Exped Aries Mesh
Tent
TEST SERIES BY KEVIN HOLLINGSWORTH
September 5, 2007
CLICK HERE TO SKIP TO THE FIELD REPORT (JULY 3, 2007)
CLICK HERE TO SKIP TO THE LONG TERM REPORT (SEPTEMBER 5, 2007)
Tester
Information
Name: Kevin Hollingsworth
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Height: 6’ 1” (1.9 m)
Weight: 195 lb (88 kg)
Email address: kholling55@yahoo.com
City, State, Country: Williamsburg, Virginia.
USA
I started backpacking and camping when I was in the Scouts. I spent 20 years in
the military, which curtailed my personal outdoors adventures. While
day-hiking, I normally carry a light load, a waist pack with mostly food and
water, with a few other things. On three to four day trips, I will carry a pack
weighing about 45 to 50 lb (21 to 23 kg). I prefer to hike in the mountains. I
have been hiking in Colorado, Korea,
Egypt, and most
recently the Eastern part of the United States.
.
INITIAL REPORT
April 23, 2007
PRODUCT
INFORMATION & SPECIFICATIONS
Manufacturer: Exped
Year of Manufacture: 2007
URL: http://www.exped.com
Listed
Specifications:
Capacity: 2 person
Season: 3
Minimum weight (fly, canopy, and poles): 4.9 lb (2.3 kg)
Packaged weight (minimum, 16 stakes, 8 lines, 3 sacks, 2
floor strap, and repair items): 5.9 lb (2.65 kg)
Packed size: 20 x 7.5 in (50 x 19 cm)
Area of Floor: 29 ft² (2.7 m²)
Area of Vestibule: 13 ft² (1.2 m²)
Max. Inside Height: 39 in (1.0 m)
Setup Time: 2 minutes
Note: All
measurements are mine (unless otherwise specified)
Minimum weight (fly, canopy, and poles): 5.1 lb (2.3 kg)
Packaged weight (minimum, 16 stakes, 8 lines, 3 sacks, 2
floor strap, and repair items): 6.1 lb (2.8 kg)
Packed size: 20 x 7.5 in (50 x 19 cm)
Area
of Floor: 28.4 ft² (2.6 m²)
Area of Vestibule: 13.7 ft² (1.3 m²)
Max. Height: 38 in (1.0 m)
Colors: Green
Warranty:
Five year limited warranty on defects in workmanship and materials.
MSRP: $250 US
The Exped Aries tent is marketed as a 2-person, 3-season tent that is
ideal for backpacking, mountaineering, or spring ski touring. The
design is derived from expedition tents. It has a polyurethane (PU)
coated ripstop polyester rainfly that is UV-resistant and meets CPAI-84
flame retardant guidelines. It has a flame retardant, UV-resistant No-see-um mesh canopy with
ripstop polyester roof panel to increases ventilation and to reduce
condensation. The floor is made from a durable, taffeta nylon coated with heavy PU
coatings; it has a waterproof rating of 197 in (500+ cm water column).
The tent canopy is suspended from Exotec 8.5 mm 7009-T9 aluminum poles
that slide through flat pole sleeve designed to improve the
tent’s aerodynamics. There are double guyline loops in each of
the pole sleeves. The YKK zippers have color coded, reflective,
glow-in-the-dark
pulls and are sewn smooth sides out to reduce exposure to dirt, which
could cause premature wear. It has one large vestibule and the canopy
can be unhooked and pushed
back for extra floor space. Either the rainfly or canopy can be erected
separately. The polypropylene guylines are ultralight and reflective. They come
with their own trouble-free stuff sack. The guylines include adjustable
tensioners, Tensionlock, which have cord guide grooves on both sides for quick and easy tightening of the guylines.
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
I
received the Exped Aries Mesh tent is excellent condition and arrived packed in
its own stuff sack. The stuff sack is a black, side opening sack made from a
polyester type fabric. It has a draw cord and a plastic tightener for closing
the sack. On the top of the sack, there is a handle with the name of the tent
and what appears to be a sample of the mesh fabric attached to the handle. Also attached to the sack were a manufacturer
tag and three instruction tags. The instructions tags were the same; except for
they were in French, German and English. The tags gave the tents features, the
setup and use instructions, care instructions and service/warranty information.
