Deciding on a new 3 Person Tent - Give me your feedback/experience/thoughts

[a65hoosier]

Re: Deciding on a new 3 Person Tent - Give me your feedback/experience/thoughts

"Action" Jack - I will give an update. It's on the schedule for a couple nights maiden trip in 2 weeks and I'll post up. I will say it is super easy quick set-up. Less than five minutes including staking and guying out.

TP - I knew going in it wouldn't fit 3 of the 25" Therm-a-Rests Lux MAPs inside, but it does fit 2 of them quite well. And for my solo use for Boy Scout trips, it is a palace inside for 1 of those pads. I'll eventually have to get a couple of 20" lightweight pads that I can easily pack and carry as the Lux MAP pads I have are way too heavy and bulky for backpacking (but ohhhh so comfortable for car camping or short treks). The Tungsten 3P will squeeze 3 20" wide pads inside (I tried it out at REI), but they are, width-wise, wall to wall (still some room at the foot for a dog or packs tho).

[luckyg71]

Re: Deciding on a new 3 Person Tent - Give me your feedback/experience/thoughts

I have the limelight 4 and also the big agnes angel springs 3. The angel springs three would be a good one for two people and squeeze a 3rd person in there maybe. It is super light and on sale almost everywhere. I would rather live out of the limelight 4p one though but it is a lot heavier and bulkier.

[action]

Re: Deciding on a new 3 Person Tent - Give me your feedback/experience/thoughts

[QUOTE=a65hoosier;38248]"Action" Jack - I will give an update. It's on the schedule for a couple nights maiden trip in 2 weeks and I'll post up. I will say it is super easy quick set-up. Less than five minutes including staking and guying out.

Thanks, looking forward to it.
Jack

[a65hoosier]

Re: Deciding on a new 3 Person Tent - Give me your feedback/experience/thoughts

***Update*** Action - thought I would do a follow-up on the Tungsten 3P since I had a chance to get a couple of nights in it this past weekend. I camped with my son's BSA troop at Ransburg Scout Reservation on the shores of Lake Monroe in the Hoosier National Forest, close to Bloomington IN.

I had done one practice set up at home prior to the trip. Also during the practice set up, I swapped out the included non-reflective guy line cord for some reflective Equinox Viper and tied all guy out points. The included stakes I swapped for MSR groundhogs (and a few MSR groundhog clones).

We arrived late to camp...after dark....so I had to pitch the tent using a headlamp. It went up quickly and easily. I used the included footprint. The fly was easy to line up due to red color coded tabs on the "front" door. I had no trouble getting the fly taut, including the vestibule doors. There are 12 stake points (4-tent corners, 2-vestibules, 6-tent/fly guy outs). Zippers on both doors work smooth and quiet. There are 4 pockets inside for small item storage. There is no gear loft included but the tent has 4 loops to attach a separately purchased loft.

Headroom was great at 46 inches. I never felt like I was vertically smothered even sitting upright on my sleeping pad. I also believe the knee bend style of the pole really does open up the bottom space of the tent-esp in the corners, where I had space to store items. They also give a more vertical feel near your head and feet. Like most all 3P tents....this one has space to be comfortable for 2 people, it is a palace for 1 person....and it would be side to side, rubbing shoulders, for 3 people.

The green moss/dark shadow color blends in nicely in a woodland setting.

Really the only problem I had was light condensation on the inner tent the first night. Now, I did have the vestibules fully closed (although I did have both fly vents open) and the night temps did drop from the upper 70's to low 50's overnight. No wind. Everything was covered outside with moisture the next morning. It was one of those "damp" mornings. The following night I left one vestibule door unzipped and rolled up. There also was a slight breeze all night. About the same temps. I had no condensation inside the second night. So, idk. We'll see if the first night was due to weather conditions or poor tent ventilation design.

Overall - I love the tent and I am pleased with it on initial use. I didn't get to spend time in it during strong wind or any rain, so no comment. The fast set up and subsequent take down trying to beat a rain shower was especially nice. It also fits a niche for me in my camping world right now. I will see and get a feel for it over time.

Picture of the Tungsten 3P at the Scout Camp.

[action]

Re: Deciding on a new 3 Person Tent - Give me your feedback/experience/thoughts

Thanks, Nice review.
Jack

[tplife]

Re: Deciding on a new 3 Person Tent - Give me your feedback/experience/thoughts

Nice upgrades, and the positive comments regarding Marmot top-shelf features and design. Sierra Designs incorporates those same more-vertical-room "knee pole" features in their models too. What's not nice from Marmot Mountain?

former Cook County IN resident