Help with tent selection

[Mulga]

Hello

I need help selecting a new tent. Me and my wife have been using a MacPac Citadel for quite some time for our walks absolutley brilliant tent for its weight. However its a bit heavy for an upcoming solo trip. Im heading to the NZ west coast in late November. It will be a 13 day backcountry trip and weight and bulk will be at a premimum. I am 190cm tall so i need room as well as enough vestuble to sore my kit and cook. I am also after a tent that won't sacrifice durability for weight and is quick to pitch. The tent will also get duty here in OZ so tempreture control is important. I have had a good read about 3 season tents both here on the forum and other places online and have narrowed the field down:

1. MacPac Celeste
2. WE Dart2 - 30d
3. Mont Moondance 2
4. MSR Hubba Hubba HP

Any input or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.


Regards

Dan

Ps. this is my first post. Great forum, keep up the good work.

[tasadam]

I don't personally know any of them, but many opinions are likely on the subject of tents.
Have you tried the search facility?
Also search for nallo or hilleberg.
My Nallo2 is great - 4 season but 2.1KG's.
190cm - will it be too short? Don't know. Someone over 6 foot mentioned a concern already on the forum, hence the katium - another search worth doing.
The Citadel is big, isn't it - more like a cathedral or a colosseum?
Stacks of space though.

Welcome to the forum!

[roysta]

I'm also going through this process at the moment and have arrived at one tent, the One Planet Gunyah 2V.
Looks good from all aspects, although the price is high.
Anyone else got one of these?

Roy

[Son of a Beach]

I did have the Gunyah short-listed, until I found out it was an all-mesh canopy (inner tent). So it would be OK for most of the time, but I think it would probably be too cold in winter or alpine areas in Tasmania. I'm hoping that they may bring out a 4 season version eventually.

[dee_legg]

Mulga,
I've never used the moondance outside but have set it up in store and spent a fair bit of time fiddling and laying in it to get a feel for it and overall i was impressed. Also heard lots of great reports about its performance in the bush.

[Ent]

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[photohiker]

Also consider the Scarp1 from Tarptent. It's generally considered to be similar to an Atko, but with twin vestibules and higher inside.

Mine has cleared customs in Sydney, should be in my letterbox this week.

Michael

[Ent]

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[photohiker]

Definitely have the supporting poles coming with the tent.

Silnylon fly tents need good ventilation, I'm hoping Henry has it about right, but there are very few reports out there. My main concern is that there may be too much ventilation on a windy location. To date, I have slept mostly in hired dome tents, which have performed ok, if a little on the heavy side. I have seen frost, but not snow.

Will definitely report. At home, we have a windy location in the Adelaide Hills, so hoping to get some testing done early...

Michael

[juney]

I can help out with 2 of these - the WE dart 2 and the Hubba Hubba HP. Sounds like the WE would suit your needs better. The internal length is unlike anything else I've seen, good vestibule room and super durable as far as denier, waterhead and pole configuration are concerned. At 2.62kg min weight its not superlight, but you definitely get your extra 800g worth in length and durability. The HP at about 1.8kg is lighter but durability and extra length go out the window. In strong winds (ie 90km)it warps a lot, didnt break, but a rough ride - I think the WE would hold its shape better.
I just had my friends who are new to the outdoors buy the WE Dart2. I think its great as an all rounder, so long as you're ok with the extra grams.
Cheers,
Juney.

[Franco]

Michael
Some are making a big deal about the gap at the bottom of the Scarp, but looking around at some other 4 season tents, that is not unique to the TT model. For example the "expedition" rated MH Trango has almost exactly the same gap in the middle of the long side ( I am not comparing the two shelters....)
Note that several owners of the down to the ground versions (Vela/Akto/Photon/Laser) report high level of condensation.
Anyway I have made a prototype of a fix for that , something that can be used when needed but not permanent. Will post that when is ready.
BTW, the English TGO magazine has a review on the Scarp 1, June edition, and Backpackinglight will have a review of the 1 soon to be followed by one on the 2.
You will need a subscription for that.

Franco

[Ent]

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[Franco]

Brett
The Scarp is 218cm long, all of it is usable. Even on a thick mat (7cm) you still have space on top of your face right at the end. The minimum height is 38cm, so for every cm short of 218 you gain some head room...( the apex of the inner is 99 cm)
See http://www.tarptent.com/scarp1.html, look also at the cutaway dimensions page. Those figures are accurate.
This picture shows an Ultralite on top of a fully inflated Exped 7 , that "pillow pump" is about at the height of my face because is sitting on top of the fully puffed up bag that what would be otherwise compressed down if my head was there.
Note that I have the pack inside beside the mat .

A major reason for condensation with some designs is that they do not promote air flow, either by not allowing air in from the bottom or not having a vent at the top. Some incorporate both "features" . One point to consider is that people that like their tents will minimise the problems (either by finding a fix or glossing over ) the ones that don't like a shelter will maximise those "problems" so often is hard to get a balanced view.
Franco

[Ent]

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[Franco]

Depends also how you perceive head room. The Scarp is 9 cm higher than the Akto at apex. I had a 185 cm guy sitting inside it on top of my Exped 7 , his head was only a few centimeters away from the inner. He seemed to be well proportioned. (some have longer legs or longer torsos...)
I like the yellow interior of the Akto but I suppose it should not be hard to dye that white TT inner if required.
Franco

[Ent]

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[Franco]

The TT grey is what is known to photographers as an 18% neutral grey, used as a guide to get the correct exposure. So inside is a bit like under a light shade rather than under a cool colour .
But yes yellow can be uplifting.

This is the mock up I did sometime ago of my "stop gap..."solution.
I am uploading the pics to give someone a chance to comment and possibly let me know if it does not make sense or not likely to work.
Essentially a larger groundcloth shaped so that the sides can be clipped up to the base of the fly, there are some reinforced patches at the bottom of the pole supporting panel and clips at the top and bottom of the corner struts .
When not needed up you would just fold some of the side fabric under it self so as to be smaller than the footprint.
Franco

[photohiker]

We're talking about this for high wind that blows through the tent right?

I'd imagine you would need to make some attempt to stop it flapping open and letting the breeze through at the midpoints between pole clips. Maybe some more clips like those that support the crossing poles or some velcro or something.

I'm not convinced this is a problem yet. Are we trying to solve something that has already been dismissed as a non-issue? Will a mod like this turn the Scarp into a condensation monster? What does Henry say?

[Franco]

Henry already expressed his opinion when he designed the tent. By the time it was released the design was already a year old, so he had plenty of time to test it out.
Your comment reflect pretty much what I think of it, however I am toying with this for the ones that are paranoid about it.
Just as I did with the freestanding "bug shelter", I have no intention to use it like that myself...
BTW, yes the strongest attachment point would have to be where my clothes peg is. I have a feeling that the peg will not be used in the final version.....
Franco

[Ent]

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[photohiker]

Chris Townsend took his Scarp on the TGO Challenge this year. I expect he may have struck a little bit of wind. Hopefully he will report...

In any sort of snow, I would expect the gap between the fly and the ground to disappear in banked up snow pretty quickly.

[Franco]

The picture I posted above is from HS. That is his prototype of the Scarp 2 mesh inner.
The fabric inner looks like this :


You can chose either (or both...)

This is an Henry Shire picture of the Scarp 2 with the poles inside ( not his favourite set up, but I like it...)

The production version is slightly different.
Franco

[wardy]

I had a mountain hardware merridian which was terrible, then got a MSR Hubba Hubba it was amazing the best tent by far Ive been in,expensive but definatly worth the money.