Tarptent itself was founded accidentally by Henry Shires after a Pacific Crest Trail through hike. All Tarptents are made from silnylon and are very lightweight. From a design standpoint they are really well thought out creations. Shires is former programer so you can tell an analytic mind came up with these. All the Tarptents I have tried are probably the best tents in terms of maximizing internal space, while still remaining lightweight and easy to pitch. About half of his models are single wall meaning there is no separate fly and inner tent. Instead the floor is simply attached to the fly via bug netting and the whole thing simply pitches in one piece. Of course the one disadvantage of this system is that there is no inner tent between you and the fly. When condensation inevitably happens on the fly there is nothing between you and it. In addition being silnylon the seams can not be taped so you need to seam seal the tent yourself.
Single Rainbow
The one person version of the Rainbow was the first Tarptent I tried, as well as my first foray into the cottage gear market and single wall tents. The Rainbow is a one person, single wall, single hoop tent. The unique thing is that the hoop runs the length of the tent, rather than across it. This makes for good headroom and near vertical ends. The initial selling point of the Rainbow was that Tarptent recommended it as good for tall individuals. When I first got it I was blown away by how light it was. I was used to carry a 4 pounds double wall tent so the Rainbow, at almost half the weight was a revelation. I found that I fit inside quite well despite my height and could lie down in a sleeping bag with minimal or no contact with the ends. The floor was 40 inches wide so there was a reasonable amount of room for gear inside, although trying to fit a pack in was challenging. Pitching the tent was super easy. It requires 6 stakes and since it pitches in one piece it is very fast to put up. The first night I used the Rainbow I learned one thing very quickly. Silnylon is slippery and on a small incline I was sliding down the end. It was so bad I had to move my tent before doing to bed. I ended up painting the floor, both inside and out. with silicone sealant as outlined here: http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/Silnylon1/. I've done with with all subsequent Tarptents I've had feel that it is neccessary if you ever plan on sleeping on ground that is not perfectly flat. Although I've used many other Tarptents, the Rainbow is the Tarptent I have spent the most nights thus far. I used it exclusively through the fall, winter, and spring after getting it. I also learned quite a bit about condensation. Living on the east coast humidity is a fact of life and on several damp nights when the temperature dropped quite a bit I experienced large amounts of condensation inside, especially when the temperature got near freezing. I personally found that even with the shelter being spacious it was hard to prevent this from getting on you and your sleeping bag. When moving around the in the middle of the night it was hard not to touch the side or ends walls at some point and getting out invariably resulted in getting wet. While one could easily wipe the ceiling down, when it was 35 degrees out that is the last thing you want to do in the morning. The side opposite the door in particular is one large panel of fabric and was hard to avoid. In warmer months condensation was much less of an issue. In the end, as I tried some of the couple wall offerings from Tarptent I ended up deciding to sell the Rainbow as they seemed more functional in the environments I camp in.
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| Tarptent Rainbow on the Quehanna Trail |
Double Rainbow
While still giving the Rainbow a chance I decided to try the Double Rainbow. This is basically the same as the single Rainbow with a wider floor and 2nd door. I wanted a little more room to spread out and I thought having mesh on both sides would make it easier to avoid touch the tent walls when condensation was an issue. I used the Double Rainbow on several trips. It had the same super easy set as the single Rainbow and had enough floor space that I could bring my pack in. Being large it was easier to avoid touching the walls if condensation did occur. In the end I decided to sell this too as other Tarptent models seemed better for how and where I camp. Sometimes I wish I had kept it. It was a good tent overall and the Rainbow design is strong, easy to set up, and weather worthy.
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| Tarptent Double Rainbow on the Massanutten Trail |
Scarp 2
The Scarp series was Tarptent's first double wall design It is a single hoop style with foldable ends struts. There is one in each corner and provide a lot of rooms at the end of the tent. My initial reason for getting the tent was that I wanted a double wall tent with a fabric interior for winter. I also got the mesh interior for summer use. I have mixed feelings about the Scarp 2. On the positive side it has the roomiest interior of any Tarptent I have tried. It had a huge 45 inches of headroom and the end struts meant that the end wall were completely vertical creating a very spacious design. Indeed the first time I used it solo I was almost in awe of how spacious it was after using the Single Rainbow so much. It was roomy for two and makes a good tent for couples. However, there were several reasons I ended up selling the Scarp 2. First it is a rather finicky to get a nice taut pitch. It is not freestanding and requires three stakes at either end with there being a delicate balance needed to pitch it well. As I wanted this for snow camping I thought the difficulty in pitching would just be a pain when pitching on snow. Now the Scarp in theory can be free-standing and snow load capable with a pair of optional crossing poles these were very hard to use and didn't really work well in practice. It was certainly something I didn't want to fiddle with when trying to set a tent up in winter. In addition with all the struts packing the Scarp 2 in the small stuff sack Tarptent provides was a pain in the ass. After I got the next tent I will talk about I sold the Scarp 2.
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| Tarptent Scarp 2 in the Cranberry Wildernes, West Virginia |
Stratospire 2
This is one Tarptent model I still have and don't plan on ever getting rid of. The Stratospire series are double wall tents that use pair of trekking poles for support.
Stratospire1
I like the Stratospire 2 so much I decided to get the single person version as it was a little lighter in weight. I used it for a 4 night trip but sold it afterwards. I found the floor a little narrow. I just like having more floorspace I guess. In addition, unlike the two person version you can't really lay diagonal with the narrower floor and it is a bit short for tall folks. When lying down the mesh is pretty much in your face.
Moment DW
The Moment DW (double wall) is another Tarptent model that I still own and plan on keeping. In fact the last year I have used this tent more than any other. The design is of the tent is just brilliant. It is a two door, single hoop tent and makes use of the same end struts found on the Scarp and Stratospire. There is one at each and and the whole tent only requires two stakes to set up. The interior tent is attach to the fly and pitches all in one piece. It literally takes one minute to set it up. With the combination of light weight (2 lbs), easy setup, weather worthy design, and reasonable interior space it is one of my favorite tents. Now being 6'6" the one thing this tent lacks is headroom. I can't sit up without hitting the ceiling, but as this is the inner tent and not the fly I don't mind. What I like is that with the combination of the way the inner tent ends well before the end of fly and fact that the end struts are about 18 inches high means there is no chance of my had or feet touch wet tent fly. The ends of the tent have storm flaps that can be tied back giving good ventilation. I have yet to experience any significant condensation in it. The floor is 42 inches wide in the middle and actually has a reasonable amount of room for gear, even with a large neoair mattress. There is not enough room inside for a pack too but with two vestibules I can put my pack in one and still be able to get out the other. The interior is roomy enough I can move around and stuff my sleeping bag and roll up my air mattress inside the tent. I you want I one person tent I don't think you will find one better. All this being said, the inside is not huge. It is great for trips where the weather is good or you spend most of your time hiking and you just need a place to sleep. If I know I would be spending a lot of time inside the tent during bad weather I might think about bringing either my Stratospire 2 or my Big Sky Evolution 2P simply because they do offer more interior space.
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| Tarptent Moment DW at Dolly Sods, West Virginia |
Notch
I never owned the Notch but had a friend who did and I was able to check it out a couple times. My impression was that it was very lightweight and well put together like all Henry's tents. However, the floor area is quite small. Once you put a wide air mattress inside there was little room for any gear. I simply prefer more floor space in my shelters so I never went this route.
