Tarptent ArcDome Ultra

[Sam Farrington]

Jeff,

Neither.   A prototype picture of the canopy was posted recently:

As mentioned, it will have one full entry at the front.  With vestibule beaks that will act as two half doors that can be opened left or right, or both, as a way was found to attach the door bottoms together, or separately, with only one zipper and just one peg or stake.  The completed tent will have a larger span between the peaks, allowing covered vents below the peak elbows, while the floor will be slightly narrower than the span between the peaks, creating the vent covers and helping to keep water out.

The rear of the tent will mirror the shape of the front door, but as mentioned, will be a permanently closed vestibule with floor in order to reduce weight and protect gear/pets.  It will be a solo tent, and the convex sides, supported by the flexed poles,  will create considerably more space inside, especially at head and foot areas, than an A-shape.

Also, there will be a fly over just the main tent (the portion in the picture), that will go on after the main tent is pitched, with the inner portion of the tent briefly keeping water out during the pitch, and simplifying the installation of the poles.

The prototype was built to test the sturdiness of the structure in different seasons and weather.  The tautness and wind resistance were satisfactory with sil/poly, but not with sil/nylon or laminates like DCF or TNT due to the lack of elasticity; meaning the ability of the fabric  to return to its original shape when pressure is relieved.

There are many niggles not mentioned here, but hope this is helpful.  Some of the Kuiu tents are similar, and may be of interest.

[Jeff McWilliams]

Interesting design, Sam!

Would love to see a photo or video of the prototype in action, just to “nerd out” on.

 

[Paul S]

Sam, that pole structure is like the (discontinued) Exped Gemini 2. Sturdy!

[Sam Farrington]

Jeff and Paul,
All I found were “no longer availables.” Maybe someone has slapped a patent on it. If so, it is subject to question, because I have posted the prototype and models on BPL a number of times, going back a long time. We went to a dinner at the AMC camp at Pinkham Notch in NH and just happened to chat with a patent attorney, who advised that if the design has been earlier publicized, a later patent can be challenged.
Also, the bends on the poles on the Exped design may be too great, subjecting them to breakage. In the prototype, the pole crossings are further up, and secured with very short sleeves corded to 2 pegs, one on each side of the tent to prevent breakage. The other two pegs are at the front and back as earlier mentioned.
Please note that the prototype includes only the the main body of the tent, not including the front beaks and rear cover. As mentioned, the prototype canopy was built for experimentation, not use in the wild.
When the design was first posted on BPL, it was given the name (“XX”) , so someone may want to dig it out from the BPL archives.
Will leave it there before getting any further off-piste.

[Paul S]

Hi Sam, The Exped used two bent metal tube sleeves near the top of the tent, One for each side, so there were actually 4 pole sections.

 

I don’t mention the Exped Gemini ’cause of IP concerns, but more to say that your design, like the Exped, is going to be quite sturdy!  :-)

[Bill in Roswell]

Just in case some readers weren’t paying attention, the Arc Dome and X Dome are very different tents. The Durston X Dome is much more a competitor of the Copper Spur and similar tents, with top crossing pole for near vertical side walls.

[Erik H]

Check out Samaya Inspire 2. French company, single wall, similar pole structure to Sams tent and the Gemini. I think it’s been out a year or two?
https://us.samaya-equipment.com/products/samaya-inspire2-bleue

[Sam Farrington]

Paul,
Am guessing that the “two bent metal tube sleeves near the top of the tent” were what I had meant by “elbows”. Along with some reinforcement, the elbows at the peaks do fit into the segmented carbon tubes that make up the pole frame.
When the project is completed, I’ll start a thread named something like, ‘solo XX tent revisited.’ Just the thing for a winter project.

[Erik H]

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[Sam Farrington]

Erik H,
Thought I should let readers know that when I went back to the Samaya site today, found that their tent appeared to be for sale.  I think it is a bit on the heavy side though, probably because the canopy fabric is a  three layer laminate.  Did not order one, so cannot attest to costs for shipping and the like.  If someone buys one of these two person tents from France, hope they will post pix and details on BPL.  But expect that it would be over my budget.

The subject of  “inflation” seems to come up on BPL a lot these days, and so am sticking with single layer polyester fabrics, that I’ve posted about on BPL a number of times.  I found the fabric in polyester tarps from Yama Mtn Gear to be the lightest, strongest and reasonably priced compared with other tarps at:
https://backpackinglight.com/yama-flat-tarp-review.
And intend to use the Yama fabric for both the canopy and floor in my current tent project at much less cost than laminate fabrics.

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