since purchasing this tent at the beginning of April, it has been used on 2 trips. the first one was a very wet weekend in Dolly Sods, WV and the second was a cold overnight on the AT in the north section of Shenandoah NP in VA.
the tent is a hybrid design and uses a single wall for half of the tent and a mesh walls with sil nylon rainfly for the other half. there are 2 versions of the Sarvis – with and without eVENT – the eVENT model has been discontinued and is available directly from Big Agnes for 50% off. the hybrid design is supposed to offer the ventilation of a double wall tent with the weight savings of a single wall. with 7 of the 11 provided V stakes, the poles and the tent, the packed weight is 49.87 ounces. i could trim a few tenths if i remove the plastic tensioners from the tie-downs, but i didn’t think it was worth the effort ;)
the first night at Dolly Sods was rainy – not a heavy downpour, but a slow, steady drizzle. the tent was very easy to setup and didn’t take long. i took care to keep the mesh section covering the rainfly to minimize the amount of water that would get into the tent.
once i had the tent staked and adjusted, i was able to unload my pack and setup my pad and bag in dry comfort. i watched the pre-taped seams for leaks and was glad to see none. so far things looked great.
it was roughly midnight by the time camp was setup and there was a slight breeze and the air temp was in the mid 50’s. the ventilation system seemed to really work well as there was almost no condensation when i awoke to a massive downpour in the morning. i didn’t do such a great job of staking the tent and on the windward side, the mesh and fly touched allowing condensation to drip into the tent along the seam of the fly, mesh, and single wall. at first i thought the water was coming from a leaky seam, but after a few minutes of watching the puddle, i could see what was happening.
i quickly got the call from nature and this is when i realized the major downfall of this tent design. the way the vestibule is setup, once opened, any rain that is coming down goes right into the tent and soaks your bag and pad. if i could have stayed in the tent i would have, but all that noise from the rain was making my bladder cry.
once i was ready to get back in the tent, i again got things wet as i opened the fly and climbed into the tent. i realized my mistake of not moving my pad and bag and proceeded to soak them even more from my rain gear. a valuable lesson learned for sure.
the next night was not so wet, but we camped next to a stream and the air was very damp. there were a few overnight drizzles and next to no wind. as a result, there was some condensation in the tent that again was transported from the fly were it attached to the single wall panel and mesh. i just put a bandana in the small puddle and it seemed to do the trick.
the AT trip was dry, but cooler than expected. knowing there was no rain in the forecast, i setup the tent with the rainfly rolled back to expose the mesh. it was a great feeling to drift off while watching the stars twinkle above with no bugs to annoy me.
the only problem i faced was the tempurature dropped in the night and the mesh let all the heat out. i decided it wasn’t worth the effort to unroll the fly and opted to put on my wool socks and fleece jacket. had i brought a bag with a rating closer to the overnight low i doubt i would have noticed. a 55 degree bag is not enough for a low 40’s, windy night.
it will take some getting used to the reduced vestibule size and exposed tent contents when the fly is opened. i’ll have to make sure my bladder is empty if it’s a very rainy weekend to limit my out of tent excursions. with that said, i’m very pleased with the ventilation, ease of setup and head room. i’m 6’1″ and had no trouble changing clothes, even when the fly was wet with condensation. while i prefer a side entrance with a larger fly, this design keeps the weight down.
if you are looking for a new tent and have a limited budget, i think the Sarvis SL1 eVENT is worth a look. at $149.00 it’s a heck of a bargain.
*edited for grammar and spelling
