Eureka Spitfire anybody?

Quick intro: Hello all. I've posted a few times, been hanging around for a while just reading. I do all my walking in northern Michigan forestlands. Very well ran site Moderators.

Does anybody have experience with the Eureka Spitfire 1 or 2 tents? They seem to be well made and look okay set up, but that low price scares me.

Thanks for any and all input, Chris

3 lbs for a one man tent is a bit heavy but not bad, at 130$ it's pretty cheap.

My 2-man Kelty is just over 5# packed. But, man o' man that extra space is nice to wait out a rain storm in. Plus, Im 6' 1" 215# and prefer some space. The Spitfire design looks like it offers a little more room than an average 1 man'er does.

I gave the Spitfire a serious look but after all comparisons I decided on the Koppen Maelstrom 2. At 4.5 pounds, it's not super light but its overly spacious for 1 person, more than adequate for 2. And on sale for $90 at Dick's SPorting Goods, you can't beat the price...Have not used it on the trail yet, but I don't imagine I will have any issues.

Here are some much lighter solo tents that you might want to investigate:

From Tarptent.com:
Contrail, 27.5 oz, $209
Notch (double wall) 26 oz. $275
Moment DW (double wall) 35 oz. $285

From SixMoonDesigns.com:
Skyscape Scout 34 oz. $125
Skyscape Trekker 24 oz. $225
Lunar Solo LE 30 oz. $180
Lunar Solo 24 oz. $215

These makers also sell a variety of lightweight 2-person tents. Some of Tarptent's are double-wall, if this concerns you (I personally prefer single-wall).

I've found most of these tents quite roomy for 1 person plus 75-lb. dog. Do note that I haven't tried all of them, though.

I have and have used the Spitfire 1. Did well in the rain, not a lot of room for gear and a pad with a taper foot would be better because of the narrow end. But my Neo Air did fine just hits the end of the tent. Other than that it is a good tent, packs down pretty small for a double wall, poles are easy to set up but is not freestanding. I made coffee in the rain under the vestibule. Overall I give it 6 on a 10 scale.
Happy Trails

I haven't used the Spitfire series of tents, but I've had good experience with Eureka Tents over the years. You MUST seam seal them, but if you provide that basic level of care they last.

That said, I've used Eureka Tents for Car Camping, and participation in this forum led me to TarpTent pretty quickly. Why?

Weight.

My 2 person 5x7 Eureka Tetragon 5 (bought in 2003 and still kicking - not bad for a factory second) weighed 5lbs (+) for two. Which was ok until I wanted to bring kid #2 along.

My Rainshadow 2 (from TarpTent) cost almost 4 times as much as that factory second Tetragon 5 but it only weighs two and a half pounds, which lets me bring 3 kids (yeah, we're tight but they are small) out for shorter backpacking adventures. Great tent.

So the answer is - what are you willing to trade off (cost vs. weight)?

and... if you're going to buy a Eureka Tent, go to their website, look at the factory seconds, and buy lots of seam sealer.

I use a Spitfire 2 and I have no complaints. I love the extra room when using it solo, both width and length. Most tents seem to be right around 6.5ft long, which means if you use a long bag or lg pad, it's cramped. According to my scale, the tent, fly, and poles weigh in at 4lb5oz. I've thought about getting a lighter tent, but I haven't found anything that really convinced me to do so. Easy to set up, has 2 side doors, which is awesome on the rare occasion I do share my tent. It also packs down very small if you need, you can put the tent and fly in a 10L sack, and go smaller in a compression sack.

I'd also recommend a look at the various Tarptent models. I've used several of them extensively, one for 8 years and had no problems at all with wear or with nasty weather. And most are half the weight of the Eureka models.

See my post above for weight comparisons.

Thanks again for all the info. I do use an over-sized pad and sleeping bag as Im 6' 1", 210#. I just fall right off the "reg" sizes. I have been eyeballing the Tarptents for a year, as well as other super lights. I like them alot. I don't use telescoping trekking poles, so Id have to get one with a pole system included and that seems to always get my carry weight back up close to where I am now.

The upright pole that my Rainshadow 2 came with is a really light easton pole... I think I'd have a lot of difficulty getting my Rainshadow 2 to weigh as much as my Tetragon 5.

My scale isn't accurate enough to tell you how much that pole weighs, and you are looking at a smaller tent anyway. Recommend you ask Henry Shires (owner) or Franco (sales rep) -who both frequent this site - what the weight of the pole is and the TW of the package is. Compared to a Spitfire, I think you'll like what you see. Then again, your mileage may vary.

Hope you're happy with whatever decision you chose to make.

Just go to the Ordering page on the tarptent.com website and click on the poles for the tent in which you're interested. The weight and folded length of the poles are fully disclosed there.

There are of course other sources for poles, such as the stout carbon fiber ones from Ruta Locura. They aren't much lighter, but they're stronger.

Because the Rainshadow 2 (a three person tent) is so wide across the front, Tarptent recommends using two poles for better stability. Using the two poles also makes it a lot easier to go in and out--you can slant them outward a bit at the base. Since I go basecamp style when taking out the grandkids, I use the extra poles so I can take my trekking poles with me for dayhikes.