A Complete Evaluate of the Telos Tr2 Plus Tent

The Sea to Summit Telos TR2 Plus is a two-person freestanding backpacking tent with quite a few pitching choices. The “Plus” model differs from the Customary Telos TR2 model by utilizing a stable inside tent as a substitute of a mesh one to dam the wind and prolong its use into shoulder seasons. We beforehand reviewed the Customary (non-Plus) model of the TR2 with a mesh as a substitute of a stable inside (see evaluate). Sea-to-Summit additionally sells a bikepacking model of the Telos TR2 with compact poles which might be simpler to move by bicycle.

Whereas Sea-to-Summit sells all three variations of the Telos TR2 individually, they share a standard design structure and will be transformed into one another by changing particular person parts. For instance, you’ll be able to substitute the stable inside on the Telos TR2 Plus reviewed right here with a mesh inside to be used in hotter climate. You may as well purchase the compact poles of the bikepacking model individually and substitute the usual poles that include the Telos TR2 or Telos TR2 Plus to make them simpler to hold on the body of a bicycle.

Sadly, Sea-to-Summit has buried this modular functionality, which might be a key promoting level for four-season or multi-sport customers. Why? Retailers lack the experience to clarify modular merchandise to customers. Nevertheless, in case you are , you should purchase the person parts from the spare components part of the Sea-to-Summit web site. 

For the rest of this evaluate, we’ll give attention to the Telos TR2 Plus model of the tent.

Specs at a Look

• Minimal Path Weight (producer): 3 kilos, 9.7 ounces
• Minimal Path Weight (examined): 3 kilos, 7.2 ounces
• Complete Packed Weight (producer): 3 kilos, 12 ounces
• Complete Packed Weight (examined): 3 kilos, 14.9 oz.
• Supplies: Fly: 15 denier ripstop nylon, Silicone / Polyether Polyurethane (PeU)-coated, 1200mm hydrostatic head, Internal: 20 denier ripstop nylon, Ground: 30 denier ripstop nylon, 4000mm hydrostatic head, 6 inch tall bathtub design, Poles: DAC Featherlite NSL 8.5mm and NSL 9.0mm hubbed poles
• Ground Dimensions (producer): 84.5 x 53/43 inches (tapering head to foot)
• Ground Dimensions (examined): 85 X 52/42 inches (tapering head to foot)
• Peak peak (producer): 43.5 inches
• Peak peak (examined): 41 inches on the doorways, 38 inches within the middle (36 inches if the Lightbar is put in)
• Included: 8x 7075-T6 aluminum Y-stakes in a stuff sack; restore patches; pole restore sleeve; 4x guylines with toggles for additional wind resistance and Hangout Mode pitch; 3x multi-use connectable stuff sacks for the poles, inside and fly.
• Footprint offered individually

Stable Internal Tent

The Telos TR2 Plus is a freestanding double-wall tent with a stable inside tent to forestall breezes from chilling you. It’s optimized to be used in cooler temperatures, reminiscent of early spring and late fall earlier than it snows. A stable inside tent is an effective way to increase a tent’s use into colder temperatures. The facet panels are made with a stable, however breathable cloth, with mesh screening on the prime to vent moisture. Nevertheless, whereas a stable inside tent is nice within the chilly, you wouldn’t need to use it in the course of summer season or wherever heat and muggy, limiting the utility of the TR2 Plus, until you buy the further mesh inside tent.

The Stress Ridge

The TR2 Plus contains three items, every with their very own stuff sack: a pole set, a stable cloth inside tent, and the tent fly. The hubbed pole set is formed like two Ys related to one another at their toes, with a further crossbar pole known as the Stress Ridge. The Stress Ridge is a key design function of the tent; it types a V form, which lifts up the inside tent close to every door to extend headroom. On this manner, the tallest a part of the tent is just not within the center however moderately above the heads of every person. The poles are all related to one another in a single piece to forestall shedding any of them.

A number of Setup Choices

The Telos TR2 Plus will be arrange in six other ways, together with a fly-first mode, which is helpful if it’s raining as a result of it retains the inside tent dry. All six of those modes are additionally obtainable with the all-mesh model of the tent and the bikepacking variations.

• Basic Mode
• Fly-Solely Mode
• Dry Setup Mode
• Internal Solely Mode
• Partial Fly Mode
• Hangout Mode

Basic Mode can be acquainted to anybody who has arrange a US-made freestanding tent that units up inside first, fly final. This pitch is normally finest for gentle climate as a result of it leaves the inside tent uncovered to precipitation earlier than the fly goes on.

The Fly-Solely Mode is easy to arrange and doesn’t require a tent footprint. You assemble the poles, stake them out, after which join the fly’s corners to the poles. When insect safety is pointless, you would use the rainfly as a freestanding tarp.

