Tarptent Rainbow Tent REVIEW

[Cat Jasins]

Companion forum thread to:

Tarptent Rainbow Tent REVIEW

[Franco Darioli]

Will, great review !!!
This should answer all of the many questions that have been asked and have had fragmented replies to.
A few points.
The weight listed by Henry at Tarptent does not include the stakes, as it is the norm with most manufacturers, apart from that it is pretty accurate.
Since no tent is perfect, lets have a look at the bad points.
· Very difficult to insert pole ends into grommets
· I found this to be true only after I have had the Rainbow out in the hot sun.This is a bit weird because I posted this point for the first time, in a different forum, only last night after having discussed the tent for months. I never thought that the lack of moisture made the difference but now I understand the ” sponge the strip down” bit from Henry.
· Velcro attachment for trekking poles gets tangled
· Yes it does. Another user has come to your same conclusion (circumcision) but I still have my bits.
· (Ben if you are reading this, I did not mentioned who …..)
· Needs mid height guylines for wind stability
· The strongest wind I have had the Rainbow in was provably around the 20mph, no problem there, I suspect that only the side opposite to the entrance could be a problem with stronger winds.With either end or the beak facing the wind should be pretty stable.
· Hood over high vent gets distorted
· Right again, I can re-shape mine, it does not look as pretty but it works. I thought of putting something stiffer in there but decided that it was not worth the bother.
·
· A very balanced review, and this is from the No1 Rainbow fan.
· Franco
· The honorary goodwill ambassador for Tarptent Downunder

[Miguel Arboleda]

I’ve taken my Rainbow out a number of times now and I must say I really like it. Compared to my Squall 2 it feel so much roomier and for the small site camping that you find here in Japan the footprint is just right. Definitely my favorite tent right now. I’ll be going higher up (3000 meters) this summer and hope to take the Rainbow along. We’ll see how it fares in strong winds.

When I bought the Rainbow in March I initially had concerns about its stabiity in high winds, as Will pointed out, so I asked Henry to sew some loops to either side of the arch, which he cheerfully did (take a look here scroll down and you can see the loops in the photos). So far I haven’t had occasion to need the loops, but when fitted with guylines they do help to stabilize the arch laterally (front and back), though the top of the arch still oscillates when I give the tent a shake.

I replaced the included arch pole with a beefier one made from Russian space program aluminum/ scandium alloy available here in Japan. I figure that the extra strength will come in handy.

For the hood on the rear window I immediately didn’t like the way it flopped, so, taking a cue from European tunnel tent designs, I sewed a strip of 1/4 inch closed-cell foam into the brim. It’s very light, keeps its shape and rolls up well with the stowed package.

Since I dislike velcro with…er… all my bristles (^J^)/” I cut the trekking pole fasteners from the ends of the arch. I might replace them with some bungee cord concoction if I ever feel the need to have the tent free-standing, but staking it down is what I will most likely always do, so right now I feel I don’t need the fasteners.

As to the fitting-the-pole-into-the-ends-of-the-pole-sleeve problem, it’s something I’ve been frustrated with all my TarpTents since I first got my Squall. I therefore cut some tiny trapezoidal pieces of wedges from a pet bottle, about an inch long, with the wider end about 1/8″ wider than the width of the pole sleeve opening. I shoved the wedge narrow end first into the opening all the way in. Now what I do when inserting my pole is squeeze the wedge at the sides, the pole-sleeve-opening gapes open, and in I shove the pole (this IS PG rated!).

My floating floor doesn’t perfectly match the attachment points inside so that often the floor tends to slack a little bit (nothing earth shaking though). I’m still considering adding cut lengths of plastic straw to the corners of the floor (like the bathtub floor corners of the SpinnShelter User Tip from Gossamer Gear) to help the side walls stay up.

With my antagonism toward furry creatures, I’m still not sure how I feel about the velcro on the door, but I’m going to give myself quite a few more times to try it out. I may possibly add a coil zipper if it just doesn’t grow on me, but that is a matter of more experience with the tent.

So far condensation hasn’t been much of a problem, but I am worried about the sudden drops in temperature and the blowing grit up in the Japan Alps, that has a way of getting through the perimeter netting, so I considering making a propore (if i can find the material!) sheet that I can hang from the ceiling for condensation, lowering over myself when the grit and cold are blowing into the tent, and also using under my hammock when I decide to go with that.

After I get some use of the tent up in the alpine mountains I ought to have photos so I will try to post them at the end of the summer.

Whatever little glitches the Rainbow may have it is a wonderful and versatile tent. My hat off to Henry!

[Scott Ashdown]

A nice review that has brought me one stage closer to maybe ordering one. However, I couldn’t see any mention of the Hydrostatic head rating.

[Hideaki Terasawa]

This review is right. I love rainbow too! I think it’s a kind of invention. I have respect to Henry.
But I want to read more review tested in the strong rain and wind condition.

Hi Miguel,
I too have rainbow and live in Tokyo Japan. And I have a plan to pitch my rainbow above 3000m peak Hodaka or Yari, in late this summer. It’s same as your plan.
I’m amazed at your modification. I think it is properly right. I’ve a anxiety about strength of mono frame against to strong wind. So, did you obtain a scandume frame from Arai Tent?
Using trekking pole will be help to pitch it on the rock tent site. I think, there is not need to peg down all four corners, It’s maybe possible to fixate it on the ground using heavy rocks to press trekking pole.

