AN OUTDATED TENT DESIGN

[Roger Caffin]

the Olympus while super stable etc is a very small tent,
I will disagree with this. In doing so, I should mention that we have (extensive) experience with the original Olympus model from the early 90s (shown below), and with the current slightly tweaked design.

The groundsheet in the current Olympus is 2200 m long (and in my tunnels) and up to 1350 mm wide – a typical airmat might be 550 mm wide. We have found this space ample, even in the snow, for the two of us.

The exterior height is 1150 mm: sitting up inside is easy. The windward end of the current groundsheet has a tilted wall, while the lee end has an approximately vertical wall (plus a large vestibule).

Is this ‘small’? I suggest not – especially under severe alpine conditions.

My 2c.

Cheers

[Edward John M]

AH Yes Roger

I was speaking from the POV view of a feller who wears XXL in Australian sizes who needs a wide and thick mattress who sleeps cold. You need to be very comfortable in each others company [ or climbers] in the Olympus in my experience, indeed in all of these 2-person mountain tents where being “small” is a benefit and why I personally preferred the Caddis when I became acquainted with it; even if it wasn’t quite as strong

It’s all about perception of space and which trade-offs you are prepared to make.

Thinking back I don’t remember getting wet when putting up the Caddis but getting the fly on could be  “trey difficile” in a high wind

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Ed

Points taken. I think the Olympus might still be long enough for you, but whether it would be wide enough for two of you – that’s another matter. It would, I imagine, make a very comfortable ONE-man tent for you – at the cost of the extra weight. Yeah, difficult.

Cheers

[Edward John M]

We are all longer when lying down than taller when standing up. I’m 1840 tall so add another 90mm for my size 47 feet then another 150mm for the loft of my winter sleeping bag [ Australian winter not Alaskan which has twice that much at 350mm total loft] and 2100mm gets a bit tight. Admittedly tent makers makes tents for the median but tall folk need to think about things like this and I’m not really all that tall.

[Roger Caffin]

Well, 2200 mm is longer than 2100 mm, and the end walls are vertical rather than severely tilted, so you might fit.

Thing is, I don’t know of any tents which have anything much longer internally, so really tall people would seem to have a problem. About all I think of is MYOG custom, which is not for all.

Cheers

[Edward John M]

Lack of internal length is why I picked a tunnel with an extended vestibule for my deep winter trip; you can squeeze hard up against the front door to gain a little extra depth at the rear. I have Dutch acquaintances who top 1900mm and know of many basketballers even taller but none of them ski or go bushwalking to my knowledge except for the feller that camps at Pretty Valley each winter and who uses a Hilleberg Saitaris as a solo tent, simply because nothing else is large enough

http://us.hilleberg.com/EN/tent/black-label-tents/saitaris/

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