Hi Everyone. So my buddy got a wicked deal through the company he works for on a SD High Route. We set it up last night and here are the initial impressions.
I have some pictures posted here on imgur if anyone is interested.
Weights * Tarp with guylines and linelocs – 22.0 oz
- Inner with guylines and linelocs – 14.84 oz
- Stuff Sack – 1.12 oz
- Stake (8x) – 0.38 oz
- Stake Bag – 0.76 oz
- Nightglow – 0.52 oz
- Total – 42.28 oz or 2lbs 10.28 oz
This was all right out of the box weights without any trimming or modifications. Andrew Skurka has posted an article about trimming the weight down here so I wont rehash what he already said. Overall I was impressed by the amount of liveable area under this tarp. at 22oz for the tarp and guylines, it is definitely heavier than some of the other offerings (especially in cuben), but when you think about an MLD Duomid in sil being 18 oz without guylines, it starts to make more sense. This is especially true for taller users who sometimes worry about touching the more angled side walls.
Stitching on most of the tent looked good, but there were some parts of the reinforcements around the webbing that certain buckles attached to that had long “tails” like someone didn’t trim the thread after finishing the stitch (forgot to take pictures of this part).
Pitching was pretty straightforward once we actually watched Skurka’s video…Definitely not one of our finer moments. At first it took awhile to get a taut pitch and we were getting frustrated. Then we watched the video and our errors became clear (trekking pole tips down), and it pitched up well. I’d still be worried about those vertical side walls in the wind, but time will test that. That being said, even when ever part of the tent was taut, the side walls definitely had a bit more give that the other parts. This was the first pitch though so that could be fixed with more experience.
Inner was pretty spacious, and easily accommodated a TAR Xtherm LW with like 8 inches left over. At almost 15 oz though it is heavy. I set up my Sea to Summit Nano Pyramid using an extra piece of guyline on the inside of the tarp. It worked great, and if this were my tent, I would probably go this route most of the time. One big con was that the supplied inner really cut up a lot of the room on the interior. Because it pitches on the centerline, and there aren’t any vestibules, there isn’t a whole lot of room for wet gear like a pack. There is a bit of room in the innernet, but if i have wet gear, I don’t want that in there with me. The STS net would also help solve this problem though since it uses a lot less room, and you could bias it to one side of the shelter if necessary.
Overall I think my friend will be happy with it. He got a killer deal on it so its definitely worth it for him. For a really liveable tarp I think this is a pretty good option, especially if you don’t think you will be pushing the boundary of crazy winds (conjecture that has yet to be proven). I’m not sold on the inner but an alternative like the STS Nano Pyramid or a bug bivy or ultralight bivy, could be a great alternative.
TL;DR – Very liveable tarp with acceptable inner, but alternatives could be found for the inner. Somewhat heavy, but huge interior of the tarp is very appealing, and is a good option especially for tall users worried about touching ends of more sloped pyramids.
