Appy Trails Mark III Tent
Reviewed By Pat
McNeilly
Initial Report: March 14, 2009
Field Report: June 17, 2009
Long-Term Report: August 21, 2009
Name: Pat McNeilly
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Height:
5’ 8” (1.7 m)
Weight: 155 lb (70 kg)
Email address: mcne4752 at yahoo dot com.
City, State, Country: Gaithersburg,
Maryland, USA
Backpacking Background:
I have been hiking for at least 20 years but backpacking for only the last four
years. Most of my backpacking is done as
overnight trips and occasional weekend and weeklong trips. My typical pack weight is approximately 18 to
20 lb (8 to 9 kg) before food or water.
Most of my backpacking is the three season variety in the mountains of Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and West
Virginia. In
addition to backpacking, I also fish, hunt, and enjoy orienteering. As a result, some of my backpacking equipment
gets use in a number of different venues.
Product Information:
Product: Mark III Tent
Manufacturer: Appy Trails
Year of Manufacture: 2009
Color: Green
URL: http://www.appytrails.com/
MSRP: $99.95 USD
Item
|
Weight (listed)
|
Weight (measured)
|
Tent
|
1
lb 2.7 oz (0.53 kg)
|
1
lb 2.4 oz (0.52 kg)
|
Stuff
Sack
|
0.6
oz (17 g)
|
0.5
oz (14 g)
|
Pole
set
|
4.4
oz (125 g)
|
4.4
oz (125 g)
|
Stakes
( set of 9)
|
3
oz (85 g)
|
3
oz (85 g)
|
Guy
line
|
Not
listed
|
0.4
oz (11 g)
|
Stake
bag
|
Not
listed
|
0.1
oz (3 g)
|
Initial Report
Review Date: March 14, 2009
Product
Description :
The Appy Trails Mark III Tent is a lightweight
single-walled floorless shelter designed for ultralight
backpacking. The shelter utilizes a
single pole to support the front with a second pole and guy line in the rear
for stability. The Mark III is designed
to sleep two while using a single pole or three if the tent’s peak is supported
by a rope from above.
The Mark III Tent is constructed of 185T polyester with a PU1000 waterproof
coating and has an elongated hexagonal footprint. The length measured 122 in (310 cm) [listed
length, 120 in (305 cm)] while its width measured 82 in (208 cm) [listed width,
91 in (231 cm)] at the widest point. All
the seams are taped with the exception of a few that meet near the apex which
appeared to be sealed. The stitching appears to be of good quality with only a
few short threads noticeable where seams end.
The tent is supported by one aluminum 43.75 in (111 cm) shock-corded,
three-section pole with a diameter of 0.4 in (11 mm). The pole is inserted into a circular
reinforced plastic cap at the tent’s apex.
The top 1.5 in (4 cm) of the pole is narrower than the rest of the pole
and extends through the top of the tent when inserted into the cap. A 20.5 in (52 cm) solid aluminum pole is
also included with the tent. This pole
is used to elevate the rear guy line creating additional tension on the
fabric. This pole has small notch at one
end to help secure the rear guy line.
The Mark III has two covered mesh vents to allow for airflow. The first is a triangular vent in the front
of the tent near the apex. This vent
measures 7 in x 10 in (18 cm x 25 cm) and has a cover the same size on the
inside which closes using hook and loop fasteners at the top. This front vent is covered on the outside by
a triangular piece of fabric which has a 1 in x 13 in (2.5 cm x 33 cm) foam
stiffener sewn into it to keep the vent open in bad weather. On the foot end of the tent, there is a 7 in
x 20 in (18 cm x 51 cm) mesh vent. This
vent also has a fabric cover on the inside which closes using hook and loop
fasteners. This vent sits below the
triangular piece of fabric which attaches to the tent’s guy line. This guy line needs to be tightened for a
proper pitch so the vent is covered whenever the tent is in use.
The tent is supplied with nine 6 in (15cm) aluminum stakes to secure the
tent. The tent has eight 0.5 in (1.3 cm)
grommets to which the stakes are inserted.
