User Review: Big Agnes Sarvis SL1

Big Agnes Sarvis SL1
Above: The current Sarvis SL1, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed June 13, 2007 by fenris

Rating: rated 4 of 5 stars
Design: Three season 1.5 wall freestanding dome
Sleeps: 1
Ease of Setup: easy enough to do in the dark sitting down, but you'll need both hands.
Weight: very light
Price Paid: Borrowed

For everyone wondering about size of this sucker there's a reason that they gave it a 1+ in the official naming. I borrowed the tent from my friend for a trip where we were school van camping around Bryce, Zion, and the Grand Canyon. She had previously used it a lot including our last trip to Moab and biking South on the Atlantic side of the Rockies. She's now using it while biking from Colorado to Massachusetts, so it is pretty dang durable we've found.

It might not be as breathable as the eVent version (which was discontinued due to fire codes) but I didn't have a problem and neither has she with condensation. It's a breeze to set up, and it's really not that hard to thread a small portion of the pole through the sleeve, it's even easier than trying to set up a Trango 4 because you don't get as much bodily damage from highly sprung poles.

Ok the important question: Size
I had extra space which at 6 foot 3 inches (possibly 4 inches I haven't really checked but people say I've gotten taller) which seems kinda rare, but never a bad thing. I also had adequate space next to me to store lots of stuff. Apparently two Therm-a-rest ProLite mattresses can fit in it when it's guyed out, but it will be a cuddly experience which might not be the worst thing because heat usually isn't a problem when you have an emergency and your in a tent. It also seemed to somehow be able to hold at least 5 people full amount of gear when we went out hiking for a day and the skies looked a bit threatening and I was the only one that set up a tent. I was able to sit up with just a slight hunch without deflating my pad (not that a ProLite 4 acutely gives you that much height.

The only reason that I haven't given it a 5 is the fact that I don't have one, though I am planning on getting a 2+ for myself. I'm thinking that most of the time I won't need the middle pole with the end to end pole if I just tie out the guylines. I'm pretty excited to see how this series stands up to the snow, especially as I've never used a tent before winter camping because tarps work just fine for big groups.

So, I would highly suggest getting this tent if you can actually find it. I think the Sarvis tents are based off of a slightly larger footprint than the Seedhouse, or at least it looks like it from descriptions and reading through reviews. If I can fit into this tent then I think 99.975 % of the other people thinking about this tent will have no problem.

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