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Big Agnes Seedhouse 3 Tent
Field Report - June 29, 2004
Contents
Reviewer Information [return to top]
Name: Chuck Kime
Nickname: Fuzzy
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 8" (1.72 m)
Weight: 229 lb (104 kg)
Email address: ckime AT nelsononline DOT com
City, State, Country: Upper Darby (Philadelphia suburb), PA, U.S.A.
Date: June 29, 2004
Product Information [return to top]
Manufacturer: Big Agnes
Model: Seedhouse 3
Year of Manufacture: 2004
URL: http://www.bigagnes.com
Listed weight (packed): 6 lb 8 oz (2.95 kg)
Listed weight (trail): 5 lb 14 oz (2.66 kg)
Listed weight (Fast Fly option): 4 lb 8 oz (2.04 kg)
Measured weight (packed): 6 lb 11 oz (3.03 kg), scale accurate to 0.1 oz
Measured weight (trail): 6 lb 9.1 oz (2.98 kg), see chart
Measured weight (Fast Fly option): 5 lb 1.8 oz (2.32 kg), see chart
Color: Fly – Grey/Burgundy, Tent – Black, Fast Fly Floor – Black
MSRP: Tent – $239 USD, Fast Fly Floor – $40 USD
Features (from web site) [return to top]
- Super light, Yunan-9.5 mm hub/pole system.
- Plastic clips attach the tent body to the pole frame for quick and easy set-up
- Fly is made of 75D polyester rip stop with 1000mm waterproof coating–minimal stretch and prolonged UV protection
- Floor is a seamless, 70D, 190T nylon, 1500mm waterproof coating
- Tent walls, 40D nylon mesh
- Excellent cross ventilation with full mesh tent walls
- Clear plastic window in vestibule door
- Mesh floor pockets
- D shaped mesh door
- 13 tent stakes included
Description [return to top]
The Big Agnes Seedhouse 3 consists of a mesh-walled tent body with floor, stakes, poles, and fly. A Fast Fly option is available that consists of a floor designed to be used with the fly and poles – without the tent body – to create a lighter package, at the expense of bug protection.
The hub/pole system is a shock-corded arrangement with a 3-pointed hub at either end of a sectional ridge pole. There is an additional shock-corded pole with the Seedhouse 3 to help support the vestibule area of the fly.
The tent body consists of a solid, bathtub-style fabric floor with mesh sides and single zippered door at the head end. At each corner of the tent, there is a web loop for staking out the corner. This webbing loop has grommets used for the poles, and has the female end of a side-release buckle that is used to attach the fly.
The fly is designed to fit over the poles. The vestibule is simply a section of the fly that covers an area not taken up by the tent. The door has a two-way zipper, with a storm flap covering the entire length of the zipper.
The Fast Fly floor is a single flat piece of black nylon, shaped like the floor of the tent – with associated corner tie-outs – enabling the user to pitch the fly without the tent, thereby saving weight at the expense of insect protection, while also providing more room under the fly.
For a more detailed description, including measurements and photos, please see my Initial Report.
Field Testing [return to top]
Our Boy Scout troop camps monthly. Almost all of these outings include a minimum of 2 nights of camping, with temperatures expected to be from lows around 30 ºF (-1 ºC) to highs around 95 to 100 ºF (35 to 38 ºC). Elevations will range from sea level to approximately 2,000’ (610 m). My girlfriend and I, who between us have 3 First Class Boy Scouts (ages 12 – oops, 13 yesterday – 13 and 14), are also looking into additional camping without the scouts, and the possibilities of beginning to do some AT section hikes in Pennsylvania as the weather warms up.
I am very happy with the fit. With my son and I both in the tent, there is plenty of room for a third person between us, although we keep his pack in the tent (left) for bug-free access. There is also plenty of room in the vestibule for at least two fair sized packs. I am able to sit up in the center of the tent, at the door and facing the foot, or even more easily under the fly. Most mornings I have gotten mostly dressed in the tent, then gone into the vestibule to finish.
During a recent Scout weekend, the camp was hit by torrential rains. We (my son and I) had left the vestibule door open to air out the tent (right), with the intention of closing it up before the evening activities, but – as one might have guessed by now – we didn’t get back until much later. While the ground sheet I had placed out into the vestibule area did collect a great deal of water (which could allow water to flow under the tent), no splash other than a few stray drops managed to get into the tent itself. There was no leakage at all through any of the floor seams. All of our gear, other than a hat I had left in the vestibule, remained completely dry. While breaking camp the next morning, I toweled off the fly before spreading the tent and fly out in the back of the van I was driving. Both were dry by the time I got home, following a few meetings and a one-hour drive.