Each grommet is reinforced with a 0.75 in (2 cm) square piece of
webbing. The grommets are arranged at
each corner of the hexagon shape plus an additional grommet on each of the long
sides of the tent. The tent’s guy line
attaches to a 0.5 in x 1 in (1.3 cm x 2.5 cm) webbing loop attached to a
triangular piece of fabric which covers the rear vent. The guy line provided is an 8 ft (244 cm)
length of woven nylon cord with a plastic cord tensioner
attached and utilizes the ninth stake.
The Mark III has a single door on one side of the tent. The door closes with a 54 in (137 cm) zipper
which is covered by a 1.75 in (4.5 cm) fabric flap. The flap covering the zipper also secures
with three 1 in x 1.75 in (2.5 cm x 4.5 cm) patches of hook and loop fasteners
spaced evenly along the length of the flap.
The door may also be rolled back and kept out of the way with a single
tie back loop and peg located 26 in (66 cm) from the bottom of the fabric.
Product Review:
When I first opened the package containing the Mark III Tent there were three
things that I noticed, the first was that the product was very light; the
second was that the poles do not fit into the bag with the rest of the tent;
and lastly was that the stuff sack was orange.
I expected a very light tent and was happy to see that. Not having all the components of a tent
wrapped up in one single package did throw me off a bit. I don’t really see this as a problem since I
often carry my tent poles separately from the rest of the tent. After reading some of the accompanying
material, I learned that the manufacturer purposely made the stuff sack orange
so that it may be harder to misplace. I
thought this to be a small but very practical and thoughtful detail.
I decided to see how easy it was to set up the Mark III. I read through the instructions and took it
into my backyard and found that it only took me a 5 minutes to completely set
the tent up. I found that it went up
very easily and appeared to produce a fairly taut pitch, even on the first
try. I was impressed with the set-up and
had myself wondering whether it will be so easy when dealing with hard ground
or rocky terrain. The manufacturer also
indicates that the Mark II can be set up with trekking poles instead of using
the poles supplied with the tent which I will try during testing.
Once set up, I found that the tent is very spacious. I can easily lie down in the tent without
fear of touching the walls and I have no problems sitting up at the front end
of the tent. It appears that this would
accommodate two people without much problem.
Adding a third seems like it might be tight and would require hanging
the tent from above, as the manufacturer suggests. I did lay across the widest part of the tent
(even though the pole was in the way) and felt that I could lie across without
much difficulty. The front portion of
the tent forms a large area which should be able to accommodate gear for two
people.
The tent’s door closes with a zipper, as well as with hook and loop
fasteners. The zipper operates smoothly
but, from the outside, the hook and loop fasteners tend to get in the way and
required two hands top open. The two
mesh vents both have internal fabric covers that can be used in bad
weather. I had not expected these since
the vents also have covers on the outside.
These are a simple design but a nice detail.
The stakes fit through grommets and not webbing loops. My first thought was that I have seen
grommets pull out on tarps I have used.
I was glad to see that the grommets are reinforced with patches of
webbing, which will, hopefully, make them stronger. I also noted that the grommets seemed rather
small. The stakes supplied with the Mark
III easily fit into the grommets but any stake with a diameter greater than 0.5
in (1.3 cm), such as a “Y” stake, will have to be secured in some other
fashion.
The tent’s stuff sack measures 4.75 in x 14 in (12 cm x 36 cm) and the tent can
easily fit into the sack. Although, I
found that I had a hard time getting my hand into the stuff sack to push
material all the way to the bottom when packing the tent. The manufacturer provides instructions on
compressing the tent in the stuff sack.
This is done by forcing the tent into the sack; putting a twist in the
opening close to the compressed tent; and pulling the rest of the sack over on
top of itself. Although I can compress
the tent in this fashion, I have not been able to get it to 4.75 in x 6.5 in
(12 cm x 17 cm) as the manufacturer suggests.
The seams of the tent are either factory taped or sealed. I did not find any problems with the taping
but did notice that seam sealer was applied very thickly in a couple
areas. This was primarily around the
point where the front pole passes through the tent or around the area of the
rear vent. It did not appear that there
were any spots which were not sealed.
