Tarptent Diplole Post AT Hike Review 

I’m glad it apparently isn’t leaking on you too! Condensation hasn’t been too bad for us when we can use all the ventilation options, but on wet grass and/or rain (where we tend to close up the doors and end vents) it has been fierce. Can’t say it is much worse than the duplex/triplex though. As you say, a trade off for single walled tents. So nice to have a roomy tent though, isn’t it. I hope tarptent keeps innovating, but I’ll let others buy the first ones!

Thank you much! Sorry it took so long, I hope it was helpful.

@@hobblinhikers1847 very helpful and I'm curious to see if they update the tent to address the issues you've highlighted. It has so much potential

Me too, I do appreciate the innovation tarptent has shown in several of their tents. I saw they had released a double wall version of the dipole I, but not the II (last I looked), and wondered if there were more issues in the details that had been found while scaling up the design.

I wouldn’t mind a bit more weight on normal backpacking trips, but on long trips it’s still a driver for me. Still, freestanding tents are like camp chairs to me, I’m happy not to have them on my back all day, but more than a little jealous seeing them once in camp. Ah well, no perfect solutions yet. Hilleberg looks like a great tent. I’ve watched videos of the Brits in their treeless windy wildcamps and they appear to be well regarded and hold up well in crazy weather.

You are welcome! Glad it was of interest and hopefully useful.

Thank you much! The tent is certainly innovative.

The x-mid seemed to have a lot of positive comments from those who I spoke to on the trail, I’m sure you’ll be happy. I’d be interested in your comments after you’ve used it a bit. Have fun!

I've had the very first pro 2 and the Pro 1 and I am going to buy the new Pro 2 with DCF floor once it's available. IF you use two poles, it's really the best 1P shelter for its weight. I'm sure you'll be tabby with it. I've owned the Zpacks plex solo and the x-mid is a palace compared to it.

I have not looked at the Pro 2 plus yet, but will now. You made some interesting points in your other comment. I hope it works well for you! I wouldn’t feel fair selling the Dipole since it still maybe leaks (tho I’ve sealed it again so maybe not), so I’ll use it until it breaks down or drives me nuts. But when it comes time to look at a tent again I will definitely be taking another look at Durstan. They don’t seem to be sitting still, as Zpacks appeared to me to do for quite a while.

@@hobblinhikers1847 Yes they keep improving with user feedback so that's great. Regarding the dipole, can't you just ship it back to Tarptent to get a fix? A 800$ tente should not leak. It's so bad...

I never pursued it. I needed the tent soon before our hike started and was leery of sending it back after dealing with Zpacks return cycle. Tarptent might be better at that but I wasn’t willing to risk it since we were getting close to leaving, and at the time I was not getting any response from their customer support. I was surprised that tarptent never offered.

I’m not sure what tent would be the basis of comparison to say the Dipole is more forgiving. But yes, if you want a forgiving setup I’d say keep looking. Though it minimally sets up with 4 stakes, I tend to use all 8 to get the shape about right, and then maybe get rid of the ones at the vestibules for easy access in nice weather. I can see why the British use the four season tents for their treeless and windy wildcamps on the tops of hills, but I don’t want to pay so much nor carry the weight. I suspect one day the combo of a lightweight tent, a stormy night, and a dodgy campsite will mess with me someday too.

That’s fantastic! I wish we had had the same experience. From comments and conversations I suspect the 1 person version never had the same leaking issues as the early 2P, and hopefully the recent builds of the larger tent addresses that too. It is a bit fiddly, though not horrible. Just not as easy to adjust as a duplex. When I was in Germany I was told that camping wasn’t allowed in, at least, the beautiful forest near Düsseldorf. I’m hoping you get many more opportunities to enjoy it! Thank you for watching.

Not only Germany, but also Austria, Switzerland, Czech, Slovenia.... you name it@@hobblinhikers1847

The Kungsledden in Sweden looks gorgeous and can be tented. If I lived nearby I’d be so tempted!

There is no perfect tent is there? Weight, room, protection, weather resistance, cost, ease of setup…. If I had to regularly deal with snow and high wind none of the hiking pole tents I’ve had would be my choice. Not sure what it would be, but not these! Glad you got something out of it! Good luck.

I sure hope it plays well for you! I’m sure we just paid the price for being an early adopter. You’ll like the tent, especially if there are two of you and when you can open the vents to get all that visibility and ventilation. I’ll have to go back and look at their website, I didn’t realize they had changed materials. I saw the 1P has a sylpoly DW option. Glad you appreciated the follow up! I’ll look forward to hearing your experience.

I’m glad you got something out of it! For my uses I would like to see a silpoly tent that is still able to fit two 25” pads, is sub 40 oz, and has a smaller footprint with a symmetrical setup. The durstan tent seems to be the closest I’ve seen so far but the way the walls hang over the face on one side due to asymmetry is not appealing to me. Since the JMT doesn’t have tent pads, has big climbs that make weight a bigger factor, and doesn’t typically have the same damp/rain as out east I might still go for a dyneema tent as long as cost and the shrinkage are tolerable for you. Personally I’m all done with the way the zpacks bathtub can get pushed out, but plenty of people seem to do ok. I’ve had many comments now that they have not had any issues with the dipole, so they may have fixed the early problems, and outside of the leaks is still our favorite tent as a couple.

​@@hobblinhikers1847 Thanks for the review I was considering the Dipole LI or the Durston X-Mid Pro 2 (new one with the DCF floor). I think the new Pro 2+ would be a good choice for you as it basically fixes the asymmetry problem. The poles are less offset and they also are longer compared to the smaller Pro 2 so both people should have a similar experience without the fabric in the face. I've had the very first pro 2 and it's true that one person had less head space but to be fair, we previously had the Zpacks duplex and the fabric was similarly close to both our faces compared to the side that has the less head space on the x-mid. The ease of pitch is really nice on the x-mid. You even have the flexibility to pitch it as a "skinny pitch" mode by collapsing one or both vestibules so it means that it can fit in small spots. I sold the x-mid pro at the time because I didn't really need it but I immediately regretted it. Build quality is the best of any DCF tent that I have tried. Have a great day.

