Spending the night in a Tentsile tree tent can be a truly inspiring way to camp, but hovering over the ground in a big mesh dome isn’t so ideal once the frigid, wet, howling weather of winter hits. With the all-new Insulated Cabin, Tentsile supports the ambitions of four-season tree campers with a warm, cozy insulator optimized for camping between fall and spring. Just imagine waking to the white noise of snow falling on a frosted forest or the silence of a once-raging neighboring waterfall frozen to stillness.
The Insulated Cabin is essentially a fully enclosed camping cube made from a breathable 40D polyester fabric quilted and filled with 200-g/sq m hollow-fiber poly insulation. It has both a roof and floor in addition to four walls, and Tentsile lists R-value at 2.7.
The frameless, non-waterproof Insulated Cabin isn’t a standalone shelter and relies entirely on existing Tentsile products for its structure. Specifically, it works hand-in-hand with Tenstile “Stacks,” multi-story camping kits that combine a three-person Stingray tree tent with either a Trillium giant hammock or a ground sheet below, creating a two-story shelter.
The Insulated Cabin secures to the upper tree tent, tent straps and lower hammock or ground sheet. Users can add the “double-bubble” mesh, waterproof rain fly and tent walls included in each stack to further improve insulation and weather protection. Particularly ambitious Tentsile campers can double up into an “Utlimate Stack” setup by building upward with a ground sheet, Insulated Cabin 1, Trillium hammock, Insulated Cabin 2 and Stingray tent, creating a three-story tree camp.
Three large and three small Cabin zippered windows complete with no-see-um mesh screens let campers cool down and crank ventilation without inviting in any problematic pests. The Cabin also includes a tall built-in door and floor and ceiling entry hatches. Interior pockets and loft loops offer storage space for lighting and gear.
The Insulated Cabin seems like a lot of extra material and setup for winter camping that could be accomplished more simply with a four-season ground tent or fully insulated hammock. It’s also a lot of extra bulk and weight to add to a Tentsile tent that’s already pretty bulky and heavy. The Cabin alone weighs 28.6 lb (13 kg) and is the largest package in the Insulated Stack setup at 29 x 27 x 12 inches (75 x 70 x 30 cm) packed – definitely not the solution for those who like to travel lightly in small vehicles.
And then there’s the price. If you already have a Stack, you can add the Insulated Cabin for a cool US$999. If not, prepare to pay $2,319 for a complete Insulated Cabin Ground Stack or $2,679 for an Insulated Cabin Classic (Tree) Stack.
As much as we like the potential of cold-weather Tentsile camping, this particular solution seems to be unnecessarily large, expensive and time-consuming. It feels like a smaller, faster interior tent insulator and/or under quilt would be superior in every way – easier to pack and carry, simpler to set up and less expensive. As is, the Cabin is larger, heavier and more expensive than Tentsile’s actual Stingray three-person tree tent.
Hovering Tentsile cabin creates multi-story winter tree camp [New Atlas]