Tarptent ProTrail Li… Hmmm

My first UL tent was a TT Contrail. It’s “kinda, sorta” like the Protrail and neither is great on windy nights.

I now own a Moment DW and a Notch Li, both of which are better in the wind than the Protrail but yes, have narrower floors.

The Moment DW is now for kayak trips and winter camping. The NotchLi is for 3 season backpacking.

Before buying the Notch Li I looked and LOOKED at all the solo Dyneema tents made. No other brands had the quality or features I wanted. The TT AEON Li was very nice but I wanted a double wall tent and for another 3 oz. I got it. After seeing other Dyneema tents in the flesh I gotta say Tarptent’s present Dyneema lineup has the highest quality in design and build. They set the bar for Dyneema tents and it’s high.

> Can we speculate about a Tarptent Mo-Trail Li?

You can but the patterns don’t play well with the 54in DCF fabric width and, honestly, I think we can do something better to take advantage of both the limited fabric width and the strength/non-stretch nature of the fabric.  Either way, not in 2020.

-H

I’ve been holding out for the Aeon with baited breath… I noticed they’re not displaying any pictures of the 7′ giant in the web pictures. How could this tent be described for tall folks laying down and for sitting up? And before running down this rabbit hole, when can we expect to see the Aeon and changes since 2019?

Wow it happened!

THANK YOU Henry for making this! I’m very excited.

Oh darn it.  I was all set to get the Notch Li at the end of the month when they had the solid wall interior back in stock.  Now the Protrail Li is $100 less, lighter, more packable and has more interior room.  All that plus I am sure to get it before my July trip so I can test it out.  I need a new 1P tent for Philmont Scout Ranch in 2021 and thought I had made up my mind.  Decisions, decisions…

Looks very nice.  Questions about the ProTrail in wind.  Years ago GG and TT did a collaboration of the original Squall in spinnaker. While lighter than sil-nylon, the lack of material stretch made it much more challenging to get a truly taut pitch and it was more impacted by wind.

Did any of the geometry of the ProTrail need to change to reflect the lack of stretch in Dyneema?

–Mark

(Sigh)

*perfects one of my favorite tents

If I was going to be on a trip where I was going to spend a lot of time exposed above the tree line, I’d bring my mid.

For 99% of what I do, shelters like my Zpacks Hexamid Twin, TT protrail, and others are fine.   Not overly helpful but things always seem to work out in terms of site selection and setting up in a way that offers some protection from the wind.

Part of the solution comes from using the right stakes, beefing them up with rocks, and shelter orientation relative to the wind.

Admittedly the Protrail is still relatively new to me from a total nights usage standpoint and I haven’t had to ride out any major storms in it, but poncho A frame shelters were our bread and butter in the Army so I’m not new to sleeping under a shelter with similar properties

> Did any of the geometry of the ProTrail need to change to reflect the lack of stretch in Dyneema?

Hi Mark.  Yes, slightly. We had to bring in the vestibule edge to edge distance a bit but it’s otherwise very close to the same patterning.

-H

Super cool. Guess my weight guesstimate was close.

So in everyone’s experience, which is more wind-worthy… the Aeon Li or ProTrail Li?

The Aeon looks more windworthy to me when you consider the worst case scenario of wind hitting the Protrail straight on from the side. Is that a reasonable assumption, Henry?

> The Aeon looks more windworthy to me when you consider the worst case scenario of wind hitting the Protrail straight on from the side. Is that a reasonable assumption, Henry?

Any tent is really only as strong/wind-worthy as its largest unsupported panel with surface area exposed to wind loads. All things being equal the Aeon unsupported panels are shorter. The Aeon is also a 6-stake tent vs. 4 on the ProTrail and if you take advantage of the extra pullouts on the ProTrail then the difference shrinks. The low hem pullouts are directly inline with  front and rear poles and thus you can pull on them as hard as you like with no panel distortion. Doing so shrinks the unsupported edge span by roughly 2 1/2 feet.

“The low hem pullouts are directly inline with  front and rear poles and thus you can pull on them as hard as you like with no panel distortion. Doing so shrinks the unsupported edge span by roughly 2 1/2 feet.”

