Slingfin Splitwing – Condensation? Dew? What’s the waterproof rating??

Welcome and glad to see your first post!

Was the water dripping off the tarp onto you?

Potentially relevant threads:

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/managing-condensation-in-a-pyramid/

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/condensation-a-foolish-obsession/

Thanks, Matthew. The second post was fairly helpful. It was dripping down at the foot of the tarp extensively.

I figure some of this is because I’m brushing up against the bivy as I roll around at night.

That being said, (as a first time bivy user – have the one that is made for this shelter system)…Is there any way to mitigate this, or is it just going to be like this every single time I use this? I’m concerned that it didn’t protect from the dew and soaked through. That might sound like a silly comment…but if this isn’t the case, then what’s the solution?

Also, I’m a little concerned that I can’t find a waterproof rating listed anywhere for this particular tarp. Thanks so much for your response!

I’m surprised Slingfin doesn’t list the HH for the fabric. We have a few members that have posted about this tarp in the past. I’m sure you will hear from them soon.

Here’s a search for slingfin splitwing

Their Portal 2 lists it as 1200 mm – same 10d fabric. I am fairly confident that it is 1200mm for Slingfin tarp. Just curious if you had the Vestibule attached as well?

Hi Murali,

Yes, I did have it attached. Do you think that might have caused some additional condensation?

I don’t understand the distinction between condensation and dew that is repeatedly being made. Dew is condensation. If you are asking whether the water is passing from the outside of the tarp to the inside, that’s very unlikely IMO. You just had very humid conditions with no wind, and had condensation everywhere. Hopefully conditions will usually be better for you. Note where the condensation drips down and keep yourself out of those areas as much as possible. And when you are actually camping, try to choose campsites to minimize condensation. There are some good threads discussing campsite selection.

You raise a great point. Dew is indeed a form of condensation. :) It sounds like with the conditions I was in, that dampness was inescapable and that I need to test it out a little further before I reach out to Slingfin for help. (Although I’ve read that they have great customer service/response.)

Keep in mind too, that this is my first experience with any type of bivy type setup, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Normally if there was heavy condensation in my tent, there’s been ample room to move away from any problem spots or avoid touching any wet areas.

This puts my mind at ease though. So thank you for your insights! I’m really loving the design of this shelter, so I’m hoping I can mitigate some condensation issues as I gain more experience using it.

I agree that Shannon seemed to be in ideal heavy condensation conditions. A bivy lends towards its own condensation, beyond the tarp.

The design of the Splitwing  foot is very low volume and it doesn’t have a vent.

So any moisture at the foot will be concentrated in a small volume of air and may condense heavily.

I suspect that you simply ran into unusually bad condensation conditions. Slingfin are a reputable company and it’s highly unlikely that the fabric would be leaking on a new tarp.

It’s an ultra-minimal design, and that comes at a cost! You may have to take steps to protect the foot of your bag from condensation with some kind of breathable cover.

Did you have it pitched very low? I wonder if an inch or two of height at the foot would have helped?

What type of bivy?

Without a floor, and with a recent heavy rain, the ground was probably saturated.  Water vapor rising from the ground, and from from perspiration and breath, was almost sure to collect as condensation on the inside of the tarp.  The thin wall silnylon would absorb that condensation keeping it wet on the inside.

There are places in the US where the air remains quite dry, and such condensation is not always present.  But your locale does not sound like one of them.

There is no evidence that pitching the tarp close to the ground would help, and could have made the situation worse.  The floor is another $70, and might help in less humid conditions.  And as was pointed out, the opening at the rear of the tarp appears quite small, so that your quilt was likely to touch the inner at the foot end.  All of which sounds like a recipe for the soaking that you suffered.

This does not sound like a case of customer error.  Rather, it sounds like a tarp that is not fit for all weather use.  But some folks say they can live with it, although I never would, and after a few soakings in single wall tarps and tents, have enjoyed dry conditions ever since in double wall tents.  Even a very light gossamer bug net will suffice as an inner wall if it can be hung tightly underneath and separated from the tarp.

