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Big Agnes UL1 vs SL1 (tents)

PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2010 10:33 pm
by MoapaPk
Has anyone here used the Big Agnes Fly Creek UL1?

I currently have the Seedhouse SL1; I've been pretty happy with it, but it has seen a fair amount of wear in 4 years (plus it was run over by several cars), and has one very annoying feature: The sidewalls on the inner tent are primarily netting, with the closed nylon coming maybe just 6" (if that) up from the floor; so in times of blowing fine snow, the snow gets inside all too easily. The Fly Creek UL1 has tighter-weave ripstop much higher on the sidewalls, which I hope would minimize that problem.

My concern is that the UL1 is too light -- that is, constructed even more delicately than the SL1. The UL1 packed weight is lower. The SL1 is a pretty fragile tent (especially if you run it over with a car).

Thanks...

PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2010 11:21 pm
by mtngeek
Well, the Fly Creek isn't really much less fragile than the Seedhouse; you can probably expect similar results. The denier on the FC is lower than that on the SH because they twilled it to keep the same durability with fewer fibers. The ripstop actually weighs less than the mesh, which is why they use more of it. But the FC doesn't have the pole hub in the rear, so it seems to be much less sturdy if the wind picks up.

edit: But it wasn't designed to be a high wind performance tent, and when guyed-out properly it probably performs well enough.

PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2010 11:33 pm
by MoapaPk
Thanks. My SL1 has just one pole hub. I've used it with gusts up to 50 mph, but when I got out and stopped weighting it with my body, it was like a sail.