tarptent vs sirius 3

[eeyore]

In my other thread I asked for a recommendation for a 3 person tent. The outcome was:

Sierra Designs Sirius 3 or the Tarptent Rainshadow 2

The S3 is more of a typical tent and that makes my husband happy. It is also much cheaper! (REI has them on sale for $115)

The R2 is much lighter and that makes me happy. How does the tarptent handle the rain? Does it seem to splash up and under the "nose" portion?

Thank you all for any guidance you can offer.

[trlhiker]

As long as your husband agrees to carry that 5lb tent then get it. can't answer about the R2. I'm getting the cloudburst 2 when I get some extra money.

[serenityrich]

I kinda like the Black Diamond Skylight. The price at REI is high. But then, if this is going to be home for a couple of people for six months or more then I'm willing to take the extra weight.

[bigcranky]

We have been using the original Rainshadow for three years, and it's been through some pretty bad weather without a hitch. The 'beak' in front does a good job of protecting the door.

While this 3-person shelter is one of the few I have *ever* seen that will actually hold three full-size people, be aware that there will be somewhat limited space for gear. If you have ultralight gear, you're probably fine. However, if you have traditional packs, they won't fit inside with you, and there's not enough room under the front beak. (Well, there is some room there, but three big packs will block the door.) We leave our packs outside, wrapped in their silnylon pack covers, or we use a 5x8 silnylon tarp as an awning over the front of the Rainshadow.

I posted a review of the Rainshadow on Backpackgeartest. You'll see a photo of the awning there:

http://tinyurl.com/azeb2

I don't think I can overstate how much I love this shelter.

[LIhikers]

eeyore,
My wife and I have the Sirrius 3 and like it a lot. We wanted a tent that was free standing and had plenty of room because we hike with our 80 pound shephard. Us and the dog fit with no problems. The design of the tent provides plenty of ventilation options that make it good for use in all 4 seasons. You can leave the fly off in the heat of summer or pull it down tight and close in the cold of winter. We like having a door on each side. That makes it easy to get out for those midnight runs to the privey. As for weight you can always split that with your husband like me and my wife do. I carry the tent body while she carries the fly and poles. We've had ours for a number of years, and numerous trips ranging from one night to 2 weeks and it's a tent that has worked out well for us.

[LIhikers]

Oh, I forgot to say that we also have a tarptent Rainshadow 2 that we're going to use when we leave the dog at home. We haven't gotten into the field with it yet but have used it 2 weekends in our yard. My wife isn't sure she likes it because it's not free standing. We'll just have to wait until we've got enough experience with it to see if she changes her mind.

[onetwolaugh]

I have had the original rainshadow for 3 years now and have had no troubles with it. Had it out in some pretty heavy rains and had only 2 complaints. Tough to keep taught a pitch due to the water heaviness and was the typical - too noisy from the rain drops. : )

It does get some condensation inside when used in cool damp weather with no wind, but the amount was not enough to drip and dried quickly in the morning.

With just 2 people it has lots of room to hold extra gear etc. and is palatial when solo. It is so lite and compact that I always use it.
-Dale

[bigcranky]

Tough to keep taught a pitch due to the water heaviness

Silnylon stretches when it gets wet, leading to a sagging canpoy. Even a moderate dew can be enough to cause this to happen.

If you use a trekking pole as the front support of your tarp tent, the solution is easy -- just make the initial height a few inches shorter than normal, otherwise pitch as usual. When it rains and the canopy sags, reach up from inside the tarptent and lengthen the trekking pole. This tightens the canopy and solves the problem -- without having to go outside into the rain to tighten guylines.

[ex-tennesseean]

Thye Sirius 3 is a curious tent. Despite its partial fly coverage, it's very protective against weather and wet IF you pitch it correctly. Mine sat through a two-day, 36-inch blizzard in the yard. I bailed back indoors and didn't even go out and shake off the accumulation. The tent spiraled and twisted from sidewall drifts until it lost half its volume, but it sprang back fine when I dug out the sides.

The fly side must be oriented towards the wind! I can imagine situations where passing storms might reverse the wind drection. This would leave the fly acting like a scoop to collect whatever's blowin' in the wind. You'd have to be prepared to jump up and rotate the tent when that happened. Beyond that limitation, the Sirius is probably the biggest conventional tent you can get for the weight. Unlike the tarptents, the Sirius has zero outside view when it's raining or snowing. Combined with the usual SD blue hue, that would make for some dreary days while tentbound. Better take along a tarp for a porch.

I'd prefer my new Double Rainbow for most situations short of a major blizzard. I'd certainly prefer carrying it rather than the Sirius, which weighs 2x as much. They're so different, it's hard to compare.

[eeyore]

Thank you to everyone that replied to my question! We ended up the tarptent rainshadow 2. So far we have set it up twice and thank goodness we are giving it a go here at home! Henry has been fabulous answering all my questions about set-up. Just amazing customer service and I am very greatful.

We head out next week for an overnight (our daughters first one!) and I am hoping we don't freeze!

Thanks again everyone.
eeyore