Date:              7 April 2004
Name:            Rami Benhameda
Age:               35 years (245 dog years)
Gender:          Male
Height:           5' 11" (1.8 m)
Weight:          200 lb (91 kg)
Waist:            36" (91 cm)
Torso:            21" (53 cm)
Skull:              23" (58 cm)
E-Mail:           rbenhameda (AT) comcast (DOT) net
Location:        Indianapolis, Indiana USA

Backpacking Background

Product Information

Product Specifications

Initial Impressions

Testing Plan

BACKPACKING BACKGROUND:(back to top)

I've been hiking and backpacking in and around Central and Southern Indiana for the past 20+ years either solo or with my wife and daughters. Within the last 5 years, I've become an avid long distance hiker with sections of the AT in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia under my belt, as well as other long distance hiking.

PRODUCT INFORMATION:(back to top)

Name: Seedhouse 3

Manufacturer: Big Agnes (www.bigagnes.com)

Year of Manufacture: 2004

MSRP:

Tent: $239.00

Footprint: $40.00

PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS (FROM THE WEBSITE):

Tent/ Footprint	trail weight	packed weight	fast fly weight	packed size	floor area	vestibule area	head height
3 person	5lb 14oz (2.66 kg)	6lb 8oz (2.95 kg)	4lb 8oz (2.04 kg)	8" X 20" (20.3 X 51 cm)	39 sq ft (3.62 sq m)	12 sq ft (1.11 sq m)	38" (97 cm)
footprint	9.5oz (269 g)	N/A	4lb 8oz (2.04 kg)	7.5" X 10.5" (19 X 26.6 cm)	39 sq ft (3.62 sq m)	12 sq ft (1.11 sq m)	N/A

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS:(back to top)

The tent and fast fly footprint arrived in the afternoon while I was at work. The shipping box was one reused from another retailer and was held together with tape and good wishes. The tent and footprint were in separate stuff sacks inside the box and were undamaged despite the best efforts of the UPS folks. All tent components

I spent some time examining the components of the Seedhouse 3 before setting it up in my living room. The workmanship and materials of the tent, fly, poles, and footprint all appear to be top shelf. Double bar tacking, lap seams, taped floor seams, etc.

The initial 'dry run' setup in my living room consisted of a short examination of the pole (the Yunan 9.5 mm (.37") hub / pole system works to make the 5 (five) component pole segments a one pole unit), laying out the footprint, and assembling the two units. I then attached the fly to simulate a fast fly pitch. Finally, I removed the fly, and pitched the tent body. After disrupting the family for long enough, I re-packed everything in preparation for the next day's try outside.

I spent some time at the Post Office utilizing their scale before proceeding with the setup. The results of that visit are listed in the table below.

ITEM	WEIGHT (WITH STUFF SACK)	WEIGHT (W/O STUFF SACK)
FOOTPRINT	11.6 oz (329 g)	11.1 oz (315 g)
FLY	N/A	2 lb 3.7 oz (1.01 kg)
POLES	1 lb 12 oz (.79 kg)	1 lb 11 oz (.77 kg)
STAKES	7.3 oz (207 g)	6.9 oz (196)
TENT	2 lb 6 oz (1.08 kg)	2 lb 1 oz (.94 kg)
EVERYTHING *	7 lb 5.4 oz (3.33 kg)	7 lb 3.2 oz (3.27 kg)
FAST FLY OPTION **	4 lb 16 oz (2.27 kg)	4 lb 5 oz (1.96 kg)

* includes all tent components, all stuff sacks, etc. everything that came in the box.

** includes one stuff sack, ground sheet, poles, stakes, and fly.

fly and Yunan 9.5 mm hub/ pole system Thinking I had a pretty good handle on things, I decided to time myself on pitching. I discovered, after getting a few minutes into the process, that the living room does not simulate outdoors closely enough as I had no real idea where the guy lines were intended to go, and I had not yet used the supplied pole for the fly's vestibule. Needless to say, what should have been a quick operation turned into more than 13 minutes of stumbling, repositioning, and the like. Of course I didn't read the directions until after repacking everything so I could have saved myself some time in all of this, but hey, directions are for sissies right?

After figuring out all of the nuances of the basic and fast fly setup options, I'm sure I'll be able to greatly reduce my record breaking initial set up time, but for now it was valuable for me to experiment with all of the steps involved.

I found the Yunan hub/pole system to be exceptionally well constructed and intuitive. In fact there was only one component of the Seedhouse 3 which has confused me. zipper on side of tent The tent body has a zipper on each side about 6 to 8 inches (15.2 to 20.3 cm) above the ground, just forward of the guy line attachment. I still haven't figured out the purpose of these zippers, but when I do, I'll document my findings in a future report.

The pitched tent simply clips onto the poles for quick and easy setup and breakdown. I found the webbing attachment points for each clip to be strong and sturdy. I also felt very confident in the strength and stability of the pitched tent. The fact that the tent body is nearly completely 400 D nylon mesh seems to have no impact in the tent body's strength or stability.

The interior of the tent is quite roomy and easily allows me to sit upright comfortably, although I suspect that not to be as feasible with the addition of two additional tent mates. The interior peak of the tent fades quickly due to the severe angle from apex to floor. me inside the seedhouse 3 inside space between fly and tent

With that said, I am highly impressed and excited to field test the Seedhouse 3. The quality, roominess, generous amounts of mesh, and huge vestibule all are highly appealing.

Another feature I'm looking forward to testing in the field is the fly's ability to withstand heavy rains. This tent has a clearance between fly and tent body which is easily the largest I have ever seen. I'm looking forward to learning how the tent and fly perform in heavy rain, and in situations where condensation will be prevalent.

I'm not sure what I expected of the various components of the Seedhouse 3, but it easily exceeded all of my expectations.

TESTING PLAN: (back to top)

As I outlined in my application, I intend to test the Seedhouse 3 with specific attention to the following areas:

1. Components - footprint, tent, fly, poles & stakes (& stuff sack)

a. Durability, ease of setup, ease of breakdown, clean up, Packability and overall usage

2. Inside configuration - 1 adult + 2 children, 2 adults, 2 adults + 2 children
a. Full setup & fast fly

3. Weather resistance in various configurations and various conditions.
a. Full setup, no fly, fast fly/ rain, wind, heat, condensation, etc.

4. Anything else which may present itself while testing.

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

Rami Benhameda

Read more reviews of Big Agnes gear
Read more gear reviews by Rami Benhameda

Initial Report

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