Shelter From the Storm - Four Season Tents
By Steve Mann

The cold winter weather and deep powder snow aren't stopping outdoor enthusiasts from heading into the backcountry. In fact, the number of winter outings is at an all time high and increasing rapidly.

The right gear is even more important in winter than in summer-the extreme cold temperatures, snow dumps, and wind chills mean the right gear can make the difference between misery and comfort, or life and death.

This month we take a look at the winter camper's shelter from the elements, the four-season tent. Our Field Test crew looked at 8 four-season models, of two different types: four-season and expedition tents.

Both tent types feature more poles than their three season counterparts to handle snow load and wind. Fabric, usually ripstop, zip-up panels cover mesh windows and doors to keep out the elements. Typical construction requires heavier fabric in the tent body and floor. Most of the tents in this review come with factory-taped and sealed seams. The primary trade-off from three season tents is more weight-weight for features you don't need in warmer weather.

Expedition tents add the ability to withstand the most severe conditions, such as high winds. Frequently expedition tents feature a lower profile to reduce wind exposure, possibly even more poles for tensile strength, and additional guy out points to for stability.

With both four-season and expedition tents, make sure you get snow stakes, which are not included with any of the tents we tested. Staking out you tent in several feet of snow with thin metal stakes will not work.

We tested the 8 four season and expedition tents below during several winter trips into Utah's Wasatch Mountains.

Quest Preying Mantis 4S
Eureka Polar Storm
North Face Mountain Tent
Moss Titan
Mountain Hardwear Trango 2
Sierra Designs Tiros Assault CD
Eureka Scorpion
Garuda Jana

Quest Preying Mantis 4S

Quest's Preying Mantis 4S is a strengthened version of the three season Preying Mantis that rated very high in our two person three-season tent review last year. Quest has added additional poles to handle winter winds and snow loads, and fabric zip up window covers over the mesh windows. Quest has kept the tents vestibule design, the single feature we most liked about the Preying Mantis.

The vestibule has one downside, a more complex setup. One tester felt the setup was too much of a hassle, citing the need for a quick, easy setup should a sudden storm overtake you. Others felt the huge vestibule was worth the effort for the space gained, despite the added complexity of setup.

Rhett says, ". . . I spent a night in the Preying Mantis 4 season, and liked it. It had a gear loft, a very spacious vestibule and a lot of headroom inside the tent. Unlike most other 2- person tents, I think it would be quite comfortable with 2 people.

"There are panels that open up to mesh for ventilation. I like the way the fly attached to the bottom of the poles. I believe that is a typical Quest system. The hub system was a lot better than the hub on older Preying Mantis tents.

"One of the drawbacks may be its difficulty of set-up. I think that it might be a little more difficult to understand than the average tent. Overall a great tent."

Contact Quest at 800-613-1225.

Eureka Polar Storm

Designed after the Eureka Assault, a three-season tent introduced in 1998, which we reviewed previously (click to read), the Polar Storm is Eureka's 1999 expedition tent. Eureka made the Polar Storm larger, with two doors and four poles for wind and snow load. Poles thread through mesh continuous poles sleeves.

Eureka's "Bottom Venting Fly", a system designed to reduce condensation build up through increased ventilation, works with patented Hi/Low ventilation system. The tent's two-door design allows you to control ventilation by venting the vestibules. The fly has dual zippers over the front, main door, allowing you to zip up the fly several inches to pull air into the tent. Toggle clips inside the fly secure the flap of fabric to the interior of the fly, without exposing the tent body to moisture.

The other vestibule has a D-style door allowing you to open the top area of the door where moist air will escape.

Other features of the Polar Storm are a 2000 mm fly fabric and unheard of ballistic 10,000 mm floor for very high water and snow resistance. All seams are factory-taped and sealed

The tent is one of the larger of those reviewed at 40 square feet, and front and rear vestibules at 29 square feet. Like several other of the tents, especially those of newer design, the Polar Storm has a UV and cold resistant window in the fly for increased brightness and visibility. We find the windows very useful-essential in expedition models-for assessing extreme weather conditions without opening vestibule doors and letting blowing snow and wind into the tent.

Contact Eureka at 888-245-4984 or at www.jwa.com.

North Face Mountain Tent

As the name suggests, the Mountain Tent is a full-blown expedition tent for serious high altitude and extreme weather conditions. The two circular doors, one at each end, give for easy access, weather protection, and ventilation. The front vestibule is poled to make a roomy anti-chamber, and staking the zippered rear door away from the tent body creates a small rear vestibule.

The Mountain Tent's profile is low to ground for excellent wind dispersion, the best of the tents in this review. Twelve exterior guy points, with attached guylines, give added stability in high wind. North Face claims that the highly wind-resistant profile withstands gusts up to 80 mph.

However, the low profile has some disadvantages. The vestibule door is so low that some found it difficult to enter without pulling up the vestibule stakes. In deep snow, the solution is to dig the snow down at the entrance to the vestibule, so you can almost walk in to it. If you create steps, you can enter the vestibule from the lowest step just outside the vestibule door, step up on to the vestibule floor, then turn and sit in on the next level, the tent floor, to remove your boots before crawling into the tent.

