OWNER REVIEW - BIG AGNES SEEDHOUSE SL2
Will W. Gester
September 30, 2005
 
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Height: 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight: 130 lb. (59 Kg)
Email Address: Becool64.at.gmail.com
City, State: Birmingham, Alabama, USA
 
Backpacking Background:
 
When I was 10 I joined Boy Scouts and loved it. I first rented a tent
and backpack and then for Christmas I received my first tent and
backpack. I was obviously overjoyed. 3 tents, 4 backpacks and 3
sleeping bags later I now go on trips twice a month. My highlights
have been a Canadian Boundary Water trip and a trip in the Amazon. I
usually carry a 30 lb (13.6 Kg) pack filled with lightweight gear. I
love backpacking and especially cold weather backpacking.
 
Product Information:
 
Product: Seedhouse SL 2
Manufacturer: Big Agnes
Web Site: www.bigagnes.com
MSRP: $299
Year of Manufacture: 2005
Capacity: 2 Person
Type: 3 Season
Floor Area: 28 sq. ft (2.6 sq. m)
Height: 38 in (0.96 m)
Length: 85 in (2.16 m)
Width: 50 in (1.27 m)
Measured Height: 37.5 in (0.94 m)
Measured Length: 84 in (2 m)
Measured Width: 50 in (1.27 m)
Vestibule Area: 5.5 sq. ft (1.7 sq. m)
Packed Size: 6.5 in x 16 in (16.5 cm x 40.6 cm) Listed Weight: 3 lb 3
oz (1.45 Kg)
Actual Weight: 3 lb 1 oz (1.39 Kg)
 
Product Description:
 
When I bought the Seedhouse SL 2, it came in its dark green stuff
sack. It felt unbelievably light compared to all of the other tents I
had previously owned, used and seen in stores or out in the
backcountry. The tent was also incredibly small at a little under a
foot and a half (45.7 cm) lengthwise and 6 in (15.4 cm) when packed.
When I opened it up to set it up in my living room, it came out
nicely rolled around the tent poles. The poles and stakes were in
their own separate stuff sacks. The fly was wrapped around the tent.
Overall it looked like a very simple and easy way to pack a tent.
 
The Big Agnes Seedhouse SL 2 is a 2 person, 1-door, freestanding,
triangular dome tent. The pole is an 8.84 mm DAC Featherlite pole
with two hubs and 5 poles. The poles are connected together by the
hubs to form one pole. Connected it looks like a stick figure with
upraised arms. The pole sections are held together with a bungee
cord. The instruction manual included is helpful but not necessary.
This tent is very easy to set up.
 
The tent itself is almost all mesh. The floor is 30D nylon ripstop
with polyurethane and silicone coating. It has a bathtub floor with 5
in (12.7 cm) walls. The rest of the tent is all mesh. 20D mesh forms
the walls and the ceiling of the tent creating superb ventilation.
There is a nice pocket on the large door side. The door is D-shaped
and the seams are taped. The pole is connected to the tent by small
clips. Having a one pole system makes the setup easier and less
hassle than other two-pole tents. The fly is a very sturdy but thin
and light material. The floor of the tent and the fly are the same
material, 30D nylon ripstop with polyurethane and silicone coating.
The fly connects to the tent with 4 clips. The storm fly over the
door forms a nice size vestibule with enough area for a backpack and
boots. The tent utilizes 9 stakes, 1 on each corner (4), 1 on each
side except for the door side (3), and 2 to hold the storm flap. The
fly gives quite a wide area of cover for storms. The lightweight
aluminum stakes are very durable.
 
Over all my first impression of the tent is nice. It is extremely
lightweight and packable. The tent's bottom seems pretty tough, but
the mesh is almost non-existent and looks and feels easy to cut. The
poles are lightweight and user-friendly. It is very easy and quick to
set up. I have done it in less than 4 minutes. The fly is durable but
still light. It is easy to connect to the tent. It has a goodsized
storm flap.
 
Field Usage:
 
The first field test was just light car camping on a road trip to
Canada. It performed very well. It set up easily, kept the bugs out
(even of the rain fly), and kept me dry. The temperature got to be
around 90 F (32 C) at night but the ventilation in the tent kept me
cool all night. Up near Niagara Falls we had a downpour with really
bad winds (it was a "welcome to Canada" moment). The tent performed
superbly and hardly moved. The storm flap did not hold any water and
worked well. From there we hit the backcountry of Canada and we went
up to Atikoken to do some canoeing. We stayed up there for a week. It
rained and poured every night and the winds were the worst I have
experienced in camping. The tent worked like a charm. It kept my gear
and me dry. The stakes didn't budge. The temperature was around 30 F
(-1 C) at night. The tent worked perfectly fine.
 
Another test was North Carolina trip. This was a three day hike. This
was mainly to see how well two people could sleep in it. While it
worked well as a 1 person tent, it wasn't as comfortable for two
people. I am a relatively small person and my friend was a relatively
small person but it was still cramped. The vestibule did not have
enough space for both of our packs and one eventually got soaked from
rain (lucky mine was waterproof). Needless to say it works much
better as a 2 person tent.
 
Things I like about the tent:
 
It is very packable and is very lightweight and small. It is the
smallest I have ever seen (including other companies 1 man tents) and
fits wherever I need it to go in my pack.
 
It is very weather resistant. I took it through very cold and very
hot temperatures, very windy and rainy nights, and some pretty rough
conditions. In the end I could not even find a scratch on it.
 
It has a nice storm flap. It's just the right size for my pack, my
boots and water bottles. It keeps the rain off and won't hold water.
It is very sturdy and if set up into the wind, air funnels it over
the tent.
 
Things I dislike about the tent:
 
While the tent is called a "two"-person tent, I don't think it has
adequate space for two large adults. I can fit two smaller people
into the tent with some effort. For one person it works wonderfully
and is still quite light.
 
Other than that I enjoyed the tent very much.
 
Overall this was probably the best tent buy of my life and I love the
tent. It is a fantastic small and light tent. It is very weather
durable. It has excellent ventilation and I never get condensation. I
have used it for a while now and have had no problems whatsoever. It
was a smart buy and I could not be happier. I found this tent small,
light, durable, and for the money the best tent for me.