The TarpTent ArcDome 2 is a true four-season, double-wall tent built to handle serious weather without sacrificing comfort. Its fully freestanding design uses crisscrossed poles that run through reinforced UltraTX50 sleeves, delivering impressive strength. A fly-first pitch keeps the inner tent protected and already attached, so setup is fast, even when you’re exhausted or the weather is hitting hard. It’s made with a combination of best-of-breed ultralight fabrics that don’t skimp on waterproofness. With an extraordinarily spacious interior, the ArcDome 2 combines performance with comfort, making it a welcome refuge in hazardous conditions.

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• Type: Double-Wall
• Structure: Freestanding
• Doors/vestibules: 2/2
• Inner Tent Dimensions: 50″w x 92″l x 45″h (really!)
• Overall footprint (not including extra guylines): 78″ w x 101″ l
• Materials: Fly: 30D double ripstop super high tenacity polyester, coating: silicone one side; polycarbonate urethane one side (Sil/PcU), rated to over 4,000mm hydrostatic head, natural white (undyed); Floor: 30D double ripstop 100% silicone-coated nylon 6.6 rated to over 5,000mm hydrostatic head, black; Arch sleeve: UltraTX50; Reinforcements: Ultra100 and 210D nylon w/Dyneema ripstop; Poles: DAC NFL 9.3: 9.3mm diameter 7000 series aluminum alloy
• Weight Tested: 3 lbs 12.8 oz/ 1.72 kg
• For complete in-depth specs, visit Tarptent.

The ArcDome 2 is available in a number of fabric and pole combinations, including a solid or mesh inner tent, two aluminum tent pole sets, or one made from carbon fiber. Since I wanted to test the tent in winter conditions, I specced it out with a solid inner tent to protect the inner compartment from spindrift and reduce airflow, and with the thinner aluminum poleset, which I prefer over carbon fiber poles. While there’s some anecdotal evidence that carbon fiber becomes more brittle at lower temperatures, I prefer aluminum poles because they’re easier to repair or replace, and less expensive, with only a small weight penalty.

The tent poles run through reinforced sleeves over the rain fly.

Tent Setup and Design

The ArcDome 2 is a freestanding dome with a very slightly offset inner tent orientation to increase side vestibule volume. It has two long poles that slot into perpendicular roof sleeves, reinforced with UltraTX50, a 3-ply laminate that looks like Xpac but is made with Ultra fibers. When pitching the tent, it’s easier to insert both poles first, then bend, anchor, and tension the ends to form the dome shape. It takes quite a lot of room to set up this tent, since the poles must be fully extended before insertion, so it’s best to pitch it in an open area rather than in dense forest. Of course, being freestanding, you can also just pick up the tent and move it wherever you want once the poles are tensioned in place.

The exterior fly is made of 30D high tenacity polyester ripstop with a 4,000 mm hydrostatic head, making it more waterproof than most non-Dyneema tents sold today, except for Hilleberg tents. The floor of the inner tent is made of 30D nylon 66 with a 5,000mm hydrostatic head, so it’s very waterproof, while the solid side walls are made from a soft, breathable, and windproof 15D double ripstop polyester that feels like parachute silk.

The side doors can be rolled back in multiple positions for cooking, views, or easy egress.

The tent’s dome shape and rock-solid structure shed snow and wind easily, but there are also numerous guy-out points along the exterior poles, sleeves, and walls to guy out the tent in extreme conditions. The tent ships with aluminum V-stakes, which pair well with the corner guy-outs and line loc tensioners. But they’re ill-suited for snow, and you’ll want to give extra consideration to how you stake out the tent with your snow tools, skis, or deadmen.

As noted, the ArcDome 2 has a fly-first pitch, so you can set it up without getting the inner tent wet if it’s raining: the inner tent can be preattached at setup or packed separately and attached after the fly is erected. If you want, you can even camp under the fly by itself without the inner tent if insect protection is not required.

High vents in the ceiling vent moisture and increase airflow. These are not mesh-backed.

Interior Comfort

The ArcDome 2 has two doors and two vestibules, so both occupants have easy access and egress at night, as well as covered gear storage. High vents in the ceiling vent internal condensation, particularly moisture from your exhalations. Because it is a double-wall tent, internal condensation (caused by the temperature differential between the inside and outside of the rain fly) forms on the fly, not in the inner tent, which houses occupants.

The tent’s interior height and length are exceptional.

The interior comfort of the ArcDome is exceptional, given its usable space and interior height. With a floor width of 50 inches (1.27m) and a length of 92 inches (2.34m), the ArcDome 2 easily accommodates two 25-inch wide sleeping pads. The vertical walls provide excellent, expansive interior volume, while the interior height of 45 inches allows users to sit up comfortably or kneel and pack backpacks inside under cover. Furthermore, the tent offers excellent internal pocket storage, including high-level, full-width pockets, hang loops, and a gear loft, which are ideal for keeping gear organized and preventing delicate items, like glasses, from getting broken. If you need to hunker down during a storm, the ArcDome 2 is a tent you can remain very comfortable in (bring a cribbage set).

The inner tent can be detached and rolled back if you need more covered space to use a stove.

The vestibules are not overly large but provide ample room for pack storage. If you need to use a stove to melt snow, I’d encourage you to roll back the vestibule doors if at all possible to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning and to prevent burning the tent down around you. If conditions make that impossible, you can detach a corner of the inner tent and fold it back to provide more space to use the stove (this is true of other similar tents from Hilleberg and Durston). For tent use, a radiant burner stove, like the MSR Reactor I use above, is the way to go because it doesn’t have an open flame like most canister or liquid-fuel stove systems.

Final Verdict

Disclosure: Tarptent loaned us a tent to review.

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