Tarptent Protrail

[Erica R]

I keep looking at the Tarptent Protrail. I like the weight, the dripline well outside the bathtub floor, and the front entry. In general I like a single wall front entry shelter as it is has great headroom and is light weight. Bug protection is a must.

I have heard the Protrail is prone to condensation because it is not a roomy shelter. I am a bit concerned about being able to wipe down the condensation on the rear of the shelter, as it seems quite tight back there.

I’ve reviewed the previous discussions on BPL, Section hiker, Reddit, and the set up videos. Wondering if any Protrail owners can relate their experiences?

[Erica R]

This discussion of the Protrail on Reddit seems quite good:

Got a Protrail two years ago and didn’t keep it long. 1. Front entry is just not for me 2. Condensation/ventilation was the worst of any shelter I’ve had. No matter how it was pitched, vented, whatever, I just couldn’t get it under control.

I have had the protrail for about 2 years, overall I like it. It’s really not good in high wind unless you are lucky enough to pitch it directly into the wind which is very hard to do. It’s also not great in rocky conditions, really needs soil. Overall I use it for low country travel but when I am going to be up high I use my mountaineering tent instead.</p>

Do you mean it doesn’t handle well when in exposed conditions? I don’t frequently make camp above tree line frequently, so that wouldn’t be as much of an issue. Is that what you meant? Thanks for you advice!</p>

exactly, it’s got a wide, tall profile, there is no way to guy out the side panels, so if it’s broadside to wind you end up with tarp on your face. I use it mostly for camping in the southern CA desert in winter / spring so condensation isn’t a huge issue, but have used it in summer in Sierra and had some condensation issues, mostly just because it’s a tight space.

Do you find the guyout points along the bottom hem of the side panels helpful in high winds?</p>

No, because the side panels are so large they act as sails. The lower hem guyouts are good for keeping the tent open wide so air can flow in, but in high wind you need to stake them to the ground or dirt blows into the tent

 

[Franco Darioli]

I posted these two photos a long time ago to show the difference between a standard “easy going” set up and a wind proof set up of the Contrail.

The Pro Trail is very similar except there is no need to add the rear  centre strut as I did with the Contrail.

longitudinal tension is the key there. There is no real tension on the first shot (it would look taut without the wind and it was inbetween wind gusts) , on the second you can see how the ridge is pulled taut by the front and rear guylines.

I took those shots on the school grounds across the road from my previous house ,(on a windy day when branches were falling off the trees around the school perimeter), for my own use.

The door panel and the front part of the side panel still caves in a bit but nothing like ijn the first photo.

As for room inside, this is the 6′ dummy on top of a std mat

from the 3D clip in the Usable Room link on the product page

it’s raining outside right now, when it stops I’ll post a photo with me inside the tent (I’m only 5’8″ but I use 6′ sleeping bags.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

My 1st TT was the Conrtrail. The Protrail is the “Contrail II” with appropriate upgrades in design.

Still, it is more of a “forest tent” and not intended for use in high winds. That’s why I now use Moment DW.

[David U]

I have a Protrail.  Great tent.  It ventilates extremely well for a single walled shetler.  As far as exposed conditions, it does very well there as well as long as you use all of the available guy out points.  The foot end is actually fairly roomy and you can open the rear foot area completely to the elements (protected by bug netting).

I also have a Notch.  I think the Notch may be the best overall solo shelter in existance but it is a lot smaller than the protrail, doesn’t pack down as small (unless you remove the struts), and is more expensive.  I suspect that it is also more wind worthy but the Protrail isn’t a slouch assuming you set it up correctly.

[Dave Heiss]

HI Erica,

I’ve used a Protrail for the last 2 years and I’ve had no problem with condensation and at 6’2″ I like how the main tent height is above my head. I can sit up and dress with no worries and when it rains there’s some psychological security in knowing there’s more than an inch or two of separation between you and the storm.  I haven’t had it in high winds but as Franco noted above it’s pretty stable when the long-side center guyout is pegged down. I made a couple of elastic loops that I use when guying-out that spot.

[Franco Darioli]

hard to tell but the sb is about 8″ from the end mesh wall.

[Erica R]

This all sounds great. If it works in the rainy PNW for tall Dave, I think it will work for me. David, good to hear of the condensation performance in Alberta. Franco, thanks so much for taking the photos.

Have any of you thought about adding an outside, airy (staked out)  triangle at the back? I can understand the inside flaps, but, paradoxically, good ventilation to avoid condensation is even more necessary when it is raining. I can usually guess when it might rain at night, and could deploy an outside airy triangle. I used to have a Sierra Designs Flashlight tent, and I would increase the ventilation at the back with a stick if rain were likely.

You know, I think I already have the answers… I’ll quit wondering about it.

[Franco Darioli]

Hard to see in this photo

but you only need to use the end curtain if you have wind driven rain coming from that direction (that low end should be set into the wind, if you have the choice…)

Now for mild winds you could just do up just the top 2/3rds  of that curtain, for strong winds you will get air ingress and no condensation  anyway…

[David U]

I think trekking in the PNW (I do at least 1 trip every couple of years on Vancouver Island) you know the downsides to any single walled shelter and how to mitigate against condensation but the Protrail (IMHO) does very well in those conditions.  One of the things not mentioned is whether you will touch the sides of the tent if condensation is present.  Henry engineered enough mesh up the sides and at the ends that it would be very difficult to wet your sleeping bag.

