Freestanding Tarptents

[Ethesis]

I've been reading reviews of the freestanding tarptent versions.

Anyone here have experience with those?

https://www.facebook.com/stephen.r.m...58424881650523

For some links.

[hyperhiker]

I have the one person rainbow which can be set up free standing using trekking poles but I have never felt the need. Love the tent and will be bringing with me on the AT for at least a month. I recently saw a write up on one of the forums saying the two person has limited head space. The one person has plenty.

[Tipi Walter]

There are no free-standing TarpTents except for the Scarp with the external poles, as below---


Any time you have to stake out any part of the fly to form a vestibule etc the tent stops being a true free-standing shelter. A free-standing tent is something you can completely set up and then lift off the ground and sit it somewhere else---no pegs are needed at all---except to keep the thing from blowing away in a windstorm.

[MuddyWaters]

Theres no such thing as a free standing tent in the wind

Only benefit to my freestanding tents, is can turn upside down and shake to clean out debris. Pretty small.

[Ethesis]

With the extra poles the scarp comes to about five pounds.

Thanks for the input and the thoughts.

[PAHiker]

Tarptent Moment with freestanding pole option. Still needs to be staked to the ground to keep it from running away while you are down at the spring getting water.
moment 2.jpgmoment.jpg

[rafe]

I have the one person rainbow which can be set up free standing using trekking poles but I have never felt the need. Love the tent and will be bringing with me on the AT for at least a month. I recently saw a write up on one of the forums saying the two person has limited head space. The one person has plenty.

Same here, the solo Rainbow. I like it quite a lot. Not perfect but mostly works for me. It takes about two minutes to set up: most of that time is inserting the one long ridge pole. After that, five or six stakes and you're done. The "freestanding" setup is harder, so I don't bother.

[PAHiker]

Bigger upside down photo

moment.jpg

[Tipi Walter]

Bigger upside down photo

moment.jpg

There you go---you're right, forgot about the Moment.

[ImAfraidOfBears]

Bigger upside down photo

moment.jpg

so this is what they meant by 'suspended bathtub floor'

[Sarcasm the elf]

I have the double rainbow which can be made freestanding by using trekking poles. I am very happy with it and in truth I find that I very rarely need it to be in freestanding mode as it is easy to setup by just staking it out. The only time I really bother to set it up as a freestanding tent is when I am using a tent platform or other surface where I cannot easily stake it out.

[PAHiker]

Yes, but even the silicone strips did not keep me on the floor of this set up.

[Old Hiker]

Bigger upside down photo

moment.jpg

How much does the stand for that hammock add to your base weight?

[yaduck9]

One evening I set up my tarptent moment ( the original, not the DW ) using just two stakes without the optional freestanding cross pole. Woke up in the middle of the night, the tent was flapping in a fairly strong wind. After ten minutes I realized that it was more than the wind. Got up found out that one of the stakes had pulled out of the ground, but the tent remained standing, although it did flap a bit. I use MSR Groundhog stakes now.

[raggydoo]

There are no free-standing TarpTents except for the Scarp with the external poles, as below---


Any time you have to stake out any part of the fly to form a vestibule etc the tent stops being a true free-standing shelter. A free-standing tent is something you can completely set up and then lift off the ground and sit it somewhere else---no pegs are needed at all---except to keep the thing from blowing away in a windstorm.

They actually just released the Bowfin 1 https://www.tarptent.com/bowfin1.html in February which is a freestanding design.

[Tipi Walter]

They actually just released the Bowfin 1 https://www.tarptent.com/bowfin1.html in February which is a freestanding design.

The Bowfin like many other tents needs a stake to pull out the fly vestibule and so isn't freestanding. PAhiker shows a freestanding tent---able to be picked up with a rigid fly and vestibule.

[rocketsocks]

Theres no such thing as a free standing tent in the wind

Only benefit to my freestanding tents, is can turn upside down and shake to clean out debris. Pretty small.

...and you can fly em like a kite.

[Elaikases]

I have the double rainbow which can be made freestanding by using trekking poles. I am very happy with it and in truth I find that I very rarely need it to be in freestanding mode as it is easy to setup by just staking it out. The only time I really bother to set it up as a freestanding tent is when I am using a tent platform or other surface where I cannot easily stake it out.