Field
Report
Review Date: June 17, 2009
Field Conditions:
Since
my initial report, I have used the Mark III Tent for a total of seven nights on
three weekend trips in central Maryland, the Delaware Water Gap National
Recreation (New Jersey), and the Michaux State Forest
in Pennsylvania; as well as an overnight car camping trip in the area of Great
North Mountain in the George Washington National Forest (West Virginia). The hiking distances covered were anywhere
from 5 to 8 miles (8 km to 13 km) per day and elevations ranged from 250 ft (76
m) in Maryland to 3000 ft (914 m) in West Virginia. The trail conditions in all these areas would
be called rocky. The temperatures ranged
from 45 F to 80 F (7 C to 27 C) and we have had rather wet conditions this
spring and I did have light to moderate rain on two of these trips.
Although I did encounter rain, I did not have very windy conditions on
these trips.
Product Review:
The Mark III Tent has been a good shelter for the most part. I find that it sets up easily and
quickly. The space inside seems to be
very adequate for two and really luxurious for one. Using the center pole that was included with
the tent, my son and I could sleep comfortably and have room for gear
inside. I tended to keep my pack
outside, even though there was room, if the weather was nice. The rear of the tent slopes but is raised off
the ground enough so as to allow space for two to sleep without touching the
sides. Sitting up is pretty easy but I
found myself having to slide myself toward the front of the tent to sit
completely up without hitting my head.
I
found that when setting up the tent that it is important to make sure the two
front stakes are in and that the center pole is vertical and tightly pitched
when attempting to stake out the rear guy line.
If the fabric isn’t taut, I found a tendency for the center pole to be
pulled away from vertical and I couldn’t get a proper pitch (too low). I did have opportunity to hang the tent from
an overhead line. This was a great way
to have lots of unobstructed inside space.
It took more time to get a good pitch (I didn’t time it) but did allow
for plenty of space for my wife and I, plus our dog. There did appear to be space for three people
but the third person had better be rather small and be willing to sleep
scrunched up a bit. If there were to be
three inside the tent, gear would have to be stored elsewhere.
A couple of minor things about setting up the Mark III that I thought I would
mention include the fact that when using the poles supplied, I found it was
important to put something under the poles to keep them from sinking into soft
ground. This was particularly important
with the short rear pole. It has such a
small diameter that any tension on the pole when on soft ground would push the
pole into the ground and the rear of the tent would sag. Also, the plastic cap at the tent’s apex has
a 3/16 in (5 mm) hole. Obviously, when hanging
the tent, a rope larger than this will be difficult to fit through the opening,
so some planning is required. Standard
550 paracord was perfect for hanging the tent. I simply fed it through the opening, tied a
figure eight on a bight and attached it to a second supporting line (this also
allowed for a hang loop inside the tent).
I would say that the Mark III has good ventilation with the help of the two
mesh vents. I find the rear vent a
little bit difficult to reach due to the sloping walls but that really hasn’t
been a problem. There were a couple
times when I could feel the air flow, even when there wasn’t much of a breeze
blowing outside. I note this because I
can’t say that I often feel the air movement in other enclosed shelters (maybe
a tarp, but not in a tent). The
ventilation does seem to help with keeping condensation down. It doesn’t eliminate it completely
though. I did have condensation on the
inside during a night were I had some moderate rain. This wasn’t unexpected with a single-wall
shelter. A nice thing about the Mark III
is that I found it dries quickly and, since it doesn’t have a floor, it is easy
to turn it over and dry it in the sun.
I also like the design of the door. I am
able to get in and out without rubbing my back against the fabric. The zipper is easy to reach from the inside
and operates smoothly. The zipper runs
almost straight up and down which makes it easy to open and doesn’t require me
to stretch far to reach the end of the zipper like in some tent vestibules. The flap covering the zipper also has three hook and loop patches which help to keep the door closed
when getting in and out frequently. I
find this feature very helpful when it is raining. The tie back loop to keep the door open has
been a nice thing to have although I find the loop a little small and it can
take some effort to feed the peg through the loop.
The one real problem I have with the tent is that there is tearing at the
grommets. Over the past couple months, I have had two of the grommets start to tear
out. One is toward the front where the
zipper is and the other is along one side of the tent. A tight pitch can put strain on the grommets
but I didn’t think I had it so tight that the grommets should pull out. I also didn’t have any serious wind to put
extra strain on the tent. While the
grommets are backed with webbing, the webbing is only sewn along the edge of
the tent and does not completely encircle the grommet. This seems to allow for the fabric away from
the edge of the tent to pull away from the grommet. I’m not clear why the manufacturer used
grommets and simply didn’t use small webbing loops which, in my experience,
seem to hold just fine.
