Gear Review Big Agnes Bitter Springs UL2

[steve]

This is more of an ongoing review that's developing as time goes on. I'll clean it all up and make an "official" review once I've got some more experience with it.

In summer OR 2014, Big Agnes announced a new tent series: the bitter springs. It utilizes a hoop and trekking poles. Catch it at 1:41.

The 1 man comes in at a featherweight 1 lb 13 oz, and the 2 man at 2 lbs 5 oz (not including stake weight)

The moment I saw this tent I was excited to try it out. I liked the concept of the scout UL2, but I didn't feel like it quite met my needs as a tent. I'm excited to see if this tent will make its way to my #1 spot. These should be available from your favorite Big Agnes Retailler this spring.

 

[steve]

Here's what it looks like in the backyard. This is my first time pitching it, so it'll look better as time goes on. With the afternoon wind, it wasn't as structurally sound as I'd like, which I blame on my poor job pitching this tent.

Look at the size of that vestibule, it's HUGE! It's almost as big as the tent area itself.


It's a windy day, so I got a little feel of what it'll be like in wind. Stability definitely depends on your staking abilities.

Speaking of stakes, the tent requires 5 stakes and the fly takes a whopping 13 stakes. That's 18 stakes, which definitely add to the weight and time required to set the tent up. I'll see if I can find a way to pitch multiple loops with a single stake. All 18 stakes won't be necessary for a wind-free night.

It's a single head-entry tent. Nice bathtub floor that comes up. I like the way the trekking poles mount. It reminds me a lot of the scout, but with the ability to remove the rain fly if needed.

I don't think it's possible to pitch the tent in storm mode only, where you just pitch it with the rain fly. I think the hoop is required for its structure, and I don't see how the hoop could attach to just the rain fly. Stay tuned as I experiment with this.

 

[WasatchWill]

If camping above tree line, it seems inevitable there will be some wind at some point, morning or evening, in most places, especially in high alpine environments. So, depending on the trip, I could see where the need to take along 18 stakes could be a turn off. I usually frown at anything that takes more than 6-8 stakes. I'll be interested in seeing how you do coming up with a more efficient way to make it stable in the wind. Other than that, it looks great! Weight is impressive too.

 

[Nick]

I remember seeing that at the OR last summer. Good looking tent.

 

[steve]

I've never seen a tent this big that weighed so little. I don't do much camping above the treeline, so I'm not going to be the best guy to test that. I may copy the way tarptent does their guylines so I can cut the stake count by 4 or 5 at least.

I really like the Sorex carbon stakes that ruta locura sells. They're 6g each, so 15 stakes come in at 3.2 oz. 10 stakes come in at 2.1 oz.

http://www.rutalocura.com/Tent_Stakes.html

 

[steve]

I spent the night in this tent last night. It got down to 21*. It's an extremely warm tent, and the dual-wall was 100x better than the old scout 2. As is common when sleeping below freezing, there was quite a bit of condensation on the inner wall of the rain fly, but it never got on me due to the dual-wall design. A huge improvement over the scout.

The material that big agnes uses doesn't stay taught over time. After being pitched for a few hours, it became necessary to re-tension and in some cases, re-stake the corners to keep them taught. I remember this being an issue with the scout as well.

 

[steve]

Here's a quick setup video I did.

 

[steve]

Things I like:

- Extremely lightweight for a double-wall 2 man tent
- Pole is super light and very effective
- HUGE vestibule
- good use of trekking poles
- great ventilation while still offering storm protection
- awesome hooks that attach the hoop to the tent


Things I don't like:

- the need for 15 states to set it up
- setup can be tricky since the rain fly only attaches to the tent in 2 spots
- the roll-down entry door is a pain because you end up stepping on it all the time. I'd much prefer a door that stowed away above the entry
- the toggles for rolling up the vestibule door are a pain. Fortunately you can just flip the door over the roofline
- storm flaps get caught in the zippers, they aren't stiff enough
- the velcro on the storm flaps should be reversed. The "hook" side is on the door that rolls up. In wind, this can blow and come in contact with the mesh door. once these come in contact, the hook side of the velcro sticks to the mesh and chews it up when you pull it off.


I think if they could find a way to make the fly attach to the loops of the main tent, they'd have a winner for sure. All we need are some buckles or stretchy elastic between the two (like the tarptent stratospire). It'd also be cool if the fly could be pitched without the inner net, but I'm not sure how many people would actually use it that way. If the fly could be pitched first, like a hiilleberg, then you pitch the inner tent beneath it, it'd keep you a lot drier in a storm.

 

[Nick]

How is getting in and out of it? I'm not really a fan of front loaders, and it seems like this one could actually be even worse since you have to get out the front and then out the side. Or is it about as easy as it would be with a regular slanted fly over a front loader?

 

[steve]

Keep in mind that I'm a midget, but I think it's a lot easier than a traditional front loader with a slanty fly. On tradtional front loaders with a slanty fly, I have to do a dance to avoid the rain fly, then avoid the tent.

WIth this one, they're two separate actions, which is nice. You climb into the vestibule area (which is almost as big as the tent), then you climb into the tent from there. The vestibule is what makes the front-entry not very cumbersone.

Keep in mind this is an ultralight tent, so you're going to sacrifice some comfort that you'd find in a heavier tent. Zippers are heavy, as are designs that allow a side entry. It's much more elegant than a tarp, but not as featureful as a 3-5lb tent.

Is it as nice as my dual side-entry tarptent? No. It's not as convenient, but it is a tiny bit lighter. Plus tarptent isn't available from major retailers, so most entry level backpackers are never going to see a tarptent in their first 5 years of backpacking, and will be timid buying from a small company with a less forgiving return policy than REI.

When compared to cottage gear, I prefer the tarptent, SMD, and HMG offerings. When compared to other commercially available tents found at REI or a similar retailer, it's one of my favorite ultralight tents for the weight. The hoop keeps the sides of the tent off of you, so you stay dry. I think the $400 price tag might be a little steep, but it's pretty dang light.

This is all archair cowboy talking here, although I spent a night in it in my backyard, I need more time with it in the woods. I don't foresee it becoming my #1 tent, due to the many stakes and tricky pitching, but it's a very solid tent for the weight. It's leaps and bounds better than their scout line.