Tarptent doesn’t offer a specific product description of the Cloudburst 2 other than “Two and a half pounds for 2 people.” Maybe its strategy combines minimal language with the lightweight. I don’t know. But this shelter does offer many features, including:

• Hybrid bathtub floor — clip or unclip floor walls for splash, space, views, and airflow
• Unobstructed entry; 3-stake setup
• Dual arches; aerodynamic shape
• Abundant netting for views, airflow, and insect resistance; bug proof when zipped up
• Front beak shields rain, provides gear storage
• Fast setup — 2 minutes from sack to pitched
• Quick drying — inside and out in minutes
• Small packed size — stuff or fold
• Catenary ridgelines for wind, sag, and storms
• Reflective spectra cord guylines included

The tent/shelter weighs 38 oz. It offers 30 to 37 square feet of floor space with an extra 8.5 square feet of storage space under the “beak”. It has 42 inches of headroom dead center on the front pole. The floor is 84 inches long, although without using the bathtub floor, it expands to 92 inches. In addition to the tent and poles, it includes three Easton aluminum stakes and a narrow but long stuff sack.

(Just a note: I know that the term “beak” is a popular one in the Ultralight crowd — I’ve used it myself. It comes from tarp aficionados, and Ray Jardine made it popular when he wrote about making them in his book, The PCT Hiker’s Handbook, now known as Trail Life or The Ray-Way Tarp Book, but it sounds ridiculous and outside the UL crowd, it’s not well-known. Either explain what it is in your marketing or drop it. On this Tarptent, the “beak” is actually a partial-coverage vestibule.)

Tarptent Setup

When I first got the tent, I noticed a bad odor — I traded a used tent for a used tent. I looked it over for mold, but didn’t find any, so I set it up in the front yard to air out. After airing it out for two days, the odor didn’t go away, so I sponged some MiraZyme Enzyme Based Gear Deodorizer by McNett on it. That didn’t work, so I soaked it in a bucket mixed as directed and let it dry. The odor disappeared.

Even though it was my first attempt at setting it up, the tent went up surprisingly quickly. With only three lines to stake out, it’s easy to adjust the staking points to arrive at a taut pitch. I’ve owned two other tents similar in design to this shelter, a TNF Vapor and a Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight, so it wasn’t surprising that it went up fast. To put this tent up, you insert the poles into silicone nylon sleeves, insert the ends into gromments, stake out the guylines in the rear using one stake and then stake out the two front guylines by inserting the stakes through metal rings attached to the guylines. There are two guy-points on the side’s mid-points. Attaching a short length of cord to these and staking them out, increases the living space while making the tent more stable in wind. I use them in every setup.

The partial-coverage vestibule is fussy to get right. Instead of using lightweight zippers, Tarptent uses velcro to secure the two sides of the vestibule. It then uses a small velcro tab to keep the vestibule’s vent closed. It looks easy to open and close, and sort of is. The problem is that it’s actually hard to get everything aligned and closed up in a rainstorm without getting water into the vestibule area or in the tent. When the wind blows hard, the tab closing the vent opens up. I really like the idea behind the vestibule, because it allows a wide-open, a partly closed or completely closed option, but I don’t like the velcro. By using a small zipper instead of velcro, the tent might be heavier, but usability improves. That’s a trade-off when trying to save weight in a shelter and one that I think the disadvantages in this shelter outweigh the lightweight advantage. I’d take a 2 oz. heavier tent in this case for the improved usability.

This is now the third tent/shelter I’ve used that uses silicone nylon pole sleeves on the rainfly. Just like the other two tents, I found that I didn’t like the sleeves. When wet the silicone nylon sticks to the poles and makes it difficult to insert or remove. When wet, I feared ripping the fabric because of the force it took to push the poles through, so I’d carefully push them through. I’m a big fan of clips in tents and would be curious to see a tent like this that uses clips instead of sleeves.

Cloudburst in the Wind

I wasn’t able to use the tent on a trip until May. I used it on the Bayfield, Wisconsin to Houghton, Michigan section of my approximately 350-mile solo kayaking trip from Grand Marais, Minnesota to Houghton. For a several days on the trip, I holed up in the tent while seas built, and I spent a couple of days in an exposed position while gales to a strong gale (Force 8 and 9 on the Beaufort scale) blew sustained 50 mph winds at the tent. At points, when the gusts hit the tent’s side I feared a snapped pole, but the tent survived unharmed. One thing I noticed after spending days in the shelter is that the gray walls seem slightly depressing. I wanted the gray to keep the tent hidden, but that stealthy look takes a mental toll when holed up solo for a couple of days in a nasty storm.