[Maria N]

I used my protrail while doing half the JMT this summer. I purchased mine used on BPL and only used it twice before the JMT trip. I found I got just the right pitch the more I set I up over the 10 days or so on the JMT.

As for condensation – I only had condensation one night. Not sure why exactly –  the only thing I can think of is we were camped on low ground near a river and the weather was chilly that night with no breeze? The other 9 nights were fine without any real condensation. Great tent!

[jscott]

“As for condensation – I only had condensation one night. Not sure why exactly – the only thing I can think of is we were camped on low ground near a river and the weather was chilly that night with no breeze?”

Yep. I always get bad condensation in Lyell Canyon out of Tuolumne Meadows.

[Erica R]

Yes, in my experience, setting up on grass under an open sky is a sure recipe for condensation.

Low ground near a river is bound to be chillier and have more moisture than on a bench slightly above the riverbed. I like under trees even better. However, I confess sometimes it is about the view!

[John “Jay” Menna]

FWIW   My wife and I use a single Protrail from time to time.  We do tend to sleep in a pile on a single Klyim XL pad.   Its small but not uncomfortable.    I’m 5’8  she is 5’2.

[Henry Shires / Tarptent]

setting up on grass under an open sky is a sure recipe for condensation.

Ding, ding!

Shameless promotional link to our how-to-minimize-condensation video –> https://vimeo.com/157512798

-H

 

[Sam Farrington]

Henry, watched your video.  Is the message that there is going to be condensation, so here are ways to minimize it?  I followed that advice until I bought a Sierra Designs tent with a fly that came down only around 3/4 way to the ground – have seen tents like that right up to the present.  The sleeping bag, the slippers and anything else not wrapped in WP cover got soaked.

That was it for me.  Complete double wall after that, with good vents of course. (And now am working on tents with solid walls on the ceiling over the sleeper just in case.)  No condensation ever after going double wall, even with just netting for 3 season use.  And scratching around for a tent site after a long day of backpacking is no fun if following yet another list of criteria that can often require you to go way off your route.

I follow the accepted rules, such as no camping near water sources, not to minimize condensation, but to protect the sources.  Except for those rules, I do not bushwhack or wander mountain meadows all over the place to find a site. Instead, I find a decent spot to pitch, and have never had condensation to this day, in the Rockies or in the northernmost parts of New England.  So I think we are making backpacking overly complicated, especially to deal with issues that are addressed by well designed gear.

[Franco Darioli]

Well Sam , I have to disagree with you.
I am not aware of any design that compleately overcomes condensation.
Please supply the name of such tent but I am warning you that all I will do is to Google “This tent condensation” (“this tent” is the name of the tent…) and then I will post links to people that have had the problems with that particular tent.
Or youy may want to save time and do that yourself.

[Brad P]

Sure fire solution to tent condensation:

https://shopvivy.com/products/portable-dc-12v-ceiling-fan-with-switch-outdoor-camping-fan-for-rv-tent-fan-solar-power-fan

[Eli N]

This seems like a good place to ask: how do you figure out the right angles at which to stack out the corners of your Protrail?

In particular, when I have the front door closed, it seems tricky to get the angles such that both the sides of the tent and the front door are taut. (And of course, usually when I want to close the front door it’s because it’s windy, so I also need a pretty tight pitch.)

My current practice is to stake out the lines at the foot end only slightly “outboard” of the longitudinal edge of the tent–maybe a 10 or 15 degree angle to the line of the tent edge. The lines at the head end I stake out at more of a 45 degree angle. This seems to work OK but it’s hard to tell if it’s optimal.

[Henry Shires / Tarptent]

How do you figure out the right angles at which to stack out the corners of your Protrail?

Eli, have you had a look at the setup video?  Generally you want to follow the tension/seam lines.

https://vimeo.com/157799151

[Henry Shires / Tarptent]

Is the message that there is going to be condensation, so here are ways to minimize it?

Yes, exactly. There’s no magic to a double wall other than that the warmer interior wall is far less likely to suffer condensation than the colder outer fly wall. For that reason, yes, a double wall is better for high condensation potential conditions.  Condensation is the result of relatively warm water vapor molecules contacting cold surfaces. Those collisions turn vapor into liquid.  Single wall and double wall outer fly/canopy surfaces get cold, especially when exposed to direct radiational cooling.  To minimize the effect you need to lower the number of collisions by pitching in lower humidity locations, venting, and by reducing the loss of fabric temperature.

-H

[Franco Darioli]

Eli, as Henry already explained following the seam lines is a god start. I do it intuitively but slowing down the process if you hold the tie out line in your hand and pull it away from the tent moving it a bit side to side you should see that at a certain angle both panels will come into tension, so that is the direction you set the stake in.

[Franco Darioli]

Forgot to add…

Eli, given that you are asking about a Tarptent set up, you just need to look at the drawings on the product page to see the ideal tie out angles

[Erica R]

Franco, Looking again at your “Hard to See” photo above, I notice the intermediate rear clips are used with the rear storm door open and a Tarptent pole. Any particular reason why those clips aren’t used when the rear storm door is down and a treking pole is used?

And, BTW, it is it possible to close just the bottom 1/3 rather than the top 2/3? Seems that might be better for keeping out rain?

I’m going to know lots about this tent when it finally arrives!

[Franco Darioli]

Erica,

no particular reason for not using those clips either way , it’s just an option.

Using them does keep better tension on the middle of the  long panels .

yes , you can have part of that vent open at the top or bottom as you like (BTW, it’s done from the inside)

[Author]

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