Big Agnes Scout Plus UL2

Big Agnes came out with the Scout Plus UL2 as an improvement to the Scout UL2.  It is a very similar tent, but has a vestibule in which one could store gear, boots, etc. It also holds 2 people easily, and has mesh side and back panels to provide ventilation.  Unlike the Scout UL2, the front door has mesh, so the ventilation is improved.  The tent was 40 oz on my scale, which I think included the footprint.  In general use I don't use footprints, as they add up to a pound to the tent weight, and I never wear out a tent in the bottom. My tents get worn out from being in the sun for many says, or the zipper breaking. The price I see now for the tent is $349.95, so its $50 more than the Scout UL2.

Big Agnes Scout Plus UL2

 

I used this tent in the Uintas of Utah for six days, and we had ferocious mosquitoes and it rained every day. One time when I was setting it up I failed to close the zippered front door, and by the time it was set up I had about 50 mosquitoes in the tent.

Big Agnes Scout Plus UL2, inside

One uses hiking poles in set up, and there are no other poles. Its made for the rear pole to be inside the tent, which is kind of a hassle, but it works well with the rear pole lifting the rear of the outside of the tent.   I also used this tent in Dark Canyon in Utah, in soft sand where stakes would not hold. It set up fine using rocks instead of stakes.

Like most 2 man tents, its wonderful as a one man tent.  My goal is to have my main three gear items, pack, sleeping bag, and tent, weight less than 3 lbs, and preferably in the range of 2 pounds, and this tent is 2 lbs 8 oz, including stakes and foot print.  One uses hiking poles at either end in pitching the tent.

Two sleeping pads (Neoaires) fit side by side easily, so it really is a 2 man tent.  For one person its very roomy.  Although it is low profile, your sleeping bag never need touch the tent upper surface.  This is exactly the kind of tent I like for solo use, and the occasional 2 person use would work out fine. 

The internal gear pockets formed mesh boxes that stood open, unlike most gear pouches which are more like flat bags.  That was a nice feature. 

It took pitching it a few times to realize that having the poles set at a longer length resulted in the sidewalls being nicely vertical for 18 inches or so.  That was a nice feature to achieve without the use of short corner poles which some tents use.  It took 13 stakes to pitch the tent, but they were very light stakes and held beautifully.  Above the vertical portion of the sidewall was a mesh section which went all the way around the tent, and helped with ventilation and kept the condensation down.

The peak of the tent was high enough that you could sit up on your elbows, but you had to crawl out into the vestibule to exit the tent.  The vestibule was a nice feature and your whole pack could go there, or at least some gear could go there, like boots. 

An area that is tough for a single wall tent to overcome is condensation.  On the wetter nights there was some condensation on the inside of the tent, and one had to be careful when getting in and out to not touch the inside of the tent with the sleeping bag.  Some practice pitching the tent with tall hiking pole lengths would improve the tent's performance as far as condensation goes, so I'll chalk that up to operator error. I don't know any tents that are perfect when it comes to condensation when it rains for long.