Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2 Tent Review

[Addie Bedford]

Companion forum thread to:

Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2 Tent Review

[Richard Sullivan]

A great little tent for sure. One big weakness is the 1200mm waterproofness rating on the floor. Over the years we have seen tent floors drop from 3000+ down to 1800 and now a miserly 1200. I would not use this tent in wet conditions where drying out might be difficult. By comparison the MSR at 10000mm is going to be bone-dry even in the NW camped on sodden moss or meadow for days of rain at at time.

[CW]

Silnylon has around the same hydrostatic head and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of tarp tents with sil floors out there which have no leakage problems.

I'm sure Roger has tons of experience and will come by to comment.

[Brad Rogers]

I was section hiking the AT in Georgia around Labor Day when they got 7" of rain in 48 hours. I set up camp at Justis Creek Campsite which has tent pads cut into the hill. It is a new site along a relocated section of trail and the tent pads were muddy and packed hard. I set up my SpinnShelter/Alpinlite Gear Bug Tent 1.25 combo and went to sleep. Well it REALLY started to rain in the night and the tent pads pooled with water. My Bug Tent with silnylon floor was in the middle of a pool of water and didn't leak. I wouldn't want to do it again, but it was waterproof.

[David Ure]

Just a comment on pricing. The Terra Nova (2009 version with dual doors) is $289 at Moontrail. It does not appear to be on sale but I cannot confirm that.

Regarding the waterproofness of the floor. I have not had leakage with silnylon if first camped in a dry spot prior to it raining. However, I have had it wet through very quickly if camping on wet grass. So I do think that if you are placing a silnylon floor on reasonably wet ground and putting a lot of pressure or weight on the floor you can get some wetting through. BA recommends a ground sheet with the Fly Creek anyway, increasing the HH to 2400mm.

[David Ure]

Oh yea – nice review Ray!

[Marc T]

In some geographies I prefer to pitch on flat rock. Can you get away with no stakes? In comparison, the MSR Hubba Hubba (3lbs 14 oz – trail wt) pitches exceptionally well without stakes.

[Raymond Estrella]

Yeah, the materials do keep getting lighter Richard. But we are the ones driving that, right? I do most of my hiking in California which normally sees little rain at night when the tents are up. That is why I try to get them used in Minnesota. The storm that it was in had water running under half the tent for about 20 hours. In the picture with the wind shoving the pole over the tents set up on the property line with the place next to me so the kids can see the tent outside their windows. There is a dip right at that line which is between the right side and the center stake. That became a creek. Not a bit of water came through. My Tarptents have seen some wild weather too with never a leak.

Thanks David. As far as the MSRP we go with what they say, not what retailers sell it for.

Marc, it can set up on rock the same as a Hubba. You would need to wrap line around rocks through the stake loops to pull the vestibule out the same as you would the MSR. My four stake comment is to use the vestibule normally. Something needs to hold one end to pull from the other.

My feeling is that a tent should be able to use all its features. A vestibule is pretty important to me, especially when sharing a tent. That is why I include the weight of as many stakes as it needs to do so. (I will make sure to clarify that.)

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Nice review. Definately a neat and tempting tent.

Regarding the lightest 2 person tent…one could argue that the MLD DuoMid + DuoMid mesh inner is the lightest double wall 2 person tent, but it depends whether you consider a trekking pole supported shelter to be a tent. This combo is 11.5oz (cuben DuoMid tarp) + 14.5oz (Inner Net) plus stakes (~1.5oz) for a total of 28oz (vs. 38oz for the FC UL2). Supposedly the Duo mesh inner isn't really suitable for two though. The upcoming SMD Haven tarp/net tent combo will likely be a more livable 2 person, double wall trekking pole supported shelter but it will probably weigh about the same as the Fly Creek UL2 until the cuben version is released later.

"Silnylon has around the same hydrostatic head and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of tarp tents with sil floors out there which have no leakage problems.

I'm sure Roger has tons of experience and will come by to comment."

Roger did comment in another thread a few months back that he has had the waterproofing of silnylon floors fail. I believe he attributed this to the silnylon wearing and becoming less waterproof….so I don't think he has had a new silnylon floor fail.

[David Ure]

"There is a dip right at that line which is between the right side and the center stake. That became a creek. Not a bit of water came through. My Tarptents have seen some wild weather too with never a leak."

Hi Ray – by your own admission you used the factory footprint. I suspect that would have helped with increasing waterproofness. Or did you not on this trip? Thanks,

[Frank Baker]

Ray, very thoughtful and complete review on what appears to be a real lightweight winner, but I gotta ask -how many tents do you own and how often do you buy a new one? I've purchased 3 new tents and a tarp/bivy in the past 7 years (plus I still had the two models from earlier years) and thought I was getting a little obsessive. Maybe I'm not doing enough backpacking to wear out my gear fast enough?

