More Tarptent Rainbow pics

HS,

that cross-strut = pure genius.

the simplest ideas are very often the best. yet, they are so hard to think of. you definitely thought “outside-the-box” to come up with that one. my compliments.

clearly the HS Rainbow conforms to generally accepted definitions of freestanding, at least when compared to other Mfr’s definitions, and Franco Darioli’s “carry” test.

BTW, is it the lightest free-standing shelter currently available? i think Franco Darioli mentioned that his weighs 33oz? sounds like that might qualify as the lightest fr/st shelter?

Hi Henry. Talking to you via e-mail and then giving my evaluation a workout here in these discussions has given me a lot better idea of how the Rainbow works and what it might be capable of. The more I look at it the more I like it. Seems to be exactly what I’ve been looking for, especially considering that it can be set up (non-“freestanding”) without hiking poles, thus making it very light and more suited to my non-hiking pole walking style. Just needed to ask some probing questions before deciding to plop down money for yet another shelter (my wife jokes that I’ll be able to house the entire neighborhood during the next major earthquake here in Tokyo!)

In my business people often ask me “what is the best camera”. The simple answer is, that it does not exist as an absolute:it depends what you want to use it for, how, when and so on.
I am a buyer for a very successful shop and have a lot input on purchases for the chain, 105 shops, I also do regularly reviews for the largest local paper (660k copies ,on av per day).
(sorry no proof readers at home…) The reason I am telling you this is, because of the above, somehow I am supposed to be privy to the secret camera that does everything for everybody.Please understand it does not and will never exist.
BTW, yes I do often know what is coming out in the near and not so near future,it does not change what I stated before.
Tents are the same.
Get the one that satisfies most of your needs, make sure that you like it, not me or Henry or Jack or whoever.
When Henry sent me the first decent picture of the Rainbow, I instantly knew that it was the one. I am sure that for a lot of you, it is not.
So far it is better than I expected, later on I might end up finding faults with it, if so I will learn from it.
Tomorrow I will post another picture to show you something else I like about it.

Hi PJ. Please drop the surname, here in Aussie we call everybody Bruce, no need to remember names.
I always enjoy your comments, I do find you sometimes a bit too polite, if others disagree with you it is their right to do so but usually you are correct anyway. People like you are the reason why I spent $29.95 to join and I have got a lot more than that back. The 33oz ( can we go metric, please?)is the weight on my scale, not 100% correct but it should be very close. As you know the stated
“minimum” or whatever weight tends to be flexible, as an example put the Hubba on the scales with all the bits that you need and you will know what I mean. To me 33oz is what I will have on my back, I always use two poles, so to me “freestanding” or not, it is 33OZ.
One more thing .
Henry’s comment about the pole/s. I was very attracted to the Macpac Microlite,( now about 70oz) another one I did like a lot was the Hubba,(about 56oz) I had been looking at Henry’s tents since the AT version of the Tarptent (1999, 24oz), now put these three together and you will get a Rainbow.
As hard as I tried to find something that I liked that used my poles , I could not. Ron’s Europa ( Mr.Moak) was a very tempting choice, and I understand why so many like it as well as that amazing Lunar Solo.
Did I mention that I like tents ?

Bruce, (not sure if i was supposed to take that literally?)

good points on personal preference – “one size does not fit all”, so to speak.

Metric is fine 33oz = ~935.5 gms.

you’re right, what it weighs in the pack is the only wt. that matters.

also, your comments were very kind, thank you.

The Bruce bit is from Monty Python, but it is not too far from the truth. Since by nationality I am a Kiwi, I can tell you that when an Aussie calls you “mate” it is because he does not remember your name.

In a different forum I posted a rant about having to have four, season tents (as in one per season)My line of reasoning with my wife was that “it is compulsory in same areas) Nobody so far got the joke.
If you do ever use that line with your wife, you will have to pay me for my intellectual wrongs

your joke went over my head. it’s a good one though. i’m still chuckling. i might expand your idea a bit though. add in tents/shelters for varying weather conditions each season and you could have eight or more tents/shelters (including tarps). yeah…we’re gear junkies. the gear Mfr’s love us.

Franco… “We are all individuals!” in other words. Well, “I’m not!”

I don’t think the deception about mandatory, locally-adapted tents would quite go over with my wife; she’s been on too many hikes and camping trips to plead ignorant. You see, she’s a lot tougher than I am and is one of those people who can take just about any shelter handed to her and any weather thrown at her and sleep without missing a wink. She just cannot understand my urgent need to dress myself up with all these different fashion statements. She owns one tent and one tent alone, and is perfectly happy with it. From the homestead point of view she’s way more UL than I will ever be.

Hi Miguel, I don’t know how to break this to you but the “subject” should give you a clue.
Anon
I take trade-ins

After another night in the tent, I am now tired of waking up every few hours to check for condensation. Unfortunately we had a gentle wind on and off, took me I while to notice the draft, so the tent remained bone dry, even the very top where I expected at least a damp patch.
According to the weather forecast we should have high humidity and rain in the next few days, might have better luck then.
Some more pictures. The first one is to show that you can use the Rainbow as a hammock.
The second one is a comparison between (from right to left, the other way if you are looking into a mirror)
A Bibler Pinon, (freestanding including the vestibule ( so there)
A BD Lighthouse (separate bag for poles)
A Luxe Mini Peak (smaller version of Megamid,one/ two poles needed)
A Rainbow
A Nalgene, in two parts
Later on today I will post THE PICTURE giving away the secret built in to the Rainbow. I know that I was not supposed to tell, but Henry never made me sign a non-disclosure agreement and I cannot resist any longer.
There is a third one, this is the Rainbow as delivered minus the litle bag for the Easton pegs (MIA)

For Miguel : I just thought of something, tell your wife that the “voices” are commanding you to buy the Rainbow or you will give up sex altogether. I do expect at least some thanks for this one.

