Field Tested Tent Review: Sea To Summit Telos TR2

After doing my initial 2-person 3-season category review of 9 tents I took my number one choice the Sea To Summit Telos TR2 on a sheep hunt. Unfortunately, I was met with unexpected and considerable water in the tent. Well, it has taken 6 months and a new tent being shipped out but after extensive testing, I can finally share my findings.

Original Review:

Jay Nichol

Merch

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[hawksclaws]

Love that you called the timeout until further review. Seeing the results was pretty amazing. I think you do a great job of finding pros and cons with the mass diversity in the outdoor world. 💪

[doug]

I have the same tent and when I first got it I set it up in my yard just before a big storm. I put a blanket and 2 jackets in it for some weight and in the morning after an inch and a half of rain everything was bone dry. I put my tent on the outside of my pack and run a strap between the pole bag and tent bag and haven't had a problem (yet)

[donnam]

I"m looking at the full nylon inner version of this tent now for a bit more warmth, I sleep very cold. I did look at your initial video of the "leaking" and say out loud "Wow, look at that! It's coming right through the fabric!" so can understand you thinking that. It is interesting how that top lateral pole, unlike most other tents, creates a low spot in the middle. But I was very reassured by your sprinkler test. :) Thanks for the great review. I really want to find a review that shows how to put it up fly first in rain... that's my one reservation with these inner-first setup tents.

[tomasfarr]

Do we have an update on this tent Jay?

Keep up the great work mate. Love your vids.

[Andreaha]

Exactly what I was looking for, thank you very much for your effort!

[bradl]

Here in 2024 what is now your preferred TRUE 2P tent for wild weather 3S use..? I’m looking at the Telos and the Spinfin Portal 2.

[seanb]

Greetings from Australia (Where "Sea to Summit" HQ is located) Your review was awesome and honest. I have a range of gear from the Sea to Summit company and have always found that their products are high quality and well worth the somewhat premium price. That's because you do actually get a premium product.
Thanks' heaps Mate for the bloody ripper of a review!

[jameshurd]

Love your logic. Would really like to see a video about your history and how you arrived at being such a bad-ass solo hunter. Love all your content.

[ddinggg]

I think it's worth emphasizing the effects of condensation from inside the tent, due to body heat, when explaining your leaky experience. There's a difference between testing the tent with no one inside, ie no heat source/internal condensation, and testing it with real occupancy conditions.

It's very possible that you had the vent fully sealed, yet the fly still "failed" in a storm due to a combination of internal condensation AND external rain creating a dual-loading scenario. When the fabric becomes saturated from internal condensation, it may lose its waterproof integrity and allow external rain to penetrate through the fabric itself - not just through seams or poor design. The fabric might pass testing when there's just external rain, but fail when it's being attacked from both sides simultaneously.

When Sea-to-Summit did their testing, it was likely on an empty tent, which wouldn't reveal this dual-loading failure mode. Worth dropping Sea-to-Summit a line about this - they'd probably find this field insight pretty valuable for improving their testing protocols.

[DrJimCares]

A friend of mine recently had the same experience. What about setting up and spraying it with DWR? I’ve got a Telos 3p but haven’t had it in any rain, being in Southern California

[vincentjackson]

Seriously great info here mate, i really appreciate it!
Especially as im looking to get kitted out for hubting gear here in nz.
And the tent decision is the hardest part, as we can get 4 seasons in a day, any time of year!
And this looks like itll have room for my wee fella also 😊

[gregorybupp]

Have you had a chance to use it again?

[Con-wdom]

I live in the UK. No chance of me buying or using these lightweight / ultralight American tents. You just gotta look at the specs. Main thing for me as well as weight is the ability to handle bad weather.

[ProfessionalMeatball]

Have you considered the nylon 3+ Season version of this tent? Perhaps a side by side comparison would be worthwhile? I live on the west coast as well and would be curious to see a functional difference between both inner materials in our relative climate

[Entreri]

Could you commenton the size/usability of the vestibules? I have a Big Agnes Copper Spur UL3, and I find that the vestibules are so narrow and tight that specially during rain they were very akward and not usable as a buffer between the inner tent for taking of wet jackets etc.

[bradl]

Interesting. I’ve seen the Slingfin Portal 2 stand up to some really wild weather I’m wondering how it would have done instead. I don’t like the tapered floor plan of the Telos 2.

[wheelstoadventure]

Good review. Do you have a link for that tarp set up you mentioned?

[glitchlife]

I sent mine back. I backpack primarily in the PNW and every time it rained water would pool on the flat roof and then leak right in the middle. There is a flat on the TR2 design that really needs to be fixed. The Alto on the other is fantastic.

[wheelstoadventure]

dude I'm giving you the thumbs up just based on the video backdrop. Thats dope.

[kae-yjrv]

looking to get a new tent for backpacking this year and this was one of my options, however, after seeing some mixed reviews, I needed something more in-depth, and honestly, you've convinced me to get this after seeing your initial evaluation, and now this. I also live in Vancouver and do backpacking primarily during the summer so the fabric specs really sold me on this! Thank you so much for the detailed review, I'm looking forward to the next one.