Big Agnes Fly Creek UL1 Tent

Comments about Big Agnes Fly Creek UL 1 Tent:

I'm an outfitter in MT and have spent many nights in the wilderness. Needed to find a new solo tent for the high country. Used this tent one night and that was enough. Super light weight and extremely thin but seemingly tough enough material. Seems and stitching seem sound. Other than that I found it to be a poor design. Had a storm blow in and drop the snow level to my elevation and it rained, sleeted and blew all night. Temps about 35 degrees F.

It is not free standing and I found it impossible, either setting it up at home in good weather or especially after 8 miles and 4000 or so vertical feet in the cold, to guy wire it out correctly. Even with all the stakes.

Though the specs read that it should be able to fit the Big Agnes Park long series bags, it does not. There is no way to fit one and not have your feet rub against the lower end, which inevitably led to the lower end of my bag picking up a lot of moisture from the walls. I find it hard to believe that any normal sized human in any bag could not end up rubbing the walls. This thing is REAL small inside. I'm 6'1" and 225 lbs. Forget about sitting up.

Cold air also blows in on your head as there is no wall by your head, just mesh. Then every time you need get in and out of the fly water pours in all over your head as there is no way to open it up without that occurring because of the angle of the tiny vestibule. No way I was fitting my Gregory Baltoro 70 Lg, 4638 cu/inches in it either. Just enough room for shoes and maybe a very small pack and water bottle.

I like Big Agnes products, but this one missed the boat. I'll be getting a Copper Spur UL2 instead. Same material but big enough not to rub against. And room to store my pack. I'm willing to give up a bit of weight for comfort. The Fly Creek is maybe a fair weather small person no rain tent at best.

Comments about Big Agnes Fly Creek UL 1 Tent:

The only hesitation I had purchasing this tent was that the single pole that runs to the middle of the back of the tent leaves the two back corners of the tent floppy and not structurally rigid unless the corners were staked to the ground. That was not *my* definition of freestanding. However I figured that with a bit of ingenuity and maybe some sowing I could fix this using the trekking pole I always travel with (think Tarptent Rainbow). Little did I know how easy this would be. Threading the trekking pole through the tent's stake loops (two on each back corner and one in the middle) created a reliable, adjustable, rigid tent. No modification needed! Because the middle stake loop was too short to allow the pole grip or basket through I had to twist off the basket first. But a simple replacement to a longer string will fix that. The first picture shows the rear end lifted off the ground (with optional footprint). The pole was very stable and didn't rock or slide back and forth when I shook it. The second image shows the floorspace from the inside.

The one caveat I have to state is pulling the corners out with the trekking pole also pulls the tent pole in so you will lose about one to two inches in length. But a beneficial side effect of this is the tent height will be slightly higher.

Overall, this simple mod fixed the one con I had with the Fly Creek UL1 and its weight makes this the best single person tent available.

Comments about Big Agnes Fly Creek UL 1 Tent:

I used this tent on a five day backpacking trip in Yosemite. We had very good weather so I can't comment about performance in rain or wind. Although I did test it out in the backyard by having my husband spray it heavily with the hose for several minutes and it didn't leak.
We did have couple of nights where there was a lot of condensation on the rainfly when I got up, but none made it in to the tent.
This tent is VERY easy to set up.
I am 5'7" and had plenty of room inside for my pad and bag as well as extra clothing and other items. I would say anyone up to 6' can fit in this tent, but anyone taller than 5'8" will probably find that your head will hit the top when sitting up inside.
The vestibule is pretty small, big enough for boots and other smaller items, but not big enough for a pack in my opinion because you would then not have room to get in and out.
Yes the front entry is not as convenient as a side entry tent, but I feel the light weight makes up for that as a trade off.

Comments about Big Agnes Fly Creek UL 1 Tent:

Used this tent while hiking 2100+ miles of the Appalachian Trail. The tent has endured through heat, humidity, rain, gale force winds, black flies, mosquitoes, no-see-ums and a touch of snow. I use the footprint to prevent too much wear on the underside, since I like to set up camp on rocky mountain vistas. This tent is a snap to set up and take down but it is not a true free stander. It requires a minimum of two stakes near the back to get the full size of the tent. But if you use an air mattress to press out the sides then it will still be ok without stakes. I do not recommend using the provided stakes. Too heavy and difficult to plant. I use 6 titanium ultralight weight stakes for everything but deep snow. But I don't think I would use this tent for deep snow anyway. I also have never needed to use the guy lines for additional support despite some pretty high winds. I am a 5'6" male with broad shoulders so the interior is not as cramped as it would be if you are 6' or taller. I do have to be a bit acrobatic to spin around crawling in and out of the tent. I can sit up fully only while facing inward and toward the front of the tent. I can still fit my 60 liter pack inside with me and a bit of stuff under the vestibule. The vestibule is definitely not as large as other makes and models. The zippers have held up and none of the material has torn. Poles and bungy cord still appear to be in very good condition without any bends, cracks or fraying. My only issue has been some recent seam leakage on the fly during heavy rain. I think a new seam tape job will fix that. Condensation is kept to a minimum inside the inner wall due to the abundant mesh. I have on occasion staked the fly very close to the mesh to preserve heat and the condensation is still low. However moisture does sometimes collect on the underside of the fly. Luckily, the material is so thin it dries quickly -- especially with some sun or a nice breeze. In all this tent has been both durable and reliable. I would recommend it for everything but extreme cold or snow.

