Gear Report GSMNP trip- Tarptent Rainbow

The trip to GSMNP allowed me to try out my new Henry Shires Rainbow tarptent and my new Granite Gear Vapor Ki backpack.

The Rainbow replaced a 4+ pound Wenzel youth tent I had purchased from Walmart many years ago to use on the occasional backpack trip. Then I didn't backpack for about 15 years. So the tent was one of the items I really wanted to replace. I did alot of research and read alot of message board postings and had my choices narrowed to the MSR Missing Link and the Shires Contrail or Rainbow.

I have a friend who uses the Missing Link so I had seen it in use before. The tent weighs right at 3 pounds and is a true 2 person tent. I didn't like the fact you must use your trekking poles to set it up with. I did like the "canopy" style door. I really wanted a tent that was a bit lighter though. Between the Contrail and Rainbow I went for the slightly heavier Rainbow because of a couple of features I liked. It is listed as a 3+ season tent and this appealed to me as I intend to backpack once every month and even though middle Tennessee doesn't get a ton of snow I wanted to have the option of going out in the snow. I also liked the side entry door vs. the end entry of the Contrail. I also felt the free-standing option of the Rainbow was a useful feature. The Rainbow comes in at 2lbs. 3ozs. on my scale including all poles, stakes and stuff sacks.

I seam sealed the tent and painted stripes of silicone on the floor of the tent as suggested. I was glad I did the floor! The silnylon is very slippery and even on a bit of a slope your pad will slide around. The silicone kept this to a minimum. I had plenty of room and room for my gear. I don't think it got below about 35 or 40 degrees and it was dry. I didn't have any trouble with condensation. The door provided a very small vestibule; I kept my boots under this and brought my pack into the tent. The Rainbow set up quickly (I tried it twice at home first) and came down even quicker. I believe I could get it into a smaller stuff sack so I can lay it flat in my pack vs. having to stand it up straight. So far I like my choice!