Coming Soon: Tarptent StratoSpire

The DR should accept treeking poles vertically at each entrance (there are grommets there with the single Rainbow so I am making an assumption here). I would think that with the pole and two vertical trekking poles, the wind performance of the DR would be superb.

Franco will weigh in here.

I haven't used an SS2, but judging by looks, I'd think the DR would be better in winds and storms.

Ahh ok, thanks. So, although the SS2 has the trekking poles on either side of the tent, it does not have the center poles for additional support that the DR has which may make the difference in wind stability?

Hopefully Franco will weigh in as well.

If they are similar in wind performance I guess the primary choice is deciding between potential for free standing with the DR or double-walled with the SS2. Henry keeps making these decisions tough for us!

I had my SS1 out 2 weeks ago with 20mph winds gusting in 30s with light sleet overnight. She held out extremely well I was bone dry, warm and slept like a baby.. I had the ridge line guys out for extra support but they weren't really needed it was a just in case the ice really piled on.

Very shortly I will be purchasing notch as well for the SS1 is a bit on the big side.. Overall five stars from me! an a snap to set up

Do you know about the optional liner for the DR? It effectively turns the DR into a double wall shelter. Not a "true" double wall, but similar.

> Thomas, I can tell you that that we just don't get reports of floor water
> intrusion and floors just don't come back for repair (and lots of users don't
> bother with groundsheets).

I spent a night in a Scarp 1 on soggy ground from a full day's rain, and even though the rain continued into the night, I had no problems with water getting into the tent. I did not use a groundsheet.

I have used a Scarp is some horrendous weather in the UK and Ireland and never have had any water intrusion through the groundsheet. I dont bother with a groundsheet protector.

The SS2 stands up with six pegs.
That will work for mild weather with a bit of wind resistance in particular if a Pitch Lock corner is pointed into it.
For best wind performance and some snow loading you need to put more tension onto it.
That is done with the two extra guylines.

Having those two in place you have tension from the 4 cardinal points .
I have not had strong winds on it but judging by what I had and just the way the structure feels set up like that I would be more confident inside there than in most other (backpacking ) mid type tents.
Franco

@Doug – great to hear it performed so well for you.

@Travis – Thanks, I am aware of the inner and have one but have never tried it. It does add a few more ounces which would put it a bit above the weight of the SS2.

Franco,
Is that an effect of a wide-angle lens, or are the doors under the additional guylines almost vertical?

updated:
I think I found the answer myself. The diagrams you have posted on the first page show the angle as it is, without optical effects :)

I too would prefer a mostly solid inner if it were available and a non slippy groundsheet if it were available at not much greater weight.
If another trek pole (right by the upwind pitchlock corner) is used to lift the centre seam using the 2 loops provided, would it not be an advantage to provide loops on some of the other nearby seams for even more wind/snow defense?
What attracts me is the solid geometry solution that breaks up the usual flappy rectangle that you get with the roof of a 2 trek pole tent.
Would it not be an advantage to link all these loops to the inner to lift it to get even more inner room?

I have been on this site on and off for about 3 years and never bothered to register before. I registered today after reading all the 10 or so pages in this thread and the few more pages on outdoorsmagic wen I should've been asleep 2 hours ago.

I have never considered a tarp tent before because they always felt clumsy to me – this is a whole other thing. Great inovative design, kudos to you. Love the videos, appreciate all the feedback to potential costumers. I wish I could testdrive one of these.. I'm all the way here in Brazil where the weather is hot and damp, it's not uncommom to get wind gusts and downpour and some other times just haze throught the day.

Question.. the footprint is quite large, is it at all possible to have it set up without stretching the vestibule doors? I don't mean having them rolled up, I mean with the vestibule doors pulled down to the ground but not stretched out, if it makes any sense…

I think all I need to be sold on the SS is a video of it withstanding wind storms!

Cheers
kat

What is the benefit of this tent over Scarp 2?

The Scarp is heavier as uses poles, the Stratosphire uses walking poles, I have borh models if you had any questions.

It might be too late now as I ordered it yesterday! I also see that the Strato packs up smaller and has greater internal space and head height. I cannot think of a single reason to buy the Scarp 2 over it now, do you agree?

Hi Paul,

You could still change your order.

I will use the Ss1 for 3 Season use in the Us
And the Scarp for all year round in Uk/Ireland.

They are very different shelters.

Stephen

Maybe the scarp can take more of a battering, but in every other respect the SS must be better? I can't see any other way of looking at it!

1.Heavy snowfall
2. High winds.

Thanks Stephen – what sort of winds can the Strato take, in your experience? Apologies for not responding to your PM yet, I can't yet work out how to get into the PM System!

Hi Paul,

I have had the Scarp out in 70+mph wind & it worked well, I have not used the SS1 in high winds yet so can't comment at all. but I can say thta with strong poles and solid pegs it should do very well.

Regarding the PM you need to be logged in to the website and follow the link on the PM email, if you want to reply with your email address here I will email you.

Cheers,

Stephen

Hi Katia,
I don't think anyone answered your question re the large footprint and staking the vestibule doors straight down to minimize the size of the overall footprint. Despite Mr. Shires insistence that "it just isn't that big", I can assure you that it is a large footprint indeed. Plan on needing a space approx. 8'x8' for pitching this palace. It's huge if you're a solo hiker like me that is accustomed to smaller accommodations. All the space is awesome, just be prepared to find the space to pitch it.

The short answer to your question is no- not without a whole lot of extra material flapping in the wind anyway. But, as coincidence would have it, I had the exact same concerns and emailed Henry Shires about making some modifications on the vestibule doors on both sides of the tent, so that I could stake one vestibule or the other straight down. He ended up adding an extra tie down on each door to stake to the ground as well as a hook and a loop to one of the doors in order to gather the extra material that you wind up with when the material goes straight down instead of being extended out. Thanks again to Henry for that solution by the way.

I literally just got my SS1 yesterday so I have not field tested the mods yet, but they look very promising experimenting with it set up at home at least.

With the vestibules being about 3' wide on each side, this mod effectively makes the overall footprint more like 5' by 8'. In some of the terrain I camp in (desert sage and canyons), this can make the difference between more readily finding a spot to pitch the tent or slogging on in hopes of finding a larger site.

Hope that helps you- and anyone else wondering the same thing. I was wondering if I was the only person that thought of this!

Derek,

At least as far as your preference for a mostly solid inner, according to Henry, this will be an available option sometime in the next couple months. I think it's referred to as a "semi-solid interior". I forget what model he compared it to (Scarp?) but it's similar to the Notch semi-solid option, but higher than that.

A few recent SS2 pics. Tent is working out well.

This deer was intrigued by the SS2 design

I'm considering the SS2, and so foot print size was my main concern also. Just wondering how your mods have been working out Petrovski? Do you mind if I ask how much extra you had to pay for them?

How are folks getting on with their Stratophire's?

I have used my SS1 for 4 trips so far and I am very happy with it, on one of the trips a buddy and I slept under the fly with plenty room to spare, I also bought the semi solid inner.