The Dry Setup is a standard design of European tents, permitting the rain fly to be arrange first and the inside tent to be added later. Some tents require a footprint to do that, however the TR2 doesn’t want one, as a substitute utilizing {hardware} that can be utilized in numerous methods for various pitches. The Fast Join Toes are C-shaped metallic items that may both hook on to the Jakes toes of the inside tent if you arrange the inside first or can operate as a grommet for the pole ideas if you arrange fly first whereas nonetheless leaving sufficient of the pole tip uncovered to insert into the jakes toes on the inside tent. Whereas it’s a really artistic design, it’s time-consuming to pitch, and I discovered the Basic Mode a lot quicker.

The Partial Fly Mode is a neat function the place you stake out each vestibules, disconnect the remainder of the fly, and roll it up so that you simply have a small tube of the fly arcing horizontally excessive of the tent, from vestibule stake to vestibule stake. It jogs my memory of snakeskins on a hammock tarp and serves the identical operate; it means that you can stargaze and have most air flow in calm climate however supplies the power to shortly deploy the fly and batten down the hatches if the climate turns.

Hangout Mode is a fly-only pitch staked down at one finish and lifted up 45 levels to create a cover to take a seat underneath. You connect the lifted finish to trekking poles and man them out, and also you man out the vestibules, too. Nevertheless, it’s fairly wobbly, and the tent handbook guide explicitly says to not use this pitch when it’s windy.

Apex Vent

The Apex Vent is one other key design function of the Telos Sequence, primarily based on the concept heat, humid air rises to the highest of the tent, so placing a vent in that spot ought to scale back condensation. In our earlier evaluate, we discovered that the usual Telos TR2 let in rain by way of its Apex Vent. Sadly, on two separate wet days, water nonetheless made its manner into the TR2 Plus reviewed right here

The instruction handbook says you could open and shut the Apex vent from contained in the tent–however that is deceptive. The inside tent additionally has an Apex Vent–however its two layers are nylon cloth over mesh, so unzipping the inside Apex Vent simply reveals the mesh. You can not entry the Apex Vent on the fly by way of the Apex Vent on the inside.

To open or shut the exterior Apex Vent from the within, you need to kneel contained in the tent, attain your hand out the tent door over the inside tent, and seize the zipper pull of the Apex vent on the fly. If this sounds awkward, it’s; very a lot so. In case your arms are brief, you might be able to open or shut the Apex Vent simply midway earlier than you need to open the opposite facet door and repeat the method on the alternative facet.

Packing

The Telos collection makes use of three stuff sacks that match collectively and have a number of makes use of. The fly and inside stuff sacks convert into “gear buckets”–cavernous pockets that snap into the corners of the tent and may maintain a water bottle upright– is a good concept and the very best answer I’ve seen for holding a water bottle upright in a tent and protecting stuff sacks from getting misplaced.

The pole sack has a inflexible piece of plastic inside that offers it the form of a half-cylinder. Sea to Summit calls it the Lightbar as a result of it may be snapped to the tent’s ceiling and take two headlamps to light up the inside. It gives the look of a fluorescent gentle tube. Nevertheless, I discovered that the Lightbar ceaselessly disconnected from the snaps when including or eradicating headlamps, and it reduce into the headroom of the tent, which is the principle advantage of the Stress Ridge Design. Moreover, in the event you prefer to learn or examine maps whereas mendacity down in your tent, your studying materials can be darkish as a result of the Lightbar is on the tent’s peak as a substitute of behind or above your head.

Further Considerations

The stakes are light-weight and robust, comprised of 7075-T6 anodized aluminum, however the tops are sharp and harm your hand, and the three enamel really feel too small for the webbing stake loops. I’ve had the loops slip off the stakes quite a few instances.

The vestibule cloth repeatedly caught on the zipper when opening and shutting the tent, and the zipper chewed up the seam tape on the vestibule within the first couple of makes use of. Many free threads of frayed cloth alongside the zipper weren’t cleanly reduce earlier than the zipper was added.

Evaluation

Whereas the Sea-to-Summit Telos TR2 collection tents, together with the Telos TR2 Plus reviewed right here, supply many progressive design concepts and options, they’re overshadowed by the leaky Apex Vent, sloppy manufacturing high quality, and an arguably fussy setup. We had hoped that Sea-to-Summit would have addressed the problems we raised in our earlier evaluate of the usual Telos TR2 tent, within the up to date Telos Tr2 Plus, however that doesn’t seem to have been the case. Till then, we can not advocate any of the tents within the Telos TR2 product line.

Store at SeaToSummit

 Likes

• The stable inside tent cloth successfully cuts the wind, making the within of the tent way more nice on chilly and windy nights.
• Dry setup mode retains the inside tent dry in wet climate.
• The fly and inside stuff sacks as “gear buckets” work nice.
• The stake loops are sufficiently big to just accept SMC-style snow stakes.
• Freestanding design makes it simpler to search out good campsites.
• For those who use two 20-inch huge pads, there may be good head and shoulder room for 2 folks with ample gear protection underneath the vestibules.

Dislikes

• Poor manufacturing high quality.
• Leaky and hard-to-open Apex vent.
• Tent stakes and man line loops are mismatched.
• The lightbar is insecure and reduces headroom when used.

Disclosure: Sea to Summit donated a tent for evaluate.

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