Jeff, using the tent on a bitterly cold, windy night in high mountain valleys, but in less snow depth, wrote, "The Mountain tent easily fit two people. I didn't care for the short vestibule. The opening is so low it was hard to get into without getting caught up on the fly. It is easy to set up."

More than the other expedition tents in this review, the Mountain tent's design makes it excellent for true expeditions and severe weather, but less desirable as a four season tent (as I've defined the two in the introduction.) If you want a tent for winter- mountaineering ascents, shelter on high ridges with winds to rattle your teeth, or on low flat lands in Antarctica, the Mountain Tent fits the bill.

For a more general-purpose winter tent, one that can handle the wind and snow, but also handle low temperatures and calmer nights, I'd recommend considering one of the other tents reviewed here.

Moss Titan

Moss has taken the opposite approach from North Face's Mountain Tent. Rather than a focusing on the most severe weather, Moss has designed a four-season tent that also works well in some three-season situations. Fully half the tent body opens to floor-to-ceiling mesh panels. In warm weather leaving off the fly means great views and ventilation. Another mesh panel at the rear creates excellent flow-through ventilation.

A large hooped vestibule, with great headroom, gives more room for gear. The side-opening D-style doors on both the tent and vestibule made for easy entry. Unlike other tents, the Moss design leaves no "trip-strip" at the base of the door to catch your feet as you enter.

The freestanding design incorporating 3 poles of equal length that slide into continuous pole sleeves. The three poles create a sturdy tent, but probably insufficient for expedition conditions.

Setup of the Titan was more difficult than most of the other tents. We found setup to be difficult for a single individual, but much simpler for two.

Price is another disadvantage of the Moss. At $499, the Titan is the most expensive tent in this review. The Moss web site states, "A Moss Tent costs more. No apologies. Your tent is your shelter from the worst that nature can throw at you. No room for compromise. . . Your comfort and security-maybe even your life-depend on it." That would be fine if other comparably priced tents offered less protection, but they don't.

For those who want a single tent that can handle four-season and three-season usage, the Titan is worthy of consideration-if you can get past the price.

Contact Moss at 800-859-5322 or on the Internet at http://www.mosstents.com

Mountain Hardwear Trango 2

The Trango 2 is a fantastic tent. Although Mountain Hardwear makes tougher tents for exclusive expedition usage (the Trango Assault and Trango 3.1 Arch), the Trango 2's hearty design and strength meet all your needs short of Everest or Anapurna.

The Trango features easy setup: color-coded poles clip to the tent body and velcro strips attach the fly to the poles. A separate brow pole arches over the door to create a roomy, 11-square-foot, domed vestibule. A UVX window in the vestibule was well liked by our testers, allowing them to view weather conditions without opening the tent door. A second, smaller vestibule in the rear provides a second storage location and access to the second tent door.

The Trango 2's stake out loops are longer than most making it possible to use skis or poles as stakes. The fly's clip points are far enough away from the tent floor (down the stake out loop) to keep the fly well away from the tent body.

The Trango's fly clips were both panned and praised by testers. Where the fly attaches to rings on the stake out loops, Mountain Hardwear does not use a hook like most manufacturers, but a latch-style clip, more like a carabiner. Attaching the clips is easy, and two testers noted that the clips will not come loose even if the stakes pull out and the fly flaps in the wind. However, another tester noted that in very cold weather he could barely push hard enough on the release bar to remove the fly.

Other extras that caught the eye of our field crew included the mesh gear pockets which extend the entire length of the tent on each side, gear loft loops, ample head room, and a color scheme and overall appearance favored by the crew.

Contact Mountain Hardwear at 800-330-6800 or on the Internet at http://www.mountainhardwear.com

Sierra Designs Tiros Assault CD

The Tiros Assault CD is an expedition tent, with four poles and two doors. The poles utilize clips to attach to the canopy, making setup quite easy. The overall design and functionality of the Tiros is similar to the Trango 2.

Differences are that the Tiros has no window in vestibule, no brow pole to increase headroom in the front vestibule, less interior space, and slightly lower peak height. Advantages are that the Tiros is less expensive, weighs substantially less, and matches the stability and strength of the Trango 2.

We reviewed the 1998 Tiros. For 1999, Sierra Designs plans the following enhancements:

• new tent colors--"optic white" for improved light transmission and a navy tent floor to lessen dirt visibility
• taped flys
• reflective guy out loops for night visibility
• reflective noiseless zipper pulls
• non-wicking stake loops and fly attachments
• color-coded webbing for easier setup

Contact Sierra Designs at 800-736-8592.

Eureka Scorpion

Eureka's Scorpion is the four-season companion to the expedition-level Polar Storm. Like the polar Storm, the Scorpion incorporates Eureka's Hi/Low ventilation system including dual vestibules and doorways.

