Altaplex Tent
Super light and extremely roomy for a 6'2" person! Sets up very quickly and durably minimalistic! In essence perfect!!
The Altaplex Tent is a larger, taller version of our popular Plex Solo Tent. It is designed for hikers who enjoy the simplicity of a single pole shelter but require more space.
Our Carbon Fiber Trekking Poles will adjust to the minimum required 56" (142 cm) height, and we also have 58" Tent Poles, our Carbon Fiber Staff, or a Trekking Pole Jack if your preferred trekking pole is not long enough.
Our Pivot Solo Tent is another good choice for extra head and foot room with bells and whistles like magnet toggles and zipper storm doors.
- Made from waterproof, durable Dyneema® Composite Fabric:
- Choose "Lite" to push boundaries with our tried and tested .55 oz/sqyd DCF canopy, .75 oz/sqyd DCF floor, and 1.3mm guy lines.
- Choose “Standard” to add opacity and extra durability with a .75 oz/sqyd DCF canopy, 1 oz/sqyd DCF floor, and 2mm guy lines.
Sets up with a single trekking pole adjusted to around 56"-58" (142-147 cm). If your trekking pole is too short, add one of our trekking pole jacks to increase the height or use a 58" Tent Pole.
- Sets up with a minimum of 6 stakes but 10 stakes are recommended in windy conditions. Stakes are not included but we have a variety of Ultralight Stakes to choose from.
- The storm doors can be opened or closed independently. Leave one or two doors open in nice weather for a breeze and great views. Close the upwind door to block cold wind, or close both for 360° rain protection. The overlapping doors are closed with custom made metal hooks, with a toggle at the center to keep them pinned.
- Overlapping storm doors allow for a small amount of airflow without the need for additional venting. There are no zippers on the doors that could potentially fail over time.
- A single closed storm door creates enough vestibule space for storing a wet backpack or muddy shoes.
- The screen door has a rainbow zipper which allows easy entry regardless of which storm door is closed. You can access the vestibule area on either side. The screen door conveniently drops inwards rather than hanging in your way. No need to roll it up or secure it.
- The bathtub floor has tall walls and is recessed from the perimeter to keep you protected from splash-up and condensation. In calm rain or under wet trees the door can be left open for air flow without water dripping or falling into your living space.
- For even better rain protection with a door open, use the included elastic cords to pull the screen door back away from the rain spray as seen in the photo gallery.
- If you are particularly tall, you might try propping up the side guylines using Trekking Pole Cups for even more headroom.
- An integrated mesh pocket allows you to stow small items like your headlamp, glasses, or phone.
- The durable floor material does not require a separate groundsheet. Flat Groundsheets are an optional precaution.
- All zipper sliders are field-replaceable. Repair tape and spare sliders are included. Washing Instructions.
- All Zpacks gear has a two-year limited warranty against defects in materials or workmanship. Please see our return / warranty policy.
- Made in the USA.
Weight:
The total weight displayed near the 'add to cart' button shows the weight of the tent including guy lines, sewn in linelocs, and taped seams.
The following items are also shipped with this tent:
- Medium DCF Stuff Sack - .28 oz (8 g)
- 54" DCF repair tape strip - .14 oz (4 g)
- Two spare zipper sliders - .16 oz (4.5 g)
- Total additional items: .58 oz (16.5 g)
6-10x Stakes are required but are not included. We have a variety of Ultralight Stakes to choose from.
Exterior Dimensions:
Peak height: 56"-58" (147 cm)
Width at center: 52" (132 cm)
Width including vestibules: 73" (185 cm)
Vestibule space: 24" (61 cm)
Length: 100" (254 cm)
Interior Dimensions:
Peak height: 56"-58" (147 cm)
Floor width: 40" (102 cm)
Floor length: 90" (2.3 meters)
Floor Area: 25 square feet (2.3 square meters)
Zipper entry height: 36" (91 cm)
Packed Size:
Rolled Tight: about 4.5" diameter by 11" tall (11.5 cm x 28 cm), 175 cubic inches (2.9L).
Stuff Sack Size: 6" diameter by 12" tall (15 cm x 30.5 cm) Size Medium.
Tents will be about an inch (2.5 cm) larger in diameter and length when rolled casually. The included stuff sack is intentionally large so that you don't have to fight with your tent in the morning. Roll it casually and let it squish flat in your backpack.
Tents made with the heavier floor and canopy options will roll up a little larger.
- Made with Bio-Based Dyneema® Fiber sourced from renewable feedstock.
- High strength to weight ratio – Dyneema® can handle high wind force and does not tear easily.
- Chemical Free – No PFCs, PFAS, DWR or flame retardants.
- Inherently Waterproof – No coatings that could wear out. Does not absorb water weight.
- Stretch Free – Dyneema® stays taut all night. Other materials can stretch and sag, especially when wet.
- Taped seams – No seam sealing necessary! Any damage can easily be fixed in the field with included repair tape.
- Semi-transparent - Immerse with your surroundings. Thicker fabric weights offer more opacity.
- Long Lasting - The expected life span of this shelter is at least one full 2500+ mile thru hike, or many years of casual use with some care
Altaplex Instructions
Click here for a printable version.
Cutting Guylines:
Guylines are pre-cut and attached for you. Linelocs are sewn in place for adjusting the lines. If you choose to switch out your lines for a different cord these are the default lengths:
Peaks - Cut 80 inches (203 cm) and tie a stake loop at 18 inches (46 cm). The long end attaches to the tent and the short end attaches to the door hooks.
