Tarptent Scarp tent with crossing poles as an all around bomber tent.

[Troy Ammons]

For an all around freestanding bomber tent, I am looking at the Scarp tent with crossing poles and that seems to be about as good as it will get for the $ and weight. I know Hilleberg tents are about the most solid and I have looked at them but at a weight and cost penalty. Is there anything else I should check out? Thanks

[Steve Cockburn]

Hi Troy, I’d have to agree with you. I have a Scarp 2 and share the load. The Scarp has withstood some decent conditions and is very comfortable. The only downside in my view is the weight.

[Stumphges]

They are highly regarded over at the trek-lite.com forums. Those northern isles folks know their wind-worthy tents.

[Christopher S]

Seek Outside Silvertip or one of their two double pole shelters might also be a good option

[Moab Randy]

Warmlite (2R or 2 Climbers tent). Lighter weight, twice the money, half the stakes (only 3), very roomy. Warm and pretty bompbroof (or get the interior wind stabilizers if you sleep on a lot of mountaintops; could also ask for exterior guy points). Definitely get the large side windows; skip the big front door; consider end liners only if you do a lot of snow camping; consider asking for a custom mod to make the side windows open completely to the outdoors. My first one went 20 years before the urethane delaminated. My second one, with silnylon, is 20 years old, going strong with light use (now use a lighter MYOG tarptent). They are under new owners and I don’t know how the current quality is.

[Bruce Tolley]

I am not sure the Scarp is freestanding tent but it gets a lot of love on BPL.

Some folks on TrekLite seemed to also like the TT DoubleRainbow properly guyed out that is!

There was a recent thread here at BPL about freestanding 2 person tents for windy conditions and other options that were mentioned were BigSky and SlingFin Portal and SlingFin CrossBow. The CrossBow is a 4 season tent.  I have an order in for a Portal.

 

[Ryan Jordan]

The Slingfin tents are pretty close to what most backpackers would consider being bomber.

The Crossbow’s solid interior is a huge plus for 4-season conditions. The wedge-tent-style design is not full-on bomber, but it’s pretty good, especially with the eyebrow arch pole. However, the ability to stabilize the eyebrow arch with a pair of trekking poles effectively takes this tent to another level of stability and snow-loading, and makes it a legit 4-season tent. And at about 5 lbs for 2 persons – that’s pretty dang good.

The Scarp with crossing poles – this is still an ultralight approach to “helping” with snow and wind-loading, but it doesn’t make it bomber in the same way that the Crossbow is. I wouldn’t use a Scarp with crossing poles on a winter climb of Mt. Rainier, for example, or a winter expedition in the Northern Rockies where I was expecting storms. I’d have no reservations using a Crossbow in those situations, however.

[Bruce Tolley]

@ Ryan. In reference to the Crossbow, I discovered this week my 4 season tent has gone missing. It probably went on pilgrimage from my garage during my kitchen remodel.

So I need a new tent.  Is the CrossBow tall enough for a person 6ft 2 in tall to sit up in?

[Paul S]

We have a crossbow 2. Love it! Very stable in the wind due to the guy-outs tying, effectively, right to the poles. The poles are robust (10.5mm) and the trekking pole attachments bring it to a whole other level. Ventilation control is great…and..the tent is very taught, both rain fly and inner, so  it is relatively quiet in the wind-So we actually sleep when it’s windy.  :-)

[Sam Farrington]

Bought a Scarp  1P when they first came out.  Some good ideas, like both back and front doors.  But not keen on the external poles that could act as snow fences.  Prefer a tent with a smooth exterior to deflect wind and snow.  I also found the unstable corner design and need for three pegs to support the short sides to be heavy with the abundance of short struts held in place by heavy webbing.  But maybe its been improved.

The Slingfin is nothing new – a side-entry wedge with a short strut to create peaks; thus addressing possibly the worse flaw of wedge tents – when you open the door(s), the weather pours in.  The modded 1.5p Goondie I use is also a wedge with cross-strut, and there are others.   One highlight of the Goondie is the guyouts that store in each corner and when guyed out, eliminate the need for corner pegs, keeping the number of pegs at six, even when guyed out.  And while pole sleeves may be better, the pole clips make for a fast pitch.  One lowlight is that even the solid inner has netting portions that will not protect against foul weather during pitching.  My dog burrowed under the inner during pitching, got soaked, and would not come out of the tent once pitched.  Don’t blame her, and that is why I’m working on a tent with a dry pitch.

Roger Caffin has opined that the heavy wrinkles are due to poor design.  I opine that they are due to nylon fabric and heavy rain all night.  You can look at this link and be the judge:               https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/81307

 

[Paul S]

My wife and I really wanted to love the Scarp 2. But, the vestibules were too small for us for our intended use (winter backpacking).

 

There are some things about the slingfin crossbow 2 that are unique, it may look like the same old architecture, but there are design features that make it a whole lot better

1) The web truss allows one to get the poles set up, and under tension, even in fierce winds. This addresses the problem of poles snapping when setting up a tent in the wind. It gives you the stability of pole sleeves, but avoids the problem of poles snapping during set-up when a big gust of wind comes by with the more traditional tent that uses pole sleeves.

2) The rain fly attaches to the poles using loop and toggles. It is a very secure connection, way more secure than the velcro a lot of manufacturers use. The rain fly guy outs are sewn to the same place as these toggles. So, when you guy-out to the fly you are actually guying out to the poles. Additionally, there are internal guylines that connect to these toggle locations and the corners of the tent floor – thus providing more wind stability.

3) The trekking pole adapter makes the tent much stronger with respect to bearing the weight of snow, and also adds wind stability.

A very strong tent, it has protected us well!

 

[Bruce Tolley]

@ Paul, How is the headroom when you sit up in the tent.  I am 6 ft 2 in and in some winter tents I scrape the ceiling of the tent and knock precip or ice down. No fun.

[Paul S]

Bruce, I am 5’11” tall and can sit up fine in our Crossbow 2 while sitting on my Thermarest Neo Air X-therm (2.5 inches thick).

[Bruce Tolley]

@ Paul. Thanks!

[Eric Blumensaadt]

As I posted years earlier somewhere here on the gear forum that I shortened my Scarp 2  X-ing Poles and ran them inside the fly, the pole ends inserted into the relocated pockets sewn just above the Pitch Lock apex, a much stronger terminal location. Then I sewed (and seam sealed) double-sided Velcro cable wraps to the inside of the fly at the same reinforcement points as the outsideX-ing pole straps. This holds the X-ing  poles place in heavy winds/snow load. Now I have a TRULY wind proof tent.

Finally I coated the exterior of the floor with a mix of 5 parts “odorless” mineral spirits and 1 part of GE clear silicone caulk, WELL shaken in a bottle, applied with a short knap small paint roller and lightly wiped down with blue paper shop towels (not kitchen paper towels).  This cuts down on wear and can be renewed as needed. It also mostly eliminates the need for a ground cloth.

[Sam Farrington]

Eric,
Any chance of photos?
Thanks,
Sam

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