The Sea to Summit Alto TR1 one person ultralight tent is an impressive 3 season tent that can handle most everything you can throw at it. This tent is a semi-freeestanding double wall tent that was incredibly well thought out. When you first grab this tent out of the package you quickly know that you are holding something special in your hands.
The Alto TR1 comes in a three pack that all comes together. The fly stuff sack packed with the rain fly, the inner stuff sack and the pole bag which doubles as the lightbar. The entire system is 2 lbs 7.2 oz. and it all comes together in one package or it can be broken up in to 3 distinct packages for easy packing in your pack. On long range trips this is the tent you are going to want. The tent comes with a single door and a vestibule long enough and big enough cover your pack and keep everything secure. This is a one person tent that you can actually sit up in and enjoy being inside the tent. The height on this tent is outstanding and it is why you would buy this tent. The top vent creates air movement in and out of the tent so you don’t wake up feeling wet.
The Tension Ridge architecture allows for an oversized door and vertical walls to create a lot more headspace and it gave me room to move in this tent that I have not felt in many other tents of this size and weight. The TR1 comes with a set of 9 lightweight tent stakes. I recommend picking up an additional set to have with you. There are stronger stakes overall, but these will work in most ground types. This is a cool tent for hot weather and if you are packing in, this is the tent you want for light fast set ups. Every detail about this tent was well thought out, the bags for the rain fly and the tent actually install in the corners of the tent and you easily drop in your wallet, keys, etc.
I liked that you could deploy the rain fly from inside the tent for when you need it. I also liked that I had more room at my shoulders than at my feet which gives me a little more room to stretch out in the tent. Of course sitting up and reading with the lightbar worked out quite well but I probably would not use that feature unless I had a two person tent instead just opting for my own headlamp.
As soon as you walk away from your vehicle with this tent in your backpack and you are bombing off on three days in the backcountry to do some scouting, it is not hard to get a big smile on your face. The Sea to Summit Alto TR1 Tent is easy to set up. As you can see from this time-lapse below, this was our very first time setting up this tent so it was a fair test of how easy it is to set up.
Check out the Sea to Summit and consider getting this lightweight tent under 3lb tent, you will not regret it.
Thanks fir the review. Can you suggest a lightweight sleeping mat and sleeping bag?
Yes, the lightweight bags from Sierra Design are reasonably priced and good quality unless you are looking for something serious and then we recommend the bags from Nemo. As for sleeping pads, the best we have found is the products from Klymit.com.