Side Walls (cut 4x) - 48 inches (122 cm)
Corners (cut 5x) - 24 inches (61 cm).
Setup Instructions:
In windy conditions orient the end of your tent with the overlapping storm door upwind. The Zpacks label at the corner indicates the upwind end of the tent.
Splash-up can occur when camped on hard packed surfaces during heavy rain. Our tall bathtub floor and overhanging canopy helps to keep mud and water from splashing up into your tent, but for best results please choose camp spots on leaves or pine needles when possible. Remove any pointy twigs and sharp objects to protect your tent floor but leave as much rain-dampening cushioning as possible to minimize the potential of splash-up.
- Adjust your trekking pole to around 56 to 58 inches (147 cm). If you expect your pole tips to sink into the ground, add a couple inches to compensate.
- Give your corner guylines some slack. Stake out all four corner guylines at a 45 degree angle, roughly straight off the corner points.
- Insert the trekking pole outside the screen with the handle at the peak and the tip in the ground. Stake the front line.
- If the peak is too high, tighten the front corner lines. If it is too low, loosen them.
- The corners of the tent should be about 6-8 inches (18cm) off the ground.
- If the walls of the tent aren't smooth, you may need to reposition the corner stakes or adjust the lines tighter.
- Stake out the four wall tie outs.
Storm Doors:
Both of the doors can be clipped down, or rolled up independently. The storm doors can be clipped down to the front center guylines, or rolled up depending on the weather. Leave at least one down-wind door open for air flow unless the weather is very bad.
Seam Sealing:
All Zpacks shelters have taped seams and bonded tie outs! No seam sealing necessary.
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Altaplex review
The tent overall is great. I am 6’2”and I have plenty of room for my sleeping bag and some gear. I offer a few thoughts on the tent: 1) Some guidance on how to best adjust the internal bathtub cords would be helpful. I have concerns that in a heavy rain, the edge of the bathtub may protrude beyond the edge of the tent allowing water to enter the bathtub. 2) closing the storm flaps is cumbersome requiring me to crawl out of the tent to hook the flaps. In a storm, this would get me all wet and potentially muddy. Seems like there should be a way to close/ secure the flaps from inside the tent. 3) It is a major annoyance that zpacks can’t include tent stakes with the tent given its price point.
Survived bear beat down!
I am sold on this material/brand for life. I had a bear go through my electric fence and flatten this tent (broke the carbon fiber pole) while I was hiking in the Montana backcountry (thick grizz country)... the bear bit holes all throughout the tent and tried to tear it open (to no avail). Amazingly, it never ripped... even though it tried like heck to get at my dry bags inside (no food of course). All of my gear inside survived and I was able to patch the tent (with all the repair tape) and put in a wood center pole to keep on with my 10 day trip! I had a slight design flaw on this tent which Zpacks was amazing to rectify. Thank you Zpacks and great customer service and great product.
200+ days and 3000 miles later!
This tent has over-performed all expectations. The GDT, the AT, the Bruce Trail and Rideau Trail... and so much more. Performed nearly flawlessly and after 3000 plus miles there are no issues (other than a 5 mm cut during a hail storm 1200 miles ago - I repaired it with the supplied DCF tape and it is back to 100%) - no footprint required!
The best tent for tall hiker
After having tests several tent from other manufacturers for quite long treks, I bought this Altaplex hoping that it would eventually meet my expectations. Indeed, I'm quite tall with my 1.87m / 6'2" and was looking for a shelter with a key parameters. Ultralight, of course, quite roomy, and at ease in bad weather (wind, rain, storm). I was first hesitating with the Altaplex as a bit reluctant with the DCF as known not to be resistant to puncture, wondering whether the height of the Altaplex won't be a drawback in high wind, and the door, just falling in the front, rather in the side (as usual), couldn't be annoying. At the end of the day, I decided to have a try and confess that - finally - I've just found out my Holy Grail! This tent is amazing and meets all my expectations. The DCF is perfect, as being absolutely waterproof. It's great in the morning, after a rainy night, not to carry a dead donkey as with other tents that absorb the water. Resistance in the wind is actually really impressive providing that the tent is well pitched. To pitch the tent itself is fast and easy after a sort training (see below). And finally, the "rainbow" door is really convenient as giving - for the tall hickers - plenty of room to go in or go out the tent. Actually, smart and efficient. A few advices. 1/ Have a look on YouTube for videos explaining how to pitch the tent in an optimal way, much better than the process recommended by Zpacks (sorry guys :-). 2/ Use a pole extending up to 56" as a whole. The "pole jack" is really suboptimal especially if you plan to sleep in bad weather. A tough high pole will make the job much better. 3/ change the front guy for a longer one. Honestly, I didn't understand why the front guy provided by Zpacks is so short, a longer one ensures more stability. 4/ This tent is really roomy for my size; I've never touched the walls when I selpt on my matress + quilt. I'm not sure that a taller hiker would have the same feeling. 5/ To avoid condensation, try to sleep as often as possible with the doors open. Usually, I kept only one open and it minimized really the condensation while making a barrier against the wind and protecting my gear stayed outside. When it appeared, it was easy to treat as DCF does not absord water at all. In conclusion, this tent is an amazing product, providing that you take into account the few advices above. I Highly recommend it for the tall guys +++