Franco
Apart from the bit for Miguel, posted by Anon

That flying trapeze act with the tent is so way cool, Franco! I think I’m falling in love with the Rainbow.

Jeesh, though, the things we DO for love!

Seriously, the Rainbow may be just what I’m looking for.

As to voices… I might listen to them, but I have to ask myself where the voices are coming from… A Kiwi from Down Under holding up tents so that us folks up here Up Above might grasp what you’re whispering about!

Franco:

You are enjoying yourself too much! Say, do you have a digital scale? Curious, what is the weight of the supplied pole, and also the cross strut? Finally, can you tell me the length of the pole when collapsed? Thanks again! :)

Oh, yeah, I think you should set up ALL your tents in a semi-circle, and take a family portrait!

Blast, I had to put the tent up again to check the height now I have to take it down for you. You would think that I have nothing to do apart from testing this thing. ( OK, you are right, I have nothing else to do)
Will get back with measurements.
Must get a bigger backyard. I am glad that you got the Downunder bit.
Franco
Don’t forget, the secret will be revealed later today.

Don’t know how things are done ‘down under’, but up here in AMERICA (God’s country) — we do things systematically:

1. Package comes in
2. Control glee
3. Unpack
4. Weigh everything together (except packaging of course)
5. Weigh and measure by component
6. Set up (timing it as you go)
7. Measure exterior and interior dimensions
8. Photo
9. Take down
10. Post and gloat

Et voila! All done. :)

Just established the new world record for dismantling the tent, from fully set up to inside the bag, 3 min and 20 sec. With some planning and by moving a bit faster I think that I can get it down to 2 min and 45 sec.
It feels good to be a champ….
( you may not know this but I am the only human to have stuffed a Thermarest Prolite 4 R into a Medium Thermarest stuff sac, of course I forgot to take pictures of the event)
Weight Pole 180g
Pegs 60g
Length Pole 51cm
Pegs 16cm
I know what you are thinking and I would not go there, not worth the difference.
You could provably save 100g but lose a lot of functionality.
Franco

You forgot to weigh the strut!

Nah, just kidding. It’s OK. Thank you VERY MUCH for doing the measurements!

Ben.

i think that pic clearly answers a question posed earlier, viz. “freestanding?”. definitely. try that with a ClipFlashlight! [or any other two hoop tunnel, for that matter]

Agree — although maybe Henry can be talked into shipping future Rainbows with a set of complimentary hiking poles… :)

Hmmm, where’s Franco? I wonder if he’s setting up ALL his tents for a group portrait?

>>”complimentary…poles”

Ben, understood. i remember the point of one of your earlier posts.

Hey Mate…i mean, Franco, i think Ben is right. how ’bout a family portrait, of Franco and all of his children…er…i mean all of his tents? ok…just a list would suffice. interested in knowing what tents you’ve tried and liked, and which you don’t like. also, why do you prefer the Rainbow to the others near the top of your list? [weight? weight? weight?, or is it the sheer cleverness of Rainbow’s design?]

Sorry there will not be a group portrait because one of them is going back very soon to the importers (the Luxe) the others are the ones I like and want to keep but I don’t have enough room at the back to set them up.
I used to have a Clip Flashlight, great tent but I could not get used to looking at a steep wall in front of my nose. I do think that it is a great performer for the cost, so I see some good points in a lot of different tents.
I liked the I Tent but a waste for my type of camping, the Fitzroy is great but too heavy, again for me, The Exped Vela is a good design ( no Akto in Aussie) I have the same too close to the wall feel as with the Sierra. I really prefer to discuss what I like rather than what I do not because it is very subjective
Apart from my silly asides, the Rainbow is the best (for me) combination of what I like in a tent. Again my friend Adam said it in one sentence ” You can see that a lot of thought has gone into it” Now Adam has no idea about tents, but has great taste, his camera, fishing rod, bike, watch …….. are all very different and damn clever. If you know it, he has a Birdy. His ( favorite) camera at the moment is the Olympus E300 a VERY underrated SLR,great feel,great performance, you get the idea.
The Rainbow is like that. I have seen a lot of tents and tested many but the Rainbow is just something else.
Please understand for some it will be the worst, personal taste and requirements.
Strut 15 g (1/2 oz) it is just one standard section of the pole.

Maybe Henry will make available two 140 cm ( my preferred length) “carbon fiber” poles to satisfy the needs of “super lightweight but I need a freestander” types.
Henry……………. ?

If you see a post asking “where is the sleeve” the first time I put it up I could not find the sleeve, the slot is hard to see, so I had it up by sliding the pole underneath. I was not going to spend any more time looking for it. Once you find it (just squash the webbing and you will see it)it is very easy to slide in.

Is anyone interested in the ” Secret” ?

Yes, Franco… share your secret….

yes. please. please. pretty please. your secret, please.

Ben, I missed your post about how you do things in the USA.
Here is my version
1) take the box to the back (someone always shuts the front door anyway)
2) open top with something……..
3) say Holy mackerel !
4) spread the fly on the grass
5) find a small sac “what the H…?
6) marvel at the Easton pegs 3 sec
7) assemble pole
8) try to find somewhere to put it in
9) 10 sec later give up
10) shove pole inside the tent
11) peg corners down
12) stand back and nod (4 min from 1)
13) fiddle for ten minutes
14) get the right look and congratulate oneself
15) find instructions in the box
16) pull the pole out and insert it in the correct spot
17) stand back and say “that’s better”
18) Drive everyone nuts in selected forums……….

Well, whichever order it may be… it’s good to see that you are enjoying your new toy!