Tarptent Notch

[Nigel Healy]

Yes David Ure stated on 2/4 he has

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=59173

"The Notch has proven to be the idea shelter for me for 3 season treks. There are no issues with the pegs you mention Nigel – for all intents and purposes, this is a 2 skin Moment (a little larger overall). You can also pitch with the fly almost to the ground so breezes can be minimized.

The tent is bloody brilliant."

[Robert Richey]

Well "bloody brilliant" is what I look for. Thanks.

[Franco Darioli]

Hot off the press..
first pic of the "solid" inner :

It will be ready in about 3 weeks .
About 1.8oz/50g heavier .
(sorry, that was for the sample using heavier fabric. The real difference will be less)
Franco

[David Ure]

Mmmmm…. Tasty

[Aaron]

Now I'm even MORE tempted to pick up a Notch. Can anyone make comparisons vs the duomid? Obviously there is less space, but I'm curious about wind-worthiness.

[Henry Shires / Tarptent]

Yes, shipping by mid March. Actual weight difference is/will be just about 1 ounce/30g. This sample interior weight is skewed because we used standard 1-ounce mesh not the 0.7-mesh we will use for production (and use now for the regular mesh interior).

This is the same calendared, windproof, highly water resistant nylon we use in the Scarp. It's noticeably warmer in this interior when the wind is blowing. The other upsides are that you can definitely leave one or both vestibules fully open in the rain without fear of splash or runoff entering the interior and this is a much better interior for blowing dust environments.

-H

[David Ure]

Without the inner tent, the Notch has more usable room than the DuoMid.

It also sets up rock solid, like the DuoMid.

[Nigel Healy]

OOh. This makes the Notch even more useful. I assume the ordering online will be like for the Scarp you can buy mesh / solid / both inners?

Now the concern still in my mind, noting I am limited by experience, that I've only ever used dual-skin UK type tents, is the degree of insulation you get from all that mesh in the upper half of the inner. I assume if I can see through it water from condensation can pass through it and heat from the person inside will pass easily through it. There does need to be some mesh to keep condensation from the human causes down.

Also, the new solid inner design, what is happening at the ends obscured in the photo? Are the ends solid, mesh or solid which rolls+velcros back revealing mesh? My preference is as much flexibility as possible, I much prefer to own 1 shelter and just tune it at pitch time to the conditions. I like the way the Notch can be pitched "high" for airy or "low" for windy/cold so some tuning of roll-away solid to reveal mesh helps enormously.

[Henry Shires / Tarptent]

> I assume the ordering online will be like for the Scarp you can buy mesh / solid / both inners?

Yes.

> what is happening at the ends obscured in the photo? Are the ends solid, mesh or solid which rolls+velcros back revealing mesh?

Solid fabric. The end venting will still come from the fly end vents if you need it. You can certainly leave the fly end vents open and not worry about any wind hitting your head or any rain blowing in through the vents and finding the inside of the compartment.

[Larry M]

Very nce! I'll definitely order one for my Notch. Perfect for the rainy weather here in Arkansas and when I go west to New Mexico this summer.

[Nigel Healy]

I can't tell from the schematics http://tarptent.com/photos/nt_dimensions.png

Will a package this size fit in the porch? My folding bike…

585mm high x 545mm long x 270mm wide (22.2" x 21.5" x 10.6"). I think it will fit as the porch at its deepest is 21" so a package 10.6" deep in a porch 108" wide will be only a little less deep at 10" from the porch centerline. It should fit comfortably.

[Franco Darioli]

Do you have a Minimal Brompton ?
If so it should fit.

The main box is set at 585H and at 270 from the pole but is 580 L
Given that the top of the bike folded does not reach 270cm out at the top outside corners (away from the pole) you should have a spare cm.
I would put a cloth over the folded handlebar
Note that a 72"x20" mat will fit (with extra room lengthwise) but a 25" wide will not in this configuration.
(the pole is set slightly inward…)
Franco

BTW my bike does not fit

[Nigel Healy]

Yes a Brompton. Its my fave bike-touring-camping bike as I can use bus/train and get more variety in the trip (also don't own a car, something has to pay for all this outdoor kit!)

