Price:
$650
Our Rating:
With a 2.7m² floor area, the Triarch is a roomy tent with a tonne of breathability.
Double side entrances sheltered by vestibules allow easy entry. It’s freestanding with steep walls, and has extra room at the head and feet to keep damp fabric away from your face.
The inner, aside from a small strip of nylon above the 3000mm floor, is entirely mesh, but it means that it excels in hot or muggy weather as the breathability and airflow is superb. Dark and light blocks on the mesh make it slightly less see-through when pitched without the fly.
With or without the fly, this tent pitches quickly. A clever configuration of a longitudinal arch pole with two attached ‘ribs’ and an extra ceiling tensioning pole make the tent reasonably stable. I spent a night camped on the shores of Lake Pukaki in blustery conditions and it coped well; deforming and re-shaping in the biggest gusts but otherwise stable.
I did discover a downside to the mesh inner: its permeability meant the inside of the tent was coated with a layer of fine loess and sand by dawn.
I liked this tent for its general livability. Its modest 1.53kg trail weight means it’s highly portable too. However, as a go-to tent for a range of conditions it is limited to more benign terrain and temperatures. I’d use it for summer bush and tops tramping in fair weather.