From my emails with tarptent I got the impression that most of their design and testing focused on the one person tent, and then they scaled up to two person. When they got around to testing to duplicate the leaks it didn’t occur on the one person version. Since then they have made some design updates to prevent the leaks. Being an early adopters is risky. The one person may be easier to get a good pitch too. It is an easy to get standing, at least when not on a platform, but I feel like surface irregularities cause the tent walls sit asymmetrically, and because the tension on the corners affects two sides of the tent and the tension at the end pole it is more fiddly than the duplex/triplex. I hope they’ve squared it away and you continue to have a great experience with it. They do have so much going for them I do want it to work. But we keep alternating between staying dry and being hopeful that we’ve found the secret and have more (although at this point much less that initially) water get in. If I could do it over I might buy the tent again, but I’d wait another year to let someone else have the fun.

I’ve never camped in the UK, but from watching wildcamping videos of the exposed, treeless (though it looks like this affords some beautiful views), hilltops I don’t know that this type of tent would be my choice anyway. Usually we can pick the site to minimize the effects of rain, and weight becomes silly important on a long hike. Having said that, I’m surprised how well those end vents kept out the rain when in a heavy downpour and (guessing) 20-25mph wind). If there was more overhang past this flap I do wonder if it could be left cracked. At any rate the side of the vent in the lee could be cracked. I think there is something to be explored here, though this was perhaps not the best implementation. I did like that the panel was somewhat vertical, so the wind didn’t drive water up the panel to the opening. I’ll be interested if you create something that works! Best of luck!

Hi Ron, it is tough dropping that kind of money on a tent, isn’t it? If you are hiking as a couple, the leaking is resolved on the new tents, not so tall that the dyneema shrinkage would be a concern, and you are aware of and can manage the spending more time learning the setup, then I would recommend the tent. It is roomy, well ventilated, and gives great visibility around the tent. I’ve never found my current leak. It comes and goes. It stays dry in some hard and prolonged storms but then leaks in another setup location. Since I’ve only found the wet floors at night or in the morning after and the amount is usually not huge I haven’t been able find the source. The few recent comments on these videos from others who have bought the tent indicates they may have solved the problem. My suspicion is that if it were a current problem more people would have found these videos and chimed in with their woes. Hope that helps!

@@hobblinhikers1847 again I thank you for your numerous insights with regard to the Dipole 2 li. I really loved the ventilation and visibility of the Dipole and all things being equal, this would have been my choice. However, I decided to go with and have ordered the Durston x-mid pro 2. I think the why came down to the Durston was cheaper. This being my first adventure with dyneema, I felt the cheaper choice was best for me at this time. Looking forward to your future adventures. Ron

I don’t think you’ll go wrong. Every tent has their up and downsides, but in the main the people I’ve met with the durstan tents like them. I think you’ll like the way dyneema dries quickly and, of course, the weight. Have fun !

I don’t have any experience with the MSR tents, but the size and weight of the Freelyte sound pretty good, especially for a semi-freestanding double wall tent with the poles. I’d be consernes if they achieved the weight by making the fabric too thin or the poles delicate, but maybe they have something new. On-trail, people who had similar styles of tents generally seemed to like them. The main negatives I heard concerned higher weight (which may not be an issue for this model), water retention when the fabric was nylon, and having the interior swamped if setting up in a downpour. If you get one I’d be very interested in hearing about your experience.

The Yama is a heavier, has better vestibules, a bit less interior space, is hugely configurable, and more wind/weather resistant. Unfortunately it needs more stakes to setup and each stake location has a different ideal guyline length. It is harder to learn to set it up, but is more forgiving of needing to move a stake location. I think the setup I setup is on the Yama website, it would be clearer if you look at that. The sil poly is slick but has not leaked or torn. Once set up the Swiftline is roomy, comfortable, and almost feels like a double walled tent. If the setup didn’t need so many stakes and its wooden tent site compatibility near zero I’d have taken it on the AT.

Thank you much! I completely agree. I’m sure it was a cost based decision, and I appreciate that the nylon folds smaller than DCF, but when the end pieces are wet and the nylon is holding water I keep thinking silpoly would have been a better choice. I do love having the air flow and visibility out of the ends though. My understanding is that the Dipole 1 never had the leak issue, and those with the 1 that have commented on these videos have never said theirs leaked. Somewhere in my talks with tarptent I got the idea that they did the bulk of the design and testing on the 1, scaled up to the 2, and didn’t account for the wider roof angle and sealing needs on the two. The Durstan sure sets up nicely, but I suspect the 1 is more pleasant to be in once set up. Always trade offs, and no perfect tent.

I agree. Snowstorm or no, I felt their original response time was very poor, and the only thing they did to make it right was to send a patch kit. I probably wouldn’t have been able to return the tent and be confident we’d get the replacement in time for our hike last year, but I would have expected the offer. It is not what I anticipated from a small company launching and unproven product. There will have to be no other tents available that meet my needs before I purchase from either zpacks or tarptent. Thank you for watching and commenting.

LOL! Too small. Doesn’t come standard with family artwork.

@@hobblinhikers1847 offspring is available for a small fee.

Hmm. But could I afford to feed them? Nah, just have to keep managing!

@@hobblinhikers1847 lol they’ve reached the self-feeding stage and the fee would be for the artwork but you keep your 800$ rain collector if it makes you happy 😁