Tents for Tall People

[bryan Schuetz]

At 6'7" finding a tent that I can sleep in comfortably is a challenge. I find I need at least 90" of lengthwise floor space to sleep comfortably and that's pushing it, ideally I'd love more but can't seem to find that anywhere.

At the moment I have a fairly heavy REI halfdome 2 person tent that I've been holding on to because it has that 90" floorspace that I need. All the lightweight tents I've seen seem to top out at around 84".

Can we get some love for the tall people out there? Any other tall folk out there know of some good lightweight shelter options geared to the tall? I'd consider going with alternate shelter options but still favor the double wall style at this point.

[Rene de bos]

Just make the jump and get a single wall

I am 6'7 and have ample room in a Lunar Duo from SMD

[Justin Wade]

I'd recommend the tarptent rainbow. I am 6'2" and i have more than 5 inches of extra room.

[Brett Peugh]

Tarptent Double Rainbow or Contrail will work for you.

[Jolly Green Giant]

I'm 6'6" and agree the Lunar Duo is likey the best choice. I chose it over the Double Rainbow because it is slightly bigger. I own the Contrail too and although I fit, it really only works on flat ground as even a slight incline would push me to the top and bottom (not to mention I touch the ceiling when I bend my knees already which is a little annoying as it often makes my bag wet).

If you've got time to wait, Six Moon Designs was supposed to come out with a tent specifically for tall people known as the Vamp. Most of us believe we'll see it during spring of next year as SMD is behind on releasing it and the updated Refuge. Gossamer Gear is also working on a new tent, but I don't know anything about it. If I recall, BPL was even working on a tent…

[William Puckett]

+1 for Lunar Duo. It's plenty big.

…and I agree with the Jolly Green Giant…that the Contrail will work, but there's not a lot of margin for error. The biggest downside the Contrail is the lack of height. No sitting up, even at the front for this 6'5" user unless you just jam your head against the ceiling. That's one of the reasons that I'm now a hammock user for solo trips (Warbonnet Blackbird with OES MacCat Deluxe spinnUL tarp).

Oh…and I note that REI now has a tall person version of their Quarter Dome (the T2 Plus) that is 94" long, though still weighs 4 lbs 14 oz packaged weight, FAR more than the Lunar Duo.

[Ryan Tucker]

if your looking for a double wall the big agnes copper spur ul is 90 inches. i am not as tall as you, but jolly green's big guy advice has been spot on so far for me.

[Ethan A.]

I can't comment on the other models but Ron at SMD emailed to say that he's prototyping the Vamp now and expects to have it shipping by first quarter 2010. I'm looking forward to seeing the design.

[bryan Schuetz]

Thanks for all the suggestions, they've been very helpful in forcing me to really think through what I want. The single wall tents are intriguing and the SMD Lunar Duo looks like a good fit, but I'm still stuck on my double walls. It looks like almost all the Big Agnes tents are 90" so I think I will investigate them some.

A quick search of these forums also pointed me to the Stephenson Warmlite tents which seem to have more lengthwise floor space than any others I've seen.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

I just ordered a TarpTent MOMENT. It's even longer inside than my Contrail and has more headroom. Plus it's much more wind resistant and faster to pitch (tho 4 oz. heavier).

Eric.

[Rog Tallbloke]

"Can we get some love for the tall people out there?"

Know how you feel Bryan, I'm 6' 8"

If you like double wall tents I can recommend the old sierra designs lightyear. I believe they did a version with a silnylon fly which is a bit lighter than the standard model's 3.5lb. It's a neat design with the inner tent extending to one corner of the flysheet. I found it just long enough, and it's pretty sturdy for it's weight. Mine survived a storm at 7000ft without a problem. Well, ok, I sat up with my shoulders bracing the pole for part of the night at the height of the storm.

For uberlite, I managed along with my little lady under a gatewood cape for 10 days in Sardinia this year, but this was marginal, my feet were pressed up against one end, and I used my event jacket to keep my sleeping bag foot dry.

Kath complained about insects, so now I've sold the gatewood and have a Gossamer Gear 'the one' on it's way from gear swap. This will be marginal too, but at that weight, I'm willing to give it a go.

Nice to hear Ron at SMD has plans for a tall man's tent with the 'vamp'. Maybe he heard my plea when I asked him for some matching nylon to extend the gatewood cape (he didn't have any). I look forward to seeing the vamp design, any clues yet?