Opening the stuff sack, I found the tent,
and two additional small stuff sacks.
The one sack contained two sets of sectional poles held together by
shock cord.
The poles are smooth and each of the tip ends are rounded to a smooth
finish. The other sack contained twenty stakes (6 heavy duty v-shaped
and 14 lighter u-shape),
9 guyline packs (guyline, adjustable tensioner, and individual mesh
stuff
sack), 2 zippers (1 large and 1 small), 3 pieces of repair cloth (one
each for
the floor, rainfly and netting) and a pole repair piece.
Following
the instruction on set up, I secured the aft end of the tent with two
stakes. I then ran the two poles into
the poles sleeves. On one end of each of the pole sleeve, there is a tension
strap. I had to loosen this tensioner, put the pole into the slot, a canvas
like pocket, and then tighten the strap to ensure that the pole is tight in the
sleeve. I then stretched the tent out, staking the tent as I went. The final
thing to do was to stake out the vestibule and make sure everything was tight.
Inside
the tent, there was plenty of head room. I am 6’ 1” (1.9 m) and I while
sitting, I never hit my head on the ceiling. Inside the tent, there are two
mesh pockets by the door and a red cord running down the center of the ceiling.
This cord is adjustable by using a plastic adjuster. The
floor is reinforced at all four the corners and where the poles attached in the center. There are two red
adjustable web straps running beneath the mesh canopy, to assist in stability
when I use just the rainfly.
The
canopy and the rainfly are attached together by web loops and plastic toggles. Between
the canopy and the rainfly, there is approximately 6 in (15 cm) clearance, so
no part of the tent is in contact with the rainfly. There are
two sets of zippers at each door. At the end of each larger zipper loop, there is
a small plastic glow-in-the-dark piece.
The doors can be easily open and rolled back for storage. The door of the
vestibule can also be unzipped and stored in a pocket located on the left side
of the vestibule wall. When the vestibule doors are closed, there is a flap
covering the zipper to prevent moisture and wind from coming in through the zipper. This
flap is held in place by some Velcro-type fastener running along the zipper.
So
far, I like everything about this tent. But I do have one concern though. Once the
tent was erected, I put two of my sleeping pads into the tent. The pads fit
perfectly at entrance end, but at the other end, the pads slightly overlapped
each other. This does seem to be a problem at the moment, because this is the
foot end the tent. I will address this concern in my field report.
SUMMARY
I
would like to thank both, BackpackGearTest and Exped, for the opportunity to
test the Aries Mesh Tent. This
concludes my Initial Report. The Field Report will be amended to this report in
approximately two months from the date of this report. Please check back then
for further information.
FIELD REPORT
July 3, 2007
FIELD LOCATIONS AND CONDITIONS
I
took a multi-day trip to Shenandoah
National Park. The
terrain was mountainous with the elevation around 3000 to 4000 ft (900 to 1200
m). The weather was initially cloudy with some scattered showers. The weather
cleared at midday on the second day and the rest of the trip was sunny. The
average daytime temperature was 60 to 75 F (15 to 24 C), dropping to
approximately 55 F (13 C) after sunset.
I
also took a multi-day trip to the Smokey
Mountains National
Park. The terrain was mountainous with the
elevation around 2000 to 3000 ft (609 to 900 m). The weather on was cloudy with
scattered showers, mostly in the late afternoon or evening. The normal daytime
temperature was 75 to 85 F (24 to 29 C), with a drop to approximately 65 F (18
C) after sunset.
PERFORMANCE IN THE FIELD
Overall, I am quite pleased with the performance of the
Aries Mesh tent. In all the trips, the setup went really smooth. It only took a
few minutes to unpack the tent, stretch it out and insert the tent poles into
the poles sleeves. The only problem I had was when it came to staking out the
tent. The terrain where I camp was extremely rocky. When I was staking out the
tent, the stakes would hit the rocks after a few inches in and then bend. I
could not arrange the tent so all the stakes went in smoothly. I ended up using
some spare wire stakes that always I carry. This was the only problem that I
had with the setup.
The teardown went without a hitch. The only thing that I did
have to remember during teardown process was to push the poles from the sleeve instead
of pulling the poles. If I pulled the poles, the poles would separate, and make
the pole removal difficult.
