Tarptent Scarp 1 mk3 first look

Picture courtesy of Tarptent

I’ve had my Scarp 1 for nearly ten years now and was considering whether to buy the new updated version when someone contacted me asking whether I would like to buy their unused mk3 Scarp. After a couple of days consideration, I decided to take the plunge. While my old Scarp is still serviceable, the new Scarp has some attractive new features.

Because it’s been so wet, I’ve not set it up in the garden, I’ve only put it up in the garage with the crossing poles, so I can only give my first impressions. When the Scarp first came out there were some questions about the consistency of quality control. Obviously I can only comment on the one I have, but the quality of the workmanship seems to be of a high standard. My old one was fine but there were a few places where the stitching was untidy, but this looks very good. It has been seem sealed by Tarptent and that has been done very neatly too.

I think all the changes and improvements have been positive and worthwhile. I’ll group them into major and minor.

Major changes

• New flysheet and groundsheet materials. These seem higher quality and more robust. The flysheet colour has changed too from a silver grey to a green grey, which I like.
• Larger, adjustable width inner. This is genius. It gives an appreciable increase in floor area, but allows the porch widths to be adjusted as desired. I was a bit sceptical, but it’s brilliant.
• Flysheet vents moved to above the doors. This is better than the old roof vents allowing for more adjustability and (hopefully) means that any potential ingress won’t fall on the inner.
• Stronger, stiffer pole.
• Two way, water resistant fly door zips. These are much better than the old conventional zips with a flap. Time will tell how robust they are but they move easily and a two way zip enhances the ventilation options.
• Double side guying points on each side of the pole hoop. This is so much better than a single tie out and should give much better stability, much like the Hilleberg Akto.
• Larger inner tent pockets. Much better than the small ones on the original version. It’s a shame they are only at one end.

Minor changes

• Clips for the crossing poles. An improvement on the old glove hook ones plus the velcro attachments at the corners have been improved.
• Better elastic attachments for the inner. These have been redesigned and have more give, so it’s less likely to be stressed.
• Pole inserts are pockets rather than eyelets. The poles are less likely to slip out when erecting the tent.
• Flysheet height adjuster is grosgrain rather than cord. Much neater and easier to adjust. There’s also a piece of elastic which pulls the fly edge up when the grosgrain tensioner is released, which is neat.
• PitchLoc struts are more easily removed. These have tensioners which means the struts can be easily removed/replaced.
• Inner tent door tie backs are now elastic rather than grosgrain, which is easier to use.

I think that’s pretty much all the changes I can see between my original and this version. Of course, I have made a couple of tweaks. I’ve changed the corner guys to thicker MLD cord. I’ve also added threshold cords to ease the strain on the doors using a linelok and some spare cord. The weight without pegs is approximately 1.45kg.

It’s unlikely I will be out backpacking before March, maybe April, so I won’t be able give it a proper test, but I’m very pleased with it. I’ll do another assessment of it when I’ve used it. Sorry about the lack of photos, but I didn’t see much point of showing it in my garage! Overall, I think the changes have made a great tent even better.

Disclaimer: I have no relationship, financial or otherwise with Tarptent