Seek Outside BT2: The mid I’ve been looking for

[David Chenault]

Ex Sum: I really like this thing. 25 ounces, two people, bomber wind protection, fast pitch with a modest footprint. And a very good price.

Long version with photos: http://bedrockandparadox.com/2015/03/30/the-mid-ive-been-looking-for/

[James Cahill]

Nice review Dave, thank you for sharing.

Have you been able to try any alternative pitches? One thing I like about my SL3 is the ability to stake out 4 corners in "duomid" mode for a smaller footprint and increased length. It looks like the BT2 has plenty of tie-outs, but would the 2 doors allow for something like this?

[Philip Tschersich]

Well written.

The deep cat cuts of the walls seems to impinge on the living space a fair bit. The steep upper walls are nice but some of the lower living space seems to have been sacrificed.

I was also wondering about the lack of linelocs on the tie-outs. It seems like every time I pitch a shelter that requires a lot of stakes, there end up bing a couple of large and incredibly poorly positioned rocks lurking under the tundra that prevents the last stake or two from going in at all. Soooo irritating. I've had late evenings looking for any flat place at all to pitch camp, only to then deal with the issue of that finally-located flat spot being studded with buried stones in all the wrong spots. That's one thing I appreciate about my TT Moment- it really only needs 2 stakes for a basic pitch. Have you dealt with that too?

[David Chenault]

James, there probably are other ways to pitch it, but I haven't experimented.

Philip, the curves on the door seams don't need to be quite as severe as they are in many of my photos, frankly I'm probably guilty of putting excessive tension there and a stake point a little in towards the center pole would be just fine. Seek Outside not using linelocs is something I didn't like at first, but have grown to not mind at all. As you say the rock dodging issue can require some futzing. The benefit is that the webbing loops are just long enough to insert something like a nordic ski for snow anchoring, and short enough that when staked normally they hold the hem tight to the ground. With all the knots and loop associated with linelocs the same low pitch would be a bit tricky to achieve.

[DGoggins]

I don't have the dimensions in front of me, but how does this shelter compare to a golite sl3 in size? The two look very similar, though yes, the bt2 has some interesting mid panel tieouts that can change the bottom shape a bit.

With the sl3….I would assume that this shelter would have the same difficulties in pitching?

Well, I don't want to say "difficulty", but with an sl3 I had to do the trekking pole strategy to get the stakes in the right spot. The method is detailed somewhere here on the site, but basically you put a stake right in middle of the shelter, take one trekking pole set at a certain length, lay it down radially from the center, stake, and then take your second trekking pole, set at a certain length, and lay it down on the perimeter, then you keep moving the 2 trekking poles until the whole perimeter is done.

Or….you get it setup correctly once…then you tie a very lightweight cord from two of the opposite tieouts (so the cord is going in middle of the shelter) which gives you the correct length each time (I believe the luxe sil hexpeak does this). Here is a pic ->

[David Chenault]

Nifty technique John, I've never tried that. With the BT2 staking the four main corners in a general rectangle with a touch of slack gets the job done. Unlike some shelters, it is somewhat forgiving of a pitch which is a bit off.

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