[bryan Schuetz]

wow, with 131" of lengthwise sleeping space the light year has to best tall-friendly one I've seen yet. Doesn't look like much of a vestibule though, guess beggars can't be choosers.

I also wonder what the trade off is for tents with sloping vs. vertical end walls. Will a tent with an 86" lenghtwise floor space and vertical end walls end up giving me more space than a 90" one with sloping walls. My assumption is it would, problem is that there's no way to know for sure without laying down in one.

[Diplomatic Mike]

Some of the Exped tents have a long inner. I used to have an Exped Vela II Extreme that had a 96" inner. The ends were vertical, so all the space was useable. The one man version is also 96", i think.

[bryan Schuetz]

I'm wondering if any of the vertically gifted in here have used the TT scarp tents? Though the interior length is only 86" with the vertical end walls I'm wondering if my 6'7" frame could fit comfortably in it. It looks like a great tent and seems to have everything I want.

[Franco Darioli]

Bryan
"Will a tent with an 86" lenghtwise floor space and vertical end walls end up giving me more space than a 90" one with sloping walls. My assumption is it would, problem is that there's no way to know for sure without laying down in one."

Not really, it is much simpler than that…
Make a mock up of the tent using string, tent poles (or bamboo or similar flexing material) . Once you have the dimensions it is not that difficult to do.
See my mock up of the TT Moment….

And for the Scarp:
The bottom part is really totally box shaped. 86" long, 32" wide and 15" high at the end. The max height is 39".
So the white masking tape is the floor footprint , the line just under the chair seat is the 15" high mark.
The combined length of the mat and the pillow is your exact height. The white pillow simulates your head , so you still have good space above..
The same can be done with most tents. That would save criticising one shelter for being too short only to order two others that are in fact shorter (less usable length…)
BTW most of it can be done on a piece of paper, but a mock up will allow you to put in the mat you want to use , lay on top of it, move around and see how it feels for you.
Franco

[bryan Schuetz]

Wow that's extremely helpful Franco, thanks. I just ran through that modeling on my office floor here and it was painfully obvious that scarp 1 would probably be too narrow, something I was not even really focusing on. I'm going to have to do this for all the tents I'm considering I think.

[William Puckett]

(Swoon!) Franco is my hero!! I LOVE the idea of tent mockup with string/tape/poles for "testing". I'm impressed!

[Donald Browning]

THe EV2 from Mountain Hardware is plenty long, but has to have the right conditions for ventilation. Don

[Franco Darioli]

William
I thought that everyone did that…

Bryan
at 32" the Scarp is wider than many single shelters, so you may have to consider a double.
Keep in mind that because of your height you need to consider the narrowest point on the floor and ignore the widest. Also several shelters have a pronounced inward slant in the first few inches, so again take note of that. See examples.
Franco

Scarp inner (note that the ends are not as vertical as in std mode)

[Joe Clement]

There's just no "off" switch on genius, is there Franco…….?

[David Ure]

I just want to know how Franco packs down the pillow…..

[bryan Schuetz]

In one of the other "tall person" threads I found a link to this REI exclusive model from Sierra Designs http://www.rei.com/product/779217 made especially for the tall (Vapor Light XL).

With floor dimensions of 93 X 52 it looks promising, anyone here had any experience with this tent. I'll have to head down to my local REI and give it a test run.

[Greyson Howard]

Hey, I hope you all don't mind me reviving this thread, but I'm in the market and at 6'3" am getting somewhat frustrated. So tall folks, what are your recommendations for current tents on the market? I'm looking at 1 and 2 person tents, preferably free-standing or free-standing-ish. Also brands like Hilleberg are waay out of the price range.

[j p]

i'm 6 and a bit and the tarptent rainbow has plenty of room. you should be fine with one of those. also, i've laid down in a lighheart tent and they're really long.

[Bradley Attaway]

I'm 6'5". I spent over a week in the Teton Wilderness quite comfortably in a Quarter Dome T2+. Experienced rain and sub-freezing temps, so a fair range of 3 season conditions. I believe the Half-Dome is of similar dimensions and substantially cheaper, just a pound or so heavier. They also have a single person model, if I'm not mistaken, and all of them can be set up with just the footprint and fly to cut out some weight.

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