Titanium Goat Vertex 5 Tent

Long Term Report

Biographical Information:

Name: Chuck Carnes

Age: 35

Gender: Male

Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)

Weight: 175 lb (79 kg)

Email address: ctcarnes1(at)yahoo(dot)com

City, State, Country: Greenville, S.C. United States                  

Date: August 23, 2005

Backpacking Background:

I love the outdoors. I’ve spent time camping in the outdoors since I was born, and have been actively hiking and backpacking for the past ten years. I consider myself a lightweight hiker, usually carrying 20-30 pounds (11-13 kg) for hikes up to a week in length. I hike at an easy pace, averaging 2 mph (3 kph). I am a one-man tent camper for now until a lighter two-man tent comes along and will give me more room. I like to carry a single trekking pole when I hike to help relieve stress to my legs and knees. I like to get out on the trail as often as I can.

Product Information:

Manufacturer: Titanium Goat

Model: Vertex 5

Style: Conical, Single wall

No. Season: 4

No. Persons: 2

Color: Grey

Year of Manufacture: 2005

URL: http://www.titaniumgoat.com

MSRP: $400 

Listed Weight: 2 lb 2 oz (.96 kg) total weight

Weight as Delivered:

            Tent and Stuff Sack: 1 lb 7 oz (.65 kg)

            Pole: 8 oz (227 g)

            14 Stakes: 7 oz (198 g)

            Total Weight: 2 lb 5 oz (1.05 kg)

Dimensions:

            Tent:     120 in (305 cm) front to back

                        108 in (274 cm) side to side

                        60 in (152 cm) height inside peak

Pole:     60 in (152 cm) as one pole (all 5 sections put together)

            15 in (38 cm) three sections

            13 in (33 cm) one section

            12 in (30 cm) shortest section

            .7 in (2 cm) pole diameter

Stakes: 7 in (17 cm) long

Initial Report

Field Report

Field Conditions:

            The two areas that I have been able to visit since my Field Report have been Pisgah National Forest where the elevation was 5545 ft (1690 m) at the area I was at. At this particular spot the temperature was a hot 82 F (28 C) at night. During this night, I did not experience any rain. However, on the other trip, I experienced high temperatures, rain, and high humidity. This trip was in the Valley of the Caesars Head state park. The elevation in the valley was 4285 ft. (1306 m). The temperature maxed out at 87 F (30 C) after a nasty thunderstorm that night. I do not have a way to measure the humidity but I would guess that it was between 70 and 80 percent.

Long Term Report:

            As mentioned in my Field Report, this is a great shelter. It holds up very well in storms and even stands firm in high winds. The only problem with the Southeast is the high humidity that is experienced here. When late evening thunderstorms roll in and it rains for about 15 minutes, it feels like a sauna when the rain has left and it starts evaporating from the ground. This was my experience on my second trip to Caesars Head. Late in the evening, a nasty thunderstorm rolled in and dumped about 1.5 in (3.8 cm) of rain in about 20 minutes. Luckily I was on fairly level ground. I did get some seepage of water under the edge of the tent. Since there is no floor in this tent, it is almost impossible not to get any water running under the edge with this much rain. I did have a portion of my pad and bag on a piece of Tyvek so they wouldn’t get wet if this was to occur. After the rain stopped the temperatures rose slightly to about 87 F (30 C). This is when the evaporation of the water that made it into my tent started to steam up the inside of the tent. The good thing was that I had my own steam room. The bad thing was I was not in the mood to take a steam bath; it was way too hot. I opened up the top vent and the entry door to let some of the heat and humidity out and hopefully cool off the inside. Needless to say it helped some but not enough to be comfortable. I certainly got a good bit of condensation on the inside of the tent. I did wipe it down with a rag to keep it from building up and dripping on me.  The rest of the night was very uncomfortable since the temperature never dropped below 82 F (28 C).

            The other trip that I took to Pisgah National Forest was another hot and unbearable night’s sleep. The temperatures were just to warm to sleep in this tent. Even though I had all of the vents open and the door wide open, there was not a breeze to flow through these vents to cool the inside of the tent. I did not experience any condensation on this trip so maybe having the door and the vents open helped get enough air flow to prevent this.

Summary:

I have truly enjoyed the Titanium Goat Vertex 5 tent. It has always been easy to set up and it has stood strong through a very strong storm. I do feel that this size tent is not quite big enough at the base for me. By that I mean, with the base of the tent in the shape of an egg, my head and feet tend to brush up against the edges of the tent when I am lying down. My body is as close to the center pole as possible but my head and feet are very close, if not touching, the sides of the tent. I did find that pulling the side guy lines tight, maybe a little more than they should be, helped keep me from touching the sides of the tent. I wasn’t fond of having a floorless tent at the beginning of the test but I grew to cope with it. Aside from my steam room experience, this is a great shelter for any condition.

Likes:

            Very well designed shelter

Good construction of seams and zippers

Easy set up

Very light

Dislikes:

            The tent was too hot for me at temperatures above 70 F (21 C)

            A little bit too small at the base for my height

            Not able to vent the top when it is raining

Thank you Titanium Goat and BGT for the opportunity to test this tent.