Tarptent Sublite

Reminds me a lot of the MLD Spirit which never really came to fruition. Altho' it looks more spacious. Same basic idea tho' of using poles to create an "V" shape support.

Link to the pics

A very interesting tent!

One thing I've never quite understood about using Tyvek as a tent fabric is durability when exposed to sunlight / weather.

In the construction industry it is recognized that exposure to sunlight and weather degrades Tyvek and will cause it to fall apart / leak after a period of time. It takes between 4-10 months of exposure to the elements for the Tyvek to brake down to the point of holes forming in the material. This would roughly translate into between 288-722 nights (10 hours each night) of exposure before the Tyvek will fail.

I wonder how this stacks up to silnylon? I remember reading that silnylon will stretch out and loose some degree of waterproof ness after a period of time.

Does it have a zippered mesh door? I can't tell from the pictures on his website. I also seem to recall a tentative price about a month ago that was closer to $100 than $200.

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Chad, there should be very little damage caused by the sun during those 10 hours per night average exposure (insert smilies here)
anyway,if the Sublite does last 300 nights, that is about 60 cents per night, not a bad investment (IMHO) for an 18oz tent.
Franco
BTW, cooler in the sun is a major advantage if you like an afternoon nap protected from the mini-vampires.

Chad, Most UL hikers are out to hike, a shelter goes up at dusk and down at dawn, resulting in very limited exposure to the sun. I feel that with normal care the tyvek will hold up well and be durable for the intended use. Nearly all fabrics, I believe, will suffer some level of damage if overexposure to UV is allowed.

Casey, My understanding is that the mesh door is zipped open or shut. I may be wrong but I will let you know. I've converted mainly to tarps but ordered a Sublite today being intrigued by the concept. I never recall the projected cost to be in the range of $100.00 but I may be mistaken in regard to pricing. I had no issue with the listed price having in the past paid much more for solo shelters.

Dave, I agree that for many the Contrail will be somewhat more user friendly having the covered vestibule/entry. I've owned the Contrail and will let you know my thoughts in comparing the two.

To me, it looks very similar to the MHW Waypoint 1 tent from a couple of years ago. No vestibule is a bummer IMO.

Last month, you might recall, I reported here my usage of the Sublite over two trips in the Sierras:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/xdpy/forum_thread/13561/index.html

The photos on the website show some nice features not yet integrated into the prototype I have been testing.

I think a bit of clarification is need about the degradation of Tyvek due to weather / sunlight.

Exposing Tyvek to the elements (wind, rain, sand, dirt, ect) will degrade the fabric n 4-10 months without any exposure to sunlight. Exposing Tyvek to direct sunlight will increases the degradation over a shorter period of time.

As most people know Tyvek is intended to act as a permeable moisture barrier (not waterproof) system for use in wall constriction. Tyvek is not a stand alone product and it is intended to be covered with some sort of siding product that will not only act a weather barrier (waterproofing) but also protect the Tyvek from sunlight and the elements.

that you are referring to is a significantly different material being more porus and heavier than the clothing type tyvek similar to the material used in the Sublite. The Sublite material is a heavier grade of tyvek used in hazmat clothing. I used the same tyvek pants for 7 to 8 years as raingear subjecting them to some fairly rough treatment before their usefulness expired. A tent will not be abraded and scraped by heavy wear like the clothing material and would be expected to have a much longer useful life. I am confident that the Sublite will last longer than I will care to keep it.

What isn't clear to me is how much room there is above the head when lying down. Like most of the tarp tents I've seen, the tents are long enough to house tall people. But if you are lying down on your back, some tents have a lot of space above the face, while other tents have a sloping side wall which comes in pretty close. Personally, I like to have as much room as possible around my head, as this helps me feel less claustrophobic. The Six Moons tents are excellent tents, but most of them (including the super light Refuge X) don't have much room above the face (although the Refuge allows you to increase it a bit with tie outs). Most of the TarpTent tents, on the other hand (Squall, Cloudburst, Rainshadow and Contrail) have plenty of room above the face, since the tallest part of the tent is right above the head. This tent looks to be somewhat in between, but it isn't clear to me. It looks like there is less than the Squall, but maybe not (if the tent is long enough).

Ross,

The peak height is 42". It drops off gradually towards the foot. At a little under 5'10" I enjoyed plenty of room to sit without the sloping wall being directly in my face. The side entry is fabulous and enhances the feeling of comfort and spaciousness. The boxed foot provides maximum usable space.

You're correct that that the space above your head while lying down is less than our front entry models. The peak height is 42" which, while less than the 45" Contrail, feels about the same if not a little better since you can sit directly under the peak. I just updated the Sublite page to provide a link to another page showing side and top-down cutaways. Hopefully that helps give a better sense of the space.

-H

Henry, what do you mean on that page you just made that the sleeping pad is 12" high? Did you mean the "sleeping pad with a body on top of it laying down" is 12" high?

My Montbell sleeping pad is only 1" high. I know some of the air-pads are 2-3" high. But 12" high? Wow!

> Did you mean the "sleeping pad with a body on top of it laying down" is 12" high?

Yes, exactly. I can't draw bodies but a prone body is about 12" high.

Excellent diagram, Henry; that helps me quite a bit. Thanks.

I agree, a very excellent diagram, I wish I could draw that well. It answers all visual questions (now that I know what the 12" stands for, I figured as much).

Thanks Henry, notwithstanding the "a picture tells a thousand words " cliché, those two diagrams explain the tent better than all the pictures combined. (once you have seen the pictures…)
Since I can visualize that 72" mat, it is easy to work out the space around it.
This of course means that now we expect the same with all the other shelters…
Franco

Has there been any problems with the poles slipping out from the tent? Am I missing something? It seems that the grips of the trekking poles would have a hard time staying put in soft ground or wet ground.

It's hard to see in the pictures but there is a web attachment from the shelter to the pole bases. I've not seen this upclose but with the poles attached they will not "kickout" or slip away from the shelter.

I can't work out how the front (ground level) window keeps the rain out. With the mesh on the outside and the little roll up flap on the inside there must be some design feature that stops the rain entering the tent. (?)

Hope the tent can be set up without using trekking poles.

> I can't work out how the front (ground level) window keeps the rain out. With the mesh on the outside and the little roll up flap on the inside there must be some design feature that stops the rain entering the tent. (?)

The vent flap underlaps the outside canopy. Between the underlap and the mesh, which does a good job channeling water, water runs off the front edge and not into your living space.

> Hope the tent can be set up without using trekking poles.

One could set it up with substitute poles or by suspending it from a branch.

I read on another forum that the silnylon Sublites were coming in on July 10th. Is this still the case? Will this model be identical to the Tyvek version or are there modifications? It looks as if the Sublite has no porch at all, is this right?

Thanks guys