Thanks Franco for creating virtual Brompton. Yes I bag it to protect from condensation and any sharp corners of the flysheet. Here is mine squeezing into the Laser Comp I'm thinking of migrating to Notch (two vestibules being of the most interest, followed by more headroom for long-nights)

http://s334.photobucket.com/albums/m421/NigelHealy/Brompton/Lakes%20Sept%2011/?action=view&current=DSCN4163.mp4

Currently I have to push the bike to the side to escape the tent, in a Notch I can put Brompton upwind side and cook downwind side.

Also the Notch's packed size interests me, it looks smaller than the Laser Comp which = small bag = less aero drag. Here's my ideal packing volume

http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m421/NigelHealy/Brompton/Lakes%20April%2008/DSC00286.jpg

and another shot of bike in tent to show the tight porch space issue
http://s334.photobucket.com/albums/m421/NigelHealy/Brompton/Lakes%20April%2008/?action=view&current=DSC00292.jpg

http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m421/NigelHealy/Brompton/Lakes%20April%2008/DSC00293.jpg

Oh… and a reminder why bike inside your tent is preferred

[video src="http://s334.photobucket.com/albums/m421/NigelHealy/Brompton/Lakes%20Sept%2011/?action=view&current=DSCN4168.mp4" /]

[Franco Darioli]

Yes , having one side for the bike and paniers will be handy…
As I suspected the top should not be a problem at all particularly having the saddle on the fly side.
Franco

[Thomas Budge]

I'm a bit surprised the ceiling is mesh rather than solid.

I'm waiting to buy an SS2 when it comes with a solid inner option, and will be disappointed if the ceiling isn't solid. I hope its like the Scarp with just a little mesh on the upper sides.

[Nigel Healy]

Just comparing the schematics to tents I've slept in, one possible criticism? There is only 7 inch to the side of a typical 7" mat so not much space inside the inner? Like the proportion of porch vs inner is a tad too much towards the porch and not enough to the inner? A few inch wider would help. I know Franco has made some videos but its not clear to me can you make it wider than 34"?

See the relavent video on the Notch here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=SIt1Oezq2GQ#t=658s

Relative to my Laser Comp (an imperfect tent but one I can extrapolate from) it has 37" at its widest point and I know inside I use all that width putting my bike pannier at the widest place. The Notch's widest point is 34". I'd consider the Laser Comp as narrow an inner as you'd want and still keep a reasonably tidy inner org.

I'd not want to put stuff at the foot/head end and risk blocking the vent? (but with a solid inner there's nothing to block).

Assumption is slugs crawl all over anything in the porch particularly when its wet.

[Henry Shires / Tarptent]

Nigel,

Everything is a tradeoff and there's no such thing as a perfect shelter. Not to be rude but the Notch is what it is and it's probably not the right shelter for you.

-H

[David Ure]

The sleeping area isn't narrow for me and I am 6'1" and 215 with wide shoulders. Is it huge? No. Similar at the ends to say, an MSR Hubba, but very quickly noticeably wider. I do not touch the sides (note: the bathtub floor is nicely tall). Without the inner, it would easily sleep two – remember that there are two vestibules here with the inner in place. Also remember it weighs 24oz on my scale without pegs. With pegs it is 26oz on the nose.

[Nigel Healy]

I was asking a question. Can the poles be pulled further out and make the inner wider? The high bathtub would allow such, also with the solid inner option? If using shorter poles would it work? I guess to a degree, yes, but if the poles move too far off vertical they risk sliding and tent collapse, so what is realistic? I'm only talking a few inches.

