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Tarptent stratospire 1 advice

Reposting this thread here. Looking at this tent for Sept backcountry elk hunt. It's a double walled tent that is lite as heck. I can't seem to find anything negative about it except your screwed if you can't get stakes in the ground.

What am I missing?

Love mine! If you are a guy that carries trekking poles, it's a no brainer. Only regret is I should have gotten a Strat 2 for a little more room. I got the solid interior as well vs the screened interior. TODDY

Yup I always have the trekking poles and am really leaning towards the strat2. I ran into some mean looking spiders last year and really prefer to have all my gear in the nest with me.

Scrappy, What about your current setup makes you want to change to this?

Predeter I used the Sierra design summer moon 2 last year. The tent body has solid fabric that goes half way up then the mesh starts. The sold material would collect condensation like crazy and everything would be soaked by morning.

Tarptents are nice but my preference is to use the fly off my 4 season Hilleberg Nallo tent for early season hunting. The fly plus painters plastic floor weighs a couple pounds (similar to a tarptent and there is plenty of room for 2 people, bows, packs, and gear. If you organize your gear you could cook in the super large vestibule area. The fly is also bomber-proof in wind, rain, etc. For late season or winter trips, or Alaska I have the option of using a footprint, tent, plus fly. Never been wet yet and the extra room sure is nice on extended length trips. Hilleberg makes another model that is even lighter than the Nallo. That may breath even better (has 2 end vents plus the fly doesn't hit the ground.

With that said....You may have trouble getting all your gear plus 2 people in a tarptent? You will likely be quite cramped with 2 people inside them and no gear. Some of the tarpents may have tiny vestibules where you may or may not be able to store your bow and gear?

I have a Stratosphere 2 that I run without the nest. I use the pole kit so I can have my trekking poles with me while I'm hunting. It's nice and roomy for one person.

I hunt solo so no worries about room. I don't have plans to head to Alaska or winter hunting out west yet so I can't justify spending the money on a hilleberg.

Those look pretty cool. The light weight is almost amazing. The sidecar is a nice option.

I love my SS1. I've had it in conditions where a Hilleberg 'may' have done better, but being in the Kawdy plateau in late Sept with snow/rain/wind every day or late season sheep hunting in deep snow, its done it all. I cant find many faults in it. It does take up some room on the ground as a footprint but love the tent overall. I've had mine in northern BC and through any conditions that my Akto would have been as suitable. The SS1 has not underwhelmed me anywhere yet.

Scrappy, Typically if you can't get stakes in the ground (very far) it is because the ground is too rocky. In that case you should be able to readily find rocks nearby to put over your stakes. Even if the stakes are fully in the ground I typically will cover each with a 10# - 20# rock (or two) to ensure they stay there. Wrap the cord around the rock from the bottom side if you can't get a stake in at all and tie it to itself and put another rock on any free cord between the anchor rock and the tent. Anyway, good luck, the SS1looks like a super light shelter that is well thought out.

I have been eyeing this tent for the past few months and have seen great reviews about it. One thing I'm concerned about is how tough is the floor? It doesn't look like they sell a seperate footprint. I guess I could bring along something like tyvek. Does anyone use something different?

Destroyer, I'm about to pull the trigger on one also. The website FAQ says the floor is made from durable material that typically doesn't need a footprint, but they recommend a footprint for camping on rocky ground or in the desert.

I bought the Tyvek footprint and it fits in the same bag as the tent. I fit an extra set of stakes in it as well. Two vestibules for all my gear. I usually keep my gear on one side and climb in the other side. Plenty of para chord tie downs. I have yet to encounter the "too rocky" conditions yet so great advice above about that, thank you! TODDY

Thanks for all the great info guys. From all the info on the net it's obvious a lot of people are using this shelter and the only negative is it needs a bigger spot to set it up.

Now to decide on getting the strat1 or 2.

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