Owner Review by Mark Verber
Manufacture Description: www.tarptent.com
The delivered weight was 25oz including poles, guylines, and stakes. I use my trekking pole for the front, removing the need for the front pole, dropping the weight to 23 oz. I use either an emergency blanket (1.7oz) which is just slightly too small to seal against the netting, or a custom cut Tyvek groundsheet (6oz) keeping the total weight for two people below 2 lb. I found the tarptent to be well finished, though you will need to seal the ridgeline yourself.
Setup quick and simple. You only need four stakes. Thread the back pole through a sleeve, use one stake for the back, stake out your front pole, and then stake out the two front sides. Takes less than two minutes. The cut makes it easy to get a taut pitch. I think this is one of the most visually attractive shelters going... it has good lines. Since I am often camping places with very hard ground which makes re-staking a pain, I retied Henry's knots with a double half-hitch which slides to keep the tarp taut without needed to move the stakes. Once the tarptent is up you will want to use gear or rocks in the corners to keep the netting down to seal out flying bugs and to keep the netting pulled in to minimize dripping in the case of rain. Under strong winds you might want to stake out slide pullouts, and either stake out (or strategically places) rocks in front the the rear hoop so it doesn't move.
Good ventilation. No significant condensation problems. For example, one trip the weather was in the 70s, dropped to the 40s at night, 70% humidity, netting closed (but the beak rolled up) a small patch of condensation with two people in the tarptent. Custom SilNylon tent on same trip was quite wet, as was the fly on a 2 walled tent. Most of the time I have no condensation when using solo, even when the night air has been still.
Plenty of room for two people (you don't even need to be friendly unless in a storm.) Not quite large enough for two people plus packs unless the packs are ultra-light and fold up.
Stable in 45 mph winds provided you pitch the tarp at the recommended height (I normally set the tarp up higher for better ventilation) and have rocks or logs on top of the stakes to prevent them from pulling out.
Keeps most flying bugs out. Critters on the ground can get in if they are motivated... but how's that different from your house?
Henry is great to deal with.
Summary:
My favorite two man shelter for all but the most severe weather. Light enough that it can be a palace for one person. An easy way to move from a tent to a "tarp".