Thanks for that input.

[Wyoming]

The tiny bit of validity in the point that freestanding tents still have to have the vestibule staked out is essentially meaningless. And not entirely true either as one can just not stake it at all and let it drape over the pack. For instance this tent

https://www.bigagnes.com/Products/De...eekHVPlatinum1

Is very suitable for setting up and not bothering to stake the vestibule.

A free standing tent is far superior to a tent which needs to be staked - even if you decide to stake the vestibule. It is the comparison of as many as 8 stakes to 1 on most tents. And then there is just the ease and quickness of setup. The freestanding tent cares less if the ground is flat, slopes, bumpy, rocky, solid rock, etc. The staked tent sucks on most of those things. You fight and fight with them to get them up, have stakes hold in the sand, have to tie them to rocks because the stakes cannot penetrate the rock you are on. On slopes or uneven ground you can spend an inordinate amount of time fiddling with the stakes and lines trying over and over again to get a taunt tent. And then the wind comes up and pulls all your stakes out of the ground.

I own a Z-Packs ultralight Soloplex and I hate it. It is a huge pain to get set up right. On some surfaces it just does not work. I have watched other hikers try and set up theirs and the take it down and put it up and move it and curse and the set up sucks. I have had mine blow down when I was in it several times. It high winds come up just pull it down and wrap it around you.

Another big advantage of freestanding tents are the useable room in them compared to the ultralight tarp designs. My Z-Pack solo is really only suitable for someone who is about 5'6" as I at 5'10" cannot sit up in the tent without pushing my head against the roof. When laying down on my mattress and in the bag I cannot keep my bag from touching the tent roof at both the feet and head due to the very shallow slopes of the tent wall. Freestanding tents have walls which rise fast and create way more useable room with the same floor sq footage.

Free standing tents do not blow away - unless you forgot to put your brain on that morning. If it is real windy when you roll it out you open the door and put your pack inside it. Then you slide the poles in and you are basically done. You can set them up anywhere on anything. Can't be beat with a stick. And you actually can set them up in 2 mins which is a laughable claim seen by many tarp tent makers.

[Ethesis]

The tiny bit of validity in the point that freestanding tents still have to have the vestibule staked out is essentially meaningless. And not entirely true either as one can just not stake it at all and let it drape over the pack. For instance this tent

https://www.bigagnes.com/Products/De...eekHVPlatinum1

Is very suitable for setting up and not bothering to stake the vestibule.

A free standing tent is far superior to a tent which needs to be staked - even if you decide to stake the vestibule. It is the comparison of as many as 8 stakes to 1 on most tents. And then there is just the ease and quickness of setup. The freestanding tent cares less if the ground is flat, slopes, bumpy, rocky, solid rock, etc. The staked tent sucks on most of those things. You fight and fight with them to get them up, have stakes hold in the sand, have to tie them to rocks because the stakes cannot penetrate the rock you are on. On slopes or uneven ground you can spend an inordinate amount of time fiddling with the stakes and lines trying over and over again to get a taunt tent. And then the wind comes up and pulls all your stakes out of the ground.

I own a Z-Packs ultralight Soloplex and I hate it. It is a huge pain to get set up right. On some surfaces it just does not work. I have watched other hikers try and set up theirs and the take it down and put it up and move it and curse and the set up sucks. I have had mine blow down when I was in it several times. It high winds come up just pull it down and wrap it around you.

Another big advantage of freestanding tents are the useable room in them compared to the ultralight tarp designs. My Z-Pack solo is really only suitable for someone who is about 5'6" as I at 5'10" cannot sit up in the tent without pushing my head against the roof. When laying down on my mattress and in the bag I cannot keep my bag from touching the tent roof at both the feet and head due to the very shallow slopes of the tent wall. Freestanding tents have walls which rise fast and create way more useable room with the same floor sq footage.

Free standing tents do not blow away - unless you forgot to put your brain on that morning. If it is real windy when you roll it out you open the door and put your pack inside it. Then you slide the poles in and you are basically done. You can set them up anywhere on anything. Can't be beat with a stick. And you actually can set them up in 2 mins which is a laughable claim seen by many tarp tent makers.

Well, you put it more forcefully than I would have, but yes.