Things I am/will be looking for:
- Ease/speed of setup. Can I get it up easily in bad weather? When I’m tired? When it’s dark out (I prefer to know all of my gear by touch)? How long does it take?
- Pack size/weight. Experience to date tells me that bulk is more of a problem for me to pack than weight, although the Seedhouse 3, at just under 6 lb (2.66 kg) trail weight – or 4½ lb (2 kg) in fast-fly configuration – is lighter than anything else I’ve used besides a tarp. A packed size of 8 x 20 in (20 x 51 cm) means I should be able to pack it in the Z-Pack.
- Does it have everything I need for setup? Big Agnes indicates (accurately) that 13 stakes are included. Is this enough?
- Dimensions. Do I fit? Comfortably? With someone else and/or gear? Will we be able to sit comfortably inside if caught in extended bad weather? How large a site do I need? At just 6 ft (2 m) wide at the front, 5 ft (1.5 m) wide at the foot, and only 7 ft (2.1 m) long, this should require slightly less real estate than I need for a free-standing 8’ x 8’ (2.4 x 2.4 m) tent.
- Durability. Are there any significant wear points, especially over time? The spots where poles contact the shelter will be investigated, along with tie-out points, zippers, etc.
- Waterproofness. I don’t mind being wet, nor do my hiking/camping partners, but we both prefer that our gear – particularly sleeping bags – be dry when we use it. How about in fast fly mode?
- Ventilation. Do I need to worry about condensation? The Seedhouse 3 has mesh walls, so, if there is any condensation, it should be on the fly.
My findings so far:
- Ease/speed of setup. With 2 people working together (and it is intended as a 3-person tent), it goes up in less than 5 minutes. I have set it up solo, without much difficulty other than wind, in slightly more time. I have yet to set it up in foul weather, but can tell that any decent wind can definitely be a factor.
- Pack size/weight. The weight is not bad, and the entire setup fits easily in my Z-Pack. Now that summer is upon us, and I am going to my smaller Deuter Futura 32, it may be time to separate out the parts of the tent and distribute the longer pieces (the poles) to my son for carrying.
- Does it have everything I need for setup? With tie-outs at the midpoints of the floor, where the floor meets the mesh wall, and the bottom edge of the fly, plus one at the middle of the fly sidewall, I found that a couple more stakes could be used if I was to stake out everything.
- Dimensions. While I have not measured from stake to stake, this tent has a significantly smaller footprint than some other tents seen at our Scout trips, which makes for at least slightly improved site selection choices.
- Durability. No problems so far.
- Waterproofness. See experience above.
- Ventilation. With the Seedhouse 3 buttoned up tight on a warm, humid evening, I did find condensation on the inside of the vestibule, though a quick wipe with a small towel not only dried the fly, but also gave me a damp cloth with which to clean my face.
Things I like [return to top]
- Lighter than every shelter I have, besides tarps.
- Includes everything necessary for setup.
- Fits in my pack.
- Fast Fly option.
Things I don't like [return to top]
- Could be lighter, although I’m not sure how.
- The hub/pole system is rather awkward. This may prove to be less of an issue with experience.
- The Fast Fly floor has only a single pole grommet at each front corner, making it quite difficult to use the vestibule pole.
Backpacking Background [return to top]
I started car/trailer camping with the family when I was about 5. I enlisted in the Army Reserve during my first year of college and spent 17 years fine-tuning my packing methodology - by the time I separated from the service, I was down to what I thought was a respectable 75-80 lb (34-36 kg) load. When my son started Cub Scouts, I brought my 60 lb (27 kg) ALICE pack for a weekend. We got to Boy Scouts in the Spring of 2002 and now camp monthly in locations ranging from the Chesapeake Bay area (flat and lightly wooded) to the Pocono Mts (flat spots hard to find and very wooded), in all seasons.
Lightweight (and ultralightweight) web sites, along with a day hike up Pikes Peak in July 2003, have led me to seriously rethink my gear choices. I plan to start doing more hiking/backpacking on our monthly Scout trips, taking along as many scouts as are willing, to a) get in shape (yeah, yeah, I know… round IS a shape), and b) determine what I really need to take along. I am relatively confident that I will be able to reduce my 3-season pack to 20 lb (9 kg), before food, fuel and water, by the time this season is over.
Thank you for your time.
Chuck Kime
a.k.a. Fuzzy
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