Timberline SQ 4XT comfortable for three?

[chiroptile]

Hey, guys.. Quick question here.. I recently purchased a Timberline SQ 4XT tent that I am taking along on a bicycle tour. There will be three of us riding, and the trip is going to take close to three weeks.

Now, I've read that if you want to gauge your tent's comfortable capacity, you take the number of people it's designed to sleep, and subtract one. I've also read that you take that number and divide it by two.. So, I guess the jury is still out. Just about every personal review of the tent I'd read mentions that the reviewer shared the tent with one other person, and everything was peachy, while using it as anything more than a two person tent would be pushing it.

I was wondering if any of you have experience with the SQ 4XT sleeping three adults comfortably? My concern is that three weeks straight riding during the day, then piling into the tent night after night will start to get very cramped at some point. Cabin fever is the last think anybody would want to develop on a bicycle tour.

Thank you in advance

[DaveB]

I have a Eureka "4-person" Timerline and it is VERY tight for three with no left-over floor space for gear at all.  As a two person tent it's good and for one person it's luxurious but I don't know of any four people who would fit unless two are very small children.

Tent makers capacity numbers are fiction.

[staehpj1]

We used a similar sized tent on the TA for three of us and found the space quite adequate.  The sides were more vertical though so that may make a difference. 

Our tent weighed about the same as the one you are thinking of using and I cursed the weight pretty much every day.  Despite generally being a cheapskate, if doing it over I would have gladly spent a bunch more to shave off a few pounds.  I might have even considered a three person tent or maybe one two person one and a solo tent.

We don't tend to bring in a lot of gear.  We limit it to our handlebar bags, what we need to sleep, and our clothes for the next day.  Our panniers stay packed and on the bike.  We also don't tend to spend too much time in the tent other than sleeping, reading, or doing journal entries; none of which require much space.  If you need a lot of gear space or sprawl space you may wish for more space, but I'd rather just make do with limited space than carry a lot of extra weight.

[staehpj1]

Tent makers capacity numbers are fiction.

Depends on your requirements, but I generally find capacity numbers adequate for one and two person tents.  The thing is that for three or more people crowding somehow seems to become a bit bigger deal.

[DaveB]

Tent makers capacity numbers are fiction.

Depends on your requirements, but I generally find capacity numbers adequate for one and two person tents.  The thing is that for three or more people crowding somehow seems to become a bit bigger deal.

If all you are going to do is sleep in the tent and spend little other time in it, yes, you can sort-of use the makers capacity number as a guide.  If you get trapped for a couple of bad-weather days and spend considerable time in the tent, you will quickly realize the space is inadequate.  That said, I do not see how ANY four adults could use the "4-person" Eureka I have and be able to do anything but lie quietly and do nothing else.

[chiroptile]

Thanks, everyone.. The tent actually has a spreader pole that gives it more vertical walls.. So.. I guess we'll just have to test it out. I'll get back here with a review after it's done.