Netting in Tents for cooler weather

[bcyork]

I've never had a tent with as much netting as some do now and was wondering about lower comfortable temperature range for a tent such as this

http://marmot.com/products/details/limelight-2p

with a full fly coverage? Wondering if I need to stick with something like the

http://store.eurekatent.com/mountain-pass-2xte-tent

for the greater greater chicagoland area.I much prefer camping when its around 60-70 in the days than in the prime days of summer. Which means nights can be 40 or lower. I'd prefer to plan for 25 ish on the low side.

I was also looking at a solo tent for just myself. I really like the

http://www.hilleberg.com/home/products/soulo/soulo.php

but its just super expensive. So was considering something like this

http://www.alpsmountaineering.com/al...t-tents/lynx-1

and again wondering what might be a lower comfortable temperature range for something like this that really has a lot of mesh. Campor classifies the North Face Stormbreak 1 as a 3.5 season tent and has almost the same mesh config as this with mesh on one side wall half way down, however I dislike the bright fly colors as it draws attention to your campsite. On that note it seems like only marmont, hilleberg and some alps products are a drab color on the outside. Does anyone know of any other great 3.5 season tents that blend in better?

So my main question is, how does mesh on the inner tent affect its ability to regain some heat? And at what temps, for comfort and lower limit, would one need to start looking at strickly 4 season tents? Also I am not considering anything that is more than 1/2 mesh.

Thanks
-Brian

[Dust Devil]

Re: Netting in Tents for cooler weather

Can't really answer your questions and you've probably made your decision by now, but an idea borrowed from the popup crowd might be to line those mesh areas with Reflectix (bought at your local big box hardware store) that's been cut to size, which would probably go a long way to retaining heat. I would probably cut it so it goes between the rainfly and the outside of the tent walls. Velcro might work or grommets with rope to attach it to the poles.

[tplife]

Re: Netting in Tents for cooler weather

Dual-wall construction with a full-coverage rain fly utilizes mesh to minimize condensation. It retains a lot of heat without being a sauna. Tents like the Eureka! that lack a full-coverage rain fly don't retain heat as well, especially in a breeze. Companies offerring full-coverage rain flys include Marmot, Big Agnes, REI, EMS, A16, MSR, Mountain HardWear, Northface, and Sierra Designs. I wouldn't say the Eureka! model is a "bad" tent, rather it's just "not as good".

[bcyork]

Re: Netting in Tents for cooler weather

@tplife what makes it not a full coverage rain fly? Are you referring to the 2" that its up from the ground? To my understanding all tents have the fly a few inches above ground level, perhaps unless its a pretty serious winter / expedition tent perhaps. Or did you not look at the link?

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I did end up getting this tent, The Eureka Down Range Solo
http://store.eurekatent.com/down-ran...o-one-man-tent

and I may get the two person one.
http://store.eurekatent.com/down-range-2-person-tent as it seems pretty awesome.

The solo did pretty great with cooler temps. Outside was 30°F at night and inside was 41°F. About 4/5 sealed off on the windows, one high the other low. No condensation.