Big Agnes Tent Overview - Copper Spur HV UL2 Bikepack Tent (Set up, Awning Tips, and Take Down
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- Опубликовано: 30 авг 2021
- This video gives an intro to Cirq Rental's Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL2 Bikepacking tents, including proper set up, awning use, and take down tips.
For rentals and reservations visit cirq-rentals.com
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I'm a backpacker, and I purchased the bikepacking version for the reason I can carry everything inside my pack! Sometimes ya just gotta think outside the tent!
Love it! That's a great reason to go with the bike pack. I wish tent vendors would offer an after purchase pole upgrade option to the shorter sections. Thanks for sharing and happy camping!
Really helpful video. Thanks. However, noted that you forgot to put the crossbar ends into the small pockets on the rainfly. That would stabilize it further and increase longevity of rainfly as rubbing against the ends is avoided.
Thanks Mikael, great suggestion. We did overlook that step in the video and you're right, it does make for a much stronger pitch especially in windy conditions, and with these light tent materials it will absolutely prolong the life of the fly. We'll add that to our notes for future videos and include some close ups of steps like this. Thanks!
Very helpful video thank you!
Glad you found it helpful, and thank you for your note!
Really helpful, thanks.
So glad, happy camping!
A lot of thought went into the design of that tent.
Indeed. We've been really impressed with it!
hi, great video, cool that you got through the whole process of setting it up and packing back !
One question - how long is that 'spreader bar' , I wonder how wide the tent is at that top hight.
I just bought Tiger Wall UL2 bikepacking, went for trip with it and I am a bit disappointed about the amount of space, its difficult for 2 people to sit inside without touching the walls of inner tent. In Tiger Wall that spreader bar is pretty short and walls are not very vertical.
Hi Mateusz, glad you enjoyed the video!
The spreader bar at the top is roughly 40.5 inches (1.03m) from point to point. There is a slight bend in the center of the pole to give a slight pitch to the top of the fly, so this measurement is from clip point straight across to clip point (not accounting for the full length of the poles as they make that bend at the top).
There are a few inches of webbing that extend outside of the tent where the pole attaches, so the full width of the tent interior at the top where the spreader bar attaches is 36 inches (.91m) wide.
As lightweight backpacking tents go, It's pretty wide for a two person, although shoulder to shoulder sitting up I'd guess two adults are closer to 40-50 inches wide at the shoulders. The sidewalls on the CSHVUL2 are pretty much straight up from the bottom, with a very slight taper at that middle point. It's a tough balance between space and weight. You may consider a UL 3-person tent, which may give you that extra room with only a slight weight penalty.
When using the footprint, tent and rainfly there are lots of options to connect these together and even where the stakes (only 6 of them included) could be used including which zippers to use. In the stake bag are included additional parts like 4 velco straps and 4 guy lines ... are the for optional use, spares or something else? Maybe the Big Agnes site has those details?
Hi Tom, great questions. There is a lot of customization available on the spur series and its never really clear what all that extra stuff is for! We generally use the four included guy out lines for the 'awning feature'. We usually tie a small loop at one end and either loop that over the end of the trekking pole or girth hitch to the loop on the awning. The velcro straps are included to help you secure the tent bag (daisy chain) to your bike during transport: handlebar, bike rack, frame etc. they include two each of two different sizes for different diameter attachment locations on your bike. Or in some configurations you may use all four velcro straps to secure to your bike. At camp, I often use the velcro straps to attach gear to the tent fly daisy chain or to hang things like head lamps or charging cables inside the tent- dual purpose! We always recommend investing in 2-3 extra stakes as you mention to get full use of the awning mode and all the guy out points on the tent itself. For our rental tents we add the stakes so customers can get full use. Hope this helps narrow the mystery and happy camping!
Maybe those extra guy lines are for the awning feature/option but that requires 4 stakes (2 per side)
Saw this after our reply to your other question - yes, exactly -> intended for the awning feature, but could be used as extra guy outs in heavy wind conditions too. We recommend adding 2-3 stakes to your tent kit to get the most out of all features on the spur (and when we all inevitably misplace one!). I think BA keeps the stakes to a minimum to keep the 'packaged weight' as low as possible while still keeping the tent's core features fully functional. If you don't add stakes, you can still get at least one vestibule up with the included stakes though you may have to sacrifice extra guy outs and door anchors while the awnings are in use. Not usually a huge deal since we're unlikely to use the awning in heavy wind or rain conditions anyway.
