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rubywrangler Member
Joined: 04 Aug 2015 Posts: 509 | TRs | Pics
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I thought it had come up in a previous thread here that using DCF for a design like the rainbow or double rainbow would be prohibitively expensive, but I can't find it now so maybe that was on BPL. Anyway, I guess that was incorrect - DCF double rainbow is available starting next week and the price is in line with all the other DCF tents: https://www.tarptent.com/product/double-rainbow-li/
Appears to be identical to the silnylon double rainbow, but 13.4 oz lighter. Hopefully they'll make a DCF rainbow next...
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Backpacker Joe Blind Hiker
Joined: 16 Dec 2001 Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics Location: Cle Elum |
They said, Double Rainbow!
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
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RichP Member
Joined: 13 Jul 2006 Posts: 5628 | TRs | Pics Location: here |
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RichP
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Mon Apr 27, 2020 11:26 am
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I like the reduction in weight but the price is out of my range. My 9 year-old Double Rainbow is still serving me well.
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Eric Hansen Member
Joined: 23 Mar 2015 Posts: 860 | TRs | Pics Location: Wisconsin |
+1 on Rich's thoughts. I guess I'd think about the price more, give it consideration, if it wasn't for the carbon poles and concerns about breakage. I just need to process that concern, hear from many others what their experience is about breakage. My first reaction is whoa. Deal breaker, out of my comfort zone.
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erik the red Member
Joined: 22 Dec 2007 Posts: 291 | TRs | Pics Location: Everett, WA |
Indeed...neat weight savings, but the wife and I still enjoy using the original Double Rainbow and it is still holding up well after all these years. We finally just upgraded to a double pad with some REI dividend...the Exped Synmat Duo. Pretty excited to try it out in conjunction.
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RumiDude Marmota olympus
Joined: 26 Jul 2009 Posts: 3580 | TRs | Pics Location: Port Angeles |
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RumiDude
Marmota olympus
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Sat May 02, 2020 8:15 pm
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Well, I pulled the trigger on this and bought it. I have a 13 year old DR that I really enjoyed, so moving on to this was no big deal. I had previously thought about the StratoSpire Li but opted for the Double Rainbow when they introduced the Li version.
It arrived on Thursday and I set it up immediately. After 13 years of using the old DR, I was wondering how the Li version would set up. No worries, just as easy as the old one. The fabric is taunt. Love it.
Changes to this vs my old model are many. One change is that the doors are oposing rather than on the same end. So in essence there is no head end and foot end as is true with my old version. The floor is 50" wide compared to the 40" of the old one. New magnetic door tiebacks rather than the old velcro. The top tube is 25.5" rather than the old 18". It also attached via grommets rather than inserted in a sleave like my old one. Combined with the extra floor width, the added top width allows both my wife and I to sit up at the same time, which was not possible in our old version. And the floor ends have a new system to allow increased ventilation or to batten down the hatches, so to speak, for stormy weather. The increased useable interior space is palpable. I realize that most of these changes are not just new to the Li, but have been made to the silnylon version over the years.
I would post photos but I no longer use a photo hosting service anymore so I can't. I am hoping they open up ONP soon so I can do a week or so on the coast.
The tent is sewn in China now, but the quality of the entire tent is equal to anything I have seen elsewhere. Not to knock other cottage tent makers, but the quality of others are just not even in the same ballpark with TarpTent. And Henry's designs are impressive to say the least.
Here is Backpacking Light's review of the tent.
Rumi
EDIT: If you have the old DR, the old aluminum arch pole is exactly the same length. The Al pole is only slightly larger diameter than the carbonfiber pole. I can only assume that you could use either one. So if you have the old version, you would have a backup.
"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
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Franco Member
Joined: 20 Feb 2009 Posts: 328 | TRs | Pics Location: Australia |
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Franco
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Tue May 05, 2020 2:46 am
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About the poles...
The sleeve in the LI version is designed specifically for the CF pole. Hard to tell but the curvature of those poles is different.
so for the moment I would suggest not to use the Al pole in the Li version.
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RumiDude Marmota olympus
Joined: 26 Jul 2009 Posts: 3580 | TRs | Pics Location: Port Angeles |
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RumiDude
Marmota olympus
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Mon Aug 10, 2020 10:41 am
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Well my partner and I have put about 26 nights in the backcountry using our new Double Rainbow Li. We have experienced bright sun and heavy rain; camped in low river valleys and high alpine; pitched on dirt, sand, gravel, dust, and duff. I have not used it in any particularly windy conditions, though a couple nights it was mildly breezy.
My opinion in general is I love it. It isn't noisy, but then again I am half deaf. It is easy to pitch and to take down, though I had 13 years of experience with my old DR to give me a head start on that. Condensation issues are about the same as the old DR. The difference being that with a microfiber towel I can actually wipe it dry. When properly rolled and packed it is smaller than the old DR, but it does not compact like the old silnylon version. All the newer features are really improvements, the magnetic flap keepers being my favorite. The waterproof zipper is stiffer to operate as opposed to the old design with a rain flap over the zipper. There is plenty of head room and both of us can sit up at the same time. The Carbon pole has more flex that the older aluminum pole so taking guy-outs for windy conditions is advisable.
Again, if you have a good experience with the silnylon version, you will not have much adjustment to the Li version. great tent with a solid design and impeccable construction and build quality.