[Benjamin Crowley]

For tents with really lightweight floors I found a trick a while back that works for really wet areas. Thing is I am not sure how much weight it adds to the tent, but the idea is to spray the light floor with silicone tent coating, giving it several coats both on the inside and out. The stuff is cheap, so you can recoat the outside (tent floor to ground) side after a long trip if needed.
It seems to work. I have a Mt Hardware Stiletto that I use in Oregon and Washington a lot and began to get some seepage into the floor one trip. I coated it when I got home, then a month later sat through a long winter rainstorm (7 days straight but did pack up and hike everyday) in Big Sur and didn't get any seepage at all.

[Roger Caffin]

I think I agree with what everyone has said about the degradation of silnylon specifications. The problem is that a lot of it is made for 'zero-porosity parachutes' and animated advertising blow-up dolls, not as a waterproof outdoors fabric.

Yes, I have had silnylon floors withstand running water under them – but let me qualify that. I am always very careful to have either a CCF pad or an air mat between me and the floor, to spread the load and reduce the pressure. I am sure if I knelt directly on silnylon on hard rock some water would come through.

Yes, I had my tent floor start to leak in France, and recoated it with sealant from a hardware store. The recoated floor is still working fine.

Cheers

[Roger Caffin]

Ray wrote:

> I do most of my hiking in California which normally sees little rain at night
> when the tents are up.

I think this comment should be noted with care. I am sure it is fine when pitched in dry weather, but there is no way I would ever buy a tent (or rely on a tent) which required that you pitch the inner first without the fly over it. We often have to pitch camp in heavy rain: this generic design would fill up with water while we were getting it up.

The vestibule problem is as Ray says – doesn't work in the rain.

Horses for courses.

Cheers

[YAMABUSHI !]

I had been using a Fly Creek UL1 as a light 2 person tent for a while. I found it quite cozy all be it a tight fit for anything more than just sleeping in. It was great!

While I have it no more, I do have a Seedhaus SL2 and find it much roomier although 50% heavier. Its nice for extended time out of the elements.

One thing I think the review left out (although Im sure most of you may know) is the "Fast Fly" config.

I'd venture to guess that the Fly Creek UL2 can be set up the same way.

I have used both the SL2 and UL1 in this manner and on the SL2 it drops the weight by 18oz!!

A great reduction.

SOMETHING IVE BEEN MEANING TO TINKER WITH:

sewing some Mosquito netting to the bottom of the fly thus eliminating the need for the tent body what-so-ever. Ive found the sides block wind and rain effectively and sit lowly enough to only need 2-3 inches of netting.

When I do ill be sure to post it in the MYOG thread or mods.

-T.Horz

[Franco Darioli]

"sewing some Mosquito netting to the bottom of the fly thus eliminating the need for the tent body what-so-ever. "
I can't see how you would prevent insects getting in on the door side. Also if you get a bit of side rain your floor might get wet.
Franco

[P. P.]

Nice review, Ray. Thanks.
I wish they would listen to reviewers and fix the fly over the door and add the vents. Until they do, I guess I'll pass.

[Willem Jongman]

I am jealous of the weight. Unfortunately, what I am looking for is a tent for an upcoming trip to Norway. Clearly this is not the tent for that trip. Even if the Hilleberg and Helsport offerings are heavier, they are also much better adapted to bad conditions.
Willem

[Mike W]

…

[David Ure]

"I think it's important to note that the Fly Creek floor is polyurethane coated silnylon so comparing it to non-coated sil is pointless."

Really? The hydrostatic head is very similar so no, the discussion is far from pointless.

[Mike W]

…

[David Ure]

Hey Mike – we were comparing the 1200mm rating of the Fly Creek floor to silnylon with the same rating. We were trying to determine whether 1200mm is sufficient for wet weather and because many of us do have experience with silnylon that is rated to 1200mm, we felt that was a good comparison. Obviously 800mm will not be as waterproof and no one would question that.

[Mike W]

…

[David Ure]

Mike – yes, please let us know how you make out with the Fly Creek floor as I am familiar with your neck of the woods and the uh, moisture (did the WCT in May of this year and had rain, rain, and then a little more rain!).

[Diplomatic Mike]

The question of leaking silnylon floors gets raised all the time. I regularly camp on very sodden ground here in Scotland, and haven't had a problem with silnylon floors leaking. Because of the relatively low HH, i am careful to avoid kneeling on the bare floor as much as possible, and i try to always stay on the mat. I usually use a polycro g/sheet as well. I use the polycro to help fight condensation, and use it with higher rated floors too.

I use, or have used, shelters from Stephensons, MLD and Tarptent with silnylon floors. Maybe these manufacturers use better quality silnylon, and reported leaks are from shelters using 2nds?

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