Thanks for the review. Is the shorter poles and the corresponding storage bags the only difference between the standard model and the Bikepacking model?
Hi Doug, great question. Those are the two biggest differences. Here are a couple more to consider: On the bike pack tent, you have elastic helmet straps on the outside of the tent as well as a gear loop daisy chain on the top/outside of the rainfly. Its great for hanging wet clothes/gloves to dry during the day outside the tent. I've also found it to be a great feature for affixing a small solar array on the top/roof of the tent.
One other difference between the two is that the bike pack footprint is extended, which means it extends out and creates a floor in the vestibule area (both vestibules on the UL2). This is a nice feature for extra floor coverage in wet/muddy/sandy conditions and just extends your useable space. If you pitch the bike pack with the extended footprint in quick pitch/fast fly mode (rainfly and footprint w/o the tent body) - you can extend the capacity of the tent fly considerably and suddenly you may be able to accommodate three bikers in shelter with the UL2, or add a dog with the UL1. Great for ultralight endeavors or an emergency situation.
As far as weight, inside tent floor space, etc. They're either exactly the same or negligible difference. The bike pack is about 4 oz heavier, I assume due to the extra straps/daisy chains and the extra pole joints. One other nice thing about the bike pack that I forgot to mention in the video is that with the 12 inch poles it fits a lot better in a dry bag so it may be an ideal tent for paddle/kayak campers or if you want to keep the whole tent together as a unit in a dry bag outside or inside your backpack.
Thanks for your question, and happy camping!
@@CirqRentals All good points and thank you for your real world experience with the product
Will the spreader bar work a hole on the rain fly? Concerned, the rain fly doesn't have reinforced points.
Hi Ppp, good question, there is a reinforcement pocket on the rainfly where the spreader bar terminates. You can see that in this video on quick pitching the hvul2 at 7:17: ruclips.net/video/32-yISTkGlQ/видео.html. Thanks for your question and happy camping!
If a hole or snag starts on tent fabric, is it under warranty? Use a certain patch until get the tent to Big Agnes? Is the tent repairable with Big Agnes?
Hi! That'd be a great question to reach out directly to Big Agnes for specifics. Here's a link to their warranty & repairs page: support.bigagnes.com/hc/en-us
In my experience with most of the major tent brands is that wear/tear & misuse (like holes, rips, tears & spark burns) are generally not covered by warranty. Especially with the UL tent space, the materials are so fragile, it's a trade off in durability and strength for weight savings. I have seen most of the big tent brands including BA stand behind their products when the issue was clearly a defect or quality issue on a brand new tent.
BA does offer repair services at a fair price, and you can check that service out here: link.bigagnes.com/warranty
They also have a good self-repair guide here: bigagnes.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/categories/115000636987-Gear-Maintenance-Repair
I've often patched small holes on personal tents with gorilla tape or other repair tape. Sometimes that is enough to keep on using the tent and other times I've used more long lasting adhesive patches from Gear Aid.
Since we manage high end rentals at Cirq, we haven't sent any tents to BA for repair, as we usually move any damaged tents into our resale and replace with new gear.
Let us know if you have any additional questions and happy camping!
How would you choose to pitch the tent in heavy rain and wind?
Hi Dyvel, thanks for you question. I'll give it a high level go and please reach out if you're looking for more context or detail. I don't think this is what you are asking but if you are referring to the awning set up, in high rain and wind, I'd obviously pitch the tent with vestibules staked down and closed in any but the lightest weather.
I'd definitely pitch it in fast fly/quick pitch mode. We have a video on quick pitch with the regular HVUL2. It's the same process, the bike pack tent just has a bigger footprint to include the vestibule area. Check that video out for details on quick pitch set up: ruclips.net/video/32-yISTkGlQ/видео.html
The video assumes light/general rain or light & fast set up. For severe rain/wind, I'd make the adjustments below:
I'd first determine which direction the wind/rain is coming from because I'll want to stake that side really well from the get go and position the narrow end of the tent in to the wind. Knowing the tent you can predict where your guy out lines and stakes need to go in advance so if you're that intimate with your tent, you can go ahead and pre-stake before getting your tent out , but either way here's my order:
Pull and layout the rainfly with inside down, using it as a 'tarp for the footprint'.