Livability

Lots of space for the weight sums up my feeling about the livability. For a solo paddler, the tent seems luxurious for its weight. For two paddlers, it’s plenty big leaving room for gear at your feet or in the vestibule. The only downside in this style of tunnel tent is that the highest point is in the middle of the front pole. At 42 inches, it’s high enough to sit upright, but only for one person. It’s not comfortable to play cards in the tent.

Because of the large front door and the bug netting surrounding the perimeter of the tent, it’s breezy, which means less condensation. During cold spells or rainstorms, rain flaps roll down covering the sides. This helps stop splash back from the rain from getting into the tent and it cuts back on ventilation. I found the feature handy on cold windy nights when I wanted more warmth. That said like any tent at some point condensation is going to form. When it does, I found I needed to carefully get in and out of the tent or I’d have a wet head. Because the floor space is so large, I seldom experienced any accidental brushing of the tent’s sides with my sleeping bag.

In addition to the rain flaps to fight rain the Cloudburst 2 includes a bathtub style floor. It’s similar to the one in the Tarptent Double Rainbow, and I had the same issues with this one. You form that bathtub by clipping cords into the side of the tent. This pulls up the floor. While a good idea, in practice we found that it easily collapsed if anything was placed on it or near it. My partner said that during the rain she’d wake up worrying that the bathtub floor was collapsed. When thinking about other tents that include a bathtub floor, the point was to get the seams away from the ground and not to form some type of bathtub enclosure. Here, the tent must form an enclosure, because it doesn’t have traditional sides. It’s a challenge to come up with something that works like a tent, and I still don’t think Tarptent solved the challenge. I like the idea, but it just doesn’t work as well as I hoped.

One of the worst features other than the velcro on the vestibule  is the door. The door consists of three separate zippers that meet in the center of the floor. This means at a minimum, you need to unzip two to get out of the tent. Usually, after you get out the third zipper partially opens, which means closing three zippers to keep bugs from getting in. Then on the return trip, it happens all over. To go the bathroom in the middle of the night that means you open and close the zippers six times — maybe I’m spoiled by tents that use one zipper to open a door. I know this “feature” lets you completely open the bug netting when there are no bugs, but when there are, like in canoe country, it’s a serious PITA. A circular zipper would improve the tent ten fold. Plus, there’s a little hole left open where the zippers meet. If you know Minnesota mosquitoes, you know they’ll find it and get in.

Performance in the Rain

Overall performance in the rain is fine. The rainflaps combined with the partially functional bathtub floor, perimeter bug netting and large floor space keeps rain splash out of the tent. The bottom of the tent is long enough to prevent rain from coming into the foot area. The vestibule prevents rain from entering from the front. The only real problem I noticed is getting in and out. I mentioned this above and I’ll mention it again. The velcro makes it difficult to get a complete and quick seal of the vestibule when getting into and out of the tent, and the velcro tab that holds the vent closed comes loose in the wind. Both combine to get water into the living space. A zipper and a side release buckle would improve the vestibule and be worth the extra weight. Plus, the requirement to open and close zippers six times slows down the process.

Lots of users of silicone nylon complain about misting, which is a light mist falling in the tent when it’s raining. I think misting is formed when condensation is knocked off the ceiling by raindrops. We never experienced it in this tent. I think that because it’s so breathable, condensation doesn’t form very often.

Packing Away the Cloudburst

Here’s my biggest problem with this category of shelters: When packing away, you lose the benefit of a tarp and a two-part tent. A huge advantage of using a tarp is that when you’re ready to pack up, the tarp comes down last. You pack up everything under the tarp while still being protected from the rain. When finished the tarp is the only wet item. With a tent, you remove the rainfly, quickly pack the canopy, and the canopy doesn’t get too wet. With a Tarptent everything gets wet, because the floor isn’t removable. When setting up camp the following night, the floor is wet, the bug netting is wet and the tarp is wet. If it’s still raining out, it primes the tent for a night of misting. Luckily, I never experienced a Minnesota multi-day soaker in this tent, because it would be a miserable affair to change campsites.

