall netting lies almost horizontal on he ground, or just above it. I'd expect it to stretch upward under tension towards the fly (as on the Mountain Hardwear Waypoint I bought at the last REI sale, and quickly sold. What an odd design. There was no screening on the doors, so you had to sleep with them closed in most summer climates, and the twin doors faced upwards so as to give no dry way to enter in the rain. Maybe they wanted it to look like a Gemini space capsule, but with its fly-eyed forehead, I I felt like I was sitting indide a dragon's head at a mini-golf park.)

Back to the Cloudburst, is there some pitching trick to lift the side mesh off the ground? I have guyed out the midpoint of the storm flaps by a foot or so. Right now, the mesh is like an extension of the floor, just not at all waterproof. Any ideas?

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

Instruction manuals for the Cloudburst (http://www.tarptent.com/ttcloudburst04.pdf) and Cloudburst2 (http://www.tarptent.com/cloudburst2instructions.pdf) are online. I camped near a couple with a Cloudburst2 at Traildays 2006 and we had a major cloudburst one night. They and all their gear stayed dry - a tribute to the design of Shires' Cloudburst.

[ex-tennesseean]

Thanks, but this is all I find in the instructions:

"For sewn-in floor, pull and re-knot shockcord at floor junction to stretch and
center fabric as needed. Clip/unclip floor walls to suit conditions."

That's kind of cryptic to me. Perhaps I just need to crawl in there and monkey around with it more. But we seem to have two kinds of weather here in Denver most of the summer- "hot" and "dark." Any further advice is welcomed. Maybe If I raised the pole ends a few inches atop some rocks, the mesh would tilt upwards more. But does everybody do that?

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

The manufacturer is a member here (Hshires), but I hear he's out hiking right now. I'm confident he will be able to help if no one who owns a cloudburst comes forth first.

[ex-tennesseean]

No hurry. Like I say, it's still set up in my yard, but I do want to use it seriously this fall. I got with it a custom-cut Tyvek footprint that extends beyond the black foor material, out to the perimeter of the sidewall mesh vents. Is the idea to place the Tyvek under the vents to prevent the vents sucking in water vapor from the ground?

[Toasty]

We have the Cloudburst 1. Our first rainy pitching experience (in the backyard) didn't turn out too well -- but it was valuable in that we learned what to do the next time when we were actually out in the woods. If you think it might rain, stake out the sides of the tarp very tightly, that way the rain will just roll off the solid side without wicking onto the floor of the tarp along the mesh. It works like a charm. ;)

[hshires]

No hurry. Like I say, it's still set up in my yard, but I do want to use it seriously this fall. I got with it a custom-cut Tyvek footprint that extends beyond the black foor material, out to the perimeter of the sidewall mesh vents. Is the idea to place the Tyvek under the vents to prevent the vents sucking in water vapor from the ground?


ex-tennesseean,

The mesh is designed to lie on the ground. That helps channel water to the ground and keep it away from the floor. You aren't putting any stress on the netting so don't worry about ripping it. Use the sidewall flaps if you have strong side windy rains (and the side pullouts) but otherwise overhead rain will typically just run off the roof and right down the netting to the ground.

As for a groundsheet, be sure to trim/tuck the Tyvek to the dimensions of the flat floor. Any groundsheet that sticks our further will potentially help channel water under the floor. For ponding water situations, it's probably better to put the Tyvek inside so that you eliminate the possibility of creating a "water sandwhich" under your floor.

-H

[ex-tennesseean]

Thanks, Henry. What a rare experience on the 'net, to get an answer from someone who knows, rather than just someone who believes. I'm way out of my depth questioning your designs, but I need to question your answer just a little.

You write: "The mesh is designed to lie on the ground. That helps channel water to the ground and keep it away from the floor." Are you talking about runoff water inside the tent, from condensation on the ceiling? That's my guess. I doubt I'll se that kind of heavy, fluvial condensation often here in the semi-arid zone.

I was more concerned about the net floor edges admitting moisture into the tent. When I first pitched the Waypoint, it was just after a rain. I sensed that all the moisture beside the floor & under the fly edges was rising through the side vents & into the tent-- isn't that "rising damp," in British English? That's what I worry about here. That could be a lot more moistire than what I exhale.

I wonder if the previous owner used the oversized but correctly-shaped groundcloth indoors, to cover the side vents on wet ground? However, you say I should cut it so it only covers the black silnylon floor area, right?

Overall, the Cloudburst seems a marvel of efficiency, and give me a new sense of "Tight as a drum" means. Nice work!

[hshires]

The mesh walls channel (outside) runoff from the roof to the ground, much more than any bits of condensation running off the inside of the roof. The netting walls don't conduct moisture into the interior any more than open sides do/would and venting is definitely important to enable airflow and minimize condensation. Completely sealing up the sidewalls would certainly stop outside damp air from getting in but that's worse than enabling inside damp air to get out. In a really windy and rainy storm, DO use the sidewall flaps to prevent rain from blowing through the netting. The wind will force plenty of air through the shelter anyway.

-H

[ex-tennesseean]

Did the side vent design change with later models? Looking at your website, I see the mesh sidewalls stretched diagonally, about a 45-degree angle, from floor to walls in the Virga and Squall 2. They don't lie flat on the ground, as mine do. It's harder to spot the mesh's angle in your Cloudburst photos. That's what I expected to see when I pitched this tent, a first-generation model.

I'm leaning towards trading this for a Squall. I sit tall, so I need a little more headroom. I also like hiking with poles. For the slim weight and cost increase, however, the Rainshadow seems awfully tempting. I suppose you give the CB's hoop design better marks for use in snow because it doesn't have the small flat plane at the peak? But the Squall has steeper walls, which would seem to shed snow better, over a larger surface.

[ex-tennesseean]

Any of you umpteen Tarptent owners out there have a better way of explaining this to me? Maybe I'm dense. I'm certainly inexperienced in this field. But my Cloudburst 1 looks different from the catalog pictures, with its bug mesh lying on the ground like that.

[hshires]

The Cloudburst and Cloudburst 2 mesh are exactly the same. For that matter so is the mesh design--hang straight to the ground, then wrap inward--on all the models with the exception of the new Contrail (which has angled mesh).

-H