AGG 10 Ft Tent

[sarbar]

I received my Anti Gravity Gear 10 ft size tarp tent on Friday as I was leaving town. I had enough time to grab the stakes out of my solo tent and switch tents!

I spent 3 nights on the trail in the Elwha River Valley, in the Olympic Mountains trying the tent out.

The weight of the tarp tent including:
Tent
Spectra cords for guylines
Stuff sack
Splash Guard/vestibule
seam sealing
was 1 lb 6 ounces.

The 10 ft size is the larger of the two they sell at AGG.

First off, this is a tent rather than a tarp. It has a full sewn in floor that has a bathtub feature in the front when it rains. The whole front of the tent is a sturdy mesh material, that comes down with plenty of fabric to tuck under, so you are bug free. I slept in the tent the three nights solo, but it won't be an issue to have my son in it with me.

First night I set it up in the dark. The next two nights my time came down, by Sunday night it took me only a couple minutes to do it.

The tent has a cup under it's beak to put your trekking pole into. I found no issue to get in and out of the tent with the pole. I used my Leki Ti poles for this.

Only one night did I have condensation, and it was minimal. It was mostly my fault-I didn't tighten the guylines before bed, and I was by a major river, so the material had sagged a bit after it got cooler. Next time, I will tighten it up. As is, I only had water above my face. Normally on these rivers over there, my two wall tents would have been soaked-due to the fact that I'd have sealed up my tent at night! The "door" gave me a panoramic view and good ventilation.

I am very happy overall with it. I just need to pick up some Ti stakes for it (it needs 8-9), so I can put my other stakes back in with the old solo tent. For 2 1/2 season hiking (May-early October) I can see it coming with me for my UL kit.

[Reality]

Thanks for sharing. If you have any more photos (various angles, closeups...), feel free to share.

I thought the Brawny model was 9 foot. Is this an update to 10'?

Is it the taut pitch (via front stakes) that helps to hold the bathtub floor up in the front?

It seems like this would be very hot in summer (bug season/areas). What do you think?

Reality

[sarbar]

Originally Posted by Reality

I thought the Brawny model was 9 foot. Is this an update to 10'?

They have both - the 10 ft is the same, just bigger

Originally Posted by Reality

Is it the taut pitch (via front stakes) that helps to hold the bathtub floor up in the front?

It is pretty neat, it has small loops on the edge of the floor. These connect to mitten hooks that are on the door. You can can make the floor taught sideways by the stakes, but you can leave the floor flat or up, depending on weather.

Originally Posted by Reality

It seems like this would be very hot in summer (bug season/areas). What do you think?

As long as you pitch it right (that is the rub, you do have to think it out-which way the wind is coming in the night) you get plenty of ventilation. I'd hedge I am hotter in my two wall tents. It was in the low 80's this past weekend, so it was a good test. What I found was so much of the tent is exposed for air, it is actually kind of nice! The light color was great as well.

[Rocketman]

I have also had and used the 10 foot Brawney AGG tarptent since 2007.

One sure way to get condensation is to pitch this out in a field with a clear view of the night sky. And, especially if you pitch it in this fashion near a river on a hot summer day and a clear night sky.

Finding tree cover reduces condensation a lot. It helps to have a pretty effective "condensation mopper" and I bought the little device from REI which is a sponge inside a chamois bag. You can probably make something pretty similar from any of those "magical" wiping cloths and some kind of sponge. There may be sponges that are more tailored to sopping up water than others.

That big open front is nice, and I've enjoyed bug free nights. However, I haven't yet camped in a swamp.

The new model from AGG can be used with a Poncho they make that will extend the "beak" to give you a large vestibule, but it might cut air circulation and increase condensation.

I have used a small waterproof groundcloth to make an awning in the front for a heavy rain, leaving lots of room for air circulation. That woked fine. Happened to have three lightweight wooden clothes pins with me to jury rig the awning.

[PBF Support]