There are two poles, which attach to the tent body with clips, and two additional external poles for the two equal-sized vestibules. The Scorpion's unique vestibule design uses exterior frames, i.e. the poles run outside the fly. The two vestibules combine for 22 square feet of storage space.

With only two main poles, the Scorpion offers the least snow-load capability and wind stability of the tents we reviewed here. For high wind or heavy snow situations, the Scorpion isn't the best choice. The two vestibule poles add to the overall stability. As you'd expect, less structure means lighter weight-the Scorpion is the lightest of the 8 tents.

Jeff commented on one of his stays in the Scorpion, "Tent setup was relatively easy. I really liked the roomy vestibule. We easily fit two packs in the back vestibule and stored our boots in the front vestibule. We didn't use the ventilation system and the tent had a great amount of condensation inside. The temperature dropped to about 14 degrees. Two people fit inside with room to spare-we never felt confined."

Clip attachments with ripstop disbursement panels, on both the main body poles and external vestibule poles, make setup a snap. The Scorpion's 49 inch peak height rates first in head room.

Contact Eureka at 888-245-4984 or at www.jwa.com.

Garuda Jana

The Jana is a solid three-pole four-season tent with two vestibules, and unique ventilation system. At the peak of the fly Garuda places a hooded vent designed to allow warm, moist air from the interior to escape. Cool, dry air is pulled into the tent by a scoop-like cone at the base of the fly at the rear of the tent.

On our test atop a ridge on the Timpanogos Divide, we found no noticeable difference in condensation between the Jana and other tents in this review. All of the tents were dug into the snow, perhaps reducing airflow, but would likely be common in four season camping.

The front vestibule is large, but the sloping fly limits headroom. The rear vestibule is small at 3.5 square feet. The front door has 3 zippers for easy adjustment of door size and position.

Setting up the Jana is simple. Poles thread through continuous pole sleeves and only three stakes are required. Of course, you'll want to use more stakes to handle wind.

The main advantage we see is the Jana's light weight, at just under seven pounds.

Contact Garuda at 888-357-3262.

General comments:
None of the tents did well at allowing condensation to escape. In every tent we awoke with significant amounts of frost on the inside of the canopy, and more on the inside of the fly. In three-season usage, this wouldn't be a problem, just wait a half-hour, while you pack or eat breakfast, and the condensation evaporates, especially if you get any sun.

In winter, the temperature may not rise above freezing all day, and you can't rely on the sun for help. If you are camped on a north or east face of a ridge, or in Alaska, the sun may not reach you all day. Winter days are also shorter, so you'll may have to wait until 9 am or later for the sun to reach you even if your on a south or east face, or on flatter ground. Finally, there's any cloud cover, the sun will offer no help.

The frozen condensation (water) will add weight to your pack, and increases the chances of getting your other gear wet if you put the tent into your pack and your body heat warms it during the day. Wet clothing in winter is a serious problem.

Summary:
Overall, we chose the Trango 2 as our favorite tent in this review. The Sierra Designs tent is very similar in design, but with a few less features for $60 less. Unless your customer really can't spend the extra bucks, we'd recommend going with the Trango 2.

For customers who are more cost conscious, the Sierra Designs Tiros Assault CD is a stable, all-conditions tent for the money. It is also the lightest weight tent in the review. Eureka's Polar Storm also works well for its $360 price tag. Although heavy at over 10 pounds, the extra thick floor and walls almost guarantee years of usage, and the cavernous vestibule means plenty of room for all your gear-hey, you could almost park a small car in there!

The Preying Mantis and Garuda Jana are two solid performers, with mid-range prices. Their key features are the Quest's large, roomy vestibule-which we've always liked-and the Jana's vent system. We'd only recommend the Scorpion for cross-over three season and occasional winter camping.

Tent	Weight	Square Footage	Vestibule Size	Retail Price	Poles Canopy / Vestibule	Peak Height	Window
Quest Preying Mantis 4S	Min 7 lbs 9 oz , pkg 9 lbs 1 oz	36	17	N/A	4 +1	43"	No
Sierra Designs Tiros Assault CD	Min 6 lbs 13 oz, pkg 7 lbs 12 oz	34	7.5	$375	4	39"	No
Eureka Polar Storm	10 lbs 10 oz	40	29	$360	4	45"	Yes (1999 model)
North Face Mountain Tent	Std 7 lbs 12 oz Pkg 8 lbs 15 oz	35	10	N/A	4+1	39"	No
Moss Titan	Min 8 lbs. Pkg 8 lbs. 12 oz	40	10	$499	3 + 1	48"	No
Mountain Hardwear Trango 2	Min 8 lbs 4 oz, Pkg 9 lbs 6 oz	40.5	11 + 5	$435	4 + brow	41"	Yes
Eureka Scorpion 2XT	7 lbs 13 oz	37.5	22	$330	2 + 2	49"	No
Garuda Jana	Min 6 lbs 15 oz	35.0	12.5 + 3.5	$425	3	41"	No

Steve Mann would rather spend his time in the field than in the office-even when it's below zero. Steve is a contributing editor for GearReview.com.