| |
Gear Reviews
Documents
Tools
|
Tarptent Rainbow
Field Report – June 13, 2006
Tester Information:
Name: Jason Boyle
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 6"/ 1.68 m
Weight: 170 lb/ 77 kg
Email address: c4jc "at" hotmail "dot" com
City, State, Country: Snoqualmie, Washington, U. S.
Backpacking Background:
I have been camping and backpacking for about 18 years. My introduction to the outdoors started with the BSA and has continued as an adult. I have hiked mostly in the Southeastern and Northeastern United States. I am generally a lightweight hiker, but will carry extras to keep me comfortable. I have recently relocated to the Pacific Northwest and spend most of my time hiking and backpacking in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, but I can be found exploring the other wild areas of Washington!
Product Information:
Manufacturer: Tarptent by Henry Shires
Model: Rainbow with extended sewn in floor
Color: The tent is a slivery blue color, with a black silnylon floor
Year of Manufacture: 2006
URL: www.tarptent.com
Listed weight: 30 oz/ 855 g (from Manufacturer’s website)
Measured weight: 34 oz/ 964 g (This includes stuff sacks, poles, stakes, everything)
**Disclaimer: The closest my scale will measure is in whole ounces.**
Fabric Content:
Roofing/Flooring: High tenacity 1.1-ounce/yd^2 ripstop nylon, impregnated with silicone. Final fabric weight is approximately 1.3 ounces/yd^2.
Netting: No-see-um. Fabric weight is approximately 1 ounce/yd^2.
Listed Dimensions:
Apex Height: 43" (110 cm)
Floor Width: 38-46" (96-117 cm)
Floor Length: 88-96" (223-244 cm)
Measured Dimensions: using trekking poles and floor clipped up
Apex Height: 44" (112 cm)
Floor Length: 84" (213 cm)
Floor Width: 36" (91 cm)
MSRP: $215 US
Country of Manufacture: All Tarptents are made from US materials in Seattle, Washington.
Product Description:
This is a lightweight, single wall, 1+ person, two poles, freestanding (with trekking poles) tent. It has a single entry door, single vestibule, and small rear beak. For a more detailed description please see my initial report.
Field Conditions:
I have used the tent four nights over the test period. The first two nights were on a two night trip to Greenwater Lakes in the Norse Peak Wilderness, the next night was at a campsite on the Taylor River in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. These three nights took place in the Mt. Baker – Snoqualmie National Forest. The final night came on a trip up to the Tubal Cain Mine in the Buckhorn Wilderness inside of the Olympic National Forest. I experienced two nights of rain/snow and two nights of clear weather. Elevation ranged from sea level to 4350 ft (1326 m). Temperature ranged from 30 F to 70 F (-1 C to 21 C) and winds ranged from blustery to calm.
Summary:
Overall this tent has performed very well over the past two months. It is easy to set up, quite roomy and waterproof in the areas that I have seam sealed. It has shed rain and snow fairly well. Condensation has been an issue on calm nights; however, I did not have either panel of the front beak open. |
 |
Field Results:
I want to start with a comment on the customer service provided by Henry Shires. I was not sure in my initial report how he came up with the variable dimensions for the floor. Henry was kind enough to email me and share with me that the smaller dimensions are with the floor clipped up and the larger dimensions are with the floor unclipped and spread out. I am impressed that he took the time to email me and his desire to make sure I understood his product.
The tent has proven to be durable thus far. The tent has been set up on a stomped down snow platform and typical forest duff and the floor shows no signs of wear. I have not used a ground cloth either inside or outside of the tent and don’t feel like I would need one except in the wettest situations.
The tent is easy to set up and after practicing I can have the tent set up in either configuration, staked down or with trekking poles, in less than five minutes. I like having the ability to stake the tent out, but I think using the poles to make the tent freestanding is more useful. Very rarely have I been able to stake out the tent in the perfect spot and pulling up stakes to move the tent is difficult since the tent is not freestanding in this configuration. So unless it is windy, I use trekking poles for set up. I have set up the tent in the rain with minimal leakage twice. Of course some rain gets in through the doors as I get in and out, but I always keep a handkerchief or camp towel handy to wipe up any rainwater that gets into the tent.
 |
It is very important to seam seal all seams on the tent. I did not seam seal the back triangle of the tent and found out the hard way that water will seep into the tent and drip onto everything. Specifically, there is a nylon webbing tab in the back window that sucks water through the seam and allows it to soak out and drip into the tent. The seams that I did seal according to the directions provided by Tarptent have done well and I have had no problems with leaking there. I think an addendum should be added to the instructions to seam seal all seams.
