Initial Report: Big Agnes Seedhouse 3 Tent

 

Biographical Information:

Name: Chuck Carnes

Age: 34

Gender: Male

Height: 6’0” (1.83 m)

Weight: 175 lbs (79 kg)

 

Email address: ctcarnes1@yahoo.com

 

City, State, Country: Taylors, S.C. United States

 

Date: April 20, 2004

 

Backpacking Background:

I have been influenced to go camping and backpacking all my life. Every summer for the first 5 years of my life, my parents took me camping. I was in the Boy Scouts at the age of 12 and have been backpacking, on and off, ever since. Needless to say, I love the outdoors. I enjoy taking a lot of STUFF in my pack and can’t seem to get my total pack weight down - I wonder why. I usually hike around Pisgah National Forest and The Great Smoky Mountains. I go at any time of the year and try to hit the trails when there is no rain. If it does rain, it’s okay. Trail terrain, such as rocky trails or muddy trails, is not that big of an issue with me. I just like getting out and enjoying nature.

 

Product Information:

Manufacturer: Big Agnes, Inc.

Number of Persons: 3

Number of Seasons: 3

Year of Manufacture: 2003

URL: www.bigagnes.com

MSRP: $239.00 (tent, poles, stakes and rain fly)

            $40.00 (footprint)

 

Weights and Measurements: (Scale: Pelouze model K-5)

Listed weight:

            Trail weight – 5 lb 14 oz (2.66 kg)

            Packed weight – 6 lb 8 oz (2.95 kg)

            Fast Fly weight – 4 lb 8 oz (2.04 kg)

 

Weight as delivered:

            Trail weight – 5 lb 7 oz (2.47 kg)

            Packed weight – 6 lb 7 oz (255 g )

            Fast Fly weight – 4 lb 7 oz (2.72 kg)

 

Dimensions:

Tent:

            Floor dimensions are 84 in (213 cm) long, 60 in (152 cm) wide at the foot and

72 in (183 cm) wide at the head. These dimensions are measured from the inside of the tent.

                                 Height dimensions are 44 in (112 cm) at highest point in the middle,

                                 23 in (58 cm) at the foot and 40 in (102 cm) at the head. These dimensions are the highest point in that area.

            *Other dimensions for the tent will be given below for further clarification.

 

Footprint: Same size as tent footprint but dimensions are about .5 in (1.27 cm) shorter on all sides.

           

 

Delivery:

            A brown box showed up at my door with a picture of a bee on the front and a brand of energy bars written on the side. I thought “Why did Big Agnes send me energy bars, was I the one millionth person to get a tent and this is what I get for it? “ After opening it and realizing it was the tent and footprint I felt a little better about it.

           

The contents of the box were:

            Grey stuff sack with Big Agnes logo on the side and a hang tag on the drawcord. The stuff sack contained the tent, rain fly, poles in their own grey stuff sack and stakes that were in their own stuff sack. Along with the tent stuff sack was the Fast Fly Footprint in a separate black stuff sack. Big Agnes also includes a printout of the contents that the box was to contain and a very nice catalog of their latest gear.

 

Initial Inspection:

Everything showed up in excellent condition and had no signs of stress from Colorado to South Carolina. When I first picked up the tent from the drawcord and held it up I thought “This is a major tent”. Knowing it was a three man tent, it didn’t have the weight that I thought it would have. It felt a lot lighter than the current three man / family tent that I use now. I opened the draw string and slid everything out to check it out. The poles and stakes were rolled up nicely inside the tent and rain fly. I first checked out the poles that were in their own grey stuff sack. The poles were wrapped in two separate protective plastic bags. One plastic bag had a group of poles that were held together by a rubber band. I rolled the rubber band off the end and allowed the sections of poles to put themselves together with the shock-cord that ran through the poles. After realizing this whole mess of sectioned poles was all connected I had to step back and let it do its thing before it attacked me. After they all connected, it formed a shape something like this: >-<