The narrow but long stuff sack makes it hard to stuff the tent away. It’s much easier to roll it around the poles and slide it into the stuff sack than it is to stuff it.

One Small Note about the Easton Tent Stakes

One of the Easton tent stakes included with the Cloudburst 2 broke. The head came off when I pushed the stake into the ground using my shoe. I didn’t notice the problem until I pulled the stake out and the head came off. I wrote Easton about the problem. They wrote back:

We understand there have been some issues with the heads coming off a small percentage of our stakes. There was a problem with some of the heads not being completely pressed down on the stakes, so when they were hit with a hammer it would break the glue seal and the head would pop off. Please be assured that we have addressed this issue and made the appropriate changes, as well as implementing a 100% quality check for all our stakes now.

We stand behind our products and appreciate your business. Please destroy and dispose of the stakes, and know that another one is on its way.

Instead of one stake, they sent me two. I appreciate the customer service that I received and how Easton handled the problem.

Overall Thoughts on the Tarptent Cloudburst 2

Overall, I like this tent/shelter. For the weight, it offers lots of floor space. It’s hard to find another tent at this weight with all the poles included — they usually need trekking poles or paddles. It’s comfortable to sleep in. It’s mainly rainproof. Setup is easy. To fix the negatives, the door needs just one zipper instead of three. I’d prefer a zipper and a side release buckle instead of velcro on the vestibule, but I put up with the faulty closure system because the rest of the tent is good. If you’re looking at a Tarptent, this one is a good choice.

Price: $260 | More Info

This article originally appeared on PaddlingLight.com. Leave a comment and an opinion by clicking through here: Tarptent Cloudburst 2 Review

The GearPods Shelter system includes a one-person ripstop nylon tarp, 25 feet of nylon cord, 6 Line-Lok® Line Tensioners, and a hypothermia/thermal space blanket. The tarp is double coated with silicon for maximum water protection and features 9 fabric tie loops including a reinforced center loop. A large container (3.25” diameter, 4.75” height) holds the kit. The tarp itself is bright orange. The orange is a great color for emergencies, but for blending into the woods, it’s not that great. Considering that this is sold as an emergency tarp, it’s hard to fault the orange.

Includes:

• GearPods Adventure Tarp: Ultralight one-person silicon-coated ripstop nylon tarp (4.5′ x 6.5′)
• Thermal blanket
• 1.4 mm Nylon Cord – 70lbs breaking strength (25ft)
• Six (6) line tensioners (1-2mm)
• Printed instructions (PDF)
• GearPods Large Container (3.25” diameter, 4.75” height) with sticker on outside designating the contents
• Stuff sack

Weights:

• Tarp w/cord and tensioners – 5.7 ounces
• Stuff sack – 0.3 ounces
• Space blanket – 1.8 ounces
• Large Container – 3.3 ounces
• Total: 11.1 ounces
• Extras (not included): Four stakes – 1.9 ounces

Set-Up on the GearPods Shelter

To prepare the GearPods Shelter for use, you must decide how to cut-up the supplied cord. I’m a big fan of using tarps to camp under, and my typical system is to use two 10-foot lengths for the ridge line, four 5-foot lengths for the corners, and 3.5-foot lengths everywhere else. With only 25 feet of cord to work with and such a small tarp (4.5′ x 6.5′), I decided to cut the cord into four equal lengths and using bowlines tie a length to each corner. This set-up allows me to pitch the front with my kayak paddle (shown in the picture), and I can vary the height of the shelter’s back to gain more usable space in light rain. If GearPods included 40 feet of cord, I think the tarp would be more versatile. Luckily, it’s easy to buy more cord, and if you’re so inclined, GearPods sells a 40-foot length of paracord. Because the tarp doesn’t come with stakes, I threw four into my boat for testing (1.9 ounces). I recommend preparing the tarp before using it in the field, because during an emergency, the quicker you can complete chores, the more you can take advantage of adrenaline. Fiddly knot tying on small diameter cord slows work down.

Testing the Tarp

After preparing the tarp, it’s easy to set-up. Stake the rear corners out taut at 45 degree angles to the tarp, wrap each front line around the paddles shaft, and stake out the front two lines. Then adjust the line tensioners to make the tarp taut. The tarp itself is small. At only 4.5′ x 6.5′ it’s a tight squeeze to fit completely under while lying on the ground. With any rain splash, to stay dry, you must use the included space blanket to cover up with. In a survival situation, you’re going to remain in one location until rescue. While waiting for rescue, you’ll be able to shore-up the sides with sticks, etc. to help prevent rain from coming in. For day-to-day use, I’d much prefer a slightly larger tarp. A 5′ x 8′ tarp doesn’t seem that much bigger on paper, but in use the extra length allows for different and drier set-ups. I’d like to see another option from GearPods that provides a larger tarp with their kits.