Franco, not sure which tent it was, showed moving the pole further in if required to make the porch larger, and also shows say on the Contrail pushing the pole quite to one side, so the same question on the Notch, widening the distance between pools at the ground level, lowering the top slightly so the sides have the give to move wider, spreading the bathtub wider, how far does this still work still as a stable shelter?

Might end up the right shelter for me :)

[Franco Darioli]

Nigel
You need to send me that bike so that I can take pics of it with it inside.
I passed a guy on one of them a few days ago, he had large paniers too and was comfortably doing 20KMPH .
(mind you , I do about 15 km at a time, he was obviously touring…)
Kind of odd me laying on the ground and him perched on top of that…
Anyway I understand what you are asking and will test that soon
Franco

added
Which bike..
Oh dear, you have a problem…
still waiting for my morning coffee and the sun to come around.
Franco

[Nigel Healy]

Which bike. The one which would be tugging a Notch has the rack, which could fit easily a Scarp2 if I wanted.

http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m421/NigelHealy/Brompton/IMG_0533.jpg

[David Ure]

Nigel – the bathtub floor attaches to the bottom of the trekking poles to 'pull out' the inner floor. You could angle the poles inward but you would severely limit space within the inner tent. Pulling them out wider won't increase the width of the inner appreciably because of the aforementioned attachements, at least from the perspective of maximizing the height of the bathtub walls.

[Franco Darioli]

for Nigel only)
OK , I have taken some pics…
First this is what it looks like in standard mode,72×20 mat :

your bike and panniers will fit on the other side.
Now, if you must…, you can forsake bathtub protection in the center (the bit furthest away from the fly ) and gain an extra 3" (so to 37") by dropping the inner a bit (use loops to extend the net to clip distance and by adding a loop to the widest point of the floor on one side so that with a peg in there it will stay out.
(I used a weight on top to simulate that.)
And this is what it looks like open and shut…

Franco
from Tarptent Downunder

[David Ure]

Or maybe buy a Tarptent Stratosphire 1?

[Nigel Healy]

Wow Franco thankyou for putting the effort in to try and the photos. I'm not sure if the right picture matches the words but I think I understand. The first picture where you have it pulled somewhat and still the bathtub quite high looks a quite workable solution for many who want to have some gear inside the inner. The subsequent photo with the bathtub practically to the ground looks a bit too far to be a workable system, and I suspect will just accelerate tent wear.

Also the Notch, as I'm only a little taller than you Franco, has a lot of room at the ends which probably is the best answer but having a bit more room at the side too like you show is probably sufficient for most people with similar wish to have more gear inside the inner. I compare my height, my pannier size, and the schematics and I think putting a pannier at head or foot will be the likely best option. The pannier at its widest point is 18" wide – the Notch is 20" at the end so that fits, the pannier's height is 13" and the Notch straight up from where the floor slopes up is 19" tall so there's plenty of height, and the depth, the encroachment into the sleeping area is about 11" so leaving about 73" (108-12-12-11=73) left to sleep in. I'm about 68" so 5" left. So it all works out in the length. Apart from tall people, that is likely what most people will do but to have items overnight close to hand I think also many will stretch the width as you show.

Yes, I was also thinking about SS1. I also looked the Contrail which has a lot of room and is more summer tent. The Notch though has small packed size and to a cyclist that = smaller pannier = more aerodynamic. I'm aspiring to fitting all in 16L which would be incredible. Cyclists less bothered about weight. Backpackers more bothered about weight. Generally, smaller = lighter so very common interests.

So my sleeping mat, I ordered as they were cheap, a Neoair Short which is 47" so to get to 68" just needs a bit of foam like sitmats.

As to packed size, the Notch's volume is 41x9cm = 2.6L. Neoair Small = 1.5L. Stove (Jetboil Sol Ti) = 1.3L, my sleeping bag (PHD Minim 300) is about 5L, so my shelter, sleeping and cooking is 10.4L

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