The oldsters at Stone Glacier know a couple of issues about saving weight whereas out searching. Additionally they have a weight weenie SkyAir ULT tarp tent they despatched my means, figuring out how I’m all about dropping grams from pack weight. This tarp tent is as minimalist as you may get with out exposing your boots to the moonshine whereas cowboy tenting. Spending 11 10 nights out with this tent in 2.5 months has allowed me to find out about it’s qualities and secrets and techniques. Proceed studying to search out out what I’ve discovered.
Welcome to our recurring sequence of “The Path Much less Traveled.” On this sequence, we wish to take you alongside for our exploits out within the wilderness whereas mountain climbing, tenting, exploring, and normal adventuring. This may embrace our small every day victories, foibles, suggestions, methods, and critiques of drugs we authentically respect and regularly make the most of. Whereas a well-worn path can typically be the pathway to a leisurely day, the paths much less traveled can typically spur on among the biggest recollections, misadventures, and enjoyable we may think about. Be part of us within the Feedback as we share our travels and hopefully, we will all come collectively for a larger appreciation of the outside.
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Stone Glacier is predicated in Bozeman, Montana, beginning in 2012 by Kurt Racicot. They focus on outside gear meant for hunters eager to do probably the most with the least quantity of drugs, with out having to fret about high quality.
Stone Glacier appears to have a robust love for his or her house state, resembling with latest floods in Livingston, Montana the place they donated considerably to assist these affected by floods.
They had been acquired by Vista Open air in December 28, 2021 throughout their third funding spherical.
Vista owns a cornucopia of manufacturers that all of us use, resembling: CamelBak, Bushnell, Remington Ammunition, Bushnell Golf, Bell Helmets, Camp Chef, Foresight Sports activities, Giro, QuietKat, Federal and extra. Their experience, distribution and general magnitude will assist Stone Glacier’s publicity to extra backcountry fanatics.
Stone Glacier’s Social Media Accounts are listed beneath:
Stone Glacier gives a number of tents with the SkyAir ULT finest fitted to the minimalist adventurist with their thoughts of their weight and weight on their thoughts. With a tent in your hand and a glean in your eye, you possibly can undoubtedly really feel your miles much less if backpacking or out in the course of God’s nation attempting to get a deer.
So the Skyair Ultralight Tarp Tent is made primarily of 10D Nylon 66. You recognize, like the fabric quite a lot of zip ties and older Remington rifles had been made from? 10 Denier nylon materials is waterproof and never costly. My associates at Ripstopbytheroll promote a number of sorts of extremely light-weight 10d cloth from $10.25 a yard, and up. It is a cloth a lot stronger than it’s weight would lead you to consider, but additionally does require some TLC should you plan on preserving it for a decade.
The Tarp Tent can match one individual, or two should you already know the place they’re ticklish at and never afraid of some path B.O.
ORIGINAL IMAGE SOURCE: STONE GLACIER
It goes up with two trekking poles, one at every finish, with provided man traces.
As famous beneath, Setup with the tent could take some follow. There are 4 movies on Stone Glacier’s web site to help you.
Observations
The Skyair ULT is a no frills solution to sleep with minimal shelter. Stone Glacier offered the Vestibule together with the tarp tent once they shipped it to me. This was a godsend as a result of after my first go round with this tent in late April, all the tarp tent was an entomology repository that even the Smithsonian could be jealous with. As soon as there’s respectable climate, I used to be infested with bugs to the purpose the place I couldn’t sleep one night time and bailed into an amorous Sprinter van.
Would this work in early spring or late fall when the critters begin calming down? Completely. Did this work with the Stone Glacier mesh tent? Undecided, they had been offered out, so I purchased my very own tent that match inside. This solved every thing. I can’t suggest the mesh insert I purchased, because it zipped open from the highest, in contrast to the Stone Glacier Skyair ULT Mesh Insert. Sadly, after being eaten up by bugs like I used to be a pile of cow crap, I had no different choices however to take motion into my very own arms. I don’t deal nicely with bugs whereas attempting to sleep, and it was almost a deal breaker for me.
***Word, Stone Glacier does suggest the Mesh Insert throughout bug season. For a lot of southerners, when isn’t bug season? Take this into consideration when evaluating weight and worth of this tarp tent.
This tent does nicely for dewy and foggy days, and I’m positive it could deal with a lightweight rain. Of the ten days I slept underneath it, there was no precipitation.
After a couple of nights with it, I did elevate the tarp tent off the bottom just a little bit to usher in extra air, as I’m not a fan of getting to attend a very long time to attend for condensation to evaporate. As soon as I figured this out, condensate was not an enormous deal.
The Vestibule provides about 3-4 sqft of area for footwear and kit. It is a welcome addition, and whereas $49 for it appears ludicrous, there are six individuals on their web site who evangelize about it.
Regardless of how excessive I pitched the tarp tent with a stick or my mountain climbing poles, I had enough area for my ft and for my quick man self to sit down up in. The location says it could have a head top of 41 – 47″, with a ground space of 27 – 32″, and 60 – 72″ on the head of the tent. I’m unsure I ever bought 60″ on the head of the tent, however I don’t doubt this.
If I haven’t mentioned it earlier than, I like light-weight issues. This weighs 10.3 ozwith the provided Y-stakes and compresses all the way down to the scale of a grapefruit. That’s a win in my ebook.
A number of accent or addon elements can be found for this tarp tent, together with the aforementioned vestibule, footprint, and mesh insert to extend creature comforts.
My first couple makes an attempt at setting this up in my very own again yard for studying the ropes had been disastrous with a 15 mph wind, till the woman good friend assist stabilize my poles till I used to be capable of full pitch the tarp tent and get all of the stakes into the bottom. That is undoubtedly a tent I’d follow with earlier than going into the woods.
Comparability
For Ultralight tarp tents, there are a myriad of tarps that are supposed to be used for hammock protection, or not. I additionally discovered Slingfin’s web site, which seems to be an earlier to market or originating product.
Slingfin’s SplitWing UL Tarp MSRP’s for $170 (as of July 10, 2022) and is $5 dearer than the Skyair ULT. Slingfin’s merchandise, I can solely assume a number of of the merchandise are badge engineered, or there’s a license between the 2 firms?
If you’re industrious sufficient, ENO Hammock’s HouseFly Rain Tarp is available in at roughly the identical worth, however is almost a pound heavier.
Lastly, the Twinn Tarp by Gossamer Gear is $138 and weighs 9.7 oz, with very comparable setup capabilities.
Specs – Stone Glacier SkyAir ULT Tarp Tent
As Per Stone Glacier’s web site:
- SKU: 70023-SG-OSFM
- Capability: 1+ Individuals (2 Hardcore Minimalist Hunters is Doable)
- Minimal Path Weight: 8 oz.
- Packaged Weight: 10.3 oz.
- Variety of Tent Stakes: 6
- Flooring Space: 27’ – 32’(Depending on pitch top)
- Head Peak: 41” – 47” (Depending on pitch top)
- Whole size with Vestibule connected: 120”
- Vestibule Appropriate
- Mesh Liner & Footprint Appropriate
- Size: 90”
- Width at Foot: 36”
- Width at Head: 60” – 72” (Depending on pitch top)
- Reinforcement Cloth: Nylon 6, 6 Ripstop 30D sil/sil
- Tarp Cloth: Nylon 6, 6 Ripstop 10D sil/sil
- Packed Measurement: 7.5” x 4” x 4” (Compresses to 4” x 4” x 4”)
- Appropriate Equipment
The opinions expressed above are totally from the creator and weren’t topic to overview by Stone Glacier, or any exterior entity.
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