Altaplex – zpacks now has the ultimate tent

[Larry Swearingen]

>>The altaplex door opening looks really low given the overall height of the tent. I would expect getting in and out to be a bit of a bother.<<

The AltaPlex is 58" high total with the door lower than that.
The Lunar Solo tent is 48" high total with the door opening lower than that.

So the AltaPlex Door seems to me to be higher than the Lunar Solo.

I have a SolPlex and have no plans to change it out for anything else.
I like the door design and not having to squeeze under a hexamid type
opening. It's light too.

Larry

[Ralph Burgess]

I have a couple of years' experience with the Hexamid Twin. It is extremely stable in wind if pitched correctly – yes, I would go so far as to say "bomber" – and I see no reason to expect any different from the Altaplex.

In the video, Joe just threw the thing up quickly, without putting any tension in the lines – that's why it's flapping around a bit. But since the Cuben (and the Dyneema lines) are extremely strong under tension, and don't stretch, in windy conditions you can just put huge tension in them – to the point where they "ping" at a specific pitch like a guitar string. Then, provided that your pegs are completely secure, nothing moves. In addition to thunderstorm downdrafts, I had my Hexamid pitched on the N Rim of the Grand Canyon last year in the strongest winds that I've ever been out in – gusting to 70mph. In those conditions, I did not trust pegs. I put a substantial stick through a loop in the each guy line, with a two large rocks holding each stick. Nothing moved an inch all night, nothing broke.

The Hexamids are well ventilated – so you do get wind blowing through, you just have to deal with that by propping up your backpack to block the wind. Most of the time, the ventilation is a good thing to keep condensation down. Personally, I can deal with wind blowing through my tent, so long as I'm confident that it won't fall down.

As for the sewn-in groundsheet on Joe's new designs — I'm not a fan. I think one of the best features of the Hexamid design is the separate groundsheet that you can keep separate and completely dry. If you're pitching in pouring rain, you can get the thing set up just the way you want it, and it doesn't matter how wet it gets. The groundsheet stays dry in your pack until you're ready.

[John S]

Measuring from the pictures, the AltaPlex door peak height is about 35" — well below the peak. Measuring from the actual tent, the Lunar Solo door peak is 43" — just 5" from the tent peak. Granted they are different shaped openings — still the AltaPlex door opening is really low. I wonder why they didn't make it higher.

>>The AltaPlex is 58" high total with the door lower than that.
>>The Lunar Solo tent is 48" high total with the door opening lower than that.

>>So the AltaPlex Door seems to me to be higher than the Lunar Solo.

Clearly the door height can't exceed the height of the tent, but it can be much lower as Zpacks proves in this case.

John

[Jeff Sims]

So as many of you know I have a shelter problem and have burned through quite a number in search of the perfect fit. I'm 6 ft 5 tall and started with a Hexamid Long(ended up not liking the 2 extra poles), Yama Cirraform (love this and sorry I sold it) HMG Ultamid 2 (didn't like the bug screen skirt Sold it), Cuben TrailStar(seemed a little short for me), Zpacks 8X10 flat tarp(still working with it), MLD SoloMid XL, (love it, but the inner has been on back order since they added the size in early November, patiently waiting and keeping it), SolPlex and Duplex for bug season (liked them both but when I saw the Altaplex sold them and pulled the trigger)

I ordered a White Altaplex the Sunday after Thanksgiving and to my dismay it was in my mailbox the following Saturday, 6 days later!! I have been busy and have not had time to set it up or play with it until today. Initial impression is good, I need to set it up a little higher as I ended up with about 4" bath tub but I see a lot of potential in this shelter. It feels similar to the Hex Long which was a Palace for 1, however a little easier to set up, and offers a lot more protection than even the extended beak. One thing is for sure, I have no worries of touching the canopy when inside.

2 size 12's and still about 2 inches away from touching

Sitting up arm fully extended

Is it perfect? Is it bomber? Will it last forever? I have no idea, but I can tell you that my initial impressions are that this may be a very very good option for a tall guy. Zpacks is always top notch and the quality here is no different. There seems to be a lot of concern around the door height. It could be taller, but you also have to remember that the bottom of the door is 6-8 inches off the ground when set up properly. I did not have any issues.

