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Long Term Report - Sierra Designs Hercules Assault AST
February 20, 2006
Name: David Sowards-Emmerd
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 8'' (1.73 m)
Weight: 155 lb (70 kg)
Email Address: drunken_marmotATyahooDOTcom
Los Altos, California, USA
Backpacking Background:
I began backpacking semi-frequently about six years ago, soon after moving to California. I generally take weekend (1 night) trips, and occasionally take 3-4 day trips. Most of my backpacking experience is at moderate altitude, 6,000'-12,000' (1,800-3,650 m), in conditions ranging from dry desert to hail/heavy snow in the mountains. In winter and spring I split time between Southern California (SoCal) deserts and snowshoeing/skiing/snowcamping in the Sierra/Cascades. Summer and fall I tend to stick to the high country. I have reduced my packweight, including food and water down to less than 50 lb (23 kg) for snow camping and mountaineering and under 30 lb (14 kg) for 3-season camping with temperatures down to freezing.
Product Description:
Manufacturer's Website: www.sierradesigns.com
MSRP: $549.95 US
Weight of one Jake's Corner pole set: 181 g (6.38 oz)
The Assault is a two-person, single-wall, 4-season tent. For a detailed description, see my Initial Report. For details of my first two months use of the tent, see my Field Report.
Continued Testing:
Since my Field Report, I've used the tent on two more trips.
Kelly Lake, Henry Coe State Park, CA
January 14-15, 2006
Elevation: 1,850' (560 m)
Conditions: Rainy and temperatures dipped below freezing overnight
I set up the tent on wet, grassy ground with many rocks hidden in it. I spent a while removing those that I found, but I still ended up with a small puncture and several abraded spots in the floor of the tent. I patched the hole up when I dried the tent out at home the next day. I slept solo in the tent on this trip. It rained off and on after I set up the tent, and overnight the raindrops froze on the top of the tent and the condensation that formed inside the tent formed a layer of frost. Closer to the floor, the condensation didn't freeze and pooled up in several spots on the tent floor, maybe an ounce or two (30-60 ml) overall. All the other backpackers I was staying with had similar problems with condensation that night. By morning, the sky had cleared up, and the sun dried out the tent very quickly. I dried out the tent by first setting it up normally in the sun and then turning it upside down to dry the bottom of the tent, which was nearly dry at this point anyways.
Woods Lake, Eldorado National Forest, CA
February 18-19, 2006
Elevation: 8,250' (2,500 m)
Conditions: Cold, scattered snow, and light wind
This was another chance to see how the tent fared in cold winter conditions. Temperatures were in the teens (F, ~-9 C) during the day, and dropped to 7 F (-14 C) when we got in the tent that night. Wind was light to non-existent, and snow fell off and on during the day and overnight, leading to maybe 4-6'' (10-15 cm) total accumulation of light, fluffy snow. I was curious to see how the fabric behaved at the cool temperatures. The vestibule became a bit stiff, but the breathable fabric didn't change noticeably in feel. Setup was quick and easy, mainly due to an ice layer just below the new snow that held my SMC Sno-Tent stakes nicely in a horizontal position (deadmen). I dug out a trench under the vestibule to stow the packs and boots overnight, and in hopes of making it a bit easier to get in and out of the tent. I over-estimated the size of the vestibule though, and dug too wide a trench. The trench was useful for sitting and taking off boots, but that was about it. I stowed the packs and boots there overnight, but the gap meant they were still exposed to the snow, and had I dug the pit smaller to prevent this, there wouldn't have been enough room for the packs, or to take off my boots for that matter. The only vent I propped open was the small one next to the door on my side of the tent, although I left the top of the vestibule slightly open and left the top of the door slightly open. Everything, including the door and vestibule, had a coating of frost on it. When my wife got out of her sleeping bag in the morning, she knocked a lot of this frost off the inside of the tent, creating a minor snowstorm. Once we got everything out of the tent, I shook most of the residual frost out of the tent before packing it away.
Also worthy of note, my wife had a footwarmer rupture inside the tent when we got in the tent that night. I removed as much as I could immediately, but upon unfurling the tent at home to dry, I noticed there was still much more remaining, and it had stained (or possibly reacted with) the tent wall a rust color (see photo). Hopefully this has not damaged the fabric. I also noticed another slit in the tent fabric, just above the small vent next to the door.
