Big Sky International Convertible 2P Tent REVIEW

Ben must be out in the sticks. I expected to see a post from him within an hour of this posting online. Stay tuned.

Hi Roger, as your post illustrates, it depends on the individual whether the flaps are an issue while summer camping. I brought it up to make readers aware of it, and they can decide for themselves whether its an issue or not.

I suspect that many buyers of this tent will only use it for summer camping, so they don't need the snow flaps. Of course then can cut them off, but the point is they can't buy a fly for the Convertible without snow flaps.

Another thing to note is the flaps serve a useful purpose when winter camping in a snow storm, but they greatly reduce the tent's ventilation because they seal off the bottom.

Best,
Will

> I've had a few uncomfortable nights when dune sand blew under the fly and settled on my face for hours.
New one on me!
But of course. I think the tents used by nomadic Arabs have sodcloths too.

Cheers

Hi Peter. Ask and you shall receive; we just received a Warmlite 2X from Stephensons and Chris Townsend will be doing the review. It will be published in early fall sometime, along with a State Of the Market Report on single wall tents.

Best,
Will

Hi Mary. Great comment. Camping in the desert when its windy results in a lot of fine sand inside your tent, and sand in everything inside. The snow flaps could be covered with sand around the perimeter to keep it from blowing in. Seems like that would work.

Best,
Will

As of today, some Convertible 2Ps are in stock at dealers and at Big Sky…

For current availability, please see:
http://www.bigskyproducts.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=43

or

http://tinyurl.com/3ygqh2

Thanks for your interest,
Bob

Big Sky International
http://www.BigSkyInternational.com
online store: http://www.BigSkyProducts.com

As of today, some Convertible 2Ps are in stock at dealers but NOT at Big Sky…

If you need help finding a dealer with one in stock, please let us know.

For current availability, please see:
http://www.bigskyproducts.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=43

or

http://tinyurl.com/3ygqh2

Thanks for your interest,
Bob

Big Sky International
http://www.BigSkyInternational.com
online store: http://www.BigSkyProducts.com

It was mentioned in the article that the poles attach to the outside of the fly. Is there any possible way of just pitching the inner mesh tent? If not, that seems like a big disadvantage, at least for me. In warmer weather, I often just pitch the inner mesh tent for superb ventilation, views, and star-watching while still keeping the bugs out. What is the advantage of having the poles attach to the outside of the fly?

Thanks for pointing that out. I didn't think of that. However, I still personally do not like the idea of having poles attach to the outside of the fly. Many tents can be stored and stuffed w/ the fly still attached to the inner tent. When I pitch my tent in the rain, I can push the poles through the sleeve on the inner tent while the attached fly is protecting the inner tent from rain.

Will, do you believe that it is advisable (even if not necessary) to seal any of the seams on Evolution tents?

My understanding when I purchased the 2P2V three season version was that it's not necessary to seal any of the seams, and I haven't done so. No problems so far.

However, even if not necessary, I wonder if applying seam sealer, at least for high-stress areas like the corners, would signficantly help strengthen the tent.

Thanks for any info or suggestions.

JRS

Due to a mix up when publishing this review we did not get Will's video tour of the Convertible 2P in the initial release of the article.

That's ben fixed now. If you go to the original article and scroll down through the Field Testing section you'll find a video tour of the tent as used by Will during an early May camping trip at a campsite at nearly 12,000 feet in the southern Rockies.