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Treez Tree Tents

The ᴁlph Alpha

is very pleased to put forward

our extraordinary

new solo model,

inventor, designer and builder,

Timothy Steiner

Our amazing, level, stable, easily packable, multiply patented Tree Tents have a new model!

The all new ᴁlph Alpha has an overall length approaching 10' and a width at the head end of nearly 4', providing very ample sleeping area—at least 7'— in its taper toward the foot, and with boot and clothing storage in the tapering cone area of the foot beyond the sleeping area. It has two large internal pockets, a tall one across the head end, and another less tall but longer one opposite the door, laying nearly all along the sleeping area. It will hold many smaller items and also collects the window panel when it is zipped fully open to its screen. Full headroom includes room for a light loop for an interior overhead lamp. Besides internal storage, boots, packs, etc. can be lashed, high and dry and off the ground at various points around the outside perimeter of the tent—but still under the Fly's protection, and also an accessory GearNet can be installed very quickly under the whole footprint of the tent, and many items can be "fished out of it" without even leaving the tent. The GearNet will also set at varying lengths below the tent floor, where both it and the whole tent are fully protected by our overlaying Fly.

...And the Fly! Made of ultralight, very strong silicon impregnated nylon ("silnyl"), it can be very big with very small pack weight and volume as a result. It is a Fly and much more than a Fly; it is a Canopy. In good weather, it can tie out to surrounding points to about 10'x14' at its widest points, providing large under camping area—including camping area under the tent itself as well as to the sides. And, if the weather becomes inclement, the Fly can be let down to protect both tent, GearNet under, and even the footprint of the ground under—which can also remain a camping and storage area in anything less than a howling blow. For real wind and rain storms, the Fly's sides can be lashed together under the tent floor—leaving still enough room to keep the underlaying GearNet and everything in it high and dry.

The Alpha is the child of the first flagship model of our unique, multiply-patented Tree Tents, The FlyingBivy. It is a significant upgrade and advancement. (Within our own prototyping numerics for the Alpha, it is version 6.2 as it took 6 major design efforts and many (.1, .2, etc.) adjustments and advances within them) to bring it to production from its older sibling (See the FlyingBivy below. We have a last few FlyingBivys in our inventory at the best price ever to be seen on our Tree Tent models. See the orders page.). The Alpha has a nearly bodylength entrance area—from pole to pole—of two fully zippered, fully opening, fully screen-faced doors. Opposite these, on the other other side is a full, screened window, only smaller than the doors by the pocket that is situated under it.

Being aloft in The ᴁlph Alpha on a breezy,sunny, mild summer day in a sighing pine woods is the next best thing to floating on air! Talk about "getting back to nature!" It doesn't get much better! There's room to lounge and relax, sit and lie in many positions...stable enough to even use your laptop or take notes the old-fashioned way. You can "sit on the edge of the bed" and dangle your legs over with full and complete stability. It's a tent, no less, and one as comfortable as being at home in your bed!

Weight and Size / Amazingly proficient!

The average Alpha (they vary slightly) with all lines, webs, tensioning and attaching hardware (enough for nearly infinite set-ups without any specialized additions), Fly-about 16 oz., even stuff sack—all totaled—weighs in at a very modest and packable 8 pounds. And the stuffsack stuffed is about the size of the average three season down sleeping bag. It has a ready place on or in the average backpack. (It is possible to link our 10' Tree Saver Bands with carabiners or order special length ones and span much wider distances too, but the basic package will allow almost infinite opportunities in a typical forest's natural geometrics.)

Our favorite disbelief story...

One of our favorite stories from when we first announced Treez (then "Trease") comes from a website viewer who e-mailed us with an insistent denial...It was "impossible!" to have an (actual, floored, stable backpacker's) tent off the ground, as we were showing, and surely the whole site was a hoax with "photoshopped" views!

We assured him that the photos were actual and unretouched, and that, yes, there really was this great advance in "wilderness camping for the 21st Century" and for those who love and seek wilderness travel and forest living and can see and desire the benefits of rest and comfort—to be "at home"— in the forest. In this new site, our real and practical and in-the-field videos should allay any doubts about the authenticy of the, admittedly, fantasylike, elfin invention (Yes, originally inspired in part by Tolkien's Elves of Lothlorien and their "flets" high above the forest floor) that we have brought to practical reality. Many "green architects" and designers in the realms of imagination have tried to move into the trees, with many fanciful designs of varying success and comfort. But Treez Tree Tents are the first and the only to bring this elevated comfort and outdoor experience to affordable, packable/highly portable, easy to use, and very versatile and practical embodiments.

The ᴁlph Alpha

takes a packability and weight (only slightly more than the less spacious FlyingBivy and built on its same floor footprint) and adds interior size, roominess throughout and greatly increased headroom, and user features from some of our earlier experimental and larger, camping models, the FloatingDome1 and Floating Dome2s. (see photo archives and galleries). And it adds advances, unseen until now, from our continual research and development and everpresent field testing. It will still pack down like the FlyingBivy but will sleep and camp like a spacious tent.