[Billy Ray]

Jeff… nice report, love the pics, but man… you might want to see a professional about this thing you have for tents :)

Billy

[Ken Thompson]

Nice looking shelter. You don't have a problem. You don't keep them all.

[Billy Ray]

"You don't have a problem. You don't keep them all."

Well… as far as we know… he may be a closet tent hoarder, for all we know… :)

Just kidding, of course… I think it's a great compulsion to have…

billy

[Roger Caffin]

No top vent.
Could be some condensation at times.

Cheers

[Joshua Abel]

Jeff,

could you possibly take some photos of you laying down inside it? I'm 6'4" myself (size 13 flippers) and I'd love to get an idea of how someone our size actually fits and how much extra room there is. Thanks in advance!

[jscott]

I love the single pole set up of my Hexamid long w/beak. This new tent keeps that feature, and includes a sewn in bathtub floor (correct?) along with more coverage in the front. This should improve wind/rain protection. Perfectamundo. We have a winner.

[Sunny Waller]

I have tried many many tents and sold most of them on this site. My favorite design is the Lunar Solo. I switched to the Hexamid to save weight but just did not like placing that mesh floor on the ground. I had just purchased the SolPlex but Joe let me switch to the AltaPlex. I REALLY like this tent. The door seems much taller and wider than the Lunar Solo.

[Anthony Weston]

Just set up the altaplex, I've had a lot of tents, tarps, this one has the best design. I loved the small number of stakes for the duomid and solomid but this tent has several advantages:

1) full bug protection in a light in 16.9 oz package and no net in your face, the netting is just where you need it and kept to a minimum, brilliant to have the netting between the groudsheet and tent so the condensation drips down.

2) Steep walls like the duomid so full rain, wind protection. Yet with more ventilation down low where you need it. It could benefit from something like the
Arazas curtain to go inside the front doors (between the doors and the bug net to stop spray with high winds but it's probably overkill except in extreme weather.

3) The walls of the tent are 12 inches up off my head and my feet! (I'm only 5'11" so this is a palace)huge amount of ventilation coming in all 4 sides. (a vent on the top might help but in the Sierra's with a cubin shelter while all the silnylon sheltors are sagging with wet, I've had almost no condestation using cubin duomid's, hexamids.

I also plan to spray the outside with silnylon spray waterproofing so the snow slides off the cubin. I've done it in the past and had good results.

4) I was worried about the doors not having a zipper but the doors on the altaplex lock down and stay shut with the cord system tight as drum.

5) The sewn in cubin ground sheet: This keeps the weight down by allowing zpacks to use less netting. No need for a double wall in a cubin tent anyway. The disadvantage is when the floor wears out you can't replace it however I've never trusted cubin floors to keep me dry by themselves. The great thing about cubin bathtub floor is polycro plastic sheets can be duct taped to the cubin groundsheet in a deluge and you stay perfectly dry in 3 inches of ground water and since polycro weighs a few oz the sewn in ground bathtub is an advantage not a disadvantage. You can't do that as well with a silnylon floor. I prefer tyvek tape.

Best designed SUL Tent ever!
Yes, it's not as easy to setup and yes it takes double the amount of pegs but I love this tent.

[jimmer ultralight]

Im in yhe market for a UL shelter system and have looked through all the arguments for and against Pyramid vs Hexamid shelters..

One thing that I think is a bit unfair is how the Hexamid critics keep harping about the "comlexity" of th shelters Zpacks makes..

As I see it, a full pyramid shelter like an MLD solomid etc requires at least 5 pegs for a functional setup -4 on each corner and one to guy down the entrance flap at the zipper.
ALSO- interestingly enough, Ron Bell has an aditional instruction to pull out the back edge and guy it out to create an "eyebrow" for increased air flow.
So, now you are at 6 pegs..same as a zpacks soloplex etc..

