BD Epic tents in the winter snow?

[JoshK]

My trusty firstlight has served me well for several season now, but I've still used my Integral Mk1XL for the winter since it has really thick fabric and sheds the snow well. I found a vestibule for my Firstlight on sale and it would be great for ski boots and other winter gear, so I'd like to use the firstlight. Does anybody have experience, good or bad, using one of these Epic tents in the PNW winter? I sat through a really nasty rain/slush storm this Spring and it kept me very dry, but it's more the prospect of heavy wet snow loading or wind that worries me. Any comments?

 

Thanks!

[Lowell_Skoog]

I have a Firstlight tent and it has served me pretty well. I've seen two problems with it. First is leakage at the awning seams. (I haven't seen problems at the seems that run along the poles.) Rather than sealing the seams (what any sensible person would do), I sewed a minimalist and very light rainfly out of sil-fabric. This provides an awning for cooking and I think it should fix the leakage problem. (I haven't been out in really wet weather since making the rainfly.)

 

The second problem is that the epic fabric has a lot of condensation inside. I work around this by sleeping carefully (don't touch the walls) and by always bringing a wash cloth that I can use to swab the inside of the tent before getting up to move around.

 

To my thinking, the condensation problem would be most serious in a strong wind. If the tent flaps at all, you're going to get rained on inside. (It's possible that you may have less condensation on a night when it's windy and there's more air flow, but I don't know if you can count on that.)

 

I don't think snow loading would be a big problem. Just give the walls a whack and it should fall off.

 

[JoshK]

Thanks for the reply Lowell. I noticed the same with the inside getting wet. I sacrified a bandana for mopping purposes. I endured the awful process of seam sealing mine, and actually re-did it this past weekend since it was getting worn. I really like the vestibule space, so i'm going to try use the firstlight this upcoming winter and hopefully it works out.

[Le Piston]

Although I love my Firstlight, I usually use a larger, warmer tent in the winter. After massive seam sealing, I have only had condensation problems in the Firstlight camped on sand near a lake in clouds/fog. The vestibule on my Sierra Designs Summit allows me to cook or dig a pit in the snow and dress sitting in the vestibule...quite the luxury. I've used the Firstlight in snow in Spring, but like the breathability and warmth of the Gore Tex tent in winter conditions

[Hugh Conway]

Snow's not been so bad in my experience, it's a cold rain that'll really turn the inside condensing.

[Maxtrax]

Snow's not been so bad in my experience, it's a cold rain that'll really turn the inside condensing.

 

Same experience for me.

 

I've only had my Firstlight in snowy weather a few times but the first time was a 3-day tour where 2/3rds the time it was snowing and 29-31 degrees and we had no condensation issues whatsoever. The only time I've ever had condensation issues was this summer camped on a sand bar where we had cold rain for 8-10 hours and dense fog for about 6 hours. I have the smallest MSR packtowel in my cook kit which I used to swab down the walls before moving around in the morning. Also, I seam-sealed it very carefully when it was brand new and have never had any leakage or condensation that seemed to be originating at any of the seams.