We put the Big Agnes Bird Beak SL2 to the test on a 90 day kayaking trip through Canada and Alaska’s Inside Passage. We had long days waiting out bad weather, two weeks between proper showers, 3 months of the same person 3″ off to your side (not that we would want it any different) and on the last day of the trip we were even more in love with this tent than we had hoped.
The Bird Beak is incredible for damp rainy conditions. The Bird Beak’s ability to be set up fly first keeps the interior of the tent dry. The tent uses an exoskeleton design which means the poles are on the outside of the rain fly. The tent body then attaches to the rain fly with clips. We left the tent attached to the rain fly for most of the summer which allowed us to set it up as one piece and never had to expose the tent body to rain.
Every morning waking up we were amazed at how dry it was inside. Most Inside Passage kayakers have stories about their tents and sleeping bags mildewing because of how damp and rainy it is. This was just not an issue for us. We had no problems with condensation as the tent is extremely well vented. There are large vents on each side of the tent. Initially we were worried these would let in rain, but that was never the case. The inside of our tent was dry even after 11 continuous days of rain.
It’s one of the taller tents we have been in, it feels extremely spacious inside but has a small enough footprint to be perched on small rocky ledges. The DAC exoskeleton pole system allows the walls to be close to vertical and both of us can sit up in it without hitting our heads. Now, Anna is only 5’2″ so it doesn’t matter much to her, but I’m 6’ and can sit up anywhere in the tent without my head touching the top. Peak height is 44 inches.
The tent weighs in at (trail weight) 4 lb 4oz- a little heavy for hiking but we carried it in a kayak so the extra weight was manageable. The packed size is about 19″x7″.
We used the Big Agnes Bird Beak SL2 footprint to keep the floor clean and dry. We used the inner attachment points to hang a line inside to dry out our clothes after wet days. The vestibules stored all our gear and the clothing we needed for fast starts in the morning.
Construction of this tent is top notch, two vents for great cross ventilation, thicker poles, and stronger fabric for extreme winds all came in handy with 90 days of abuse. Color-coded webbing and buckles make setup simple so all the macho guys feel good about themselves when they throw the directions away. The 2 doors and 2 vestibules made storage of all our wet gear easy. We were surprised to find many of the more sturdy tents available are made in very dreary colors- something we definitely didn’t want for this trip as we anticipated spending many days waiting out bad weather. The Bird Beak is bright and cheery.
Pros
Can be set up with the fly attached
Great venting- almost no condensation
Very durable
Very spacious
Vertical walls
Not to heavy
Easy setup
Waterproof
Bright colored fabrics
Cons
Could use a couple more pockets (but that would add more weight)
Overall
We give the Big Agnes 5 out of 5 stars and would recommend this tent to anyone going out for extended time in rainy places or who wants a more spacious tent. This is by far our favorite tent of all time for its size.
Nice job Big Agnes way to think out of the box.