One of the ‘Y’ sections was longer than the other. About this time is when I pulled out a paper stock instruction pamphlet that was at the bottom of the pole stuff sack. It explained how to set up the Seedhouse 1, 2 and 3. I figured this was typical instructions for all three tents and that the only difference for setting up would be the size. Since I have never owned or setup a clip type tent, I knew I was in for a treat. I started following the instructions and doing what it said. I noticed the two ‘Y’ shaped hubs that held these sections of the poles together were connected together with all of the other sections. What I mean is, when I read about this on the web site I thought they might come separate and that these things might be easy to lose. Remember, I have never setup this kind before so I didn’t know. It said that the smaller section of the ‘Y’ is the back of the tent. I kept this in mind and set the poles to the side. I spread the tent out on the ground and laid the smaller section of the ‘Y’ at the back of the tent. I then proceeded to put the ends of the poles in the brass grommets that are provided in the stake-out loop and strap on the corners of the tent. The rear corners of the tent had two grommets in each stake-out loop and strap and the front had three grommets in each stake-out loop and strap. After putting the poles in all for corners I had a freestanding skeleton frame. I knew all I had to do was go around and attach the clips to the frame. For my first time doing this and reading the instructions, it only took me about two minutes to have the tent in a working position. I was very impressed with how easy and quick this process was.

 

            I unzipped the ‘D’ shaped mesh door and proceeded inside and laid down. The tent body is completely meshed except for a short 10 in (25.40 cm) nylon fabric wall that runs around the perimeter of the tent. There is a section of about 3 in (7.62 cm) nylon fabric that runs continuously along the areas of the poles that the clips are sewn to, other than that, it is full view.  One thing that I did notice about the floor area of the tent is that it measures pretty large but once I got in, it doesn’t feel like three people could fit in this area. I laid down at the edge on side and found that the mesh wall was right at my body, almost touching. I wasn’t even in a sleeping bag and I was almost in the middle so that I wouldn’t touch the body of the tent. In future excursions with my family this will be interesting to see how well we all fit in this tent. I sat up in the middle of the tent and had plenty of head room. I could even put my arms over my head as I was putting or pulling on and off a shirt and not touch the tent wall. One thing that I do look for in a tent is room enough to change clothes without much contact with the tent walls. Just in case the inside of the rain fly (if it happens to be on) has condensation on it, I would keep from bumping this and causing a rain shower inside the tent. The inside length of the tent seemed to be pretty adequate. I am curious to see how well it works with a sleeping bag in it; to see if the head and feet of the sleeping bag touch the head or the foot of the tent.  

 

I have noticed two zippers, one on each side wall of the tent, that are about 16 in (40.64 cm) from the front of the tent wall and extend about 20 in (51 cm) in length. They are located right at the seam where the nylon fabric of the wall meets the mesh of the tent (about 10 in (25.40 cm) up from the tent floor). I have no idea what these are for. I have not read anywhere that tells me the purpose of these. When they are unzipped, I can reach through them to be exposed to the outside of the tent. Do these give one the ability to check for rain and snow from inside of the tent? These zippers seem irrelevant to me if the rain fly is off. Maybe I will be able to figure it out in the field. Between the front wall of the tent and the side zipper, there is a pocket on each side of the tent that measures 10 in (25.40 cm) tall and 12 in (30.48 cm) wide. These pockets will come in handy to put my watch, headlamp, keys and small things to keep them from getting lost on the tent floor. Before exiting the tent I checked out the door situation. The door length at the bottom measures 46 in (117 cm) at the bottom and has a zipper that runs the full length of this distance. When this zipper is closed it meets another zipper that runs up and to the left (if inside the tent) to create the opening of the door. The highest open point of the door is in the middle at the top. This dimension is 32 in (81 cm) from tent floor to the top of this opening.  The full mesh door can be folded or rolled back and be held open by a barrel and loop attachment. I did inspect the seams of the tent and found that all seams are sealed by some sort of tape and I am assuming that this tape is waterproof. I will keep a sharp eye out on this during the test.

 

            After getting out I decided to stake the tent to the ground to get a feel for how many stakes it took and familiarize myself with the guy lines and staking points. I opened the stuff sack that held all of the stakes and counted 13 aluminum stakes that are the typical rounded J-hook type stake. At the floor level of the tent there are four corner staking points and two side staking points. At these staking points, the stake fits through a loop that is made of nylon webbing that is attached to the tent. Also for staking the tent when the wind is very strong or to spread the tent wall out a little bit more than normal, there are two side guy lines attached to the tent. These lines are yellow and were rolled up and tied to themselves until the user was ready to use them for the first time. The lines are attached in the middle of the side walls at a height of about 10 in (25.40 cm), right at the seam where the tent wall and mesh come together.