Continued Observations (to be read in conjunction with my Field Report):
Zippers:
It would be nice to be able to unzip just the bottom of the door of the tent, making it easy to put gear inside while letting a minimum of moisture in. However, the current zipper configuration doesn't allow this - that is, one slider at each end of the zipper. After the testing is done, I'm planning to remove the sliders and put them both at the same end, which is a configuration I find much more useful.
Setup With Gloves:
All but the bottom two clips on the door end are easy to snap onto the poles while wearing heavy gloves. However, the two tight clips require a bit more patience and effort. The zipper pulls are easy to grab and pull with gloves, but the vestibule zipper generally gets stuck on the flap several times when I open or close it.
Fabric Stretch:
Clipping the poles into the tent still requires about the same effort as when I first set up the tent. However, there are a few patches where it appears the breathable fabric of the tent wall has stretched slightly. Also, I noticed the internal guylines are significantly looser the morning after installing and tightening them.
Internal Pockets:
These seem to collect more than their share of condensation every time I use the tent, and thus are not the best place to dry out gear or put something I want to keep dry. They are also in just the right spot to hit my head when sitting up in my sleeping bag when I sleep with my feet at the door end of the tent. This is my preferred orientation, so that my breath doesn't go straight into the vestibule moisture trap. As the pockets are anchored only at the top and hang freely, then swing wildly when the tent is in motion due to the wind.
Packing
Somewhat late, I just noticed that the Jake's Corners can be removed from the tent via the ladderlocks. That is, the webbing connecting the tent to the Jake's Corners can be removed by threading it backwards through the ladderlock. I find that most of the time, manufacturers insert the webbing through the ladderlock and then sew the webbing such that it can't be fed back through - not the case here. Removing the Jake's Corners allows for easier packing as well as splitting up the load between backpackers. However, this does mean that setting up the tent is a bit more tedious as each corner pole set has to have the webbing fed back through the ladderlock. To make this easier with gloves on, I intend to replace the ladderlocks with releasable ladderlock buckles.
Condensation:
I still feel that extending the non-breathable vestibule to the top of the tent was a big mistake and continue to have moisture trapped between it and the tent body. On both trips, I had considerable condensation inside the tent, which I mainly blame on the moisture freezing up on the breathable material.
Internal Guylines:
I bought a set of the Sierra Designs internal guylines and found them very easy to use. In the morning, the guylines were considerably less taught than they were the night before.
Window:
I have found very little use for the window on this tent. Similar to what I said in my earlier report, the window was covered with frost and rain on both trips I've taken since.
Vestibule:
For me, the vestibule is more of an inconvenience than it's worth. It's simply too small and its 'fanned out' shape doesn't help matters. On the most recent trip, I dug out a pit in the snow under it, and I was able to change boots while sitting with my legs hanging out of the tent, but this was still tedious and I knocked frost off into the tent during the process. Additionally, as stated several times before, it acts as a moisture trap due to what is, in my opinion, a poor design.
Things I Still Like:
- Bombproof stability in wind, very structurally sound.
- Relatively quiet in the wind.
- Quick and easy setup.
More Things I Don't Like:
- The vestibule is too small for me.
- Placement of the internal pockets.
Sierra Designs Contact Form:
I tried to contact SD through the form on their website about the issues I mentioned in my Field Report. However, I never received a response. Therefore, I plan to fix these issues and others that have come up by modifying it myself.
Modifications:
I intend to make the following modifications to the tent:
- Replace ladderlock in Jake's Corners with a snap ladderlock so that the corner poles can be packed separately.
- Remove and reinstall the door slider zippers so they are together.
- Install a zipper so the large vent can be sealed off completely.
- Remove the entire vestibule and vestibule pole, add a flap to the door zipper, and try to waterproof the door with a coating (lots of SeamGrip or possibly Silicone).
- Remove the two hanging interior pockets.
Conclusions and Future Use:
Overall, I think it's a great lightweight 4-season tent as far as structure and stability, but it has enough design issues that I would definitely not recommend this particular tent to a friend (although from a quick glance, the 1-man version doesn't seem to have these same issues). I intend to keep using this tent for winter and mountaineering trips after making some major modifications.
Read more reviews of Sierra Designs gear
Read more gear reviews by David Sowards-Emmerd
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