TreeZ Tree Tenting as Adventure, Art, Sport, and Science

Beyond the comfort and rest—which vastly extend the productivity and enjoyment, and even health, of wilderness travel and outdoors living—

The ᴁlph Alpha

also incredibly and amazingly adds adventure, art, and sport, even extreme sport to outdoor living and wilderness travel. It also becomes a very helpful tool for the field sciences and for hunters and for natural photographers. Treez "elfs" are not limited to overused, worn "level, perfect" camping areas but can pitch anywhere there are trees. And the tents and web system are very Green: Our "Tree Saver Bands," the webbing that secures our tents to trees, and part of our first patent's uses, claims, and statements, protect most trees from so much as a mark on the bark (unlike the bare ropes of many hammock rigs). Our whole concept allows users to move away from worn areas and camp anywhere there are trees—regardless of ground conditions, grade or topography, and to leave that ground untouched, untrampled, unditched, etc., so that when conscientious users break camp, there is no sign they have ever been there...as soon as they shoulder their packs and walk away.

This expands the number of campsites almost infinitely, wherever there are trees. (Actually, in a pinch our tents will also set up on the ground, but the floor is purposefully breathable and not waterproof so ground cloths, ditching, etc.—as with traditional tents—is necessary—and "Why?!" would anyone want to—short of some sudden necessity???

Also, this expanded area of use lends to really "getting away from it all," getting "off the grid," and enjoying deeply solitudinous forest retreating. ("Treez are not for everybody!") The "Treez elf" can camp in places no one would ever expect to find an encampment, FROM deep and steep in northern boreal forests or in lush equatorial jungles—or even over water, swamp or bog, TO simply pulling a loaded travel bike off into the bush in temperate, populous latitudes, out of sight of the road and enjoying a restful night "at home" in a half acre of scrub pine! (or pulling a kayak up from the bank and into the woods and setting up there—We've done it!).

Not just remote but "upward" expansion is also possible. Treez is a sport, too. With a little practice, and the gaining of "an eye for level," a typical Treez traveler can, with practice, complete a near ground (knee high to head high) set up in as little as five minutes. BUT, for the nimble, for the extreme sport of Technical Tree Climbing, for field biologists studying either dangerous earthborn or high-nesting wildlife, for hunters and photographers, Treez Tree Tents can also be set up at varying heights. This, of course, can take a great deal more time depending on the set-up. And it adds an element of danger and safety that may require specialized rope and climbing training, safety back-up harnesses, professional judgment and experience, etc., but it does offer "extreme sport" and "specialized functions and uses" for our Tree Tents.

Even a milder adventurer can take a little more time beyond a simple level, chest high set-up, that I often use in backpack travels, and move to a steep hillside where it may take a bit of a shinny to set up the downslope Tree-Saver Bands, but the reward is a "hovering" tent, maybe 8-10' off the ground on its downslope sides but able to access from the ground by setting the entry on its upslope side...and nearer the ground. Hunters and photographers can take advantage of such set-ups on hillsides adjoining gameyards, ridge trails, etc. Those professionals engaged in wildlife studies can take the preliminary set up time—even hours or a day of scouting and siting—to be able to set up above the reach of dangerous wildlife, or in sightlines to high nests for observation and photography, etc.

Our tents are stable enough for most handheld still and video shooting—and where lower settings are appropriate, a tripod can be set up on the ground beside whilst the user can wait and watch and operate comfortably from the tent. (We do still offer as a special order one of our early models, the Hunter'sNest, an open deck with a configurable camouflage fly/canopy to use and configure as both shelter and blind and for the option of 360 degree shooting.) We believe most hunters will also find our stabilized surface sufficient for shots from either sitting or prone positions.

Even if a user is not facing wolves and bears, one of the obvious percs of being "a Treez elf" is being above most of the small animals of the outdoors. Experienced wilderness campers who know how to isolate food odors, store food away from sleeping areas, avoid most campfires, etc. will find this perc and many others quickly intuitive and customizable for each situation. Of course, there is also the pleasure of being above rain-made rivulets and sudden mud.

Then, there's the simple pleasure of "sleeping like a baby in a cradle," high and dry and secure and off the lumpy ground, getting the rest needed to enjoy your outdoor sojourns! Once, I was set up below the rim of a broken cliff, tied over open boulders amid trees that had a small cataract gushing between them. I was on the Atlantic Coast of Nova Scotia's Cape Breton, and the sound of the surf also surged up from far below. Two wonderful "white noise" sounds, the little rushing brook and the sea, had me in a deep sleep and dreaming peacefully. Somehow, my brain had me sleeping in a big double bed in a metropolitan hotel high rise! I awoke, and it took me several minutes of thinking how loud and full the sound of their hot air heating system was, before I remembered that I was buried instead in my down bag, snug in my FlyingBivy with the waterfall and the ocean mistaken for the sounds. I laughed and fell back to sleep.