Set and stake the footprint taught trying to keep as much of it under the rainfly as I'm doing it. Inevitably it will get partially wet.
Then I'd assemble the main pole system outside of the rainfly. With the poles flat I'd slide them between the rainfly and on top of the footprint. Set the poles in the grommets or clips on one narrow side first (ideally the leeward side) and clip the fly into the footprint so it doesn't fly away on you. Then walk over to the other side while holding the rainfly as I go. Slowly lift the poles into place on the opposite side (while keeping the poles and footprint still under and covered by the rainfly). This will erect the tent fly slowly while still being over the footprint keeping it as dry as possible.
I'd then clip the rainfly into the footprint clips from the outside. I'd also take this moment to stake out all the guy lines on the windward side assuming your high wind scenario as well as the vestibules. Anything I wanted to keep dry at this point would get tossed under the vestibule. On the bike pack version of this tent the footprint extends into the vestibule area. During set up like this I'd actually fold these wings over to keep them dry and give me a wet area when I open and close the doors during set up so that rain and runoff wouldn't land not he footprint everytime I open the door. . Later I'd fold them back out once everything is set up.
Next I'd hop inside the tent myself trying to carefully keep everything as dry as possible (trying to use that vestibule area as much as possible). I'd then assemble and install the cross spreader pole into the rainfly from underneath. I'd attach the velcro pole attachments on the underside of the rainfly as well due to the wind.
Then if I'm going to use the tent body and I don't expect the rain to let up anytime soon, I'd first break out my pack towel and dry off the footprint and underside of the fly area if anything got significantly wet during the quick pitch.
Then I'd start setting up the tent body from inside and under the rainfly. You can do all your clips this way and reach out to secure the tent loops and clips to the main poles, fly and footprint from under the tent. Due to the high wind, I'd clip everything together and 're-do' the fly/footprint attachment properly incorporating the tent body clips. I wouldn't worry too much about staking the tent body itself as the footprint and fly are already well anchored and I wouldn't want to risk loosening those anchor points in the wind.
Now that everything inside is set, I'd brave the rain once more myself and go around and stake out the remaining guy lines, open my vents on the leeward side and tighten the straps on my rainfly so that everything is as tight as possible.
You'll still probably experience some wetness inevitably and depending on the severity of the rain or the changing of wind direction you could play with fly vents open or closed. Whenever I have the vents closed (on almost any tent) I get just as wet inside from condensation as the rain, so I try to open them whenever possible.
Now that our quick pitch is set up, we can get back inside and get our sleep system all set up and organized. Then read, play cards or get cozy, now that we are all set up, hunkered down and relatively dry on the inside.
Hope this helps you stay dry and confident in your set up. Cheers!
Did u pack tent stakes loose on the tent fabric?
No, it must have been hard to see in the video. Often we place the stake bag in the top (side of top) of the tent stuff sack so you probably saw us nesting the last stakes in with the others into the stake bag which was already in the tent stuff sack. The stake bag is basically the same UL material as the tent and looks similar too so that might have been tricky on camera.
Yeah, as you're pointing out it'd be too risky to stuff the stakes in loosewith the tent body or fly, especially on these UL tents. You'd be begging for a rip or puncture. Thanks for asking an important clarifying question, and happy camping!
Wish you showed the ground tarp and interior. Incomplete
Hi Ralph, thanks for you note! We'll add those suggestions for a future update. Our more recent videos do delve into more detailed views of the interiors, etc. Let us know if you have any questions about the HVUL bike pack series and happy camping!
The stakes dont have a loop hook. How do you keep the string loops from coming off the top of stake? Especially in wind.
The dirt dagger Ul stakes shown in the video have a groove cut out that catch the ribbons on the footprint/ tent. The UL ribbons on the tent are very narrow and mate nicely into the cut outs on the stakes. With the right pressure applied at the right angle in solid soil, we haven’t had any issues with them coming loose. The stakes also have a cord loop attached so you could also girth hitch or girth loop them together with the loops on the tent for a even more piece of mind in a storm scenario. I’ve noticed BA’s website recently lists aluminum J stakes for the UL2. Not sure if that’s the case, but our rental fleet all has the dirt dagger stake kits. Hope this helps and happy camping!
Thanks! I’m new to bike packing and camping. This was a nice tutorial.