Rumi
PS: And yea, I am digging the weight savings.
"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
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texasbb Misplaced Texan
Joined: 30 Mar 2009 Posts: 1153 | TRs | Pics Location: Tri-Cities, WA |
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texasbb
Misplaced Texan
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Mon Aug 10, 2020 12:49 pm
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RumiDude wrote: | When properly rolled and packed it is smaller than the old DR, but it does not compact like the old silnylon version. |
This seems contradictory to me. Can you elaborate?
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RumiDude Marmota olympus
Joined: 26 Jul 2009 Posts: 3580 | TRs | Pics Location: Port Angeles |
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RumiDude
Marmota olympus
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Mon Aug 10, 2020 1:14 pm
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texasbb wrote: | RumiDude wrote: | When properly rolled and packed it is smaller than the old DR, but it does not compact like the old silnylon version. |
This seems contradictory to me. Can you elaborate? |
Well in the first place I always pack any poles separate from the tent body. I usually place them down the side of my pack. I also packed the stakes separately somewhere in and outer pocket of the pack. So with the silnylon version I folded/rolled and stuffed it in the provided stuff sack it the same way I do with the Li version. Then I would place it inside my pack , usually verticle down one side of the pack or horizontal above the waterproof liner I would use.
The silnylon version could always be smooshed/shaped to fit around other pack contents like stove or food bag. The Dymeema version folds and rools smaller but after that cannot be smooshed much at all or reshaped. In other words, it pretty much retains it's shape and dimensions once folded and rolled. It can be flattened somewhat. Anyway, once you fold/roll it, you pretty much must find a place in the pack to accomodate that size and shape. It's not much of an issue for me but some people with very small packs might find it difficult to store it horizontally in a pack, thus limiting their options of packing.
Hope that makes sense.
Rumi
"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
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texasbb Misplaced Texan
Joined: 30 Mar 2009 Posts: 1153 | TRs | Pics Location: Tri-Cities, WA |
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texasbb
Misplaced Texan
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Mon Aug 10, 2020 5:12 pm
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Makes perfect sense. Thanks.
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slabbyd Member
Joined: 21 Jun 2005 Posts: 293 | TRs | Pics
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slabbyd
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Tue Aug 11, 2020 1:15 pm
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All this love and hype for the Double Rainbow. I've been considering a Stratospire based on roominess but a free-standing vs trekking pole based tent does have appeal. Can anyone suggest pros and cons of one vs the other?
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RumiDude Marmota olympus
Joined: 26 Jul 2009 Posts: 3580 | TRs | Pics Location: Port Angeles |
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RumiDude
Marmota olympus
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Tue Aug 11, 2020 3:25 pm
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slabbyd wrote: | All this love and hype for the Double Rainbow. I've been considering a Stratospire based on roominess but a free-standing vs trekking pole based tent does have appeal. Can anyone suggest pros and cons of one vs the other? |
To me a free-standing tent is almost a misnomer. The obvious reason is that almost every tent needs to be staked out to properly function. And that would include the DR.
I would have purchased the Stratospire Li but my partner doesn't like trekking pole tents. The advantage of the DR over the Stratospire is that you can "basecamp" with it and not have to collapse the tent in order to use your trekking poles for the day. I don't like hiking without trekking poles and I certainly would not like to return to a collapsed ten after a rain. But if that is not something you ever do, the stratospire does offer a better design in my opinion.
Rumi
"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
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Routes Member
Joined: 13 Apr 2016 Posts: 31 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
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Routes
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Wed Aug 12, 2020 10:38 am
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I recently purchased this tent and will be using for the first time on a section of the WT next week.
Thanks for your thoughts. Increases my stoke for the trip.
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pula58 Member
Joined: 13 Aug 2009 Posts: 587 | TRs | Pics
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pula58
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Wed Aug 19, 2020 12:41 pm
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slabbyd wrote: | All this love and hype for the Double Rainbow. I've been considering a Stratospire based on roominess but a free-standing vs trekking pole based tent does have appeal. Can anyone suggest pros and cons of one vs the other? |
My wife and I have been using the Stratospire 2 (silnylon) for 3-4 years. We love it. It is very roomy, and also has very large and usable vestibules. The times we have woken-up in the morning with the weather turned to crap we have packed up everything into our packs, including the tents inner, all while dry and warm under the rainfly. If pitched well it is sturdy in the wind...but..although the rainfly is taught and does not make a lot of flapping noises in the wind, the inner tent hangs kinda loosely from the rain fly and the inner, consequently, flaps around when the wind gets bad. Keeps us up at night with the flapping (if wind is > 25-30 MPH or so). And when I say "25MPH" I have measured it with a wind meter. Many times people claim that the wind was a certain mph using their gut instinct...but gut instinct usually overestimates the wind speed.
We have pitched it in meadows, snow, rock slabs, and everything in between.
The one thing it can't do easily is be moved. In other words, if you set the tent up and then realize you want to move the tent over 4-5 inches, it is tedious to get that to happen, as compared to a "self standing" tent.
Since my wife and I both use trekking poles, each one of us can contribute one to the tent, and have one left over for any adventures away from our camp. If one were using the Stratospire by oneself, you'd have to leave both trekking poles supporting the tent, and you'd have no trekking poles to walk with (unless perhaps you could find a stick the proper length to put under the tent in place of a trekking pole)
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