If I’m going to carry a piece of gear, I want it to perform double duty and this tarp does do that. Using a slightly higher set-up raising both the front and back provides just enough room for two people to comfortably cook. If I’m using a tent for sleeping, I’d be tempted to bring along this tarp just to use as a cooking shelter. On several trips, I’ve been windbound under tarps for days at a time. With just two people, this one would probably work as a place to get out of the wind.

On the medical and first responder front, the tarp is just big enough to package a hypothermic victim. Combining it with the space blanket and any insulation you have on hand could make a nice response kit.

Repacking the Shelter System

The hardest part about using the GearPods systems in general is repacking the contents after use. They’re stuffed into the containers tightly. I’ve found that practicing replacing the items at home significantly increases the speed of repacking in the field. The Shelter System is no different. The space blanket works best if wrapped around the outside of the container (if you use the blanket, all bets are off, because they are near impossible to fold back into to small package). I found that folding the tarp and then rolling it so it’s the same height as the container works best for stuffing it into the sack. Once it’s into the sack, getting it into the container takes some force.

Additional Comments

Space blankets have their uses, but for a slight price upgrade, GearPods offers the Shelter Pro. It includes Adventure Medical Kit’s Heatsheets Emergency Bivy. If you’re expecting to spend the night out with just a GearPods kits, the bivy upgrade is worthwhile. Plus, the Sherlter Pro includes a poncho.

Overall

Although I’d prefer a slightly larger tarp and more cord to rig the set-up, the GearPods Shelter system packs a lot into a small container. Considering that this is included with the much larger GearPods Wilderness system, I’d say that it provides the necessary function. As a piece of emergency gear, you’d be hard pressed to find anything as functional in a package the same size and weight. For adventurers looking for a small kitchen tarp, the price seems right. For guides looking for an emergency shelter to hold an injured person before evac, it’s about the right size. If you’re looking for a small tarp, check this one out before you buy; for the price, it’s a good deal.

My Other Reviews of the GearPods Kits

• GearPods Shelter Kit Review
• GearPods Health Kit Review
• GearPods Survival Pro Review

Get GearPods Now:

• GearPods Wilderness at Amazon.com.

This article originally appeared on PaddlingLight.com. Leave a comment and an opinion by clicking through here: GearPods Shelter Kit Review

Initial Thoughts Upon Receiving the Tarptent

When I decided to purchase the Double Rainbow, I noticed a waiting list, so I exchanged emails with Henry Shires, the owner of Tarptent. He quickly answered all the email I sent to him before the purchase, so I made the assumption that the customer service would be quite good. Settled on a long wait, somehow my Double Rainbow showed up at the door a little earlier than I had believed it would. The waiting list for this tent was long, but, maybe, his production was faster than expected. This was a good as I’ve often believed in the concept under-promise and over-deliver, but I was slightly disappointed with the product right out of the box.

Upon initial inspection, I found several problems. The worst was a hole between the tarp and the bug netting. It looked like during production, the seamstress forgot to sew about a 1″ section of the netting into the seam. This was also noted as a problem in another online review. It was also missing a small bungee required to engage the bathtub floor. Having found several problems, I decided to look the product over more extensively and ended up finding overall bad stitching and loose threads. Now, I understand that silicone nylon is extremely difficult to sew, but I expect better in a $250 high-end product.

Double Rainbow’s Bug Protection

One of the reasons that I decided to try a Tarptent instead of just a tarp, which is what I’ve been using outside of the bug season, is because in the BWCA and the Northland, the bugs are unbearable for much of the June through August summer camping season. I love camping under tarps, because of their openness, but a tent has always seemed to me to offer much better bug protect. The product seemed to offer the best of both worlds. A tarp with the protection from bugs.

Unfortunately, with the hole in the netting it wouldn’t provide bug protection until I fixed the hole. Luckily, I live with an expert stitcher, and she fixed the hole. (Note: I contacted Tarptent twice about the hole and never received a reply.)