I wrote some short reviews on my blog about seam sealing. I tested it in the rain condition. It was difficult to get perfect seal around triangle window.　But I’ve done it. You can find it on google, asking ‘山より道具’.
I’ll receive a new tent ‘Big Sky Evolution 1P’ at the end of this July. I received a e-mail from Bob. I’m going to judge which is better for Japanese high mountain with light weight style.
If you are living in Tokyo, maybe we can talk about it!

[Bob Bankhead]

Just got my new Double Rainbow seam sealed for my JMT trek.

I almost bought the Rainbow when it came out but couldn’t decide between it and the Lunar Solo. Glad I waited. The added space, flow-through ventilation, and the dual porches on this baby are awesome and well worth the 7 added ounces.

The only nit I found is that the Double Rainbow requires fully extended 145 cm (57 inch) trekking poles to pitch in free-standing mode vs. 122 cm (48 inch) for the Rainbow. My fully extended Leki poles showed an obvious angle at the lower pole section joints when under tension from the canopy. That can’t be good for the poles. I’ll stick to the four corner stakes and reserve the free-standing mode for those rare times when staking is just not an option.

There is a work-around: only partially extend the trekking poles (135 cm) and use 6 inch (functionally 4 inch = 10 cm) PVC pipe pole extenders to make up the difference. That should equate to far less stress on the trekking pole joints while enabling routine free-standing setup.

WHAT A TENT.

[Miguel Arboleda]

Hello Hideaki,

(I’m going to respond in Japanese but basically discuss some of the unique problems of using a tent in the mountains in Japan… one of the things you have to worry about here is that hiking season often corresponds with the beginning of typhoon season, so high winds are a very real concern when you are up high… as are Hideaki’s points about there being no place to push pegs into the ground. Also the Russian scandium poles from Arai tent that Hideaki refers to are amazing)

初めまして、寺沢さん。ミゲールです。レーインボーの変型が気に入ってくれて嬉しいです！ウルトラライトを始まってから自分で考えていろいろ作るのがもう毎日の事になりました。ちょっとマニアックになったかもしれない (+J+)。

寺沢さんのホームページを何回も見ました。レーインボーを買った前に寺沢さんの意見を読んで自分も買う事を決めました。

レーインボーは低い山だと全然問題がないけど、３０００メートルの方はまだ風安が有ります。レーインボーは横の方から力を入れるとけっこう強いけど、前と後ろだとけっこう揺れます。新井テントのポールは丈夫だけどやっぱり一本のポールは気になるね。寺沢さんと同じようにこの夏北アルプスでレーインボーを使いたいけど大丈夫かな？

テントのペッグを使わないでトレッキングポールだけを使うのがsちょっと心配。試した時テントが強く揺れましたから山で使うのは自信がない。寺沢さんはどう思うかもっと相談したいです。

僕も東京です。世田谷区の手前の東調布の方です。日本でウルトラライトを使う人がまだ少ないみたいからぜひいろいろ話したいです。何回も御徒町のOD Boxに行っていろいろBackpackingLightと他のメーカのアイディアを見ましたから寺沢さんが関係有るかな〜っと何回思った事有る。楽しみです。

僕のメールアドは：　butuki at gmail dot com
ブロッグも有ります：　Laughing Knees (日本語の『膝が笑う』から訳した！）どうぞ見てください（ほとんど英語だけど）

[Hideaki Terasawa]

ミゲールさん、初めまして。
下手な英語でお恥ずかしい．．
ミゲールのブログを拝見しました。写真が綺麗ですね。
そちらでは山道具の話題に触れていないようですから、私のブログに（日本語で）コメントをいただけると嬉しいです。
今後とも、よろしくお願いいたします。

[Franco Darioli]

Hi Miguel,
Can you tell us were we can buy those scandium poles ?
Franco

[Miguel Arboleda]

Hi Franco… I’m not sure why I never noticed your question until today. Sorry about that.

The Scandium poles, as far as I know, are only available from local tent maker Arai Tent. I managed to get a length of it from an outdoor store in downtown Tokyo (Sakaya Sports) where they sell Arai tents, and they had some extra poles in a side bin. The store clerk measured and cut the pole to fit my Rainbow perfectly. One of the things I like about the Scandium poles is that the sections are shorter than on Easton poles and therefore are easier to pack.

I don’t know of any other sources. Perhaps Hideaki knows? Hideaki, any suggestions?

[Franco Darioli]

Thank you Miguel
I have noticed that Yunan (Korea) are now working with Scandium and it looks like Arai are already using them (?)
Franco

[Bill Fornshell]

Mountain Hardwear uses Scandium Poles for some of their tents and on a few of their backpacks. I called them once and asked about buying a set of the tent poles – NO.

[John Davis]

This tent is identical externally to the Phoenix Phreerunner/Phreeranger and would undoubtedly benefit from the same colour-coded guying arrangement as used by Phoenix. The designer of the Rainbow almost certainly knows what I mean. The Phreerunner never tempted me because of the length of the single arch, although I saw many reviews which claimed the tent was solid with the guys in place. I preferred the shorter, stronger arch of the Akto, and still do even though the occasional, ageing Phreeranger turns up at Backpackers Club meets.

The Rainbow looks more interesting than the Phoenix tents because a lot lower weight of fabric is sailing off the long arch. If the midge netting was really sorted, the Rainbow could be very good for summer in Scotland.

[Christopher Snow]

Just finshed a PCT thru hike. I really grew to like the rainbow. Tons of room for 1, and 2 works in a pinch.

I don't recommend cutting off the trekking pole, freestanding velcro attachments. I mostly used tent pegs which were quicker, but was very glad for the freestanding option the occasional times where I needed it. I did find a way to twist the velcro over on it's self to keep it out of the way.

Great product!

[Author]

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