The tent was very waterproof. During the first trip, there
wasn’t much rain in the evening, it had stopped by midday. But the ground was
still damp when I was set up camp. I did not notice any moisture coming up
through the tent floor. When I was packing up, my sleeping mat was dry as
bone. During the second trip, it rained
every day in the evening for a few hours. The rain would vary from a light to a
medium intensity. After the rain stopped, there would be a sort of mist in the
area for the rest of the night. But throughout all the rain and misting, no
moisture ever came through the rainfly or any of the seams.
One thing that really impressed me was the tent’s
ventilation. In both trips, there were two occupants in the tent and the
vestibule was zipped closed all night. During the night, there was no buildup
of humidity or moisture on the inside of the tent. I slept comfortably all
night. On one occasion on my second trip, I did feel a couple of drops of water
on the inside of the tent, but could not find where they came from.
The space on the inside was adequate for two occupants. I am
6’ 1” (1.9 m) and the second occupant is 5’5” (1.6 m). Our sleeping pads did
cross at the foot of the tent, but that did not matter, there was plenty of
room to sleep. The vestibule was large enough to store our packs and a few other
items, such as boots, and there was some more storage space at the foot of the
tent. On the inside of the tent, the side pockets were perfect for a
headlight/flashlight and few other small items. The inside cord was perfect for
hanging a small light and drying things like socks.
SUMMARY
So
far, I am pleased with the performance of the Exped Aries Mesh Tent.
This
concludes my Field Report. The Long-Term Report should be completed by September,
2007. Please check back then for further information.
LONG TERM REPORT
September 5, 2007
FIELD LOCATIONS AND CONDITIONS
I
took a multi-day trip to Shenandoah National Park. The terrain was mountainous
with the elevation around 3000 to 4000 ft (900 to 1200 m). The weather on the
first day was cloudy with rain. The rain switched between a light drizzle and
heavy showers. The weather cleared at midday on the second day and the rest of
the trip was sunny. The average daytime temperature was 75 to 85 F (24 to 29
C), dropping to approximately 75 F (24 C) after sunset.
I
took a multi-day trip to Jefferson National Park. The terrain was mountainous
with the elevation around 4500 to 5000 ft (1372 to 1524 m). The weather was
clear, with some occasional patches of clouds. The average daytime temperature
was 75 F (24 C), dropping to approximately 60 F (16 C) after sunset.
PERFORMANCE IN THE FIELD
I very pleased with the Exped Aries Mesh Tent. It is a great
tent. What really sealed my view on the
Aries Mesh was my most recent trip to the Shenandoah National Park. It was
raining on and off all day. After we setup camp, it started to rain heavily. This
continued for a good half hour. After the rain subsided, there were large
puddles everywhere, including inside the other tents of my group. The Aries
withstood the rain without a single drop inside the tent or vestibule. Not only
did the tent prevent the rain from coming inside, but during the night no
moisture formed on the inside from condensation. The Aries is both waterproof and
very breathable.
The setup and teardown always went smoothly. Although the manufacturer
gives a setup time of 2 minutes, I could never match this. It always took a
little longer, at least around 5 minutes.
Not being used to a tunnel type tent, getting in and out of
the tent took some getting used to. But I like the design of the tunnel style tent. The
inside still had plenty of room for two people. The vestibule had enough space
to get in and out of the tent easily, for two sets of boots, a 3930 cu in (65
L) pack, a medium sized daypack and to cook in if weather demanded it. The
glow-in-the-dark zipper pulls really did help finding the zippers at night. Once
found, the zippers operated smoothly, without any snagging on the material.
The only problem that I found with the tent was on the last
trip. I found the mesh area on the inside, near the zipper, was starting to
pull away from the stitching. I don’t know how this happen, but it seems
repairable with a little sewing.
SUMMARY
Overall, I am very satisfied with the performance of the
Aries Mesh Tent. I plan to continue to use the Aries Mesh tent for most of my
backpacking activities.
I would like to thank both, BackpackGearTest and Exped, for
the opportunity to test the Aries Mesh Tent.
Read more reviews of Exped gear
Read more gear reviews by Kevin Hollingsworth
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