Problem solved until I found a “design feature” that allows bugs into the tent. At the point where the pole exits sleeve there is a section of bug netting which isn’t stitched into the tent. This allows no-see-ums, black flies, and mosquitoes to come into the tent as they please. It’s a very small hole, but non-the-less is there and could allow bugs in.

Setting up the Double Rainbow

The Tarptent Double Rainbow tent can be set-up in two ways, either freestanding via the use of trekking poles or by staking out the corners. The freestanding way is interesting for those that hike with trekking poles, because it allows you to set the tent up quickly and easily move it around if you have to. Unfortunately, I tore out one the pockets the trekking poles fit into. The stitching looked to be backed up upon itself, but very little force caused the whole row of stitches to fail. I emailed Tarptent for a replacement, and they quickly sent it to me.

That wasn’t a huge setback for me, because generally, I’m a paddler and not so much a hiker, despite that fact that I’ve thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 1996. So, for me, set-up hasn’t been negatively affected by the loss of the trekking pole pocket. To set-up this tent, you thread a pole through a very tight pole sleeve, it gets hung up at the center when the sleeve runs under the permanent pole in the center of the tent. After fiddling with the center pole, the main pole threads out to a confusing jumble of stuff at the grommet. The pole is then inserted into a grommet on each side and the four corners are staked out. On rock beaches, you must tie rope extensions to the tent’s corner to tie around rocks.

The main pole’s sleeve is made from a silicone nylon and isn’t very durable. Somehow, before the seventh night out, I ended up putting a hole into the sleeve.

There are several options for set-up that I haven’t tried. The most interesting is the ability to have one or both of the vestibules propped open and upright using trekking poles or paddles. This allows a more breezy set-up for days without rain or with rain that is falling straight down. I like the concept and it reminds my of the way I can set-up my old Sierra Design tent. The problem with the set-up is the extra flap of material required to make it work is constantly getting in the way when the set-up isn’t used. There is a ribbon that is suppose to tie it back, but the ribbon doesn’t seem to hold a knot. A minor problem, but annoying. Plus, if you dump water onto this flap, the water comes into the sleeping area, so it’s unlikely to get used during heavy rain when more ventilation is needed to reduce the condensation issues this tent has.

Generally, set-up is relatively quick and except for the center pole bind up and the confusing mess of “stuff” at the grommet it is painless. If you’re not a fan of tents that require staking out to set-up, then this tent isn’t for you.

Tarptent’s Livability

The Double Rainbow has much going for it livability-wise. It’s roomy and long. It has plenty of headroom – enough to allow two people to sit-up and play cards. It has two doors and two small vestibules. Great for storing shoes and other small items. The double doors are wonderful for getting in and out of the tent during the night without waking up your partner. The width is just right for a couple. It’s a bit tight for two friends. My significant other describes it as “cozy.”

The Tarptent is also very breezy on windy day, but on calm damp days it fails to breath. This failure combined with the lack of a double wall creates the perfect situation for major condensation problems. We found on typical Minnesota calm all night soakers the walls and ceiling of the tent become so saturated with condensation that when the rain picks up and starts pounding on the tent, the drops force the condensation back into the air in the form of a light mist. During one of the nights on which this occurred, I contemplated going out to the cooking tarp and sleeping under it. Some people may note that what we experienced was silicone nylon leaking through under pressure, but my cooking tarp is made from the same silicone nylon material, and the underside was completely dry. The problem is associated with a lack a ventilation, IMO.

We also noticed that the Tarptent Double Rainbow seemed to be warmer than sleeping under a tarp, this came in handy on a surprise sub-freezing night kayaking on Lake Nipigon in Canada. I only had a 30 degree bag with me, so I enjoyed the extra warmth the tent provided.

A last livability issue deals with the floor. It’s twofold; first, the floor is sold as being a bathtub. This bathtub floor should keep rain from running under the tent and into the living area. The bathtub is created by pulling bungees attached to the ground cloth out around the stakes. It’s a nice idea, but any inside pressure from a sleeping bag, book, pillow, etc… cause the bathtub to collapse. It doesn’t really work with two people. With just one, it seems to hold up better. The second issue is that the floor is made from silicon nylon, which is very very slippery. Despite following instruction to caulk lines onto the floor to help stop mattress pads from slipping around, they still do. Set-up on any slight incline and expect to find yourself at the other end of the tent shortly.

