Alps Mountaineering 4 Person Tent

[Siiri]

Ive owned numerous tents over the past three decades of camping, all from big name outdoor companies. With the recent delamination of the sealed seams on my current 15-year-old tent and all four kids are grown and gone, I began to research specs, pricing and reviews of reasonably priced tents that would fit my pursuits as a backpacker/paddler/bikepacker/carcamper...along with my budget.

After months of reading, I pulled the trigger and purchased the Alps Mountaineering Chaos 3 ( -tents/chaos)...and model specific footprint this spring, knowing I'd be camping at least 35 days in 8 different states facing a wide range of conditions.

While clearly not an exhaustive review, I have my thoughts...which I will share here. If you just want to look at the pictures and don't want to read any further...the bottomline..I do believe the Alps Mountaineering Chaos 3, overall, is a pretty solid tent worth considering.

Camping conditions in mid-April in NM and Colorado were frigid high winds. Mild temperatures in FL and AR and in May we experienced torrential rains in VA and WV, and pleasant nights in MD and PA mountains. Camp elevations ranged from 9,000 ft Rocky Mountains to a 1700 ft muddy Eastern river valley to 20 ft sandy FL panhandle state forest. So other than snowfall, we tasted it all

Straight out of the box, tent materials appeared and felt stout and durable. Stitching was even (a pet peeve of mine). Should you have need of them, setup instructions are permanently sewn into the inside lip of the stuff sack. Setup is simple, straightforward and quick.

The Chaos 3 packs small enough and light enough (5 lbs.) for backpacking. I am not an ultra-lite type of hiker, but the Chaos 3 is four pounds lighter than my 35-year-old NF VE-24 that I've packed for decades, thus qualifying it as a notable backpacking tent in my book.

The Chaos 3 has one modular pole with two at opposing ends that splay out four poles toward the four corners...and a separate shorter brow or awning pole. All pole ferrule ends "lock" firmly into the grommets of both the tent and footprint. Plastic clips sewn into the outside of the tent make for rapid attachment of the tent body to the poles.

Ample 'no-see-um' netting on the tent body provides airflow and flyless stargazing. Although, during colder camping, this same blessing becomes a curse allowing too much frigid breeze for me. (I know, I know...quit my sniveling)

Two doors offer each camper ingress/egress without disturbing the other. Door zippers pull down without difficulty but zipping up from the bottom is a two-handed affair, which began to agitate me over time (tent fabric at the base of the door was too loose even when stakeout out taut. Tent doors zip nearly all the way around and can be stuffed in an interior mesh pocket designed for that purpose. (Note: This same "door pocket" will dangle in your face while sleeping, so take note during setup where to put your feet.)

More interior mesh storage pockets are at both ends of the tent body. I found them stout enough not to sag even under weighty items. An included, detachable mesh loft attaches with four plastic hooks to web tabs on the interior tent roof.

The rainfly is full coverage, with vestibules at both doorways. Double guyouts on the each end, one top, one bottom help provide added stability in winds and also aid with air circulation. On the left side of each vestibule there is a nice-size vent with folddown kickstand to assist with airflow. More important, with the incorporation of the brow pole, the vestibule zipper is never over the tent body. So even if water penetrated the zipper, it would not drip into the tent.

As with so many of today's three-season tents you have no privacy without the rainfly. Vestibule can be rolled back and tied, allowing things to get aired out. You will have to reach and crawl to get out of the vestibule. A standard in today's tents...you can forego the tent body and fastpitch the rainfly with the model specific footprint. The rainfly has interior hook-n-loop fasteners to attach to the poles for added stability and minimize flapping/sliding. Where I camped, it wasn't an option for me...spiders and ants were of apocalyptic proportion.

The Chaos 3 incorporates the bathtub style floor, offering reliable watertightness. The tent body floor is rectangular and is listed at 90"x66," but with the tent staked out tightly, two Klymit Insulated Static V pads at 30" wide consumed all tent real estate side to side. My best guess is this tent is a super friendly three-person with narrow sleeping pads, toes to nose. At 6/180 my head hit the roof netting sitting straight up in the center.

The model specific footprint is made of the same material and thick waterproof coating as the tent floor with nylon bound edges for longer life. Webbing at the four corners and grommets are identical to that of the tent body. Fit was exact and it works well. The footprint is an option and well worth the price.

