Tarptent Saddle 2 Arrived

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Pitch looks pretty good.

If you vary how splayed out the ends are, those wrinkles at one end of the canopy should be fixable. You could try splaying it a bit wider and then re-staking the vestibules out 2″ further. Might need to do the opposite though.

[Todd T]

Still appreciating all this info.

Does pole length interact at all with the tradeoff between splayed ends and canopy stake placement? In other words, is it ever necessary to adjust pole height when tinkering like that? More importantly, for me anyway, is it possible to intentionally raise the roof to get more headroom?

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

I’m not sure on pole height, but it probably does affect things. My wife had fixed poles this summer, while I had 3 piece poles, so we always used her non adjustable ones for the ridgeline.

[Brad P]

I’m 6’3″ and never felt like there wasn’t enough headroom putting the poles at the recommended height.

[Rachel P]

I started with 110 cm length poles, then once I staked the tent out I extended them a little bit more, but not even to 115 cm, maybe 112 or 113. I will play around with that on a non-rainy day.

Today it’s rained over 0.6 inches, some of it in a torrential downpour (my six year old was lucky enough to be out on a hike during the downpour, train ’em young!) When I went out to check out the tent I had to tauten up the ridgeline a little.

I do agree the way the vestibule rolls up is not ideal. The vestibule was soaking wet, and to have to roll it up and have it hang dripping right above the netting wasn’t great. However, no water actually came inside the tent as a result, nor did any rain get into the tent while I sat in there with the vestibule rolled up. A little water got on the mesh but the mesh kept it from falling into the tent. The solid inner would probably be nice in this situation because any water would fall on the solid inner and roll off.

Brad — only a couple drops of water got in the tent through the seams, I think there is one teeny tiny spot that needs touching up — not bad!

[Brad P]

It was my first seam sealing, so I’ll declare that an A minus.  :)

[Rachel P]

Brad — no water in the tent this morning after another night of hard rains. I got a little worried last night — the lightning storms were intense and some of the down drafts sounded pretty strong (but the rocks, gigantic snow stake, and other stakes all held!) The tent was totally fine this morning. I didn’t even need to re-tension the ridgeline.

Oh and I left one vestibule rolled up and then it dumped again. A little bit of water got in the tent, just under where the mesh can be seen when looking at the tent from above (if you look at Dan’s review he has a pic of this issue). It wasn’t that bad though — I would make sure to leave the vestibule down if I thought it might rain while I was away from camp, or during a thunderstorm. I think for a shorter period of time, or a light rain it would be OK although I agree it would be good to fix this in version 2. If it could stay open during a vertical rain that would be awesome.

I’ve set up both the SS2 and S2 today. I’m debating which one to keep — the Strat set up a lot faster than the first time I tried, but I still find it more demanding pitch-wise which is no surprise really after reading numerous reviews. I guess it gets easier with experience although I can also imagine the headaches when trying to pitch on ground that’s hard to stake. I have had more luck with Henry’s instructions than Franco’s but I’ll have to try Franco’s setup technique again (the first time I tried in a different more challenging location). Oh and those longer Easton stakes are so much better in this soft soil!

The SS2 is more cavernous and would probably be nicer if we go winter camping, but I can imagine quickly setting up the S2. I’m liking them both.

Oh I did make the poles longer in the Saddle 2 by another 5 cm — the stretchy silnylon did not mind after 24 hours of rain. The trekking poles for the SS2 are still set quite a bit taller though — they are at least 120 cm (probably 125 cm) whereas the S2 is set at 115 cm length. I’ll try to get some more side by side photo in case anyone is interested. Canoe is there of course for perspective. ha ha.

[Franco Darioli]

“my technique”

Pretty simply it has to do with setting up the floor (sleeping) area first ignoring the vestibules  then staking the vestibules out.

[Brad P]

From the comfort of my computer, among the 2 person Tarptent products, I think the Motrail appears to be the quickest, simplest to set up.  In fact, if my son and I do Philmont in 2019, that would probably be the tent I’d get for him.

[Rachel P]

I have the Rainshadow which I believe is the 3 person version of the Motrail. I bought it four years ago and have camped all over northern New Mexico in it (it’s also gone camping in many other parts of the west). That style would be a great tent for Philmont and it goes up super fast. It excels in the summertime.

The S2/SS2 is part of my quest for a double-walled tent, dual-entry tent that I can use in winter or when I need a little bit more warmth (you can’t really close up the mesh on the Rainshadow entirely so it can get a bit chilly if there is a really cold wind blowing, like in the spring, or spindrift in the late fall). I also have been liking the idea of being able to separate out the components so I can just use the tarp, or just use the netting. And to have a new toy :-)

Franco — I’ll try your technique again tomorrow. I will master the SS2!

[Barry P]

“I figure I’ll keep the tent cleaner using one” (ground cloth)

Amen. And the moisture on the ground wont seep up and soak the bottom of your tent. It’s faster and easier to dry  a ground cloth than a tent. Plus my tents that haven’t used ground cloths are stained. I just like keeping the dirt off the tent.

-Barry

[Bryan Bihlmaier]

I have the TT Saddle 2 and have quite liked it so far. I am very picky about gear – just ask my wife how many I have bought and sold or returned! But this is my favorite TarpTent so far.

I personally don’t mind the door clip. Like others mentioned, I usually have to use 2 hands to begin opening a vestibule zipper. (I can close most 1-handed though). On my Saddle, I tied a small loop of 1.3mm cord through the ribbon loop that the clip is attached with. To unhook the vestibule door, I can just pull downward and inward on that and it unhooks pretty easily. I do have to use 2 hands to close it again, but I usually only do that immediately after I’ve sat in the tent with my feet still outside, before I take off my shoes. In that position, at least for me, reaching both hands out to secure the vestibule clip is not difficult. Trying to get the two strips of Velcro to securely attach to each other is harder for me to do though :-P .

the thing I like best about the Saddle over all other light weight tents I’ve owned is the ventilation. Being able to open both foot and head end wide open, even in rain (well, not the horizontal type of rain!), adds amazing comfort. My nemesis with tents is condensation, and I have not had any in this tent yet (disclosure: I do live in Utah where we don’t know what humidity is! But I’ve still had issues in the high mountains or when the ground is wet).

I just posted some mods I made which addressed some of the small niggling issues I had with it. https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/tarptent-saddle-2-mods/

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