Macpac Polaris tent
Bob
Any suggestions for alternative 4 man tents?
Martin Pfeil
Yes our club has owned one of these for a couple of years now. We have found
it to be a very good quality all purpose tent. It has a fairly heavy duty
floor which is important for what we use it for. As far as being a 4 person
tent - 4 bean poles maybe!!! I would call it a 3.5 person ten!
Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Martin Pfeil
(Quartermaster - UTS Outdoor Adventure Club)
Bob <bot...@ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
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Glen Fergus
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> Has anybody had experience with the Polaris tent?
Yep, used one in Tas and NZ for 2 adults and 2 kids (8 & 10).
Comments:
. As others have said re Macpac - BLOODY EXPENSIVE!
. Fabric (what you're mostly buying) is outstanding, as is
all Macpac tents of course
. Design's pretty good too, when you look at alternative
approaches, but there are compromises involved (see
below)
. Size is OK for the above complement. 4 adults would be
tight
. Size for weight is unbeatable in a double skin tent; but:
. Vestibule space is very small, and
. Rain comes in the ends unless the fly is closed, which
is a major drawback of any tent IMO, and is no good at
all for wet weather cooking. Solved by:
. Add a "Tentacle" fly extension - Make up some ropes and
snaps for quick easy attachment, use a walking pole to
hold the end up. Adds some weight, but very impressed
with the effect (except in high winds of course).
. Even without the "Tentacle", this is not a real stable
tent. Not for really high winds, even fully guyed -
Snow load would be hopeless.
. Ventilation with the inner closed against insects looks
a bit "light", because there's no separate screen doors
(saves weight I guess). We found it quite OK for cool
climates though.
. Make sure you seal the roof seam very thoroughly!
> Any suggestions for alternative 4 man tents?
There's bugger all else that I could find....
The 3-man Salewa (?sp) dome (2 versions available) is not
much smaller really, and is somewhat cheaper (and bigger,
and heavier). Has good vestibules. Fly can be open in the
rain.
MD had a large dome - might have been Eureka?? Heavy. No
vestibules.
Glen F.
David Springthorpe
<gfe...@LEAVE.THIS.OUT.ozemail.com.au> wrote:
> . Rain comes in the ends unless the fly is closed, which
> is a major drawback of any tent IMO, and is no good at
> all for wet weather cooking. Solved by:
> . Add a "Tentacle" fly extension - Make up some ropes and
> snaps for quick easy attachment, use a walking pole to
> hold the end up. Adds some weight, but very impressed
> with the effect (except in high winds of course).
> . Even without the "Tentacle", this is not a real stable
> tent. Not for really high winds, even fully guyed -
> Snow load would be hopeless.
Are these some of the reasons at least one Sydney bushwalking store
has reportedly withdrawn them from sale.....?
-------------------------------
David Springthorpe
Glen Fergus
Perhaps... These are serious drawbacks. But if you have to
carry a proper tent that sleeps four, complete, by yourself and
with all your other gear, then there really isn't another
contender that I know of. It's not actually THAT bad - probably
in the top two or three of the dozen or more bushwalking tents
I've owned/used.
Glen F.