The above post mentioned a bivy.  That might be a way to keep dry under the tarp in adverse weather.  However a good bivy might add as much weight as a double wall tent with more head and foot room.  Hope you find something more suitable for the kind of conditions you experienced.

You can have condensation from the air or ground (dew) or your breath (not dew?) – words smerds…

Yeah, a low volume tent can be worse.

There’s good ventilation from the head end, but not the foot end.  That might be a problem.  Can you set up the tent so there’s more ventilation at the foot?  Like, raise the edge of the tent more off the ground.

If it’s a clear night and you’re camping in the open, then the tent walls will cool down, often below the dew point, then you’ll get a lot of condensation, either from your breath or the air.  If you camped under trees, then this is avoided.  You want as small a percentage as possible, of the sky visible from your tent.  But then the trees can fall on you so study trees first and avoid dying ones.  Maybe have the area directly above you clear so no branches will fall on you, but all around is blocked.  Plus, if water starts dripping from the trees, it won’t be on you.

When condensation happens, it happens. Not much one can do. Maybe not having the vestibule would have helped as it would have provided better air flow – but you probably thought it was going to rain in the night and put the vestibule that pretty much made the slingfin tarp a bivy! But sometimes, if there is no wind, not much can be done – even if you didn’t have the vestibule. I don’t think the tent leaked or anything. Its just condensation. I am sure all tents would have suffered from this.

Best is to have a better bathtub floor (like 5 to 6 inch bath tub grondsheet) that prevents you from touching the tarp walls – that is you are inside the bathtub as you move and don’t touch the walls. The Splitwing mesh body doesn’t seem to have deep bathtub walls. Sometimes I will keep my rain jacket (if dry) or one of those sit pads or something between my leg end and tarp/tent walls to protect the bag from getting wet.

Hi, Tim from SlingFin here! Thanks for pointing out that we didn’t have the HH listed. I just updated our website accordingly. Murali is right- it’s the same as our Portal fly fabric, which is 1200mm, and we’ve done a lot of rain testing (and field use) of the fabric and it’s great stuff. We haven’t had any instances of the fabric leaking.

It does sound like you were in pretty ideal (or the opposite of ideal, depending on how you look at it) conditions for condensation. Since the vestibule restricts airflow at the tarp opening, that would likely have contributed as well. One option to promote airflow would be to pitch the tarp with the long edges slightly off the ground by raising your trekking poles, though this reduces the protection from splashing rain. However, in some conditions condensation is inevitable, especially with single wall shelters; sometimes even a flat tarp suspended in the air (so, unlimited ventilation) will collect lots of condensation. In those situations, using the mesh body will help keep your sleeping bag from touching the walls when you move around in your sleep, which my guess is what happened in this case.

The current version of the mesh body (as of late this summer) DOES have a bathtub floor, I just haven’t taken studio photos of the new one yet.

Hope this was helpful!

Thanks, Tim! I’m huge fan of SlingFin’s designs. Yeah, this condensation was definitely less than ideal (it was extreme). However, I’m glad that it happened so I can do a couple of things to prepare if I know there’s going to be unusually heavy condensation. Also, keep in mind that this is my very first experience using any type of bivy-ish type shelter, so some of the condensation was due to my lack of consideration for the low mesh. (Example, I brought a super lofty down quilt which was bound to brush up against the mesh all night long. Plus, I pitched the SplitWing in a less than ideal area.) But next time, I’ll be a little better prepared. Thanks again for your response! It’s perfect size/weight for me to carry along with my shoulder-season gear. Plus, it’s a great design. I love it! Just need to get used to it. :)

That sounds great. Yep, there can definitely be a bit of a learning curve with tarps and the SplitWing is no exception. My email is tim@SlingFin.com if you ever have questions about getting your pitch dialed in. Feel free to reach out anytime!