Long-Term
Report
Review Date: August 21, 2009
Field Conditions:
Since my Field Report, I have only had opportunity to use the tent twice. Both involved weekend trips in the George
Washington National Forest of Virginia or West Virginia. The weather conditions included temperatures
ranging from 55 F to 90 F (13 C to 32 C) and high humidity. On one of these trips I encountered heavy
thunderstorms. The hiking distances
covered were approximately 5 miles (8 km) per day and elevations ranged from
1200 ft to 2500 ft (366 to 762 m).
Product Review:
Although I didn’t get out in the tent as much as I would have liked, I did have
the opportunity to give the Mark III a good test in heavy rain. During my trip to West Virginia I had to set up camp quickly
because of a fast approaching storm.
Well, that storm came and went and was followed by a series of
thundershowers (I stopped counting after five).
The rain came down pretty hard and I did not have any leaking in the
tent that I could see. I had the vents
open and didn’t have any water coming in from around those areas. The storms did produce some fairly heavy winds
but the tent hardly budged. The winds
were not a concern to me at all. Pretty solid, if you ask me.
During that same night, I could feel air flowing but there was still quite a
bit of condensation on the walls. The
Mark III is a single wall shelter but in this case it was pitched in a meadow
on already wet ground. These conditions
lead to more condensation than I had seen before. One thing that I also noticed was that I
didn’t have all that much condensation dripping on me, even with the heavy
rain. Large droplets of condensation
were rolling down the steep walls of the tent and simply dripping off. Was I completely dry? No, but I was much drier than I expected
given the conditions.
I had been trying different ways to set up the tent during the course of the
test. On these trips I used trekking
poles. The set-up was pretty easy but I
would recommend that you try this at home before going out on the trail. I didn’t and felt that it would have been better
to know how long the front pole needed to be before trying to set it up in a
hurry.
The instructions that came with the Mark III indicate that the set-up should be
done by setting the two stakes in the front, then raising the front pole, and
then staking out the rear guy line. This
all seems to work just fine and is very quick.
The instructions then say to set the rear stakes, followed by the stakes
at the widest part of the tent, and then placing the rear tensioning pole. Lastly, the two side grommets can be staked
out. After using the tent for about five
months, I have found that if I stake the rear grommets before those at the
widest part of the tent, I do not get a very good pitch. This is always where I have a problem with
the center pole or one side sagging. I
have not had any problems when I set the rear guy line then move back toward
the front of the tent and set those stakes next. It seems to make for a little more movement
when setting up but I found that I would get the best pitch that way.
I also have not had any further problems with the grommets on the tent. The tears didn’t seem to get any worse and no
new tears have appeared.
Overall, I like the Mark III tent. It
has provided a good amount of space and has been a pretty reliable shelter
which is easy to set up. I think that my
likes and dislikes have not changed since my Field Report and I will continue
to use the tent in the future.
Summary:
The Appy Trails Mark III Tent is a lightweight,
single-walled, floorless backpacking shelter.
The tent sets up easily with the two supplied poles or can be pitched
with trekking poles or even hung from a tree limb. The shelter sets up quickly, provides
adequate space for two and could accommodate a third if set up properly. All exposed seams are either taped or sealed
to protect against the elements. The
Mark III also has both a front and rear vents which have both interior and
exterior covers which allow for good ventilation. The door is a good size for getting in and
out and also closes with both a zipper and hook and loop patches. One problem with the Mark III is that the
fabric can tear away from the grommets when the tent is pitched tight. The tent handled heavy rain well and
ventilation in the Mark III seems to be good but the shelter can still collect
condensation; however, the fabric dries quickly.
The good:
1. Lots of space.
2. Sets up quickly
3. Door closes with both zipper and hook and loop
fasteners
4. Good sized door
The not-so-good:
1. Grommets tore.
2. Door tie back tight
This concludes my testing of the Appy
Trails Mark III Tent. I would like to
thank Appy Trails and BackpackGearTest.org for the
opportunity to test this tent.