I was doing some research this morning trying to find a lightweight tarp/tent for just myself (had to include bug screen and a closeable vestibule) and realized that my existing three person tent is as light as many of the 1-2 person options out there. So, I figured I do a write up for the nerds here.
The short version: The Triplex is a great two person hunting tent, imho. Officially the Duplex is the 2 person tent, but that's small people who leave their gear out in the rain. The Triplex can fit two 6'1" hunters *with* their backpacks and boots inside the tent and allow weather-protected cooking in the vestibules. Yet, at 622gm or 22oz, it weighs as much as some two-person "tarps" that provide less weather protection and no bug protection
The longer version:
We've taken a Triplex on 2 AK goat hunts and 1 AK moose hunt, so far. I'm 6'1" and my wife is 6'0". We both fit well *with* both our stone glacier packs and our boots in the tent with us. We've seen winds in excess of 35mph, lots of rain, and some snow. We do not use a ground cloth, the integrated bathtub floor is plenty strong.
For our moose hunt we had an 11 mile off-trail hike in, so a superlight pack weight was important. (we had a mule train meet us in a week for the meat pack out). After several years of using an MSR HubbaHubba, which is almost 3x the weight, I really liked the weight savings. We didn't see much wind on this trip, but it was below freezing most nights and we got two nights of heavy rain. A tent without full bug protection would not work, for me at least, in the mosquito filled swamp we were hunting in. The Zpacks bug netting kept out AK mosquitos.
Later that Fall we did a Chugach Mountain Goat Hunt. We saw a few inches of accumulating snow several times during that week, tent did fine. We also had some alpine winds in the 15-20mph range. I was really impressed with how well the tent dried out. The gap between the bathtub floor and roof allows condensation to clear out really quickly. My Hubba Hubba did not shed condensation well at all.
Just this week we returned from a Kodiak goat&deer hunt. After a 2,000' hike up from the ocean into the alpine, we saw freezing fog, 20-40mph winds, swarms of biting black flies, snow, heavy rain and hail, and hot sun.....a typical Kodiak week. I was really worried about the tent in winds above 30mph, but it held, even up to a guestimated 40mph. I was impressed. The dyneema fabric is very loud though in heavy wind. The hunt didn't go great, but it was a great test of a tent when there is simultaneous snow and swarms of biting bugs. We also sat for almost a full day tent-bound during heavy rain, but the venting kept condensation to a minimum. Also, enough space to bring our gear inside and for us not to be touching each other the whole time and getting on each others nerves.
Even though this a 2-3 person tent, at 22oz I don't think I have much room for improvement when looking for a 1-2 person tent that is as bug and weather proof as this one. I'll probably end up bringing my Triplex even on solo hunts.
The short version: The Triplex is a great two person hunting tent, imho. Officially the Duplex is the 2 person tent, but that's small people who leave their gear out in the rain. The Triplex can fit two 6'1" hunters *with* their backpacks and boots inside the tent and allow weather-protected cooking in the vestibules. Yet, at 622gm or 22oz, it weighs as much as some two-person "tarps" that provide less weather protection and no bug protection
The longer version:
We've taken a Triplex on 2 AK goat hunts and 1 AK moose hunt, so far. I'm 6'1" and my wife is 6'0". We both fit well *with* both our stone glacier packs and our boots in the tent with us. We've seen winds in excess of 35mph, lots of rain, and some snow. We do not use a ground cloth, the integrated bathtub floor is plenty strong.
For our moose hunt we had an 11 mile off-trail hike in, so a superlight pack weight was important. (we had a mule train meet us in a week for the meat pack out). After several years of using an MSR HubbaHubba, which is almost 3x the weight, I really liked the weight savings. We didn't see much wind on this trip, but it was below freezing most nights and we got two nights of heavy rain. A tent without full bug protection would not work, for me at least, in the mosquito filled swamp we were hunting in. The Zpacks bug netting kept out AK mosquitos.
Later that Fall we did a Chugach Mountain Goat Hunt. We saw a few inches of accumulating snow several times during that week, tent did fine. We also had some alpine winds in the 15-20mph range. I was really impressed with how well the tent dried out. The gap between the bathtub floor and roof allows condensation to clear out really quickly. My Hubba Hubba did not shed condensation well at all.
Just this week we returned from a Kodiak goat&deer hunt. After a 2,000' hike up from the ocean into the alpine, we saw freezing fog, 20-40mph winds, swarms of biting black flies, snow, heavy rain and hail, and hot sun.....a typical Kodiak week. I was really worried about the tent in winds above 30mph, but it held, even up to a guestimated 40mph. I was impressed. The dyneema fabric is very loud though in heavy wind. The hunt didn't go great, but it was a great test of a tent when there is simultaneous snow and swarms of biting bugs. We also sat for almost a full day tent-bound during heavy rain, but the venting kept condensation to a minimum. Also, enough space to bring our gear inside and for us not to be touching each other the whole time and getting on each others nerves.
Even though this a 2-3 person tent, at 22oz I don't think I have much room for improvement when looking for a 1-2 person tent that is as bug and weather proof as this one. I'll probably end up bringing my Triplex even on solo hunts.
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