Also, the rear floor plan of the Altaplex looks pretty rectangular to me. Basically like the back half of any other mid shelter.I cannot see why it would not be just as functional with only four pegs at the corners and one at the entranve as the MLD fully mids..

To me, the Altaplex looks more like a half mid with zipperless vestibule at the entrance than a true "Hexamid" shelter.. This is a good thing.

I see no reason why the Altaplex could not be set up the same way as any other Pyramid shelter- ie stake out the four corners with some slack on one side,then insert the pole and adjust, then guy down the entrance flap..

Not much too it. Anything else would be guying out for more stability.in high winds or for adjusting for invreased air flow- just as one would have to do with a full mid shelter.

[Jerry Adams]

I have a MYOG pyramid very similar, except without the superfluous bathtub floor – who would want to take a bath in their tent? : )

Regular mid – stake out four corners, put up pole, tighten stakes, that's basically it. Between each pair of corners there's a side to gauge the distance apart.

This 5 sided mid is more tricky. You have to stake the two corners farthest from the door, loosely stake the two corners closest to door, put in pole, pull out the beak and put in the fifth stake, then adjust length of two furthest corners plus beak, finally tighten the two corners closest to door.

The problem is the two corners closest to door can go in or out – there's no side between them to gauge the distance. Maybe the floor helps though?

Also, if the site isn't flat it's more difficult, but a regular mid can be difficult in this case also.

[Jay Wilkerson]

I just pulled the trigger on a Zpacks Blue Altaplex tent with bathtub style flooring and bug netting. GGG here I come!

[Adam Klags]

I'm intrigued by this discussion for a few reasons… first, because zPacks already makes the best solo shelter and it is lighter than this, the Solplex. And it fits a 6' human with PLENTY of room to spare. I am intrigued by this shelter, but other than "extra" room for things like putting all your gear inside the tent with you, or maybe a dog, what benefit does this shelter offer over a Solplex?

Also, Dan, I wanted to disagree with/pick apart your points, sorry/not sorry in advance…

You say "…The overlapping door is neat although I suspect it decreases structural integrity."

Why do you presume this? I own a solplex with this door system. Not only is it weather proof, it has absolutely zero negative effect in terms of structural integrity. Most of that has to do with the orange guy line that runs from the top of the tent to the ground, the force is not all on the door panels, at all. That would suck. As it is, its bomber. I've ridden sever thunderstorms in my solplex, enough rain to cause standing water on the ground and flow under the tent. Never an issue. At all. And wind… yeah it can handle wind. This one looks just as strong.

You also say "Zpacks know how to make shelters that are light. I would like to see them focus more on making them simple as well. It's like they're trying to be different for no real reason."

Seriously? What could possibly be more simple than one pole and a few stakes? Its even less complicated than the Solplex. The fact that they sew in the net and floor to make it easy and appeal to people who like tents, is that why its complicated? I don't get your point. There are a lot of benefits to a hex over the traditional rectangle, mostly when it comes to wind. More angles = more wind breaks. Basic physics/math, right?

You then go on to say "For 3oz more, one could buy a cuben DuoMid + solo inner. That combo is simpler to pitch, has more vestibule space, it's likely better in tough weather and it would enable you to go even lighter than the Altaplex outside bug season with just a ground cloth."

Anyone buying an altaplex does not need to go lighter. Its a tent, not a tarp with inner net. There is no "outside bug season" for some of us. Furthermore, this is also for people who want simplicity, not two separate things to deal with. Which brings me to the next point… how is a two-part tent with inner-net "simpler to pitch?" It certainly isn't simpler because it needs more stakes, both the inner net and tarp need their own sets. It isn't simpler because you need to set up two things one at a time… it isn't simpler to clip them together or deal with multiple pieces in the wind, is it? Furthermore, while I didn't check the price as I write this, I doubt its cheaper. Usually I notice the two piece systems are the same or more expensive.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not against a two-piece shelter in any way, but it sure isn't simpler at all. I can't help but to see you just say a lot of things that are either not thought out, not based on actual physics or logic, and just emotionally spewed out for whatever reason. Just had to provide the opposite perspective based on my experience with this style of shelter. You really bring the point home when you say:

"I'm not trying to be a downer, I just don't understand the Zpacks fever these days. There's a lot of other manufacturers making comparable but better sewn and better designed gear (i.e Locus Gear, MLD)."

