I’m getting older, and my little one is almost to the age where she would go camping in the BWCA with us. Time to update the somewhat heavy two-man tent I’ve been dragging up North for the last decade. A ‘three person’ tent that weighs in just less than 4 pounds was perfect... ended up going with a Big Agnes Seedhouse 3 SL. Interesting concept – a mesh tent with an outer shell.
My bride climbed inside, and quickly reminded me that while there was plenty of room for two people, three was not going to work. Nuts. Now I’ll have to pack in two tents – the same old heavy two-man and this three-child ^H^H man, or pick up another tent for me.
Still, it packed down nice and small… but how does it hold up in the rain and cold? Heh. Did a quick Boundary Waters trip this fall. Far more of a field test than I ever intended. The night before, we got 11" of rain, so everything, including the ground, was throughly saturated. Rain continued thought the trip, and the tent kept everything dry. Not a great shot of the tent in action, but it is what it is when you set up in the dark in a rainstorm.
The principal disappointment with the tent is the vestibule storage area. The angle of the tent wall is steep enough that there really was not much usable storage in the gap. Of the flip side, for one person (or even two), there is plenty of storage area *inside* the tent. The zippers were water resistant, and could be a little awkward getting into and out of the tent quickly... in the rain. All of the seams were dry, however.
Glad I set it up at home first. Poles were in a doubly Y, with one pole over the top. Nice light poles too. Liked the tent stakes as well.
I can also see it being tricky to convince people this is a 'solo' one-person tent. I'm liking all of the room to myself (grin) - lots of very usable space. Were I to buy again, knowing what I do now... I might go with the two-person version and treat it as a solo tent. The one-person version looks like a really tight fit.
In dry, warm weather, I'll probably give the mesh tent (without the shell) a try some time. All the beauty of sleeping under the stars - with mosquito netting. I have the footprint and could do the 'fast fly' option, but I like a barrier between me and the critters. Looking forward to the Summer!
