Marmot Tungsten 4p Tent Review

Here is my “unpacking the box” review of the 2023 Tungsten Four Person Tent from Marmot. Overall the materials and workmanship appear to be excellent.

Tent Bag Label
Tent Bag Label

Basics

This is a classic “dome tent” with a rectangular floor and several features of note…

Lightweight aluminum poles define the four corners and are connected by a hinge at the peak. The segment nearest the ground is “pre-bent” to keep the sidewalls near vertical. Two end sections are blue to help guide setup.

Tent Pole Hinge
Tent Pole Hinge

You can erect the basic structure with only the “footprint” (aka custom ground cloth). This is nice and not possible with many tents. It creates a stable clean surface to unfold the tent itself. It does not seem possible to put up the fly without the tent (if it’s raining or as a sun shelter).

Tent Poles and Footprint
Tent Poles and Footprint

The tent walls clip onto the frame easily, followed by the cross-poles. These pull out the door panels yielding near vertical sidewalls. I really like this design. Many similar tents have a single cross-pole, with less door clearance and stability.

Basic Setup w/o Fly
Basic Setup w/o Fly

At this point you have a reasonably strong free-standing tent that you can move around as needed. Note that no stakes were needed up to this point (on a non-windy day).

Interior and Doors
Interior and Doors

The large doors are identical. There are four traditional small gear pockets near the corners and two “headlamp defuser” pockets in the ceiling. There are also four attachment points around the peak so a gear loft would be possible (but not included).

Fly Setup
Fly Setup

The fly is a standard “staked-out vestibule” design. It takes four stakes (or rocks, tree roots, etc.) to fully shape the fly. Again note that the fly door is wide and crosses the midline. This would not be the case with a single cross-pole. There are two small pop-out vents in the fly, one next to each door. It remains to be seen if these are adequate when the doors are completely closed. It is not obvious if the doors can be rigged partially open.

Vent in Fly
Vent in Fly

This slightly distorted panorama should give you an idea of the interior size. When car or beach camping I bring lightweight cots as show here. For two people, each with their own door, this tent is palatial! It would be confortable for three, but very cramped for four adults.

Tent Interior with Cot
Tent Interior with Cot

Specifics

I discovered three things that were not obvious and not documented as far as I can tell.

First, if you look at the panorama above, notice the left sidewall is higher than the right. It is unclear to me why this is so?

Next, there is a second set of four grommets under the fly that should be positioned over the ends of the cross-poles (gold webbing in photo). These are very hard to find unless you know where to look!

Grommets Under Fly
Grommets Under Fly

The third is to engage the large black clips over both poles where they cross. This doesn’t affect the fly, but gives the entire tent structure more stability.

Large Clips over Both Poles
Large Clips over Both Poles

Oddments

With respect to ventilation and water intrusion, the non-door sides of the fly have small tabs for staking out. This is a very common design feature that is often ignored in the field.

Fly Side Pull-Out
Fly Side Pull-Out

My approach over the years is to tie short loops of bungee cord to these tabs. This makes it easier to stake out the sides and keep them taut. Water is forced away from the floor/sidewall and ventilation is greatly improved!

Fly Side Staked-Out
Fly Side Staked-Out

Here is the tent fully deployed with four stakes on the ends and two on the sides. With the addition of the side stakes this becomes a very stable structure and is likely to perform well under windy conditions.

Fully Staked-Out - Note Vent Left of Door
Fully Staked-Out – Note Vent Left of Door

The hardware that comes with the tent is minimal: eight stakes, four 6ft lengths of cord, and an emergency pole repair sleeve. Many online commentators have pointed out that there are not enough stakes to fully secure the tent (no stakes for the pole tie-outs and sides). This is less critical than it seems. First it is rarely necessary to stake down every possible point. Second, it is often necessary to augment the generic stakes with sand-screws or other specialized substitutes (like tying to a rock or tree root).

Stake Bag Contents
Stake Bag Contents

Chaco Canyon 2023

Chaco Canyon Entrance
Chaco Canyon Entrance

After braving the nearly washed out road from the north I arrived around 9am. I had to “walk” my Prius diagonally over piles of gravel and exposed rock faces. This was my third attempt over twenty years to visit this important site. (The first two failed because the roads were completely washed out!) [Full Gallery]

The map below shows the basic layout of the park (click to enlarge). Most of the sites are easy walking distance from the main loop drive.

Chaco Canyon Map source:nps.gov
Chaco Canyon Map (source:nps.gov)

A short walk from the Vistors Center is the small un-excavated ruins of Una Vida. The prominent Fajada Butte is seen in the distance. This is the location of the famous “Sun Dagger” astronomical feature presumed to mark the summer solstice.

Una Vida Ruins and Fajada Butte
Una Vida Ruins and Fajada Butte

A short scramble above that are impressive Petroglyphs inscribed into the cliff face.

Look Up! Petroglyphs
Look Up! Petroglyphs
Petroglyphs Detail
Petroglyphs Detail

The focal point of the entire park is Pueblo Bonito, a huge stone edifice that contained over six hundred rooms and dozens of circular ceremonial structures called “Kivas”. (source:nps sign)

Pueblo Bonito Sign
Pueblo Bonito Sign

The walls nearest the cliff were crushed by a rock slide after the structure was abandoned. The rounded walls are the remains of various kivas.

Pueblo Bonito Panorama
Pueblo Bonito Panorama

One quadrant has been restored so visitors may explore a warren of small rooms. Notice the very low doors and what remains of wooden timbers holding up the floors above. The stone in the foreground was used to grind corn. The consensus is these rooms were not residential but related to the ritual use of the site.

