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 inside privateness if such issues matter to you (as they typically do with {couples} backpacking.) This tent’s design is predicated on the enduring Zpacks Duplex Tent however gives extra inside quantity and top as a result of its peak ridgeline is offset to at least one aspect. The addition of panel guy-out factors helps pull the partitions out additional so you’ll be able to transfer round inside with out touching the partitions, which is so vital in a single-wall tent which by its nature is extra vulnerable to inside condensation than a double-wall tent.
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Specs at a Look
- Sort: Single Wall Tent
- Weight: 19.7 oz
- Structural: Trekking Pole Tent (2 poles required)
- Materials: Dyneema DCF
- Seam-taped: Sure
- Poles: 1 included, though simply changed with a stick
- Inside pockets: 2 small ones beneath the doorways
- Minimal variety of stakes to pitch (not included): 8
- Required Trekking Pole Size: 48″ (122 cm)
- Peak top: 48″ (122 cm)
- Ground width: 50″ (127 cm) tapers to 44″ (112 cm) from mid-torso to foot.
- Ground size: 94″ (239 cm)
- Ground Space: 31.4 sq. ft (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 present occupants extra inside room to maneuver round with out touching the inside partitions, which in a single-wall tent, are vulnerable to inside condensation switch. This creates an inside house that has extra top above the pinnacle and ft than the isosceles triangle form of the Zpacks Duplex, the place the inside top of the tent’s sides is identical irrespective of which aspect you set your head on with the intention to sleep.
Like all tents, this new design has some tradeoffs, however on the entire is a web constructive by way of livability, significantly when the tent is shared by two folks. It ought to be famous that the offset design isn’t significantly new and different tent producers additionally supply 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 flooring (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 ft. 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 stop the carbon fiber from splintering and comes with a helpful two-ended elastic quiver to stop 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 establishing, 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 way of guides on the edges of the ground to get the fitting flooring depth, after which tighten the corners and vestibule guylines utilizing the included line-loc tensioners. It’s fairly easy when 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.
As soon as the essential 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 wire and staked out and the opposite at its base connected with elastic however unfastened. Because the backside 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 stop it from sinking in gentle floor. That appears to work simply as properly. The rear panel, in flip, is pulled out with a easy static guyline.
However anytime you unzip the vestibule or roll again one of many vestibule doorways, you’ll in all probability need to get out and readjust the guyline tensioning: Dyneema doesn’t have any stretch to it so if you loosen up a part of the tent, the opposite elements loosen up too, considerably annoyingly, significantly on Zpacks tents.
There are a few issues concerning the design of the Offset Duo which are value noting.
The vestibule doorways on the head finish of the tent should stay closed to help the edges of the tent, in contrast to the Zpacks Duplex, the place each vestibule doorways will be rolled again to extend air flow and supply 180-degree views. The draw back of this design is decreased aspect air flow in Offset Duo, which is definitely fairly vital when you use the tent with two folks because the elevated physique warmth and exhalations they generate will trigger extra inside 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 greater winds. As well as, whereas there’s a magnetic toggle to roll and maintain the foot finish of the vestibule again, there isn’t a corresponding toggle on the pinnacle finish of the vestibule.
The perimeters of the Offset Duo, together with the vestibules are reduce excessive, to extend airflow by way of the tent and mitigate inside condensation. It is a frequent 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 an excellent choose for shoulder season climate (spring/autumn) in open tent websites uncovered to greater wind speeds and might be finest utilized in forested terrain or in locations with pure windbreaks.
Inside storage contained in the Offset Duo is minimal. Whereas there are two pockets in the course of the tent beneath the door zippers, they’re actually solely sufficiently big for a Smartphone. If in case you have one thing delicate like glasses, I’d advise towards storing them there. I dangle mine from the mesh door zipper pulls as a substitute.
In the event 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 because the pole isn’t in the course of the door, they don’t fall to the bottom when opened, and so they let in fewer bugs because the 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.
Relating to inside condensation, the jury remains to be out in my view. I’ve skilled great condensation utilizing the Offset Duo each solo and with a associate. Whereas there’s elevated inside quantity, I’ve nonetheless gotten moist transferring round contained in the tent when my garments brush up towards the ceiling. I desire to have a tent that’s guyed out on the peaks with vestibule doorways that may be rolled again totally for optimum airflow and views. That mentioned, I’ve examined the Offset Duo solely within the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the place all single-wall tents and shelters expertise inside condensation to some extent. Your mileage could differ, significantly in a hotter local weather or one which’s much less humid.
Suggestion
The Zpacks Offset Duo is an ultralight single wall trekking pole tent made with Dyneema that weighs 19.7 oz (559g). It’s 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. In the event you’re seeking to purchase a tent from Zpacks, particularly for {couples} use, the Offset Duo is unquestionably the choose of the litter when you can afford its hefty price ticket of $769.
Comparable Dyneema DCF Tents
Key: SW=Single Wall, DW=Double Wall
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