Tarp tents - Appalachian Trail

imported
#1

Henry Shires Tarp Tent
Does anyone have any experience with this tarptent? I am impressed with its light weight and bug screen but wonder if it can handle an AT thru hike. Any comments would be appreciated.

Ankle Express

#2

Shires Tarp Tents are probably the most popular tent on the PCT and the CDT, where there are almost no shelters and hikers use their tents almost every night. I’m confident that they can handle an AT thru hike!

WILDCAT

#3

I just completed a NOBO thru of the AT with my Henry Shires Contrail. It worked absolutely fantastic in all conditions from snow to the damaging storms we had early summer. It still looks brand new, after 70 nights out this year and about 40 out last year, and I didn’t use a footprint, either. It was tied for my favorite piece of gear on the AT. I was absolutely confident I could sleep through the heaviest rain. I only slept in a few shelters where required, preferring the Contrail for comfort and silence.

If you haven’t used a single wall tent before, you may need to get used to condensation and learning how to minimize condensation with site selection (stay out of the foggy bottoms, for example). The Contrail takes about a week of campsites to get the pitch right. I recommend using titanium stakes, not the aluminum nails they come with now.

A really nice thing about it is that it dries in minutes if the sun comes out during the day. It’s roomier than the Hubba Hubba, goes up and comes down in a fraction of the time, there’s nothing to break or fail, and I think the secret to staying dry is the large shed area on the roof–falling water is about a foot away from the sleeping floor. It was so fast to pitch, I’d often pitch at the trailside for an afternoon t-storm, take a break, then pick up and keep hiking after the storm passed.

I highly recommend the Contrail for the AT. I heard some good and not-so-good things about the Rainbow, like problems with pole breakage and wind stability, but it was all hearsay, I never saw one. The Contrail is my third purchase from Henry Shires (I wore the others out) and it’s the best he’s made so far, I think.

garlic

#4

I’ve used Henry’s products for the last 3 years for long section hikes on the AT and I love them. You do have to do a good job of seam sealing or they will leak. And proper set up is also important. I presently have a Rainbow and got in a lot of rain this summer in North Carolina and Tennesse. It worked great. I did have a problem with one link of of the center pole and I had to replace it and will carry an extra link in case this happens again. But it is light, sets up in a hurry, dries very quickly, the netting is very nice in the summer, and the Rainbow can be set up “stand alone” by using both hiking poles. I’m sold on the Rainbow as a great tent. Pastor John from Georgia

pastor john

#5

Ditto, ditto, ditto! I’ve probably put 700 AT miles on my tarptent and another 1200 “other” trail miles on it. I’m getting it ready for another CT thru this fall. It’s a great choice and can certainly handle an AT thru-hike. You want regret it!

Matt

#6

My Virga I made it through the whole AT, plus a bunch more hiking besides. The Contrail looks even better. If you ever have a question or problem, Henry’s customer service is excellent.

Five-Leafed Clover

#7

yup, what they said - i have a Virga2 that has gone the distance on the PCT & a Georgia to Canada hike via the A.T. & Long Trail.

The only thing i need to do at this point is re-apply some silicon seam sealer on the seams - the tent itself is as good as new.

BTW, my original Tarptent’s YKK zipper failed (not Tarptents fault) and Henry Shires sent me a brand new tent on the PCT in '05! GREAT customer service!

Happy Trails!

freebird

#8

Garlic: Did you experience any rain “misting and/or penetrating” the silnylon fabric of your Contrail?

SloHiker

#9

Good question, SloHiker, and I was going to look more into that. I always assumed the misting phenomenon was condensation being knocked off the roof by heavy rain, and yes, I’ve felt that several times. My hiking partner insists that rain under enough pressure will penetrate the fabric (he has the same tent). Do you have any info on who may be right?

My solution is to use my cotton bandanna to wipe up the condensation, then use the fresh water to take a quick sponge bath–ahhh.

I use a really nice bag with a water-resistant shell, so I was never worried about the mist.

garlic

#10

My tarptent does lightly mist in a heavy rain (I also suspected condensation, but no, it’s definately penetrating rain). That being said, it only presents a slight nuisance in the heaviest of storms and certainly does not outweigh the other many advantages discussed above. It has never been enough to wet my sleeping bag.

Matt

#11

Garlic,
I’ve experienced the condensation thing, but I’ve never been in enough rain to experience actual penetration. I think the scientific principle exist to indicate that a hard rain can penetrate the fabric - I was just curious to find out from you whether or not it’s an issue of consequence from a practical standpoint.
Most of opinions I’ve seen expressed were from “gunshop commandos” … you know, folks that sit at computer screens everyday and post messages by the hundreds/thousands on every hiking/backpacking forum on the net. I’ve never figured out how they know so much about the subject when they’re sitting at a computer posting messages everyday of the week. When I was a Detective - we called that a clue.
Back on point - I’m much more interested in your “real-life” experiences on the matter. I don’t want to assume anything, but I gather from your previous remarks that it’s not that big a deal?
Thanks for your input.

SloHiker

#12

Matt says it well, too, it’s a slight nuisance in the heaviest of storms. Exactly what I think. I’m starting to be sold on the penetration idea–thanks, Matt.

There’s no such thing as the perfect shelter–every design is a compromise (as I used to say when I was an engineer). A single wall silnylon shelter has its limitations and the hiker needs to be aware of them. A 10-mile weekend trip in extremely heavy rain may not be the best place for one, but during a 2000-miler, you’ll fall in love with it.

Garlic

#13

I am not an experienced old timer like some of you, but my Cloudburst II went up soooo easy, three stakes and two internal poles and it was done. Room to spare and so lite. Doing the AT next season and looking forward to having Henry’s tent with me, he is so nice and helpful.

Crawl

#14

Just completed southern half of AT over the past couple of months and I used a brand new Contrail. The tent is nice and lightweight (2 pounds) and is small enough to put inside your pack (which is really nice). However, I would not recommend this model. The tent has a serious design flaw in that water does not run off the roof properly. Rain water actually puddles on the lower half of the roof towards your feet. The weight of the puddle then lowers the roof of the tent so much that the foot of your sleeping bag gets wet from touching the roof. Not good. I was forced to periodically clear off the puddle during night time storms. At first I thought maybe I was not setting up the tent properly, but after living with this tent for two months and after discussing this issue with at least 6 other Contrail users on the trail this year, I learned that they all had the same problem. All of the Contrail users indicated to me their unhappiness with the tent. The tent can keep you dry if you are very careful about how you pitch it. However, it is very finicky, and you must pay attention and spend a fair amount of time getting it pitched just right or you will get wet from splash back on the sides. You may want to look at other Tarptent models, or go to what many folks really liked and that is the Six Moon Designs tents. Folks were very happy about those tents.

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