New Tent 2020: Why I'm Switching From The Zpacks Duplex To The Tarptent StratoSpire Li

hey y'all Dixie here today I want to talk to you about my newest hint that I recently purchased and that is the Stratus buyer lithium made by Horton I had gotten this tent a poncho tarp and a new hammock set up to test out for a hundred mile stretch each on my through hike of the Kody trail that I'm supposed to be on right now the main reason I was interested in the Stratus fire lithium specifically is I'm considering taking it with me on my through hike of the TA in New Zealand instead of my Z packs duplex the Stratos fire lithium is a double walled tent it's got an inner mesh body and then the outer rain fly if you will is made of Dyneema so it's lightweight like the duplex but because double walled tents are projected to do better in climates like that of New Zealand then I figured it might be a good idea to make the switch but before I get ahead of myself here let's talk about the features and specs just like the Z packs duplex the Stratos fire lithium is a two-person tent that has an entryway and vestibule on either side of the tent as I mentioned the outside and actually the floor are made of Dyneema which is great for strength and weight savings and like any other Dyneema tent it should perform well in windy weather another pro of a tent being made out of Dyneema is that it won't hold the water weight the other materials will and it also stays taut the lithium line of tents from tarp tent are already seen sealed so that's not something you have to worry about when you get this tent like the duplex this tent sets up using two trekking poles or you can opt to purchase separately their pole system so it's a freestanding tent the floor like the Z packs duplex is durable and does not require a footprint underneath so you don't have to worry about the extra weight of that and there are some features that set it apart from the duplex as I mentioned it is double walled so you can set up the outer portion and then attach the inner separately if you wanted to try to protect the floor from getting wet when you set it up I probably wouldn't fool with that but you could if you wanted to the inner body of the tent is made out of fine mesh they call it no see so you shouldn't have any issues with bugs getting in having the inner mesh makes a tent more breathable so there should be less condensation that forms but also you don't have your sleeping bag and other items rubbing directly against the wall of the tent collecting that damnest another thing that sets it apart is it has pitch lock corners which are supposed to allow for a more taut pitch but I also think that they add a little bit more head space and foot space depending on which way you're flipped around in the tent because it kind of pulls the wall back another feature that I found today that was interesting and I hadn't seen before is that it has magnetic tie back so they just kind of snap up together and I just really love that another thing I really like about it is the mesh inner is adjustable so you can make the floor a little more taut and then also above give yourself some more head space so you don't have that droopy mesh knocking in the head while you're trying to do stuff in your tent and there are mesh pockets on either side of the tent to store things like your cell phone or battery bank etc but I like that they're part of the wall part of the mesh instead of flopping down on to the floor that way I don't have to try to avoid crushing my cellphone with my knee every time I climb in and out of the tent as far as the specs go this is considered a three to four season tent you can get a solid wall on the inner instead of the mesh wall to make it a little bit warmer if you wanted to take it into the winter I don't really backpack in the winter so I was fine with the mesh walls plus it saved a little weight the weight of this tent the way that it is with the mesh body the fly the stuff sack is 26 ounces so that's six to seven ounces heavier than the zi packs duplex and it comes with six tent stakes that weigh a total of 1.7 ounces so with this setup as it comes with the mesh body you're looking at 20 seven point seven ounces including the steaks and then if you got a solid body you could expect to add three more ounces so that's still under a two-pound tent the height of this tent is 45 inches versus the peak height of the z-pak duplex that is 48 inches the floor width for the stratosphere Elysium and the z pax duplex are both 45 inches and the length is where it is a little different the stratosphere illicium is only 86 inches where the z pax duplex is 90 inches long so for the total floor area in the stratosphere Elysium you're looking at twenty six point nine square feet where the z pax duplex has twenty-eight point one square feet as I mentioned this tent comes with six steaks but I would recommend having eight because that's the only way I felt like I could get it taut enough and also if you want to roll back both doors of the vestibule that's the only way you can do it the Stratos fire lithium has 2.5 millimeter reflective guidelines and they do include the guidelines for you to attach to those other two steaks that I was mentioning but you you will have to get the steaks separately in addition to the two extra guidelines that they send you as a complimentary gift you also get some repair tape and when I first looked at it it was like all jagged and looked like some scrap tape they sent me and I thought well that's kind of raggedy looking but then I started thinking about it from a different perspective and that means that there's less waste and sure they could have trimmed it up and made it look a little bit nicer but then I'm actually getting less than what they sent me so sometimes it's about perspective as far as ease of setup goes I put it up for the first time today and tarp tent says that it should take less than two minutes but it took me a lot longer than that I think the next time though now that I've gotten the hang of it I could do it in half the time and probably my third time I would be less than two minutes but it took a little time around but I got it taught on the first try so maybe that says something for their pitch lock foldable corner system and for the price the tarp tent strata spire lithium run 689 dollars versus the z-pak duplex which is 599 dollars so is the extra 90 dollars and six to seven added ounces worth some extra bells and whistles and the added ventilation and reduction in condensation I don't know but I'll let you all know as soon as I test it out I know these prices sound insane if you're somebody who's only gonna spend a few nights in a tent in a year but for those of us who go out for months and months and are carrying this weight for thousands of miles it's it's really worth it to have something lightweight that's durable and windy weather that doesn't collect a lot of rainwater so while it sounds insane you have to remember that it's like six months of rent for me depending on which through how come on but I do realize that this price tag doesn't work for everybody so stay tuned for a budget gear list that I'm gonna share soon in a video I was also planning on testing those items out on the pen hodie but all of that together cost less than this tent so anyway be looking out for that thank y'all so much for watching today don't forget to subscribe before you go if you enjoyed the video and we will see y'all next time

Channel: Homemade Wanderlust

Views: 271,845

Keywords: backpacking, hiking, travel, gear, tent, shelter, duplex, thru-hiking, thru-hike, pct, appalachian trail, continental divide trail, te araroa, pinhoti, dyneema, ultralight, lightweight, dixie, camino

Id: ZWaj0feMjX8

Length: 7min 44sec (464 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 29 2020