Comments about Big Agnes Fly Creek UL 1 Tent:

Pros: Incredibly light weight and easy to set up. Surprisingly roomy in width on the floor but you need to get used to limited head room.

Cons: Excessive condensation build up which will leak a little bit into the tent. Little ventilation so it becomes too hot for south eastern summer nights. Additionally, if it's raining while you exit the tent, the tent will get wet inside. Lastly, while the width of the tent is roomy, the length is not due to the slanted roof angle. It is too short for anyone over 6'0" since your feet and head will hit the tent's roof.

Comments about Big Agnes Fly Creek UL 1 Tent:

I would have liked to give 3.5 stars as I don't think it's quite 4 star material, but 3 stars doesn't quite do justice either.

As a whole, this is a decent tent. Mainly for it's incredibly light weight, which is very important to me. As it is a freestanding tent (technically, anyway), it is way more comfortable than sleeping in a bivy sack that weighs about the same amount anyways.
If you're under 6', and don't mind the quarters being only somewhat tight, then you will find that this tent is plenty comfortable. I'm 5'9 with a 20 inch wide neo-air mattress and I had enough length to not be rubbing my head or feet against the walls (not that I'm picky about that) and also had enough width to keep my pack inside the tent. I kept my boots outside in the vestibule, where they stayed dry, along with my pot and stove. In fact, I had no issues at all using my stove to melt snow for water from inside the tent. I was even able to close the vestibule just far enough that rain didn't get inside the tent, while simultaneously keeping my stove out away from the tent so it didn't catch on fire. I know the tent manufacturers always shun this activity, but just use good judgement.
In general, a very comfortable tent when you consider how little it weighs.

Now, that being said, Big Agnes does have some work to do to improve this tent. The big issue is the rainfly/vestibule. My first overnight hike in this tent was on father's day weekend 2011 and it rained a good portion of the time. I went up the West Fork Foss River valley up to Copper Lake, where there was 8 feet of snow at less than 4000 feet! The snow caused no issues, however the way the vestibule is positioned above the door, it is virtually impossible to not get water in the tent. Luckily, I brought my lightweight camp towel to help me keep it dry inside, but it was completely soaked by morning. Suffice to say, this tent is better suited to dry conditions while being able to still shed rain.
Condensation was an issue on this trip, but it probably had a lot to do with the fact that the air was at nearly 100% humidity anyways.
The only other issue some may have with this tent is that it does take a little bit of agility to get in and out of. I do not have issues with this personally, but for anyone who might, this is something to consider. Admittedly, I would have preferred the door on the side instead of the head, but again, lightweight is more important to me. I just deal with the extra difficulty getting in and out.

Big Agnes could improve this tent by finding a way to prevent rain from getting in the tent when the vestibule is open and working on another model with a similar weight that has the door on the side instead of the head.

Now, would I recommend this tent to a friend? Yes and no.
Yes if the friend was looking to lighten their load while maintaining at least a bit of comfort and was less than 6 feet tall.
No if they are 6 foot tall or more, not agile and if they care more about comfort than weight.

NOTE: If you are 6 foot or more in height, and are still looking for a very lightweight tent similar to this one, go with the Big Agnes Seedhouse SL1. My friend (who's 6'3") has it and loves it. It is virtually the same in shape, but slightly larger dimensions, and still lighter than the other tents available.

Comments about Big Agnes Fly Creek UL 1 Tent:

Billed as lightweight and simple to set up. I thought it fit the bill perfectly. Purchased primarly for a five day summer Wind River trip, not expecting climatic catastrophe, but wanting to be prepared for it. At 71" it was not spacious, but vestibule held the boots/socks and 14" alongside bag/pad was roomy enough for clothes, reading material and light.

Light rain and torential mosquitoes were no match for it. I'm sure the ultra lightweight design would match my winter tent in durability, but it wasn't purchased with that in mind.

Comments about Big Agnes Fly Creek UL 1 Tent:

The tent is FREE STANDING and is easily set up in literally about 4 minutes without rushing. I have been in some torrential rainstorms in it recently in a 7 day backpacking trip on the AT in ny and nj and it kept the wind and rain out completely without as much as a drop getting in. It is also quite effective in ventilation department; substantially better then the two sierra designs tents I also own.

I have a few problems mainly because I am 6ft and of a slim to athletic build and it is TIGHT in there and I do not have the ability to really sit up without hitting my head on the top. If you are over 6ft do not buy this tent or really any 1 man tent for that matter if you plan to spread out. Another issue is the way the front vestibule is set-up as it can dump the water on you as you open it after a storm which can be fairly annoying.

The rundown: An amazingly light (but sligtly cramped) tent designed for the UL backpacker who enjoys some security and creature comforts. I would recommend it to anyone 6' or under who cares about the lb's.

Comments about Big Agnes Fly Creek UL 1 Tent:

I bought this tent to use on my 2010 PCT thru hike and it more than exceeded my expectations. It is extreemly sturdy,durable, and has plenty of room for a one person light weight shelter. Im 6'2 190lbs and never felt cramped. I also never experienced the condensation problems that other reviews say were a problem. light condensation in sub freezing temperatures. The vestibule has enough space to keep your pack dry. The price made me uneasy at first but after using this tent in nearly every type of weather for 4.5 months it was and still is worth every penny.
I never sealed or treated any of the seems or the rain fly and while other light weight shelter users complained of rain "running down the inside of the fly" I stayed dry.

Comments about Big Agnes Fly Creek UL 1 Tent:

At the price Big Agnes charges for this tent, it should come with lighter carbon fiber poles.