User Review: Sierra Designs Stretch Prelude 4

Sierra Designs Stretch Prelude 4
Above: The current Stretch Prelude 4, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed October 27, 1997 by Ben Voris

Rating: rated 4 of 5 stars
Design: 4 season expedition tent
Sleeps: 2-3 with lots of gear
Ease of Setup: Sets up fast, even with cold hands.
Weight: 9 lbs, 9oz.
Price Paid: ~$700

After two coats of seam seal on the inside of the fly, a significant amount of water wicked through the external tie-down loops and into the tent After talking with a local retailer, I switched to using "Seam Grip" brand seam seal. I put a third coat on the inside of the fly. I put a single coat on the outside of the fly only on the seams of the external tie down loops. My retailer gave me one tube of "Seam Grip" and four tubes of a brand I don't recall (Gore-tex approved). Sierra Designs says to not seal the outside of the fly, but it did the trick for me.

I recently had the tent out for 14 days. It stood up to rain, frozen rain, snow, etc. The last day out, I had to break ice off it. It did not leak, even after 8 hours of hard rain. It was stable in wind that brought mature trees down. I’ve not used it for winter camping, so I don’t know how it handles serious snow.

On my tent, the fly seems to have been cut a little too big. There is a "rain pocket" on the vestibule, no matter what I do. However, the cup or so of water that puddles there has never leaked through.

The large front door makes the tent easy to get in and out of and makes it seem even roomier than it is. (And it is a big tent.) A friend and I use it for late season canoe trips in northern Minnesota. It easily holds two people with lots of gear. I can’t imagine fitting four people into it.

I recommend it with a caution about sealing.

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