- Joined
- Sep 25, 2009
- Messages
- 2,411
- Age
- 69
- Location
- West Des Moines, IA
- Bike
- 2024 Kaw Vulcan S
- 2025 Miles
- 000272
Not that I really needed a new one but just that I felt that 9 years was long enough for a change. That's how old my Mountainsmith Escape 3 season tent was. I used it last at LOCSTOC just over a week ago and sold it just before this weekend to a somewhat local buyer who was looking for his dad (going on a father son backpacking trip).
I've been liking what I have looked at from Alps Mountaineering and already have their version of a low camp chair. I like the pole designs, like on my Mountainsmith tent, that cross twice over the top and each pole goes to corners along the same side. Stronger in wind that way so better able to handle storms. I've been in a few severe storms with my Mountainsmith and expect no less performance with this new Alps Extreme (as the name seems to imply). This new tent is a model that has been around for a few years but good designs tend to stick around a little while.
This new tent sets up very easy and has 3 aluminum poles. As inferred earlier, the main poles on this tent go to corners along the same long side and the bow crosses over the top so that each pole crosses the other twice, once on the way up and again on the way down. The third pole goes over the center from side to side and pulls the sides of the tent body out creating quite a bit of shoulder room inside. The tabs on the corners of the main tent body and also in the center are color coded to match the tips of the poles making it even easier to set up. The tent clips to the poles so no sleeves to bind and wrestle the poles through. This makes set up quicker.
To go along with this idea of more shoulder room the middle of each side is wider than the ends so there is much more room inside than I had before. There is a gear loft inside and pockets to put loose things. The mesh ends have a zipper at the top of each to allow reaching out and opening or closing the vents in the rain fly. There is a door on each side and with the rain fly making large vestibules on each side. There is enough room to put my boots on one side of the door in the vestibule and a much larger covered area on the other side of the door for lots of gear without bringing it all inside.
This is a 3 season tent but I have read some reviews from those who have used it in a forth season. The ends and top and doors of the main tent body are mesh. The doors also have solid panels for a bit more privacy if desired. The rain fly has vents at each end with props to hold them open or they may be closed also. There is a small clear plastic window just below each of these vents to see outside. These windows distort enough and are small enough I don't see them being a problem with privacy but they are really good for seeing what the weather is doing outside. As with most good tents all doors have double zippers. The fly doors can be unzipped from the bottom or the top. The main body door zippers are just the opposite in that they can be zipped to the bottom or the top.
I am expecting to get many years of good use from this tent. There is a 3 person version available as well as an Outfitter 3 person version. The biggest difference with the Outfitter version is it uses heavier material in the floor and also heavier zippers. What I see on my 2 person version is that the zippers will be just fine for many camping trips. I also bought the floor saver that is made for this tent since the floor is not just a rectangle but is wider in the middle than the ends. The floor saver is the same shape and has loops at all stake points of the main tent body to keep it in place.
See photos HERE on my Flickr pages. The photo of the floor saver looks like it is narrower at the far end but it is not. That's just the camera angle playing tricks. While wider in the middle the tent and floor saver are the same width at each end.
The tent floor is 7'8" long x 3'11" at the ends and 5'2" in the middle. The vestibules are 30" out from the sides of the tent body. Head height is 3'6". Packed size is 7" x 21" including poles. It will compress much more if the poles are packed separately. The center pole is pre-curved. MSRP on this 2 person tent is $249.99. Amazon regularly has it for under $150, but sometimes recently it bumped up to just over $200, and then also recently dropped to about $113 (so I jumped on it at that price, historically the lowest yet).
A few photos in case you can't get to Flickr.
I've been liking what I have looked at from Alps Mountaineering and already have their version of a low camp chair. I like the pole designs, like on my Mountainsmith tent, that cross twice over the top and each pole goes to corners along the same side. Stronger in wind that way so better able to handle storms. I've been in a few severe storms with my Mountainsmith and expect no less performance with this new Alps Extreme (as the name seems to imply). This new tent is a model that has been around for a few years but good designs tend to stick around a little while.
This new tent sets up very easy and has 3 aluminum poles. As inferred earlier, the main poles on this tent go to corners along the same long side and the bow crosses over the top so that each pole crosses the other twice, once on the way up and again on the way down. The third pole goes over the center from side to side and pulls the sides of the tent body out creating quite a bit of shoulder room inside. The tabs on the corners of the main tent body and also in the center are color coded to match the tips of the poles making it even easier to set up. The tent clips to the poles so no sleeves to bind and wrestle the poles through. This makes set up quicker.
To go along with this idea of more shoulder room the middle of each side is wider than the ends so there is much more room inside than I had before. There is a gear loft inside and pockets to put loose things. The mesh ends have a zipper at the top of each to allow reaching out and opening or closing the vents in the rain fly. There is a door on each side and with the rain fly making large vestibules on each side. There is enough room to put my boots on one side of the door in the vestibule and a much larger covered area on the other side of the door for lots of gear without bringing it all inside.
This is a 3 season tent but I have read some reviews from those who have used it in a forth season. The ends and top and doors of the main tent body are mesh. The doors also have solid panels for a bit more privacy if desired. The rain fly has vents at each end with props to hold them open or they may be closed also. There is a small clear plastic window just below each of these vents to see outside. These windows distort enough and are small enough I don't see them being a problem with privacy but they are really good for seeing what the weather is doing outside. As with most good tents all doors have double zippers. The fly doors can be unzipped from the bottom or the top. The main body door zippers are just the opposite in that they can be zipped to the bottom or the top.
I am expecting to get many years of good use from this tent. There is a 3 person version available as well as an Outfitter 3 person version. The biggest difference with the Outfitter version is it uses heavier material in the floor and also heavier zippers. What I see on my 2 person version is that the zippers will be just fine for many camping trips. I also bought the floor saver that is made for this tent since the floor is not just a rectangle but is wider in the middle than the ends. The floor saver is the same shape and has loops at all stake points of the main tent body to keep it in place.
See photos HERE on my Flickr pages. The photo of the floor saver looks like it is narrower at the far end but it is not. That's just the camera angle playing tricks. While wider in the middle the tent and floor saver are the same width at each end.
The tent floor is 7'8" long x 3'11" at the ends and 5'2" in the middle. The vestibules are 30" out from the sides of the tent body. Head height is 3'6". Packed size is 7" x 21" including poles. It will compress much more if the poles are packed separately. The center pole is pre-curved. MSRP on this 2 person tent is $249.99. Amazon regularly has it for under $150, but sometimes recently it bumped up to just over $200, and then also recently dropped to about $113 (so I jumped on it at that price, historically the lowest yet).
A few photos in case you can't get to Flickr.
