Father-Son Overnight in Marmot Tungsten 3P

[Charley]

Ah yes my oldest son (26) and I were able to get out for our annual father/son trip on November 3^rd, although it was only for one night. It’s finally cooling off down here so off we went to Kisatchie National Forest. Goal: get acquainted with my new Marmot Tungsten 3P, get a little nature photography in (something we both enjoy), cook a couple of ribeye steaks, and see how well they paired with a new beverage that we haven’t tried yet. So, for anyone thinking about the Tungsten 3P, all I can say is…love it. Keep in mind, this is my first dome style tent with a full rainfly. Obviously, the quality is there. This thing is so easy to set up and take down too. The tent came with 6 pegs, but in order to stake out the fly I ended up needing an additional 6 pegs. I was prepared for this since I had inspected everything when the tent was delivered. The tent is stated as a 3 person tent and, I’d have to say, it is possible to get 3 people in there…snug. However, for 2 people there was plenty of elbow room. We each had a 24 inch wide sleeping pad and there was about a foot and a half between us (I’ll post a review of these 2 pads at a later date if anyone is interested). Plenty of room at your feet to store items as well. There is a double pocket in every corner to store small items off of the floor and headlamp pockets overhead as well. The doors were easily zipped and unzipped with one hand and the zippers didn’t catch. The included footprint is a nice touch for a little extra protection beneath the floor. The single vent in the rainfly seemed to prevent any condensation buildup. The temps didn’t get that low but we did end up getting some early morning thunder storms and everything remained dry. Pack up was a cinch, we stuffed the rainfly and tent body in separate garbage bags and when we got home I set the tent up inside my woodworking shop, wiped her down and turned on the A/C in order to dry her out thoroughly. That worked great. So I paid $194 for this tent ($224 with tax) and free 2 day shipping. As for the fun stuff… we were able to take lots of beautiful photos of nature with my Sony DSC HX400V, I love this thing. I bought it for birding a few years back. Anyway, my son was able to help me with proper angles and viewpoints and such, helped me figure out the macro thing, he’s a graphic designer and has some photography background. As I said beautiful pictures, I was amazed that I had taken them. Well, I did something wrong because once I got home and pulled the SD card out, it was empty… Oh yes, I had that whole empty feeling in the stomach. Luckily I had taken a few with my Iphone 8. Still upsets me though. The ribeyes turned out a perfect medium and the beverages from a craft brewery out of Shreveport Louisiana paired really well (Reasonably Corrupt, Black Lager).

[Happy Joe]

Re: Father-Son Overnight in Marmot Tungsten 3P

Domes are my favorite small to medium tent!
Rib eyes and beverages are good too!

Enjoy!

[a65hoosier]

Re: Father-Son Overnight in Marmot Tungsten 3P

Thanks for the gear and trip report/pics! It sounds like you and your son had a great time!

I agree with everything you said about the Tungsten 3. The pre-bent "at the knee" aluminum poles really open up the floor space....esp at the corners. I have the first generation of the Tungsten 3...which has different venting config (in the doors rather than a single at the top). I think the single at the top probably allows a bit more of a chimney effect for venting. It is a very good 3P tent....I've had mine for a couple of years and like it. It's my son's go to tent when he wants an easy to set up tent to himself. lol




And your steak looks fantastic. Good times. Keep getting out there......

[terasec]

Re: Father-Son Overnight in Marmot Tungsten 3P

i don't have T3, but design is similar to other modern tents,
I really do like features of such modern tents,
full rain flys are great,
external poles, no more fishing the poles through sleeves,
vestibules, front/back, great to have dry place outside of tent for boots/bags/etc.
2 door designs great for 2 people so not climbing over each other
you mentioned staking down the tent and fly, I believe most such tents are free standing, don't really need to stake it down unless expecting high winds, and once gear is inside that should be enough to keep it from blowing away
designs are so simple when I get to camp my 8 year old now sets up the tent by himself,

[Charley]

Re: Father-Son Overnight in Marmot Tungsten 3P

I generally stake out all of my tents. It just makes for a neater pitch and keeps the tent body taught. As for staking the fly, sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. On this occasion, as I explained, we were expecting a line of thunderstorms to blow through the next morning. Plus guying it out creates better airflow. But to each his/her own, eh?

[a65hoosier]

Re: Father-Son Overnight in Marmot Tungsten 3P

I generally stake out all of my tents. It just makes for a neater pitch and keeps the tent body taught. As for staking the fly, sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. On this occasion, as I explained, we were expecting a line of thunderstorms to blow through the next morning. Plus guying it out creates better airflow. But to each his/her own, eh?

Yep yep. This is how I do it. Improves ventilation also.