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  • New 4-season tent

    Went camping in the White Mountains this week and used the new Marmot Thor 4-season tent for the first time. Not really extreme conditions (it was gorgeous fall weather), but it was down in the 40s at night.

    The tent was fantastic. I zipped everything up except the two roof vents and stayed quite warm. This tent is crazy solid with six poles.








  • #2
    Re: New 4-season tent

    Looks awesome. Is that one of those sand mats out front?

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    • #3
      Re: New 4-season tent

      Yes. I've used the sand mat a couple of times, now. It's super at the front of the tent. It's the weight of burlap, but made from a very loosely woven polypropylene fiber -- like poly rope fiber. You can actually see thru it, so there's no worry about rain hitting it and funneling where you don't want it. Water goes right through. As does the vast majority of the sand and dirt.

      I got the small one. It's 72 inches by 72 inches, so it slide up under both of my tents and can be pulled out all the way to the stake out points of the vestibule. It has metal stake out loops at the four corners and at the mid point of each side. Once I've got it positioned, I just use a few aluminum hook stakes to anchor it down for the duration, so there's no sipping and sliding. Pound 'em down flush so there's nothing to trip over. If you really had to with the configuration of of the vestibule, the weave is so loose that you could probably put a thin cheapo steel tent stake right through the weave of the fabric.

      The mat is thick enough that it's even semi-easy on the knees crawling into the tent. I still enforce a no-shoes-in-the-tent rule on myself (LLBEAN duck boot mocs are the bomb for that!)

      I just shake it off, roll it up, put it in an old Thermarest stuff sack, and toss it in the duffel bag with the tent. Rolled up, it's 24 inches long and maybe 5 inches around. Not a problem for car camping.

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      • #4
        Re: New 4-season tent

        It's tough to find fault with Marmot products. They simply don't cut corners in materials, design, or customer service. Our investment in their sleeping bags was, while a steep budgetary move, more cost-effective for avid campers who demand rugged gear.
        “People have such a love for the truth that when they happen to love something else, they want it to be the truth; and because they do not wish to be proven wrong, they refuse to be shown their mistake. And so, they end up hating the truth for the sake of the object which they have come to love instead of the truth.”
        ―Augustine of Hippo, Fifth Century A.D.

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        • #5
          Re: New 4-season tent

          Yeah, my first Marmot product was a down sleeping bag I bought 20 years ago. Very high quality, still going strong, although it's got some sewn repairs from where a cat got it with the claws. I have found their stuff to be consistently reliable and sometimes quite innovative. Definitely have to find sales, though...

          Here a couple of shots of the overall campsite. Didn't need all the guy lines. Heck, probably didn't even have to stake the tent down in pretty mild weather, but I wanted to see if my efforts setting up the guylines in the basement actually worked when I set the tent up. These were taken shortly after the sun came up and the flash made all the lines a lot more prominent than they really were!



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          • #6
            Re: New 4-season tent

            Jealous!!!
            Nights camped in 2019: 24
            Nights camped in 2018: 24

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            • #7
              Re: New 4-season tent

              I generally try to avoid tents with lots of poles due to weight and complexity/time of set up.

              Six poles seems like a lot and the number of guy lines looks extreme.

              What are you thoughts in that regard concerning this tent?

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              • #8
                Re: New 4-season tent

                Set-up wasn't bad on this tent. I mean, it's basically a two pole dome (with pole sleeves), so that part is up in a jiffy. Then, there are three additional cross poles that attach with clips. I dunno, maybe a minute a piece to put them in? The most time consuming part is the sixth pole -- the vestibule pole -- that has to be fed thru a sleeve. But, that pole adds real function to the tent with a vestibule that actually provides shelter from rain or awesome ventilation even during rain.

                On the guylines. They are all bundled, so to use all them is just six stakes -- one at each corner (the front pair doubles up for the vestibule guy lines, too. The middle pair of stakes handles five guys points each, all attached to a single ring that slips over the stake. So, it's pretty easy to use all the guy lines -- or not.They are on the tent for easy use if desired. Since this was the first time I had set the tent up oudoors, I wanted to make sure that all the guys were attached and adjusted and easily functional.

                I would not backpack with this tent unless there were two people carrying the load. It's pretty heavy at 11 pounds. I will use it for car camping when it's cold. The smaller size and the ability to close off the mesh makes it warmer than a big summer tent. I'll also use it when the forecast calls for wind or storms. I'd probably also take it to places like Acadia National Park where the winds off the North Atlantic can be pretty strong at almost any time. This thing is solid as a brick outhouse. I hope I never camp in 60 mph winds, but I have no doubt this tent would handle them with no problem.

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                • #9
                  Re: New 4-season tent

                  I always end up with a bunch of crap in my tent that I have to lift the tent over my head to empty it. Can you do that with this tent?

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