This post isn't some competition over which cottage company is "better." Yes, zpacks has some sloppy stitching once in a while. This isn't REI I don't care, personally. That's just about the only piece of feedback that has any truth to it here.

Overall, this looks like a pretty cool shelter. I think what you refer to as "zpacks fever" is actually just a lot of people realizing that the simplicity and ease of using a one-piece, all inclusive and bug free tent that weighs close to 16 ounces is hard to beat. Some of us aren't looking for the 10 oz and under shelter, we want a "bomber" tent made of cuben in this weight range. I would still recommend the solplex over this. It can take a shit ton of hard wind and rain, and looks like it has better ventilation. No condensation issues at all.

I can't say enough great things about my arc blast either… so yeah I highly recommend zpacks and their shelters, but I would even more highly recommend checking out the solplex or duplex tents before you pull the trigger here.

[David Ure]

"This post isn't some competition over which cottage company is "better.""

"first, because zPacks already makes the best solo shelter and it is lighter than this, the Solplex."

Are you sure?

;)

[J-L]

"Seriously? What could possibly be more simple than one pole and a few stakes?"

One pole and 4 stakes in a rectangle is simpler. Most (all?) pyramid tarps can be pitched with the inner already attached – you never have to remove or unclip the inner if you don't want to.

Maybe it's me, but I would never describe a tarp made from 0.5 oz cuben fiber as "bomber", much less a shelter that has minimal cat curve (seems like it would flap a lot in heavy winds). Probably adequate most of the time, however.

[Harald Hope]

how is a two-part tent with inner-net "simpler to pitch?" It certainly isn't simpler because it needs more stakes, both the inner net and tarp need their own sets. It isn't simpler because you need to set up two things one at a time… it isn't simpler to clip them together or deal with multiple pieces in the wind, is it?

This statement if false, if you are correcting errors someone makes or made, that's one thing, but don't then overreach to statements that are simply not true.

I have two tents with an inner, it's attached to the outer, the tarptent notch is exactly that, an outer and an inner. It requires 4 stakes, period, to pitch. You can use 6 if you use the top guy lines, but you don't need to.

There's no clipping together, they are clipped together, if it's super hot I could detach the inner and just use it alone with the notch, but that's not something you do all the time.

Maybe the mid + inner is made to require removing the inner each time you take it down, no idea, and attaching it each pitch, but the notch and others aren't.

I have another two part tent that does actually recommend using separate stakes for the inner, but you don't need to, it makes almost no difference, and it also clips into the inner from the top.

The simplicity and ease of setup with the inner/outer notch is why I got it, and it works, as advertized. You're working with a single piece, unless you chose to split it, which was another reason I got it, bugs in summer, no outer, awesome.

I like zpacks gear, there's no need to say one tent is better than another when all of them are very good, and meet the desires/needs of the people who like them. Personally I've camped in far too many spots where the ground was super hard and rocky to want a tent that requires a lot of stakes to pitch (Hardangervidda tundra, anyone?), but if the camp spots I hit were on average different, I'd like a different design I suspect. Just don't make up things that aren't true, it's easier to just say you like something, that's hard to argue with.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

Any of the Tarptent solo tents in Cuben fabric.

In fact I like the Six Moon Designs Skyscape X Cuben tent a lot (with its "porch").

[Nick Gatel]

I have a Hexmid, no beak, no net, fixed guy lines,no floor unless I use the zPacks Poncho/Groundsheet which is a rare occurrance. It is a great shelter for mild weather or unexpected rain. It does okay in wind. The beauty of this shelter is its minimalism. I only use it if it rains; otherwise it stays in my pack. It is my favorite and most used shelter. Beaks, nets, zippers, doors, etc. are like a wart on Mona Lisa's nose.

When I want or need a bomber shelter, I take my Trailstar. If I expect heavy snow, I take my Scarp 1 with the crossing poles.

