Stephenson 2C Tent Review – Part 1

Having used the 2R for many years, I have found the wind stabilizers to be unnecessary in any forested camp site. I have been through some pretty bad storms (+80mph registered at the local airport, well, a field actually), a tornado (with trees crashing down not far from where we camped) and several down bursts. It stood up well with no damage, and, no wind stabilizers. Easily, the winds exceeded the 40mph you mention.

Staking is not a huge problem either. The one stake at the foot end seems very impractical, but the angle of the shorter roof out to the stake is very low. Most of the stress is across the ground, not pulling up. It is easily possible to angle the stake to a 90 degree angle to that stress and plant it that way. I use 4 .2oz shepherds hooks with this tent. Two are sometimes planted in the rear on softer ground (loam & forest duff) but generally I only use one. It has never come down.

The quality of the seaming really worried me. I was used to felled seams, especially along the ridge. After seam sealing, though, they have not opened up. They remain well sealed. They do look messy as hell, though, functionally, they work.

The ventilation IS a problem above freezing to around 40-50F (around 8-12C.) Condensation is BAD with this tent. It has one top vent and two low vents. We also have the "windows" on the sides. In cooler weather, we crack the windows for a 6" vent along each side. It seems to help a little. But generally, after two or three days of rain, our gear is damp. No the tent does not leak, and protects against the rain. But in long periods of rain, everything gets damp much faster than in the Exped Sirius (to remain within the same class of tent.) I suspect the small volume lets condensation occur as the air is being vented out due to the high humidity of having two people in the tent. I suspect it will be a bit worse in the 2c. The liner only masks this since condensation usually occurs, mostly, on the outside layer.

Warmth goes down with ventilation. Unlike the Sirius, with it's 2 top vents, we don't stay very warm. I doubt there is more than 5-6 degrees differential between inside and outside air. With the 6" side vents open, the top vent, and the two low vents, we do get enough air change to reduce overall humidity, if not condesation, but that means a loss of heat in the tent, too. In the 32F/0c to 45F/~10C temp range, we never bring this tent, opting for the heavier Exped. Colder or warmer, weight trumps the condensation and we bring it…

I have been using a 2R for a bit for high altitude mountaineering. I'll post my comments after the part 2 of this review. However, I have been considering the get 2C or the 3C and was wondering if 2 full size pads (20×72) fits without overlap in the 2C ?

Regards

Simple question: how do you place 2 Groundhogs to share a 60 pound load on the rear stake out point?

At last check, the inner walls of the WL tunnel tents were not vapor permeable.
But that may have changed. It would be a plus for the article to clarify this.

Also at last check, the front and rear cones were single wall only. It would help to clarify if that is also the case. Sorry if I missed it.

Not only was Jack one of the first cottage manufacturers, he dared to put curvatures into his tent structures where many other cottagers till fear to tread (TarpTent excepted). In the early days, the Jackpack was also part of the line, along with the sleeping bags, tents and other products, all packed with a feast of imaginative ideas that he came up with. A profoundly admirable enterprise, I think. Testimony to this is that BPL is doing a 3 part article on a design that dates back around half a century.

But recognizing the never ending demand for progress, here are some improvements that would increase weight only slightly and might be considered:

1. Replace the current poles with Easton 344s (aka Nanolites), prebent to Jack's curvatures before tempering to T9. The current Warmlite poles, especially the rear ones, can easily be bent by hand and have not much inherent longitudinal strength. The heavier Easton 340s weigh about .5 oz per running foot, and based on that, the lighter Nanolites would not be much heavier than the current Warmlites. The dilemma, of course, is how to get Easton to do that with their insistence on large wholesale orders, requiring a very substantial investment from a cottage manufacturer.

2. Add reinforced loops along the tent sleeves the right distance below the apexes, so that guys can run from both loops/hoops to join at one stake point on each side of the tent, in order to stabilize it against winds coming at the sides of the tent. The would only require two more stakes, and might eliminate the need for the inconvenient internal guys.

3. Make the inner wall vapor permeable if not already. That would actually lighten the tent. And add some internal venting to the inner wall just inside the pole sleeves so air can circulate between the walls. Some high quality netting would suffice for this. The catalogs contain Jack's explanations why the double vapor barrier walls are better, including the point that they don't absorb water making the tent much easier to pack and carry; but still, this alternative might be considered. Maybe the inner wall could be light denier polyester, which absorbs less water than nylon. Feeling less smothered might help with Ryan's psychological distress.

4. Place some triangular gussets between the top sides of the door and the top front of the cone walls, in order to provide additional rain cover when the door is used as an awning with trekking pole support. The gussets could be detachable on one side allowing them to be rolled up when not in use. Then the floor could be made detachable with buckles at the front so it could be rolled back a bit when not needed for sleeping. This would allow for safer cooking 'outside' the tent floor in protected areas.

Some food for thought, I hope.

I'm sorely disappointed! (In the lack of the aforementioned pics.)

But as a design, well several tent makers have similar shapes. I'm not as enamored of Stephenson's tents as I used to be in the '80s. Plus too fragile for my taste. But they were pioneers of light tents that had wind-worthy designs.

I'm going with the TT Moment DW for winter solo and a modded TT Scarp 2 for two people in winter – both with crossing poles for snow load safety.

Well I guess Eric ages well for a Grandpa….

Well Roger you WOULD have to remind me that those Stephenson girls are now grannies! Can't a guy wish for maybe – daughters? (Yeah, I'm a Dirty Old Man.)

But I suppose gravity and carbs have taken their inevitable toll on those former beauties.

When you're right Roger, you're right. (sigh)

I would argue that one of the best uses for the 2C is as a 1-person winter tent, so with that use in mind I will explain my setup for cooking on the tent floor. Please keep this in mind as an "extreme conditions" option.

First, the cooking system: MSR Wind Pro II w/ wind screen & reflector, Open Country 2L kettle, small closed-cell foam pad. I also have a foam cozy for the gas canister.

I set this up right next to my sleeping bag. With the remote canister and inversion option, I can adjust the setup according to the conditions. I arbitrarily peg the minimum cold-start temperature for Isobutane/Propane at -10F, so if the outside temperature is any colder than that I'll warm it up in my jacket for 15 minutes before starting the stove. After the initial priming of the pre-heat tube is done, I invert the canister for liquid feed. This is essential for faster boiling at subzero temperatures. If the temps are really cold, the fuel line is long enough to where I can actually keep the canister in my sleeping bag for additional warmth.

When the stove is on, I open one side of the door to allow more ventilation. If it starts to feel a bit uneasy inside, I simply stick my head out the door for fresh air.

The foam pad & heat reflector protect the silnylon floor of the 2C, while the windscreen serves as a barrier to any potential flare-ups. I would only consider compressed gas systems for inside the 2C. A white gas stove is too much of a risk in my opinion, and upright stoves like the PocketRocket have the flame exposed and are prone to tipping over.

A Jetboil or MSR Reactor might seem enticing given their hanging capability, however as was previously discussed, the cord loop at the front pole apex is no good. Having tried this with my own system (PocketRocket inside an Ortik Heat It hanging kit), I found that it almost touches the floor. Plus unless your head is to the rear of the tent, thus giving yourself very little room to sit up, the stove will be hanging right in your face.

Given that I enjoy being settled into my tent while cooking after a long day of winter travel, for a 2C or any Stephenson tent I don't see a better option than a remote/inversion canister stove.