Pueblo Bonito 360 Panorama
Pueblo Bonito 360 Panorama

The nearby ruins of Chetro Ketl features a Great Kiva 62 feet in diameter. Notice the two seated visitors for scale!

Chetro Ketl Great Kiva
Chetro Ketl Great Kiva

The remains of Chacoan Stairways can be seen in several places behind the ruins. These are no mere “Moki Steps” but wide grand staircases leading to cerimonial roads throughout the area.

Chacoan Stairway
Chacoan Stairway

Several flowering plants were abundant due to recent rainfall. This particularly showy example is Emory’s Globemallow.

Emory's Globemallow
Emory’s Globemallow

The Pueblo Alto Trail starts above the Kin Kletso ruins. I attempted this late in the day after finding out there were no more campsites available that night. The trail went straight up into a huge crack in the rock!

Cliff Rim Trail Above Kin Kletso Ruins
Cliff Rim Trail Above Kin Kletso Ruins

As I was ascending I noticed one boulder that was different then all the others. It had Fossils! Mostly cross-sections I thought. Here is what some online geologist friends speculated…

“Mostly cross-sections of fossil shells, mostly bivalves & I think a gastropod.”

“…the large white mass consists of opaque secondary calcite that precipitated in an empty shell post-deposition, in contrast to the others that filled with silt or lime mud shortly after death.”

Fossils
Fossils

I climbed about two hundred feet to the stone rim.

Cliff Rim Trail Panorama
Cliff Rim Trail Panorama

There were helpful signs along the way, including this one calling attention to several man-made basins pecked out of the rock where water would sometimes flow.

Water Collection Basins
Water Collection Basins

I finally got to the overlook where you could survey Pueblo Bonito in all its glory!

Pueblo Bonito from Above
Pueblo Bonito from Above

At that point I had to turn back and start my downward climb… (Alternate Video)

Note: The trail went through a huge crack in the rock face. I used a Theta S 360 Camera to capture my descent. At one point I was also fighting a 20+ mph headwind! It looks very steep at the end… IT WAS!

I ate dinner as the setting sun lit the virga falling from late afternoon clouds.

Chaco Canyon Sunset
Chaco Canyon Sunset

What I missed…

I did not have time for the seven mile hike to see the Supernova & Comet Pictographs near the Penasco Blanco ruins (picture shown here from Wiki Commons). The “starburst” figure may document the 1054 CE Crab Nebula Supernova.

Supernova & Comet Pictographs source:wikicommons
Supernova Pictograph (source:wiki_commons)

I left the park at dusk via the south entrance road. Fortunately this route was in better shape and the main hazards were multiple tall cattle grates that threatened to high center my car.

More Photos…

Treehugger Hitch

This is an idea I’ve been incubating for some time as a non-destructive “place anywhere” alternative to nails in trees or breaking branches to hang things on. Shown here is my first successful field test! It is tied using a short stick or similar object found locally.

Treehugger Hitch v1
Treehugger Hitch v1

The main flaws with this implementation are the stretch in the second reef knot and the tendency for the loops to converge allowing the hook to turn sideways.

After some experimentation I think I’ve improved on the initial design in Version 2. The main difference is making the loops around the stick more constrictive so they slip less. I also eliminated the need for the first reef knot.

Step 1

Find the middle of the rope and loop it loosely around the tree at least two times (three is best). Then tie it temporarily with a half surgeon’s knot. Note that the middle of the rope hangs down to attach to the bottom of the stick!

Treehugger Hitch Step 1
Treehugger Hitch Step 1

Step 2

Wrap the lower loop around the base of the stick at least twice. Adjust its position by sliding more or less rope through the surgeon’s knot.

Treehugger Hitch Step 2
Treehugger Hitch Step 2

Step 3

Untie the surgeon’s knot without disturbing what you’ve done so far. Wrap the stick about a quarter of the way from the top as follows: a) Take the first rope and wrap it twice below itself as shown here.

Treehugger Hitch Step 3
Treehugger Hitch Step 3

Step 4

b) Now wrap the second rope twice above itself. This will leave you with loose ends on opposite sides of the wraps. Tie these two ends together with a reef knot or your equivalent of choice.

Treehugger Hitch Step 4
Treehugger Hitch Step 4

Step 5

At this point you may adjust the “lay” of the hook buy twisting the stick and working the rope. This will be easier of you put a light load on it. Any excess rope will hang down out of the way.

Treehugger Hitch Step 5
Treehugger Hitch Step 5

Step 6

Once the hook is stable, you can load it up with gear and even packs!

Treehugger Hitch Step 6
Treehugger Hitch Step 6

Step 7

And you can hang your hat on it!

Treehugger Hitch Step 7
Treehugger Hitch Step 7

Summary of Steps

Wrap the tree from the front with the first loop (middle of the rope) slightly longer. Tie loosely with a half surgeon’s knot.

Treehugger Knot Schematic 1
Treehugger Knot Schematic 1

Wrap the longer (middle) loop around the bottom of the stick.

Treehugger Knot Schematic 2
Treehugger Knot Schematic 2

Untie the surgeon’s knot and wrap one rope below and the other above.

Treehugger Knot Schematic 3
Treehugger Knot Schematic 3

Tie the two ropes with a reef knot.

Treehugger Knot Schematic 4
Treehugger Knot Schematic 4

Note the minimal number of wraps are show above for visual simplicity. In practice I recommend wrapping the tree three times, and the upper stick twice with each rope (four turns total).