I don't own an inner. Usually I just deal with bugs. If I expect bad, bad, bugs I take my Wild Oasis.

Perhaps the reason Joe seems to only make Hexamid variants might be because they sell well. I can't speak for him.

[jimmer ultralight]

Its layout is nearly identical to a Zpacks hexamid.

As far as "complexity" goes, Mr Bell says on the features page that the Cricket can be setup in 2 minutes with practice and he has done it in as little as 55 seconds.

He also states the Cricket is-

Perfect balance between simplicity, protection, lightweight, pitch options and no zippers or hardware to fail.

My question to Pyramid fans is – how usefull is a mid in bad weather if the zipper fails????

[Adam Klags]

Yeah I mean the no zipper door was a major point of contention for me before owning a solplex. Now I see it as one of the tent's greatest strengths.

No, .56 cuben is not "bomber" by any standard. However, the solplex and hexamids, from experience and not just imaginary thoughts, are absolutely solid performers in the most horrible westher. Strongest winds I've been in with it were about 35-40 mph. It doesn't flap around much at all, but who knows beyond that… Rain? NEVER getting into this tent. Never. ZPacks cuben tents are more waterproof than anything I've ever owned before.

So yeah this isn't for constant use in 50 mph winds but as a 3 season tent for the average UL backpacker it's amazing.

If you question its storm abilities, do a google search for zpacks duplex and zpacks solplex videos and you'll find a few showing it from the inside in an insane hail storm on the PCT, a crazy hard downpour in John Abela's back yard, and more… There are a LOT of people who used these things over the last few years and while we haven't all tried the altaplex, it's definitely not going to perform much differently than a hexamid and solplex. It's essentially a fusion of the two.

Again though, I prefer the solplex design because I suspect that the possible decreased airflow of the altaplex could possibly lead to some condensation. As it is, with about 30-40 nights in my solplex, I've had condensation twice and neither time did it even drip on me or my bag. I've never used a bivy or water resistant bag and never will…

[Ralph Burgess]

The Zpacks tents are superb in high wind. The CF material and Dyneema guylines have incredible tensile strength, and will not stretch when wet. When necessary, they can be set up so tight that they "twang" with a recognizable pitch like a guitar string. I had my Hexamid Twin set up on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in late 2013 in winds gusting to 60mph. In the morning, the guy lines still "twanged" with the same pitch. Of course, any setup will only be as secure as your tent stakes – for bad conditions the only thing that's completely secure is a deadman anchor – a horizontal stick through the guyline loop, weighted with substantial rocks on either side.

[Adam Klags]

Ralph, I'm so glad to hear that because, while I didn't want to say it without the personal experience, but I KNOW the tents can stand up to that heavy wind.

I too have been able to set up my tent so taught that it twangs. Good to point out the difference in the fact that cuben does not stretch. Its been a MAJOR benefit of the tent for me.

For the people arguing for less stakes – this is not necessarily better. Sure, if you think you'll be on rock and you want to increase your chances of having all good stake ins, sure, I get it.

But for everyone else, think about the wind resistance factor. A rectangle resists wind way less effectively than a hexagon, pentagon, etc. Every time you add a side, it increases the chances that your tent will have a corner facing the wind and "break" it better. It really does make a big difference with wind resistance. This is why the larger pyramids tend to be so good in the wind, even given their height.

You can always use rocks and other things as anchors, and if you carry some linelocs to use on the guy lines, the flexibility in pitching is rather impressive.

My friends all laughed when they saw this thing come out of my pack. They joked about it being a plastic bag, that it would never resist the weather… and the first hike we were all on started with a big rain storm the first night. Well, guess who's tent was the ONLY one that stayed dry… yeah, that's right. The zpacks tent.

I love tarptent, but if you're looking for UL, you won't come close to 16 ounces with them and their pole tents… so what's the advantage there? I think just the option for less stakes and freestanding options? Stronger in the winter? Those things wouldn't affect 3 season use for the average backpacker.

Many many nights in the tent later, I'd call it "Bomber" by UL standards any day.

[Author]

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