Tarptent Preamble silpoly 1P+ floorless tent

Meanwhile, back on the trail, page three.  Kudos to Tarptent.  Thanks for all you do.  ~RL

Does anyone plan on purchasing Tarptent’s new Preamble?

Henry has expressed a negative opinion about silpoly in the past. The 20D fabric that is used for the Premable must be significantly better. Too bad it’s not available for DIY, yet. The 30D silpoly from ExtremTextil mentioned by Stumphges earlier in the thread is a superb fabric, kind of like the best of silnylon and DCF combined without many of the disadvantages of the silpoly fabrics coming out of RBTR (I’ve used ’em all). If/when that level of performance becomes available in a lighter weight 20D fabric, I’d be all over it.

FWIW, as far as I know, both Trekkertent and Yama Gear have sourced their silpoly from RBTR in the past.

I used to have the original Tarptent on which the Preamble is based. The original DIY instructions are still up on TT’s site, including the early 2000 graphic layout. It’s not surprising that even back then, Henry’s design emphasized that it’s “All in the Fabric.” He was really at the forefront of introducing the fabric that became known as “silnylon” to the wider UL community that was just beginning to form around that time (early 2000s).

I used the original Shires Tarp Tent in Taiwan, where the climate is very wet and sudden vicious storms are not uncommon. In poor weather at altitude where site selection is very limited, I feel that it is more like a 1P tent. The low height and cat cut ridgeline makes up for the long side panels somewhat but the panels were still prone to deflection. And that was with silnylon. With silpoly, at least the kind of silpoly coming out of RBTR, the deflection could be even more serious. Obviously, Mr. “All in the Fabric” Shires has sourced a pure sil/sil (no PU) 20D silpoly that meets his requirements, which is exciting news. This is probably the most exciting thing about this tent, besides the nostalgia factor and the friendly price. I really hope that the 20D fabric becomes available for DIY use.

I like the tarp. But the one problem I see with it is that when you let netting lay on the ground it tends to pick up little bits of leaf litter like a magnet- that has been my experience here in the east.

My immediate reaction is that maybe it makes sense to have mesh for a few inches then seam in some ripstop for the part that hits the ground. At that point it probably makes sense to just sew in a bathtub and we are back at sort of a simplified Contrail/ProTrail type design.

Educate me please: What came in between the OG Preamble and the Contrail? I wasn’t backpacking 20 years ago.

I believe next, it was Virga, then Squall, then Squall 2.   And then a gap before Contrail. maybe Cloudburst in there?

According to their About page, Tarptent never sold the OG, just posted the plans. Their first products were the Virga and Squall, captured by the Internet Archive and available through the Wayback Machine:

May 1, 2002 – Virga and Squall debuted
https://web.archive.org/web/20020501113431/http://www.tarptent.com/products.html

October 1, 2003 – Cloudburst added
https://web.archive.org/web/20031001181216/http://www.tarptent.com:80/products.html

July 3, 2004 – Rainshadow added
https://web.archive.org/web/20040703030455/http://www.tarptent.com:80/products.html

September 10, 2005 – Virga 2, Squall 2, Cloudburst 2 replaced earlier models
https://web.archive.org/web/20050910193320/http://www.tarptent.com:80/products.html

November 1, 2005 – Rainshadow 2 replaced earlier model
https://web.archive.org/web/20051101095337/http://www.tarptent.com:80/products.html

December 8, 2005 – Rainbow added
https://web.archive.org/web/20051208075351/http://www.tarptent.com:80/products.html

August 18, 2006 – Double Rainbow added
https://web.archive.org/web/20060818224529/http://www.tarptent.com:80/products.html

November 8, 2006 – Contrail added
https://web.archive.org/web/20061108112519/http://www.tarptent.com:80/products.html

The dates are when the Internet Archive captured the web page; Tarptent posted the product before that.

— Rex

PS – The name Wayback Machine comes from a popular 1960s TV cartoon:

PS – The name Wayback Machine comes from a popular 1960s TV cartoon:

Talk about taking me back to my childhood – Mr Peabody and Sherman / Rocky and Bullwinkle were it for me!