more»User Review: Big Agnes Seedhouse SL1
chris vern
39 reviewer rep
Rating: 
Overall a great tent. This served as my main tent on my AT thru-hike and got me through many bad nights.
Most of my gripes have been said by others here ... low vestibule space ... pitching problems ... door entry. This is the bulk of the issues. However, I would add pitching and take down time to the list of gripes. To put up correctly there is a lot to do. At the very minimum, you have to mess with the dreaded pole loops, the foot-end of the tent body has to be staked, the fly takes 6 stakes, and there are two clips that connect the fly to the body to pull both out at the same time (i rarely staked out the guy lines at the middle of the tent). Even in great, storm-less, weather you still have to go through the checklist to avoid condensation and maximize your room inside. Likewise, my hiking partner had a Hubba which took no time to put up and requires only 2 stakes (again at the minimum).
BA has thought of (most) everything with this tent and has utilized a variety of weight saving techniques that might make pitching more difficult. A small gripe, but still a consideration.
I bring extra stakes when using this tent to try to vent the foot area better to avoid condensation on the inside of the fly when having to be fully zipped up. I think that's a problem with most tents. So essentially, I'd stake the footprint and the tent together, and then have a separate stake for the fly to pull it out further than the tent body and the footprint. That seemed to help, but extra stakes to bring.
6 months ago
$215.96 - $269.95
MSRP: $269.95