A little nit-pick is the size of the zippers, these are extremely small and hard to pull with gloves or cold hands. The small size also leads me to believe that they will fail at some point sooner rather than later, but I haven’t seen a failure yet. I’ve seen it in other items using a similar sized zipper.

Rainproof?

Overall, the Tarptent Double Rainbow is waterproof, but is is rainproof? I’ve found a couple of faults. The first is that this tent is extremely difficult to seam seal correctly. The instruction mention that it should be done twice, which I did, but still in the field the seams would eventually end up dripping. Expect to work on seam sealing much longer than you’d have to with a normal tent or tarp.

A second is the way the tent’s canopy ends above the ground at the narrow ends of the floor. If there is a lot of splash coming from the rain, it comes in the ends. I woke up one night to a soaked hat!
And the condensation issues mentioned above make this a wet tent on some nights. Much wetter than a traditional double walled tent or a 8′x10′ tarp. Tarptent sells a condensation barrier. They claim this solves some of these problems.

In the Wind

On several occasions, I’ve had the Double Rainbow in strong winds including a wind storm with sustained 20 knot winds gusting up to 30 knots. The larger trees were swaying around us and I set up the campsite, so the Tarptent would take the brunt of the winds and my friend’s Hubba Hubba would be the most sheltered. Impressively, the Double Rainbow withstood these winds without much collapse on the windward side. With the pole facing into anticipated winds, I suspect that the tent could withstand stronger than Gale force winds. Especially, with a line attached to the guy point.

Take Down and Packing Away

One of the reason that I love camping under a tarp is that when I’m ready to pack up, I can stuff all my gear into portage packs, dry bags and remain dry while doing it. The ground cloth even remains dry on one side when I pack it up. The tarp comes down last and if soaked stays outside the waterproof seal of my pack. If it’s a sunny day, the tarp can come out a lunch and sway in the wind for 15 minutes and get dried.

The Tarptent, on the other hand, doesn’t retain any of the goodness of tarps. You can pack your gear up, but the ground cloth is attached to the tent, so it’s going to get wet when you pack up the tent. Combine this with the sticky when wet pole binding sleeve, the snake like stuff sack and it feels like your trying to stuff a wet slipper snake into a hole too small for it. During the process the entire tent gets soaked. Then at lunch, to dry it, you have to spend time setting the tent up, which takes too much time, so it doesn’t get done. And if it rains all day, when setting the tent back up, it’s soaked and primed for a misty night. Even with a sponge or towel to wipe up the water, it is a wet affair.

In some regards, the packing away of the Tarptent is worse than a standard tent. With a standard tent, at least, you can separate the wet rainfly from the dry canopy. And I’ve never seen a tent stuff sack so oddly and oblongly shaped. It only works well if you tightly roll the tent around the poles and stuff the tent into the bag rolled up.

Overall and Conclusion

I have formed the general opinion that the tent is flawed and not worth the $250 that I paid for it. The general stitching and quality problems plus the failure of the trekking pole sleeve and the pole sleeve leave me wondering and waiting for the next failure. The condensation issues and wetness of the tent had me often regretting I just didn’t take a tarp or something else like my Big Agnes Seedhouse 2 SL.

The comfort, ultralight weight and livability of the tent for the perfect conditions and the strength in the wind are pluses for this tent, but not enough to keep the tent in my closet. I traded the tent for a Tarptent Cloudburst 2 early in 2009. After putting the Cloudburst 2 through some impressive conditions including sustained Gales with gusts to 50mph, I’ve concluding it is a much more impressive tent. If you’re looking to buy a Tarptent, skip the Double Rainbow and get a Cloudburst instead.

This article originally appeared on PaddlingLight.com. Leave a comment and an opinion by clicking through here: Tarptent Double Rainbow Review

It’s Lightweight

Although weighing fewer than four pounds and built with silicone nylon, the Seedhouse seems durable enough. During the testing period, the nylon held up without a scratch even without using a ground tarp to protect the floor, but the mesh canopy has developed many runs and a couple holes in the pockets during this time. It seems that with this tent some durability is sacrificed for reduced weight. UPDATE: 2/10/06 – The zipper on the canopy also tore out and had to be repaired in the field when my backpacking partner tripped and fell onto the tent.

