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The Tarptent Cloudburst is a
two-person shelter that, as its name suggests, isn't quite a tent and
isn't quite a tarp. Made of silnylon and bug netting, it is a
fully enclosed shelter like a tent, but is light weight and single walled
like a tarp. When set up it is a tunnel shape, with a hoop
supporting the front and a smaller hoop supporting the back.
Combined with some well-placed stakes (minimum of three, maximum of
six), the Cloudburst appears to be a sturdy and comfortable
shelter.
Setup
The first thing I did upon
receiving the Cloudburst is set it up on a small patch of grass at my
apartment. The patch of grass is a bit odd in shape and not very
large, but I was excited to set it up and too impatient to go to the
nearest park! It comes packed in a long and narrow bag (see
the packed size listed above) made of the same grey silnylon as the
Cloudburst itself. Included in the single large bag is the
Cloudburst, the two poles, and a smaller bag with
four stakes.
My first try setting up the Cloudburst was
successful but not perfect. The instructions are easy to follow to
get the tent up, but I believe that perfecting the pitch will
take some practice. Hopefully with time my pitch will be
as taut and clean as those in the photos on the Tarptent
website!
The first step is to assemble the
poles. There are two poles which make up the arches that support the
tunnel shape of the Cloudburst. The pole that goes on the
entrance end is longer and the pole that goes on the foot end is
shorter so that when pitched, the tunnel narrows from front to
back. When the poles are assembled they slide
through sleeves and clip into grommets that are attached to webbing
at each of the four tent corners. After assembling
the poles, inserting them into the sleeves, and clipping them into the
grommets there are then two arches laying flat on the ground with a
whole mess of silnylon and bug netting between them.
The next step it to lift the arches into the
tunnel form. Starting at the back end, there are three tie
out loops that have Kelty Triptease tied to them. The
three lines come together to one point which is then staked into
the ground as this picture demonstrates:
Heading back up to the front of
the Tarptent, the next step is staking out two of
the front tie-outs. There is a beak of silnylon that
protects the interior of the shelter from wind and provides a small
vestibule-like area. On this beak are three tie out points as
shown in this photo:
Attached to each of these tie out points is more
Triptease. Lifting the front arch, pulling the tunnel
shape taut, and staking out the two outside tie out points completes the
basic setup of the Cloudburst. The next step is to fine-tune
the setup by restaking the back if necessary, making sure the tunnel
shape is pulled taut, and tying out the two side guylines.
Finally, the middle of the three front tie-outs is staked out as
the final step. This line is used to clip the beak out and
isn't as much of a structural necessity as the other two front tie
outs.
With my first setup attempt I took about five minutes to
get it set up well. But, it was a bit loose and I wasn't entirely
happy with my pitch. Again, I was set up on an awkward small patch
of grass and had to fudge the stake out points a bit to avoid the
surrounding sidewalk and landscaping, so all in all, I call it a
successful first try. Subsequent pitches have been much better, and
I'll detail my learning curve for this in the Field Report.
Features
With the Cloudburst set up I had a chance to examine the features
closely. The front beak has a slit down the middle and the two
sections can be rolled up and out of the way (secured with
small hook-and-loop tabs). In the picture above one side of the
beak is rolled up while the other is extended. When extended, the two
pieces are held together with a strip of hook-and-loop fastener and
clip into the middle of the three guylines. Rolling up one side of
the beak provides enough space for me to enter and exit the tent
easily.
The shelter is enclosed via bug netting that connects from the silnylon
of the tunnel to the silnylon floor. The bug netting also makes
up the entrance of the tent, with a zipper running down the
middle (parallel to the slit in the beak) and another zipper which runs
along the ground where the netting connects to the floor. Where
the netting connects to the silnylon along the sides there is an
extended flap of silnylon on the exterior. These flaps can be
left out for rain protection, or rolled up
for circulation.
When I crawled into the tent for the first time I noticed that the
corners of the floor had shock cords attached. Later
I saw that this information was included in the setup instructions, but I
had missed it the first time. These shock cords can be adjusted
to tension the floor.
Test Plan
I will be using
the Cloudburst for all of my outdoor excursions over the next six
months. I'll be using it throughout the entire state of California
and expect to use it in moist coastal weather, hot afternoon High Sierra
thundershowers, and even some late season spring snow. I'll likely
pitch it on all kinds of terrain, from soft spongy ground to rocky,
difficult to stake ground. I'm looking forward to learning the
tricks to pitching the Cloudburst in different conditions. I
anticipate that I will be able to test its storm worthiness, as well as
its comfort as a shelter in extremely hot conditions. How well do
the flaps keep out the rain? Is the circulation good enough to
prevent condensation?
Although I will use this mostly as a single person shelter while
backpacking, there will also be occasions where I will be sharing it with
my husband. Can we both fit, along with our backpacking
gear? How comfortable is it for two of us? I can already tell
that it is quite spacious and comfortable for myself and my lightweight
gear, but adding my husband and his pack animal style of backpacking will
be interesting!
Privacy isn't much of a concern of mine, but this
shelter doesn't seem to provide much privacy for the modest types. I
don't think this will bother me, but only time will tell. I will
likely use this car camping a few times, so it will be interesting to see
how I feel being in an 'open' shelter in a public place.
Since I am not one to plan my adventures in great detail ahead of time,
I can't say for sure what I'll be putting the Cloudburst through over the
next six months. But, regardless of where I am or what I'm doing,
I'm very much looking forward to putting this shelter through its
paces.
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