The tent is super roomy and I think I could easily wait out the rainy days we see here. There is room in the vestibule to use a small stove. I used a Jetboil with no problems. To get maximum use out of the vestibule it is important to be purposeful in how I set the tent up. I like to set up the tent where the vestibule protecting the door is facing into the wind, which allows me to leave the non door vestibule rolled up, but still protect the inside of the tent from wind and rain by the staked out door vestibule.
|
The interior of the tent is great. I can easily sit up on my knees and on my rear end. There is enough room for me to slide my sleeping pad to one side and sit on the floor. This is especially important if I am crawling into the tent with wet raingear on. The zippers on the door work fine, the only thing I need to do is add pulls because the zippers don’t come with any.
|
Condensation is definitely an issue with this tent. On a calm night on the Taylor River, Cody, my black lab mix, and I easily overpowered the ventilation of the tent. I had the rear vent open and the front vestibule closed. If another clear night presents itself while testing I will try keeping both of the front vestibule panels open. I also experienced some condensation in the rainy/snowy conditions where I am not able to fully open the vestibule. In my opinion this is a trade off that comes with using a single wall tent. I will continue to try different setups to see if I can overcome the condensation monster.
The other problem that I have had with the Rainbow is getting a symmetrical pitch on the front vestibule panels. I have not been able to get a good taut pitch with both halves; I usually get one side taut and the other side sags. See picture at right. I am still experimenting with stake placement both for the vestibule and for the tent itself, but have not solved this mystery as of yet. |
 |
Improvements:
I would like the tent to come seam sealed; I just don’t like doing it.
Test Plan:
I examined the Rainbow on the following characteristics over the last two months. My answers are in blue.
Durable:
- I often camp in normal forest areas with typical forest duff, but there are occasions when I camp on rocky ground. How well will the floor stand up to this type of normal use? So far it has been great.
- Additionally, I find it easier to put my “ground cloth” inside of the tent just in case the floor has holes. Will this style of tenting keep the floor in better shape than the conventional way of putting the ground cloth underneath the tent? I have not used it in this configuration and based on my use thus far I don’t think it is necessary.
- Do I even need to use a ground cloth? Based on my use thus far, I don’t think I would use a ground cloth except in really wet conditions or in really rocky situations.
Ease of Setup:
- How easy is the tent to set up? The first few times it can be challenging, however, it quickly becomes second nature and takes only a few minutes.
- Can I figure it out without instructions or do I need the instructions? I definitely needed the instructions to set it up using trekking poles. Using stakes it sets up like any other tent.
- Can it be set up in the rain with minimal leakage into the inner body of the tent? Yes.
- Do the seams need to be seam sealed? Yes, to keep the seams from leaking.
- How easy is it to adjust the tension in the corners using trekking poles? It is as easy as pulling on the tensioning cord.
- Is it easier to use stakes? I think it easier to use poles because they make the tent freestanding and easy to move. If I use stakes and want to move the tent, it is much more of a pain.
Usefulness:
- It can be extremely wet here. There are days that I have to conduct all of my evening activity inside of my tent, like cooking or making a hot drink. Also of concern is the center height of the tent. Does it provide enough room for me to sit up comfortably inside of the tent? Yes, the tent is very roomy.
- Can I sit on my knees without scraping the top of the tent? Yes.
- Does the vestibule provide enough space to allow me to make my morning cup of joe or cook dinner? Easily, however, I will only use a canister type of stove. I am afraid that a white gas stove would flare up and catch the vestibule and melt it.
- How breathable is the tent? It is only fair.
- As I said the conditions here are wet, will condensation build up inside the tent? Yes, especially in calm conditions or with my dog Cody sharing space inside of the tent.
- Is the entry door and vestibule entry easy to use? Yes, the vestibule closes using hook and loop fasteners and mostly protects the door.
- Are the zippers protected so that they don’t snag easily?So far I have not had any problems.
Thanks to BackpackGearTest and Tarptent by Henry Shires for allowing me to participate in this test.
Read more reviews of Tarptent gear
Read more gear reviews by Jason Boyle
|
