Tarptent ProTrail Li… Hmmm

[Jim B]

I took the Protrail Li on a 4 day trip on the Long Trail in VT a couple weeks ago.  Awesome tent!  The only negative, and it’s a little one, was the foot end pole. It’s so small in diameter it actually sank into the ground quite a bit after a night of light rain leaving a saggy tent.  I stayed dry, however the perimeter netting near the foot end got pretty well soaked as it was touching the ground.  A minor thing, but something to consider if buying the foot end pole.  Either put something under it, or just stick with a trekking pole.
I enjoyed the tent though.  Perfect size solo shelter.  Plenty of room up front to change clothes, cook, etc.   I left the curtains open at the foot end and had a nice cool breeze all night with very little condensation inside.  I’m a side sleeper, so the walls at the head end had a little bit of condensation right in the area where my breath would hit it.  Other than that, dry as can be inside.  Looking forward to more trips with this thing.

[Bill in Roswell]

Thanks for posting a field report Jim. I just returned from using my sil Protrail, dreaming of the Li version. A popular hack on the Sil version is running the peak guyline behind the door. On my version, there is a grosgrain loop on the hem, center of the door, making the door easy to attach to the guy, leaving half the vestibule covered and half open (Phil Werner has a photo on Sectionhiker in the tent reviews. Your hiking pole has plenty of length and room so you could move it over a bit for more entry space. I’m always surprised by how steem an angle it can take, but the design is much like that of a sail so I can see how the stress is triangulated. As for the rear pole, New England has plenty of rocks for support. Just one of the many reasons the Protrail works so well!

[jscott]

the more I look at this very nice tent…the more I’d go with a Notch Li.

Either one looks really good. I prefer the way the panels on the Notch look to shed wind; the double pole structure; and the interior netting/fabric of the Notch. It looks a bit more storm worthy. A bit heavier.

[Matthew / BPL]

The Notch is a great tent if you don’t mind the struts. It may be my favorite tent I’ve spent time in but I didn’t like how it packed in a low volume pack. YMMV

[David U]

I prefer the Protrail design for below tree line.  It has more functional protected living space, is easier to pack (as mentioned by Matthew) and does just fine in inclement weather.

I have also used the Notch extensively (sil) and it does no better in the wind, IMHO, and still wouldn’t be my choice for above treelike camping.  Instead, I would take a Scarp if I stuck with Tarptent.

[Adam White]

I’ve spent six nights in a ProTrail Li, mostly above treeline in the Sierra.

I’m a huge fan. It’s extremely well designed. It works great with my fixed length 125 cm poles. Coming from a Hexamid, I’m pretty excited to only have four stakes required for pitching.

After replacing some of the guylines, and adding additional lengths of guylines for rock vs stake pitching, it weighs in at 16.270 oz on my scale (including stuff sack and guylines; no stakes).

I haven’t been able to test it in any extreme weather. I’ve sat out a few showers, and it’s seen ~25 mph gusts, both of which it (unsurprisingly) does great with.

 

 

[Aaron D]

@awhite4777

Nice photo!

Curious about how well this works with fixed length poles.  Does the rear apex strap reach to the top of the 125cm pole, or did you rig something up for that?   I’ve got 120cm fixed lengths.  Do you think that would work well with the front, or is 125cm more optimal?

[Adam White]

@ardavis324-2-2 the message that showed up in my inbox had you hypothesizing about a location… you were right!

The rear apex strap reaches the top of the 125 cm pole. You need to specify this when you order it, and they just send you a longer strap. It is extremely light weight; I doubt the longer version adds >0.1 oz.

I think 120 cm would work perfectly. In the back there would be no issues; in the front it would tilt a little less than my pole for the same elevation. Tarptent specifies that the poles should be “107 cm to 120 cm” on their webpage, so you’re fully within bounds of expectations… I’m the one that’s pushing it a bit! But as I said, even 125 cm works great.

[Aaron D]

Thanks for the info, especially about specifying the strap length when ordering.

After I took a guess at your location, I realized that I was probably right, and then thought about how glad I am that this area remains somewhat of a secret.  I walked through there on a perfect Saturday in late July this year, and didn’t see a single person.

[Author]

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