Skyscape Trekker Backpacking Tent

At a slender 6'1", I've found myself too tall for several 1P UL tents. I tried a few of them, even some of the immensely popular UL trekking pole tents. They were nice tents, but my head and feet would always brush the tent sides, or the tent would be too cramped inside. After looking into it, I decided to get the SMD Skyscape Trekker. I'm so glad I did! I used it for a multi-day Spring backpacking trip on the Ice Age Trail, and it did well in cold, snowy, and rainy situations.

First, it is pretty light and packs down small. Second, it is easy to set up if you know the basics of putting up a trekking pole tent. Third, this tent has so much room inside compared to other 1P UL tents. It has enough floor space and headspace for my tall, lanky self. Fourth, you can roll up the doors and make it like a net tent for those warm, dry nights. Fifth, the tent is constructed well. Nothing feels cheap or flimsy about it.

A few cons: the two vestibules aren't as big as other similar tents. They do fit my backpack and shoes so it's not a huge deal for me. Another con is that if it's wet/rainy and you unzip a vestibule door all the way up the door will hang in the tent and drip some water in the tent. It's hard to explain but once you figure it out you can avoid it. Finally, I wish the vestibules had a two-way zipper. That way I could put the vestibule zippers down a few inches from the top while the vestibules were staked out - this would give it a little airflow.

Over all this is a 5-star tent for sure. It might not be as well-known or "sexy" as the super popular UL tents, but it's just as good - if not better - than the others!

I purchased the original, single door version of the Skyscape Trekker in 2014. Used for 100+ nights, mostly in September in WY. The tent has survived some serious wind gusts and heavy rain/sleet storms above 10000′. There's plenty of room inside (without a pack). The vestibule is just large enough to shield boots from the weather. I seam sealed on arrival and reapplied 2 yrs ago just to the ridge line. I replaced the ridge pole with pex tube and have had no problems with that. Measured weight with seam sealing, pex tube and stuff sack is 27 oz. With stakes and guy lines, it's 30 oz. It's a great value for those that can’t afford DCF or don't care for translucent tents.

As with all non-freestanding tents, it's not always easy to find proper main staking points in rocky terrain. So, finding an optimal orientation to the wind or achieve a perfect pitch is not always possible. Lowering the poles 5-10mm seems to help bring the sides lower for more wind/rain protection, of course, at the expense of increased condensation.

But, the biggest issue is that the design has a low angled slope at the rear, single-wall panel. It’s not always possible to guy out this panel properly to increase tautness. There is usually not a convenient bush, tree or rock near to attach the guy line to, especially above treeline. Simply tying to a stake doesn't give enough angle to raise the foot. So, if not guyed out high, the rear panel will sag in heavy rain (even a 1/4″ of wet snow -see pic). Precip pools at the bottom and risks getting the foot of the sleeping bag wet, as others have noted.

Waking up every so often to knock snow off the tent from the inside, or going out in the weather to fix it makes for a long night.

Even with this issue, I've looked into pyramid, dome and other designs and it's still hard to beat this ~2lb, mostly double-wall tent. Seems the poly version may have less stretch, but this old tent of mine has become an old friend. Hoping I can find a solution to weather the occasional few inches of snow I run into.

I haven't had a chance to use the tent yet, but I can definitely give 5 stars for super fast shipping, great customer service and a nice holiday discount on an already reasonably priced tent!

I got pretty good mileage out of my first Skyscape Trekker in 8 or more years I had it. Zipper eventually gave up after so much use so I got a new version of this tent.
Fabric seems to be more durable on newer version and just as lightweight. I'm not sure I like integrated crossbar where trekking pole tips go. The reason being I'm not longer able to compress tent in my pack whereas before I always kept crossbar separated. In all this time I never had issues with stability of crossbar so I'm not sure why decision was made to integrate it into the tent without ability to remove it. I left this crossbar behind once, which Six Moon Designs replaced promptly, but I still would prefer to take it out. I wish new colors become available too.

This tent is brilliant. The design is insanely smart where it needs to be and simple where it can be. I know I haven't mastered the ins and outs, but my first overnight went very well. Slept like a baby.