I need a new tent

I was very close to buying a double rainbow earlier this year. They look great and everyone I know with one has nothing but good things to say.
 
Hurakan said:
I'm seriously looking at the tarptents, does anyone have one and recommend it? http://www.tarptent.com/allproducts.html
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A lot of people love the double rainbow.

I always hike with trekking poles, so I wanted a design that utilized my poles. I bought a Stratospire 2 and I couldn't be happier. It's huge (for a 2 man backpacking tent), very well constructed, and ingeniously designed. I had been toying with the idea of designing my own tent, but after seeing the tarptent, I can't imagine any way to improve it (and that's saying a lot for me). I can think of about 10 ways to improve every big agnes tent I've used, but I can't find anything to improve upon with my tarptent.

Personally, I wish I had gone with the Stratospire 1, since the stratospire 2 is more like a 3 man tent. I'm sure a stratospire 1 woule still be plenty big for my wife, my dog, and me.

I have lighter shelters that I use more often than my tarptent, but for a true double-wall tent, I can't imagine it getting any better for my needs than the stratospire.

I recommend getting them seam-sealed from tarptent. It's pretty cheap ~ $25 and saved me a lot of time from having to do it myself.
 
Aldaron said:
Storms? What are these storms you speak of? You live in Utah now! :)

I'll second the REI tents...I like the Quarter Dome. I also like Big Agnes tents and Tarptents. Tarptents are crazy light, but I'm not sure how well they would do in a storm.
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Had my tarptent rainbow in two huge storms...first in canyonlands a few years back....horizontal wind and driving rain.... fared fine with rocks on the corners. A little rain and some sand in from the mesh, easily blocked by arranging pack to that side. Last year in the winds .... 4 days above 10000 ft of wind rain and snow...one night at 11000 ft was gusts to about 70mph all night long ...would lay the tent out flat but it would pop right back up.... friends double rainbow and another MSR tent did well too. Now a lot of snow...probably not. The rainbow can be stand alone with trek poles as well....
 
The two tents that I have used on many trips are the BA Fly Creek UL3 (yes I used it on many backpacking trips solo) and the now discontinued Marmot Pulsar 2P. The Pulsar I used at Toroweap and winds were about 30 mph gusts and that thing is a bomber!

The FlyCreek 3 is a great tent, not much bigger in size than the UL2, but weighs about a 1lb heavier.

Right now, I am getting a new tent, and it came down between the Big Agnes Foidel 2 or the MSR Hubba Hubba NX 2. I am going to get the MSR. It is a bit lighter, and all the reviews and people I have talked to that own it say it is fantastic. Handles rain and snow with no problems. I'll let update this when I get it later this month
 
steve said:
I bought a Stratospire 2 and I couldn't be happier. It's huge (for a 2 man backpacking tent), very well constructed, and ingeniously designed. I had been toying with the idea of designing my own tent, but after seeing the tarptent, I can't imagine any way to improve it (and that's saying a lot for me). I can think of about 10 ways to improve every big agnes tent I've used, but I can't find anything to improve upon with my tarptent.

Personally, I wish I had gone with the Stratospire 1, since the stratospire 2 is more like a 3 man tent. I'm sure a stratospire 1 woule still be plenty big for my wife, my dog, and me.

I have lighter shelters that I use more often than my tarptent, but for a true double-wall tent, I can't imagine it getting any better for my needs than the stratospire.
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Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I just wanted to know how the Stratospire 2 fares in the desert. Has pitching it or sand blowing into it been a problem? I've been tent shopping for the past several months (it takes me a long time. Haha) and although I thought I'd get the Double Rainbow, I think it's more likely that I'll go for the Stratospire 2.
 
Jackson said:
Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I just wanted to know how the Stratospire 2 fares in the desert. Has pitching it or sand blowing into it been a problem? I've been tent shopping for the past several months (it takes me a long time. Haha) and although I thought I'd get the Double Rainbow, I think it's more likely that I'll go for the Stratospire 2.
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I haven't used it a ton up the desert, I've been using my hmg ULTAMID 4 a ton. The few times I've used the staratospire 2, I've loved it. It's an incredible design, and very sturdy. I've never used a rainbow, so I can't compare.
 
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Jackson said:
Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I just wanted to know how the Stratospire 2 fares in the desert. Has pitching it or sand blowing into it been a problem? I've been tent shopping for the past several months (it takes me a long time. Haha) and although I thought I'd get the Double Rainbow, I think it's more likely that I'll go for the Stratospire 2.
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The StratoSpire 1 & 2 are available with partial solid inner tent bodies. Look closely at the photos on the TarpTent web pages. The solid inner walls extend about 2 feet above ground level. Much better protection from wind, sand, snow, etc. than most so called double wall tents today.
Wayne


Old. Slow. "Smarter than the average bear."
 
Venchka said:
The StratoSpire 1 & 2 are available with partial solid inner tent bodies. Look closely at the photos on the TarpTent web pages. The solid inner walls extend about 2 feet above ground level. Much better protection from wind, sand, snow, etc. than most so called double wall tents today.
Wayne


Old. Slow. "Smarter than the average bear."
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I ended up buying it! I got the full mesh one because I didn't want to spend any more money. Maybe I'll pony up for the solid/mesh inner sometime in the future.
 
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