Reviews > Shelters > Tents > Macpac Nautilus > Owner Report - Mark Stiebel

Owner Report of MacPac Nautilus

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-( Walking Background )-

I started backpacking in high school just over ten years ago. Most of my walking has been in the Victorian high country, consisting of two to three-day walks. I have walked such walks in all seasons - summer days reaching 35°C-40°C (95°F-105°F) to winter nights reaching 0°C (32°F) and below. In the past months I have also taken up an interest in rogaining (For more information see the Australian Rogaining Association web site.

-( Field Information )-

I have used my Macpac Nautilus in all seasons while hiking though various parts of Victoria. Use has mainly been in mild climates at elevations of around 1500m (5000ft) in the Snowy Plains of Victoria. The worst conditions in which I have used this tent was in this area, camped on a windy plain in spring. The tent held its ground in sleety high winds, and provided a comfortable night sleep in below freezing temperatures.

Thus far in my use of the Nautilus I haven't been greatly challenged in finding a suitable site to pitch the tent, so I cannot really comment on the difficulties of using the tent on excessively rocky or steep ground.

-( Description )-

Overview:

The Macpac Nautilus is a three season, two person tent which comes in any colour as long as its blue. It's a dual-entry tunnel tent consisting of a separate inner and fly, with two aluminium poles keeping it all together. Four pegs are required to keep the tent erect in mild conditions, and optional guys (not included) with an extra two pegs will keep it sturdier in strong winds.
 
At each entrance there is a vestibule with a floor area of 0.6sq.m (2sq.ft), although the space usage is rather limited due to the sharp angle of the fly roof. The Nautilus is a Swift-Pitch™ tent, meaning that the inner can be pitched and then have the fly put on, or both can be left attached for a swifter pitch. Unlike the Macpac Multi-Pitch™ tents, the fly cannot be pitched without the inner. With the inner and fly attached, I can pitch the tent in under five minutes.
 
The verbose instruction booklet that comes with the tent asks to first pitch the tent with the fly inside out to apply the seam-sealer (included). Quite a nice touch was to include the steps to fold and roll the tent to fit back into the compression sack, but a little bit of creative interpretation is still required to make it fit perfectly. Having said that, the compression sack is large enough so that the tent will fit inside easily even if rolled in a rush. One webbing strap is attached to compress around the circumference, but is not particularly useful.

Internal features:

Although having quite a light weight feel to it, the tent floor is quite durable and so far has withstood being pitched on surfaces varying through soft grass to hard dirt. On each side wall, in the 'V' created by the poles, there is a mesh pocket which is extremely handy to keep the torch and any other easy-to-lose items.
 
A well designed vent at the top of each vestibule allows a breath of fresh air through the tent while still keeping the weather out. Before purchasing the tent I thought this would be useful for cooking in the vestibule, but in reality it is not practical unless totally necessary.
 
The Nautilus feels quite roomy inside, with the roof height remaining fairly constant for the length of the tent. But at 1m (3.2ft) there is not much room to kneel up.

External Features:

The lightweight aluminium poles are slid though continous sleeves to keep the inner quite taut. The continous sleeves reduce the airflow between the fly and the inner, which could arguably either increase the chance of condensation in the tent, or increase the insulation. Or both. Either way, because of the continuous sleeve, the fly is attached at the top with no more than a few double sided strips of velcro. However the base of the fly is held in place quite securely, maintaining a high level of structural integrity.
 
I have been quite satisfied with the Nautilus' ability to keep condensation at an acceptable level. Thankfully I've not experienced any indoor rainfalls, but in conditions susceptible to high condensation I have needed to chamois the inside of the tent before packing it up in the morning.
 
The tent is 3.2m (10'6") long and just under 1.5m (5') wide, and can be pitched almost in that area, allowing a little extra length to pull the tent taut to the pegs, and for access into the tent.

Conclusion:

Before deciding on which tent to purchase I evaluated a wide variety of tents, taking into consideration primarily weight, pack size, inside space, and of course budget. Not being able to find the Perfect Tent, and considering that I would very rarely, if ever, require the tent for extreme weather conditions, I settled on the Macpac Nautilus which has suited my needs just fine so far.

-( Pictures )-

Reviews > Shelters > Tents > Macpac Nautilus > Owner Report - Mark Stiebel