Freestanding Tent Decision

Out of curiosity, what where the other issues you had with the Double Rainbow other than it not being freestanding?

The Double Rainbow is a great tent. I high recommend it to anyone. But for me, I have learned I don’t like the single pole and sleeve. The way that the cross bar is set up makes it a little harder to just slide the pole down the sleeve. I understand the crossbar can come out. I did it once I think and found it took too long to put back in. I feel that the grossgrain that connects the crossbar to the vents on the door is the weak point. I had one that came apart on my first trip. frayed right where the stitching was. It was not tightened up either. I checked the other and found it looked suspect as well. I repaired both and moved on but I don’t connect the mitten clips to the vents. I don’t think I was being too rough but this part has always concerned me.

I also have condensation issues, but it is a single wall tent. Hence my desire for a double wall. I have used the inner but still I have wetness inside the tent that I can’t take a fly off and shake out. Being that it is single wall and does not have mesh all around it gets a bit hot and stuffy in the summer unless there is a strong breeze. Once again, this is my experience and I sure others have different experiences. I will say that I have never had a leak or a puncture in the fabric and I have used it for 2.5 years. No rips or tears in the mesh. The stiching, except for the cross piece has been good. I am just ready to try something new.

Thanks for the detailed response Scott!  If you want to sell your Double Rainbow, let me know.  I might be interested.  :)

ok thanks I will let you know.

Hey, Scott. I went ahead and sent a pm about the River to River and Grand Tower flooding as I’m having a hard time contacting local officials.

I enjoyed your youtube review of the Double rainbow  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg7n0E44Yt0) and own one myself. I find the headroom lacking in my double wall tent and hope to get my first miles on the DR soon. I must admit your issue with the pole and sleeve seems like a non-issue to me, but to each their own and you’ve set it up way more than I have. I’ve heard a couple others poo-poo sleeves in favor of clip attachments but that seems like a potential weak spot.The only worn spot on my Terra Nova Solar Photon 2 is where a clip on the fabric inner gets pulled toward the tent pole. The floor is in perfect shape, for instance. Of course that’s just one tent.

Good luck with your next tent,make sure you have enough head-room.

that cross bar does come loose though…

I am currently looking into a lighter tent.  Price is always a concern of mine along with weight, function and quality.  I’m pretty close to pulling the trigger on a REI quarter dome. Semi free standing…. So not free standing but almost as good.  Weight is OK and price is very reasonable. Spring 20% off should be soon.

yeah that 20% off is right around the corner. I am certainly waiting on that unless I can find a better price somewhere else.  I am still debating between the CS and the HH.  I am now leaning towards the HH due to the heavy floor material. I have a few weeks to ponder lol

I like pretty much everything about the Copper Spurs except the doors.  Doors that open down are a deal breaker for me.  Don’t understand why manufacturers make that design choice.

I think the rainbow door is to offer a larger entrance. I can see why they would do it and I can see a negative aspect to it as well.

Not to be debbie downer but true free standing tents are rare because most of the tents mentioned require the flysheet to be pegged out.  By doing this you cannot lift the tent and move it.  In my mind a free standing tent needs no pegs whatsoever (except to keep the tent from blowing away in the wind).

Many of the single wall tents are free standing like Bibler or Integral Designs.  No flysheet, no pull out vestibule stakes etc.

Other true free standers are some of the Hillebergs like the Soulo, Allak, Staika.  The flysheet vestibule is created by a pole and doesn’t need a peg.

Some lower quality tents like Coleman are free standing like the Sundome or Flatwoods or Rosewood etc.  These have partial flies whereby each corner attaches at the bottom to each corner pole.

And you can’t forget the old Diamond Timberline A-frame with the A under tension using a roof spreader pole.  These tents have no vestibule flies needing pegging, and the side pull out tabs don’t even have to be used.

There are a quite a few benefits to “freestanding” (or mostly freestanding) tents and the ones that appeal to me aren’t dependant on being perfectly freestanding. I like to be able to pitch a tent and then fine tune it’s position, I also like to be able to shake out the debris in the morning and I like it if the tent doesn’t collapse if one stake pulls out. So a tent that assumes it’s general shape without stakes works well for me, even if it’s not a pure freestanding tent.

Another suggestion in the semi-freestanding category:  The Sierra Designs Flash 2 FL.

I used on (nearly all of) the Colorado Trail, and Michael Glavin of SD was right — the interior space is INCREDIBLE.  The SD 2-person tent was way, way, more spacious-feeling than my 3-person BA tent, because the walls are vertical.  On a trip where rain/mosquitoes meant that I spent a lot more time inside my tent than I do normally, the difference was remarkable.  It was the most “livable” backpacking tent I’ve ever owned (and I’ve owned a LOT of tents, lol).

I like the Black Diamond El Dorado. Completely freestanding, 4-season, versatile, good ventilation, bomber construction. $700! But it is single wall and has a “front” door as opposed to the “side door” you are seeking. That would be the Black Diamond HiLight, again a single wall.

I think at this point I am leaning heavy on the Hubba Hubba NX. Mainly for the durability. It is heavier and if I was to ever do a long thruhike or something more than 30-35 miles in a 3-4 day period I may re-think things. But the added durability will help once i get my kid out with me.

I know its been a couple of months but thought I’d chime in on the MEC Spark UL2.

Having recently taken this tent on a bikepacking trip with my son I can wholeheartedly recommend this tent as a crazy good value. The Spark UL2 is $339 vs the BA CS2 at $610 in Canada at the moment. Packed trail weight after removing things like tags and extra stakes is 53oz only about 3oz heavier than the BA, packed size is the same. However the materials used on the Spark are tough a 30D floor and a 30D nylon (read no sil-stretch) fly, perfect for camping with less careful kids.

The tent went up fast, with plenty of space and has great little features like multiple internal pockets, loop to hold a light up, fly reinforcements and loops to secure the fly to the poles. With a simple guyline trapeze it can be pitched fly first easily. Finally it rained cats and dogs the first night in it and we stayed dry and comfortable.

Honestly especially given the exchange rate for folks in the US this tent is a steal!

Thanks for the info on the MEC Spark. Looks like a nice tent. I did end up getting the Hubba Hubba NX when REI had their sale.  I have a couple nights car camping in it and so far it seems pretty nice and spacious. Have not backpacked with it yet but should work out well.

one thing about the MEC spark is that it has less points for guylines as compared to the hubba

quite a few less in fact

i suspect that the performance in strong winds may not be the best

;)

Every tent is going to have a compromise somewhere inherent in the design.  But I would like to chime in another vote for a “true” freestanding tent as defined above… The Big Sky Soul. See video review at https://youtu.be/u9CEix88nYg