I use the side pullouts on the silnylon verson of the Protrail and haven’t had any issue in strong wind.  There are better above treeline options but that is rarely a consideration for me.  The shape of this tent is really no different than using a tarp in an A-frame configuration and hence, will perform similarly in the wind (I would suspect).

Henry, can you also confirm that the Protrail is better for taller folk?  I still have my silnylon version and it works well with a long sleeping bag.

May the odds be ever in your favor.

I ordered mine this morning before they sell out.

I too became an early adopter. I was holding my Shekels for the Aeon but decided to give this a try for 3 reasons:

• More compact
• More room over my face
• Less complex, less to lose or break

Hope it works out!

And Russ, the zippered door is pretty darn sweet! I’ve thought of having a zipper installed on my sil. Protrail.

Mine got here this morning but I haven’t had time to set it up. For me, This is the best news in UL in years. I have shuffled shelters many times including selling and re-buying contrail/protrail. I always loved the dead simple set up of the protrail and experience has shown me how bombproof the design is. At 5’10” it has a lot of space for me and my stuff. The only drawbacks were weight and stuffed size, mostly the latter. Takes up at least one third of a quickstep. I like to carry a small pack and the sil version just wouldn’t pack down small enough. Although delivered rolled up, it appeared almost the same, roughly 17″x6″x6″. However, by folding it again in half I am able to get it to about half that length (bout the size of a football). To save weight over the years, I’ve forsaken bug protection and space constraints using other shelters like the deschutes plus and trekkertent stealth. Now, I don”t have to give up a thing and have the exact shelter I want. Quick pitch, full protection and bombproof design. I can not wait ’til Saturday’s test drive.

PeterH, looking forward to your test drive report.

For those of you new to the Protrail, I highly recommend getting the 29 gram oz rear pole. It makes setup easier and quicker. I like it because I can go weekend UL with one hiking pole, or base camp and have a spare pole for day hiking. My first Tarptent, circa 2004, was a Cloudburst tunnel style tent. The floor space, vestibule and door are about the same as the Protrail. I’m 5’7″, so plenty of room for stuff and to sit up. I’m debating whether a DCF Protrail or Aeon. I like the Aeon a lot, though the strut length issue could come into play for packing. But one thing I’ve been sold on a long time: Henry Shires is a master designer and he builds great gear that holds up a long time and has great service!

What is next from Henry? A DCF Rainbow One I could see as a lightweight, very roomy one person with 40″x88″ floor. Peak height is 43″. With the porch cover, it’s a great tent for waiting out rain. It would be a bit heavier than many DCF solo tents, say 25 ounces, but for many larger framed hikers the room would be worth it. Think of it as a Deluxe Aeon (pole difference excepted).

http://ProTrail LI in a Zpacks stuff sack https://imgur.com/a/dC9vMTI

I received  last week and plan to set it up this weekend. First  impressions were of the incredible light weight, and that the stuff  sack that it came with was perhaps overly generous.  I repacked in a Zpacks stuff sack to reduce size and it still seemed to fit with  no problems. I’m also planning to upsize one or more of the 6″ stakes and add an additional stake for the optional front guy line. I would be interested to hear whar other ProTrail users do in this regard.

I will bring Henry’s stakes and shepherds hooks. The hooks do better in some soils and are worth the weight to me. I too have selected a smaller stuff sack for the trail. A single extra fold before rolling gets the unit down to the size of a small football. Fortunately, I saved the rear pole from my old protrail as experience taught me how valuable this is, especially in the rain when you don’t want to be searching for the perfect stick or trying to work with your trekking pole.

What height rear poll does the Protrail use?

What height rear poll does the Protrail use?

Or “pole” as the case may be… :)

I received mine too and will be using it at Lassen Volcanic National Park for a Scouting car camping trip in about 3 weeks.  The stuff sack is generous in size which is kind of nice.  Good tip on getting the shorter rear pole.  I’ll keep that idea in the back of my head while using it.  I bought this tent with Philmont Scout Ranch in mind next year for me and may get a Double Rainbow for my son to lower his pack weight.  The Philmont tents are 6 pounds but I’ve got an MSR Hubba Hubba 2 person tent for him that I bought before my focus shifted to going lightweight.  It’s a good solid tent for him but still a little on the heavier side and with the afternoon monsoons they get in the summer it will likely get wet on the inside if setting up during rain.