 

            I went ahead and put the rain fly on to familiarize myself with it also. I simply spread the fly over the tent like I would a sheet on a bed. Then pull the corners down to their attachment points on the tent at the nylon webbing. This type of attachment is a push and release type buckle. I then read the rest of the instructions to figure out how and where the last pole was to be placed. I took the rubber band off that was holding the pole’s separated sections together. I held one section of the pole and dangled it in the air and all of the sections put themselves together by the shockcord. There is a sleeve at the underside of the vestibule that the pole slips into. The ends of the pole are then placed in the grommets on the webbing strap and this creates a sort of overhang at the front of the tent. Then there are two staking points at the bottom of the door of the vestibule that are to be staked out to finish off the assembly of the vestibule. I was very impressed with the rain fly’s material and the coverage that it gives for this tent. The vestibule is very spacious and even gives coverage with the overhang to the entry door of the tent. The dimensions of the vestibule floor area are 40 in (102 cm) from the bottom of the tent door to the bottom of the vestibule door. The widest part is at the tent itself which is 72 in (183 cm). It then gets smaller as it gets to the door and then it becomes 34 in. (86 cm) wide at the door. The door to the vestibule has a plastic window that is shaped like a person’s eye if someone were to sketch it, like an ellipse but pointed on the ends. The window is 5 in (12.70 cm) tall and 21 in (53 cm) long. The window is at horizontal eye viewing level if I am sitting in the tent door looking straight out. The zipper to the door is a two-way zipper which means it has two zipper mechanisms. With the door zipped closed there is one zipper at the bottom and one zipper at the top. In this position, I can unzip the door at the top for ventilation and still have the majority of the door closed. With the door unzipped, the door itself can be rolled or folded back and held back with a barrel and loop attachment. The zipper to the door is covered on the outside with a 3 in (7.62 cm) rain flap made of the same material as the rain fly. When the door is zipped closed there is a hook and loop attachment for extra security to prevent the flap from flying up to expose the zipper in high winds. The dimensions to the vestibule door are 34 in (86 cm) wide and 41 in (104 cm) tall at the highest point. The rain fly also has five guy line staking points. Two of them are at each side wall, two of them are at the front and there is one at the back. The one at the back creates a small overhang for ventilation. With the rain fly pulled tight at the connection points, the material stays away from the mesh body of the tent. This is very important during a rainstorm or in high humidity to keep from any moisture getting into the tent.

 

            The Fast Fly Foot Print came in its own stuff sack. I pulled it out of the stuff sack to inspect it and to get an idea of its size. I already had the tent set up so I slipped the footprint under the tent and positioned it in the correct spot. It also has the same four connection points as the tent does. All four corners have the web strapping with the brass grommets in them for the Fast Fly option which is to use the rain fly with the footprint and not have the tent body. This comes in very handy for emergency situations or for summertime use.

 

The instructions were very simple and made my first time setting up this style of a tent very enjoyable.   

 

Test Plan:

I plan to test this tent as my family tent when we go on family excursions. I am curious to know if it will be big enough for all of us. As a family tent I will test it at campgrounds and campsites along the banks of Keowee Lake in South Carolina where there is high humidity during the summer nights and there are occasional thunderstorms that roll in very quickly.

 

I will also be testing the tent on a weekend trip in April in the Great Smokey Mountains of Tennessee. The temperatures are usually 50°F to 60°F (10°C to 15.56°C) during the day and 35°F to 45°F (1.67°C to 7.22°C) at night during this time of year. I expect there will be some rain along with very chilly winds.

 

I will be testing things on this tent as it applies to the situation such as waterproofness, leakage, ease of getting in and out of without getting the inside wet during a rain storm, condensation problems if any, durability of the tent and other various test as they may apply.

 

Thank you Big Agnes and BGT for the opportunity to test this tent.