The Zpacks Offset Duo Tent is a two-person, ultralight backpacking tent made with Dyneema DCF. Weighing in at 19.7 oz, it’s a single-wall trekking pole tent with translucent sides that may restrict your inner privateness if such issues matter to you (as they typically do with {couples} backpacking.) This tent’s design relies on the enduring Zpacks Duplex Tent however offers extra inside quantity and top as a result of its peak ridgeline is offset to at least one facet. The addition of panel guy-out factors helps pull the partitions out additional so you may transfer round inside with out touching the partitions, which is so necessary in a single-wall tent which by its nature is extra liable to inner condensation than a double-wall tent.
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Specs at a Glance
- Type: Single Wall Tent
- Weight: 19.7 oz
- Structural: Trekking Pole Tent (2 poles required)
- Material: Dyneema DCF
- Seam-taped: Yes
- Poles: 1 included, though simply changed with a stick
- Internal pockets: 2 small ones under the doorways
- Minimum variety of stakes to pitch (not included): 8
- Required Trekking Pole Length: 48″ (122 cm)
- Peak top: 48″ (122 cm)
- Floor width: 50″ (127 cm) tapers to 44″ (112 cm) from mid-torso to foot.
- Floor size: 94″ (239 cm)
- Floor Area: 31.4 sq. toes (2.9 sq. meters)
- Zipper entry top: 40″ (102 cm)
- Packed Dimensions: 6″ diameter by 12″ tall (15 cm x 30 cm), 340 cubic inches (5.6L)
- For full specs, go to Zpacks
The Zpacks Offset Duo is designed to provide occupants extra inside room to maneuver round with out touching the inside partitions, which in a single-wall tent, are liable to inner condensation switch. This creates an inside house that has extra top above the pinnacle and toes than the isosceles triangle form of the Zpacks Duplex, the place the inside top of the tent’s sides is similar regardless of which facet you place your head on with a view to sleep.
Like all tents, this new design has some tradeoffs, however on the entire is a web constructive by way of livability, notably when the tent is shared by two individuals. It must be famous that the offset design isn’t notably new and different tent producers additionally provide it in additional typical materials together with the Six Moon Designs Haven Ultralight Tent (double wall, 34 oz), the Owyhee Backpacking Tarp with perimeter netting and ground (single wall, 24.6 oz), and the SlingFin 2Lite (double wall, 42 oz) amongst others.
The Offset Duo is a trekking pole tent that requires two trekking poles to arrange with a size of 48″ (122 cm), along with a collapsible carbon fiber pole (included) to raise the entrance of the tent and enhance its quantity above the toes. Weighing 1 oz, the carbon fiber pole is remarkably simple to misplace, however is well replaceable with a stick or collapsed trekking pole. It’s capped at each ends with plastic to forestall the carbon fiber from splintering and comes with a helpful two-ended elastic quiver to forestall it from opening in your pack. I simply roll it up contained in the tent when packing up in order to not lose or harm it.
When organising, it’s finest to stake out the corners of the tent loosely, insert the trekking poles into the dual peaks, push your trekking pole suggestions by means of guides on the edges of the ground to get the precise ground depth, after which tighten the corners and vestibule guylines utilizing the included line-loc tensioners. It’s fairly easy in case you pre-measure your pole size to the requisite size. After that, stake out the entrance pole and the rear panel guylines to extend the inside house.
Once the fundamental construction is up, it’s time to guy-out the entrance and rear panels. The entrance panel is stretched utilizing the included carbon fiber pole which inserts into Dyneema “cups” at each ends, one connected to the highest panel with a static twine and staked out and the opposite at its base connected with elastic however unfastened. Since the underside cup tends to slide, I simply stake out the highest Dyneema cup and prop the underside of the pole on some bark or a rock to forestall it from sinking in delicate floor. That appears to work simply as effectively. The rear panel, in flip, is pulled out with a easy static guyline.
But anytime you unzip the vestibule or roll again one of many vestibule doorways, you’ll most likely need to get out and readjust the guyline tensioning: Dyneema doesn’t have any stretch to it so if you calm down a part of the tent, the opposite elements calm down too, considerably annoyingly, notably on Zpacks tents.
There are a few issues concerning the design of the Offset Duo which can be price noting.
The vestibule doorways on the head finish of the tent should stay closed to assist the edges of the tent, not like the Zpacks Duplex, the place each vestibule doorways could be rolled again to extend air flow and supply 180-degree views. The draw back of this design is decreased facet air flow in Offset Duo, which is definitely fairly necessary in case you use the tent with two individuals for the reason that elevated physique warmth and exhalations they generate will trigger extra inner condensation to kind on the ceiling.
Zpacks selected to not add peak guylines on the Offset Duo, which might have permitted you to roll again each vestibule doorways and enhance the soundness of the pitch in larger winds. In addition, whereas there’s a magnetic toggle to roll and maintain the foot finish of the vestibule again, there isn’t any corresponding toggle on the pinnacle finish of the vestibule.
The sides of the Offset Duo, together with the vestibules are reduce excessive, to extend airflow by means of the tent and mitigate inner condensation. This is a typical design hack in single-wall tent design, however it may be problematic in cooler climate as a result of it makes the tent a lot colder to sleep in and fewer climate resistant. In different phrases, the Offset Duo wouldn’t be a fantastic choose for shoulder season climate (spring/autumn) in open tent websites uncovered to larger wind speeds and might be finest utilized in forested terrain or in locations with pure windbreaks.
Interior storage contained in the Offset Duo is minimal. While there are two pockets in the midst of the tent below the door zippers, they’re actually solely sufficiently big for a Smartphone. If you’ve got one thing delicate like glasses, I’d advise towards storing them there. I hold mine from the mesh door zipper pulls as a substitute.
If you’re acquainted with Zpack’s different tents, you’ll see that they’ve changed the rainbow mesh doorways with ones which have an L-shape as a substitute. These are arguably higher for the reason that pole shouldn’t be in the midst of the door, they don’t fall to the bottom when opened, they usually let in fewer bugs for the reason that opening is smaller. The zippers even have twin sliders, each in and out, and are corded with high-visibility pulls, making them simple to make use of.
When it involves inner condensation, the jury continues to be out in my view. I’ve skilled large condensation utilizing the Offset Duo each solo and with a associate. While there’s elevated inner quantity, I’ve nonetheless gotten moist transferring round contained in the tent when my garments brush up towards the ceiling. I favor to have a tent that’s guyed out on the peaks with vestibule doorways that may be rolled again absolutely for max airflow and views. That stated, I’ve examined the Offset Duo completely within the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the place all single-wall tents and shelters expertise inner condensation to some extent. Your mileage could fluctuate, notably in a hotter local weather or one which’s much less humid.
Recommendation
The Zpacks Offset Duo is an ultralight single wall trekking pole tent made with Dyneema that weighs 19.7 oz (559g). It is light-weight sufficient for use as a spacious single-person tent or for {couples} and is a particular enchancment by way of livability over Zpack’s different tents and shelters, together with the up to date Zpack’s Duplex Zip with a really modest enhance in setup complexity. If you’re trying to purchase a tent from Zpacks, particularly for {couples} use, the Offset Duo is certainly the choose of the litter in case you can afford its hefty price ticket of $769.
Disclosure: Zpacks donated this tent for evaluate.
Comparable Dyneema DCF Tents
Key: SW=Single Wall, DW=Double Wall
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