Squall Classic vs. Contrail

Both are great tents, but if I had the money I'd would go with the Squall Classic.
I have the contrail. It is tight with two people and the rear is too low and flat unless you pitch it as Franco does see
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/tarptent_contrail_tent_review.html
but then it is not as wind worthy, I'm thinking rain could blow in.

Andrew,
I love my Contrail. One of the "perfect" solo tents out there, but not for two. You and your girlfriend could probably handle the sleeping part, but when you get up in the morning you'll crash into each other and it won't be pretty.

I have the Squall 2 which my wife an I use all the time. I think it is pretty similar to the Classic, but I've never seen the GG version.

Good Luck,
-Mark

I looked at the best interior space arrangement for a 1.5 lb or less weighted tent to use for either 1-2 people and figured that the GG Squall Classic was the best, check on the review of it at GG (they have a link to a backpackgeartest.org review of it which is great). The tent has the most shoulder-width space for two people of other "2 person" tents in that range (actually, only the silnylon "refuge" by SMD qualifies)/weight size. The "refuge"'s top 2 feet of their tent vs. the Squall Classic top 2 feet of it's tent shows the Squall Classic having 129% more space. The top is 62" wide in SC v. 48" wide in the Refuge, which is important, in my mind. The refuge is overall bigger inside though by 108 sq. inches though but I care less about averages than what space is available around the shoulders (the "pillow" area of the tent). The Squall 2, which weighs 2 pounds does have 384 sq. inches more available in the "pillow area" than the squall classic though, but I wanted something in the 1.5 pound range, because half the time it will be for solo. I have the Tarptent Rainshadow 2 which is 2.5 pounds and sleeps 2-3 people (I used it for 3 full size adults for 9 days in 2006), I figure if it is always for 2 or 3 people, go with Tarptent Rainshadow 2 for 2.5 pounds. If for 1 or 2 people, go for Squall Classic. Email me a PM and I can send you the spreadsheet analysis of the various tents I analyzed, including the Tarptent Squall 2, Rainshadow 2, Rainbow, Refuge, and Squall Classic, and Lunar Duo (ps, the Squall Classic has more pillow space than the Lunar Duo).

ps – I recently ordered a Squall Classic, and am awaiting it (it is a used one, I bought online here at BPL's swap forum).

For two people, take a long, hard look at the Tarptent Double Rainbow and the Six Moon Designs Lunar Duo.

My wife and I have and love the DR with its dual porches, and in a big wind, I'd favor it's geometry over that of the LD. However, the LD has a LOT more headroom and if I had to be tent-bound for a couple of days, I'd favor the LD.

Bob's advice seems to be steering for the middle ground purchase I avoided — the best 2 lb, always for 2 people, tent. The original poster's question seemed to be for something balanced between 1 (solo) person and sometimes 2 persons. The Rainshadow 2 tent is a taj mahal tent for 2 people, yes it does weigh 2.5 pounds but community weight wise, it is only .25 pounds more per person for 2 people than a 2 pound tent, and the space you get for that .25 extra pounds is so phenomenally much. We used the Rainshadow 2 tent for 2 adults this last summer for 15 days.

Roleigh's correct.

Unless you have an unlimited gear budget, you have to make choices.

The original post stated that most of his camping is with the girl friend. This would suggest that the choice should favor a shelter designed full-time for two. On those occasions when you go solo, you get a Taj Mahal for one and all the gear. Think about this: if you both wind up jammed tightly into a 1 or 1.5 person shelter, it ain't gonna be fun and probably not something she wants to do again any time soon.

Also, looking at the single wall two person tents on the market these days, you really can't split the weight between two people. At best, one carries the shelter itself, and the other person carries the stakes (and maybe the optional pole if you don't use trekking poles). IMO, that's foolish. Keep the entire shelter together. Make up the weight difference by giving things like the stove and water filter to the second person.

In the final analysis, it's a personal choice. I have a two person Double Rainbow for when my wife or son go with me, and a single person Contrail for when I go alone.

Wandering Bob

Bob is definitely correct if you mostly intend to go with two people then.

By community weight sharing, I agree with Bob whose advice is the same as a book on backpacker's tips — when doing community weight sharing, keep entire systems intact with one person, so although a two person tent's weight goes into the pool, only one person carries the tent, but another person has to carry 1/2 that weight in something else (like the stove or something). The backpacking tip book advices this splitting method because in a worse case situation (say a bear rips a pack off you and runs off with it), you have at least something in tact, if all your community gear was split in half (piece-wise as well weight-wise), then all of your community gear is worthless in this bad scenario.

ps – in my situation, the Squall Classic is for our JMT hike this summer, when we will have 4 people for the first 8 days, and 3 people for the last 8 days (one person is splitting off midpoint), so the Squall Classic will be used as well as the Rainshadow 2 in our group to handle this weird scenario. If I chosed between these 2 tents for a full session hike with 2 people, I'd go with the Rainshadow 2 (and the Double Rainbow looks super fantastic for a 2 person always scenario and it weighs a couple of ounces less too than the Rainshadow 2–in my situation, we sometimes have a 3 person situation where the Rainshadow 2 tent has worked well).

The Squall Classic is an amazing shelter! A true palace for one and very comfortable for two. My finance and I used one while hiking in the White Mtns of New Mexico and we loved it! At 1.5 lbs, it's incredibly light for a fully-enclosed 2 person shelter and it's really easy to set up. Great tent!!

Ryan

For two people I would skip the contrail.

The Squall is a nice shelter. I have used various versions of the squall in winds up to 45mph. It’s do-able, but I would suggest using something else if you are expecting winds above 30mph. The Squall2 is my favorite right now. The extra headroom is nice, and for whatever reason, I could get a tauter pitch with the Squall2 than with the Squall Classic I demoed.

I have taken a MLD Superfly out one weekend. It very well may become my two person, 3 season shelter of choice.

For more info, I have written about my experiences with a variety shelters as well as providing links to other people’s information.
–mark

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Thanks everyone!

That is wonderful stuff! My situation is that I feel bad telling my girlfriend to sell her tent because she only bought it a bit over a year ago when I was just getting into the idea of backpacking more seriously. We weren't considering weight or the like and she spent her money on it and I don't want to tell her to get rid of it.

I like the idea of going solo, but the reality is that my girlfriend (Belinda is he rname so from now on I will use that) loves to backpack. She's going to want to come and I love having her with me, so I guess that being realistic, I will be with her msot of the time. I guess maybe I should consider the other tents suggested by Bob and Roleigh and everyone else. The idea of being solo is intriguing, but I love going out there with Belinda. Besides, later I can buy a solo tent for when I have more money and use it now and again.

I will search around on the Double Rainbow and Rainshadow 2 and see what people think. Anyone who wants to weigh in (as long as you weigh light enough for me to take you seriously..2.5 pounds is good :), please do. I'm most interested in hearing about that pole in the Double rainbow. How does that affect packing? I will search around for answers.

Now I just have to feel out telling her that we should get a new tent. I really feel bad about it because it was such a great gesture for her to buy it in the first place and we were both so excited :(

Sell the old tent on ebay.

Ditto what Roleigh said about the RainShadow 2 … it is palatial! An unexpected side benefit of all that room is that it seems to make it easier to talk others out of their tents. I've managed to get three different people to join me in it on various trips since last June and they've all come away agreeing that they didn't need to be fully enclosed after all.