That there Zipper Leaks like a Sieve

In order to accomplish some of the weight savings, Big Agnus has chosen
to use a waterproof zipper. By doing this, they were able to skip using
rain flaps to cover the zipper and save the weight of fabric. Although
this works and the zipper is waterproof, one night during a thunderstorm,
I awoke to the drip, drip, drip of a Chinese water torture coming down
on my head. In the morning, I discovered that the seam joining the zipper
to the rain fly wasn’t factory sealed. I made it through the rest
of the trip and then sealed the seam and haven’t had any problems
since then. This isn’t the only problem with the vestibule door
and rain though. When entering or exiting the tent during rain, the
door allows water to fall into the inside of the tent. I found that
I had to smack the tent to make most the water run down the front of
the tent, so the vibration of opening the zipper wouldn’t cause
water to run into the tent. If I were to redesign this tent, I would
change the vestibule door to a two-zipper design with each zipper running
from the stake to the top of the tent. Then you could use trekking poles,
paddles, etc … to hold up the vestibule door and become an awning.
(This would be similar to the SD Meteor Light.)

Condensation

The specter of condensation was held at bay even during hot humid midwestern
days in August, except no matter where placed, in the morning there
would be a good amount of condensation between the tent floor and the
ground. I haven’t seen this often in any of the tents that I’ve
used before, so it remains a mystery to me. I suspect it has something
to do with the silnylon used.

Shine on You Crazy Diamond

One of my favorite features in the tent is the pocket above the door.
If you put a headlamp in this pocket it points down into the tent and
provides the right amount of light for playing games, reading books,
or just organizing the maps for the next day.

Here a Zipper, There a…

In contrast to the great placement of the above-mentioned pocket, the
zippers leave a lot to be desired. The canopy door uses two zippers
that meet in the lower right corner. This makes several problems, the
first of which is that the person sleeping on the left side of the tent
has to fumble over the person on the right side in order to open the
door. The second is much more annoying: When opening the door to adjust
the venting of the vestibule zipper, you have to open the zipper very
widely, which in the Minnesota Northwoods during bug season lets a ton
of blood suckers into the tent. It is also hard to get the zippers to
come together and close completely, which results in a small hole that
bugs, somehow manage to get into. Had Big Agnus used a door that opened
to the bottom instead of the side and had they used one continuous zipper
with two pulls the tent would have been much more user friendly.

Wow! It’s Tight in Here

Inside a Big Agnes Seedhouse SL 2

The Set-Up

This tent uses a unique pole system to set up. The pole is a single
pole with hubs at either end that split into two separate poles. (This
is what Eureka should have done with the classic Boy Scout tent, the
Timberline.) This makes it easy to set-up, and when staked out with
only 5 stakes, it is solid in storms. During several nasty windstorms
in the Boundary Waters, the tent didn’t budge a bit. The set-up
and design impressed me, but by the end of the year, the poles where
starting to bend into a curved shape.

Conclusion

Although, I have said a few negative things about this tent, I feel
that overall, it is a great lightweight tent and by far the best out
of all of the sub four to four and a half pound tents. In order to reach
that weight, they had to compromise on a few design issues: the weight
of the bug mesh, placement of the door on the rain fly, but these are
small issues. The biggest flaw that the tent has is the zipper design
on the canopy. This needs to be fixed. I recommend this tent for anyone
looking for the best of the lightweight tents on the market.

UPDATE – 2/10/06

After a reader wrote to me thanking me for the review, he mentioned that the waterproof zipper now had a rain flap over it. So, I checked it on Big Agnes’s website, gave Big Agnes a call. They told me to send the tent in for a replacement, and when it came back I had a new fly with the rain flap over the zipper. This fixes all the water problems I had with the zipper — a huge improvement. On the warranty sheet, I failed to mention the ripping out of the door zipper on the canopy and the holes in the bug netting, so they didn’t repair or replace the canopy. Mainly, that was my fault, because, coming from retail, when we sent a defective item in with most companies, they would just send us back a new one. I assumed that this would be the same with this tent. The lesson I learned was to fill out the form with every problem you’ve had with the item. My fault for assuming and not theirs. This rain fly fix – the new flap – puts this tent back on top as the king of sub-four pound tents. It is highly recommended.

Update – 12/1/2009

Still my favorite sub-4-pound, two-person tent.

Date Reviewed: 10/16/2004
Date Updated: 07/08/2005

This article originally appeared on PaddlingLight.com. Leave a comment and an opinion by clicking through here: Review: Big Agnes Seedhouse SL 2