Included are the typical "shepherd's hook" style tent pegs that work well enough and reflective guylines to assist you in finding your tent after that 2 a.m. treasure chest visit, without you doing a faceplant over those guylines.

1) Heavy condensation on interior fly when temperatures were below 60 degrees. So heavy, it would collect on the main spine pole and brow pole, travel down the pole to the hub and drip into the tent...usually directly on my forehead or feet. Exiting the tent, if you brushed along the vestibule door...your shirt was saturated. Above 60 degrees, it did not appear to be an issue. Being primarily a shoulder season camper, this is a daily occurrence. The positive...in sunshine, it rainfly interior dries quickly.

2) Pole ferrule caps would pull out of the tent pole, still stuck in the tent grommet. It was a common occurrence and irritation to feed the shockcording, knot and ferrule base back into the pole end, especially in driving rain. The positive...the pole ferrule cap/grommet connection is super secure...wind will not separate pole from tent body.

4) I did not like how low the netting went. It did what it is intended to do...airflow...but when it's freezing or below, just to have nylon covering halfway up the door would have been appreciated.

Now here is what I liked about the Chaos 3.

1) Set up and properly staked and guyed out, it's bombproof, watertight, and flapfree. No rain water, or puddled water made its way into the tent interior. That's saying something with the horizontal freezing rain we experienced.

Last year I was dip netting on the Kenai River in Alaska. I watched as tent after tent went rolling away with the super high winds (60mph) coming in. I walked the beach as people were chasing tents and gear across the sand dunes. I noted the brands left standing through it all. Kelty, REI, ALPS, and Sierra Designs.

I bought this tent recently and took it on a road, hiking, and camping trip along the ALCAN highway and on the Alaska Ferry. In inclement weather you can duct tape the tent to the deck of the ship and camp out in a dry space. We had some pretty good winds and with the tent all fastened down with it's guide wires we did just fine inside. My daughter is 6'2" and could lay with head room to spare on the floor. I am no shrinking violet in size and we could fit with two adults and one 9-year-old.

While in the Yukon of Canada I was overjoyed to get away from the birds (mosquitoes) dive bombing us. I was glad to find that getting in and out f the tent was easy while swatting the bugs away. No tripping over edges, fumbling with zippers opening and closing on the wrong side.

CONS: In the morning we had condensation on the inside of the tent fly. Overnight temps were around 28 degrees. I had one vent open but did not stake out the tent at the two ends. The next night I made sure to open up the fly vents and stake out at least two ends. The condensation was only at the end of the tent where all of out heads were. In the humidity and cold I am not all that surprised. Still, halfway through the night we had the same problem, though less. I ended up opening up one of the vestibule doors to get enough ventilation.

This last spring in Alaska we took it on a Scout campout. The first night we got hit with freezing rain that then turned to snow. The tent was under 15 lbs of ice easily. It took on sustained winds of 60mph. Make sure to batten down all the ties for this maneuver. We used the vestibules to keep extra gear. Two of them were VERY handy to keep things dry. Still we had no wicking of water no leaks. In colder weather no condensation on the inside.

When the gust got to 80mph we had one of the few tents not collapsing. However, after all was said and done we did find that the poles that were in the leading edge of the weather got bent. There is no way I will ever be able to straighten them myself. I have yet to contact ALPS. With the conditions as they were the boys in our tent were some of the only kids kept dry.

Next came a trip to the KENAI river mouth and coast. Again 60mph winds and it didn't budge stability was rock solid. Tenting in 80+ and it got warm inside for two adults. But at 80 I wasn't surprised. Open a side for ventilation and watch the night sky.

The tent is holding up over much use. Kids and teenagers. It isn't babied at all and is still in great condition. I have not done a water proofing re-coat as yet. Seams are still factory original. We probably us the tent 20x throughout the seasons. Rain, Sleet, Wind, Sand, Snow...still going strong. Happily upgrading my stars on this one.

I've been needing a replacement for my 12+ yr old Sierra Designs Alpha tent. It has served me well but it's starting to deteriorate from 300+ days in the sun, rain, sleet, and Mt Washington wind. Plus it pushes 9 lbs.

Beyond those needs I have some other features I would like to see taking into consideration weight and cost. I'm a firm believer that 3 means 2 when talking about capacity of a tent. The only way a 2 person is comfortable for 2 people is when the weather is so good you don't need a tent. Stuck in the rain for a couple days and that damn tent is unbearable.

3a8082e126