Tarptent Notch Li Review (First Looks)

New photos of the v2 (2020) have been added to the Notch Li Review.

BTW, I have since ordered a gen. 2 Notch Li. Should be here in a few days.

And I have found RIT DyeMore for synthetic fabrics. It involves dyeing the fabric in hot water for 30 minutes so I’ll dye my “solid” interior so the ripstop panels are a medium green for some shade. And as mentioned here I bought Dyneema repair tape to reinforce the 4 fly hem stake loops I’m adding. Herewith endeth my mods on this tent – I think…

I ordered the trekking pole handle adapters B/C I don’t want want my pole handles and straps in the dirt. Also, since I use rubber pole tip cups on my poles they shouldn’t sink into the ground too much. Finally, the tales of metal pole tips instantly piercing Dyneema flys is warning enough.

I thought I had posted a reply to this, but it disappeared! Anyway, Eric will you please post some photos of you inside this tent, when you get it? Esp at night, with a headlamp on inside. Trying to get a feel for size, and also transparency. Still considering it.

Thanks for a great review Ryan. Do you or does anyone know if the improvements in the Notch Li which you’ve highlighted below are already made in it’s larger cousin Stratospire Li? The Stratospire already has waterproof zippers but I am wondering of the same sewing and bonding reinforcements are already present in the Strat? Thanks for a detailed technical yet practical and quite readable review. Dom

·         Tarptent notes that they also made “end to end improvements in stitching, cutting, taping and bonding” which we can only assume will result in a better pitch and more strength. There are some obvious additional bonding patches here and there (see photos below for the magnetic door tie).

·         It looks like Tarptent has addressed the magnetic vestibule door tie issue. It tended to pop open under very little pressure (wind, tight staking, etc.). Note in the photos below, the V2 magnetic closure is attached to a thicker strap and the location has changed along the door seam, so less stress will be imparted on the door tie and it should be less likely to pop open under tent stress.

You mention that you can hardly wait until the Stratospire comes out in DCF. I thought the Stratospire Li was DCF?

Ed Stover

Brad is correct. The actual competitor to the Duplex is the new Gossamer Gear The Two DFC.
The Tarptent Stratospire Li is somewhat a competitor, but the Strat is more cold weather oriented and can handle some edgy conditions.

Another few days and Tarptent might have a good alternative.

Nice! I saw the Tarptent teaser about this and am suitably teased! Now awaiting the full reveal…

In times like these, it is the time of tease

I just spotted the new teaser on Face Book.

Now you can almost see what it is .

Double Rainbow Li?

That’ll be a no fawlt(y) disclaimer….

The peculiar part is that apart from the moustache I look and sound exactly the same.

Fawlty Tower trivia.
If you have seen the bit where Mr Fawlty hits Manuel with a frying pan, what you see is real because john Cleese picked up the wrong pan. Sent Andrew Sachs (manuel) to hospital.

I heard that! Ouch! So many great scenes involving Manuel – Andrew Sachs is just such a cool dude!

Andrew died in 2016.

He wanted to play the part as a German waiter  because that is were he grew up , so he would not have to spend  time learning the accent.

In Spain Manuel was a Neapolitan waiter, he cooked lasagna in the paella episode…

Back to tents.

The Tarptent Double Rainbow Li is now officialy announced, the specs will be out tomorrow.

The details are very nice, better than in the prototype Henry and co made at Nevada City sometime ago. That was to see how DCF would work for that design. It did.

It is nice to see H doing the curved DCF.  I think I remember him not wanting to do curves with it years ago.  Looks AMAZING.

Figured it out it seems.

He ‘ did not want to do it’ the same way as I did not want to run the 100m in 10 sec.

Ok… “reluctant to jump into something before making sure the math, textile, manufacturing techniques are dialed-in, and vetted.”

My TT Notch Li with dyed interior.

Eric your photo doesn’t seem to have loaded. Would love to see it.

To add to the fray: I prefer the floor space of the ProTrail, but I want the dual doors of the Notch Li. The GG The One has the floor space of the ProTrail, the dual vestibules of the Notch, and in the DCF version is hard to beat for somewhat protected camp sites. I can’t imagine The One handling bad weather as well as a Notch or even a ProTrail Li. Ironically, The One DCF was downsized a bit to fit the DCF fabric widths, which makes the inner smaller. Henry had to adjust the Notch Li, but did it with the vestibule size, not the floor space. Henry is not only very smart, he has gained wisdom over time and avoids most of the mistakes the early adopters make.

My personal preference: a Notch 1.5 – via wider ends to better accommodate 25″ wide sleeping pads without distorting the tent. A little more living space can be afforded with DCF, i.e. 20% more floor space for 5% weight gain? (and no, I didn’t take time to do the math). That’s an example, not an absolute. I’m expressing an idea worth exploring. In other words, Duplex floor space with structural integrity of a Notch or Durston X-Mid (like a lot about it, but find the floor space stupid small when there was room to make it larger with little weight gain). It is indeed amazing how tent design keeps marching forward with new materials. No doubt more mind-blowing designs and materials are in the near future.

I’m right there with you, Bill. I’m not that big (5’9”, 145) but the Notch seems awful small. I wonder if a DCF Stratospire 1 wouldn’t check most of the boxes. Only disadvantage I can think is its relatively large footprint, although you can pitch one vestibule flat. (Or perhaps a hybrid Aeon Li).

I too would love to see a DCF Stratospire 1.  I mentioned to Henry in an email a while back that if he made this happen I would be writing a check tomorrow.  It would check off a lot of  boxes for me for my go to solo tent.  If the Notch Li had the wider floor area like the Aeon Li I would get that right now.  I just don’t like the tapered foot and head floor dimensions of the Notch Li.  I wish it was the same width throughout the total length so it would feel less cramped.

I’m right there with you, Bill. I’m not that big (5’9”, 145) but the Notch seems awful small.

I’ve got 8 inches and 70 lbs on you and I too find my Notch a tight fit. :-)  So, yeah, I’d be all over a Notch 1.5.