Which Turbo Tent model?

ThomD

Explorer
I'm looking at the 4 person tents and it isn't easy to figure out the pros and cons of each.

Pine Deluxe - heavier canvas (33 lbs), minimal rain fly included
Turbo Lite - 2 doors, "complete" fly included with large vestibule. 21lbs
FREESTANDER - minimal fly with eyebrow canvas over the door, 23 lbs.

TL and FS have the tent same material "PU coated 150D Ripstop polyester." vs "PU coated Ripstop Poly/cotton canvas." for the Deluxe.

Does anyone have more insight? I'm leaning toward the TL. I'll be shocked (and pleased) if we use it more than 20 nights per year, so heavy duty doesn't mater.
 

nwoods

Expedition Leader
I don't know anything about those tents, but those rain flys look like they don't cover much. The PU laminated canvas sided tent will be more water reistant in the short run (as the fabric flexes over time, the coating will wear, but we are talking years down the line).

For that price range, you might seriously consider the REI Base Camp tent (either the 4 or 6). MUCH better weather protection if that's a factor, and well constructed.

Here is a photo of both a 4 and 6 together (the 6 is green) for an idea of scale. Neither has the all weather fly/vestibule on

624114193_m4XCi-L.jpg
 

ThomD

Explorer
Thanks. I've been pretty dismayed by what some tent makers call rain flies. It is like they think rain only falls straight down.

Anyway, I'm interested in the rapid setup time and full standing height, so my options are OzTents and Turbo tents.
 

timh

Explorer
I just ordered the Pine Deluxe 6 person. I went with that one for the better material, I always carry extra tarps if the rain looks like it will get really bad but I don't think it will be necessary!
 

nwoods

Expedition Leader
Thanks. I've been pretty dismayed by what some tent makers call rain flies. It is like they think rain only falls straight down.

Anyway, I'm interested in the rapid setup time and full standing height, so my options are OzTents and Turbo tents.

I hear you on that. Those Turbo's definately have a short and interesting looking set-up. While I don't have any personal experience with them, the San Diego based http://www.pahaque.com/ is supposed to be very good also. Regards
 

john101477

Photographer in the Wild
I looked at the turbo tents before deciding on the Big Agnes flying diamond 6. The tent I was most interested in was the backup /w 2 separated rooms. pretty slick tents and I liked them a lot. unfortunately because we wanted a tent that could handle heavy rain and even snow the turbo tents just fell out side our needs. If wind/ rain/ snow are not major factors for you then the turbo tent is one heck of a tent. After using tents like the Cabelas Alaknak deluxe II and some canvas wall tents for the last 10 years I was a bit spoiled on room and features. I studied probably 100 tents for 3 months before making a final decision.
 

ThomD

Explorer
Snow is definitely not a factor for us. What about the TT's rain ability (presuming the full rain fly) put them off your list?
 

john101477

Photographer in the Wild
one of the problems with rains flys is the tent design itself. For any rain fly to be worth wile it should have minimum contact with the tent body, Any fly that just sits next to the fabric of a tent body will eventually have issues. a rain fly should always come with in an inch or 2 of the ground clear around the tent period. Your idea behind the problem with most flys is spot on and with the turbo tent that idea should be enforced. the fly is 150 denier where the body is 75 denier. So any place that the fly lacks coverage (which on the TT is substantial, the likely hood of leaks increases greatly. The 3 that i like are the Pineview, Supreme, and Backup. Unfortunately not being able to field test these and the lack of plausible reviews really does not help with buying these. Cabelas sells the escape and tells a little more about the tent.
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...parentType=index&indexId=cat602107&hasJS=true
 

ThomD

Explorer
I find it a bit odd that the line focuses so heavily on larger tents, but I guess you can't make a lightweight 2 man tent when you have a skeleton.

Thinking about flies, I guess it comes down to the turbolight, which has what I'd call a real rain fly or the Pine Deluxe with the optional flies. That gets expensive fast. Then I start to wonder how long it would really take to set it up. Hmm.
 

Topmounter

Observer
I just bought a Turbo Tent "Turbo Lite 3" tent and spent 3 nights at 3 different locations on Moab's White Rim last week.

The "tent" is super easy to setup. Four stakes, pop the center and the "tent" is done.

Unfortunately the "fly" isn't quite so straight-forward. The directions that came with the tent don't match the fly that came with the tent. It has an enclosed vestibule, but is smaller than the "deluxe fly" shown in the directions that came with the tent.

The steps for installing the fly seem to be:

1) Throw the fly over the tent
2) Attached the velcro straps on the inside of the fly to the tent's poles (2 per corner I believe, for a total of 8)
3) Clip the fly into the straps at the bottom of each of the 4 corners of the tent
4) Install the vestibule poles (more on this later)
5) Velcro the fly to the vestibule poles (3 velcro straps per side I believe)
6) Stake out the fly (2 on vestibule, 4 on tent)
7) Stake out the little loops at the bottom of the fly (I think?)

So the question I have are on #4 and #7:

re: #4 - Where are the feet of the vestibule poles supposed to go exactly? Do they really just sit on the ground at an angle? It "feels" like they should somehow attach to the base of the tent at or near the front stake points.

re: #7 - Am I really supposed to stake these black loops at the bottom of the fly? The stakes that come with the tent don't seem to be a good match with these loops. The combination of the loops and the stakes seem to only allow you to stake the fly straight down (on the sides and back of the tent at least, the vestibule black loops seem to work ok). It "feels" like I'm doing something wrong here... almost like the ropes for staking out the fly are supposed to go through these loops and pull the fly away from the tent (something I did not try).

Other than my confusion over the fly, this is a great car-camping tent. The additional vertical and horizontal space makes things much more comfortable than my 2-person crawl-in / crawl-out backpacking tent. And despite its much larger size, setting it up is far quicker (without the fly) and at least as quick (with the fly) as my backpacking tent (it would be quicker if I was confident in the right way to setup the fly). The vestibule is also a very nice feature, especially in threatening weather.
 
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mesha

Observer
just bought a turbo lite. I think the speed of set up will be nice.The fly on the lite covers well. I have nice smaller tents for backpacking and more intense camping but think this will fit the bill for my little family tent.
 

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