***

This site offers extensive knowledge and discussion and stills and videos of our amazing Tree Tents. Enjoy browsing. See our FAQS page and video demos to answer many of your questions, and we try to answer email queries promptly. Hopefully, we'll see you in the trees!

Since 2003

Alpha camp high over lake shore

The Alpha with Fly/Canopy

(See more of Fly/Canopy here)

MORE TREEZ TALK

Treez Tree Tents are not for everyone.

Thank Goodness.

But...if you are a professional forester, or a field biologist, or on an expedition to either northern forests or equatorial jungles,

or just an avid lover of the outdoors...

...if you have a streak of Thoreau and like to nestle among sighing pine boughs with your notebook (paper or keyboard),

...or pray, if you have some monk in you,

...to revel silently if you have some elf in you,

...if you like to quietly and invisibly observe,

...if you like to disappear, to go off the grid, to innocently enjoy stealth and quietness, so to keep your balance in a dizzy world,

...if you engage in deep wilderness hunting and game watch stalking, either with bow or gun or camera,

...if you like to travel in the great outdoors not only with backpack but also by bicycle or kayak or canoe...or even by motorized wheels or tracks where pack size is still relevant,

If you love to love and to play and to work and to rest and to worship and to be quiet and to gather in little tribes of friends, reveling and rejoicing among the Birch and Aspen or under the aged Oaks...

...THEN Treez Tree Tents may be for you.

Our Treez are handbuilt and hand fit, each tested and personally inspected under user loads and conditions

...for such a One as You.

***

The ᴁlph Alpha Fly/Canopy

While old canvas tents of yesteryear were single layer—and an occupant dare not touch the sidewall during a rainstorm or the surface tension would break and spring a drip leak!

—And while some modern and specialized tents have returned to single layer construction--like the Portaledge cover,a one layer fly-tent as who wants to try to rig a separate fly when on the side of cliff!?...most modern lightweight tents for mountaineering, backpacking and such wilderness sports...and even most campground style family tents...USE a fly-over-tent combination.

Single wall tents, even with modern non-canvas waterproof materials, still often have some problems with condensation on the inner walls due to breathing of the users and differences in humidity and temperature between the inside of the tent and the outdoors.

Flys pretty much eliminate that. Consequently, modern tent design in the backpacking era has, and most often still does, rely on a two layer system in which the inner layer, the tent, is, yes, slightly water resistant but still fully breathable, and the outer layer is an overlaying fly which stands off from the tent, typically about 2", guyed over the exposed poles, and providing the waterproofing against rain and gathering on its inner surface any condensation passing up—through the tent panels—from the occupants in the tent, there to dispel it either by providing a drip away to the edges in severe moisture conditions and/or providing a surface for outdoor airs...breezes...wind to carry it away in evaporation in most conditions. This has proved a very workable and successful system and remains widely used as the best method for most outdoor situations.

We chose to use this system, and we have been able to greatly capitalize on it for our camping system, getting significant expansion of benefits from those afforded to ground tents. Chiefly these: Ground tents necessarily cannot have the fly extend past the ground level at the maximum. (Many builders end the Fly even up off the ground as soon as it has passed the upper edge of their waterproofed "tub floor.") BUT WE CAN KEEP RIGHT ON GOING! ...AND WE DO...way past the floor of our tents!

Some ground tent flys offer an extension of the fly, near the door, etc., to also allow the fly to be extended into a canopy or porch cover. But, our flys, which also extend well past our tent floor/sleeping surface can be used that way in every direction...as well as down! Our Alpha, tidy, backpackable unit that it is, nevertheless has a Fly/Canopy that extends to nearly 14' of coverage at its widest points. It can be guyed out in every direction to surrounding branches or other attachment points—as a shade, as a large undercamping area—including sitting/lounging right on under the tent too when it is set high enough for at least sitting headroom under. It can even be used as a rainwater catcher (potable water source), but the user has to tend to emptying it on such occasions lest a pocket full of water grow too large. And/or it can be let down to serve as its Fly-only purpose for wet weather, and finally, lashed together under the tent for serious wet and windy inclemencies.

We have made the most of the 15+ ounces that a typical unit weighs to give a full and comfortable experience to Treez camping. We have placed ties at strategic places—long ones at each corner for the main anchor points and plenty of other tie loops for users to employ or overlook to tie out the Fly into many configurations of canopy as the site—with what it has available for tie out points—and conditions and needs permit. (Carry your own light string for these options.) (We'll also offer a snuggable shock cord to draw the Fly together under the tent for stormy weather, or, again, you can do similarly with your own string or cord.)

The ᴁlph Alpha Fly/Canopy in ultralight (1.3 oz/sq.yd) "silnyl" (silicon impregnated) ripstop nylon is also ultra strong for its extreme lightness. This fully impregnated material, unlike coated cloths—is also extremely water resistant. You will only need to seam seal the central seam, not bothering with edge seams. You will need to use ONLY a 100% silicon seam sealer such as McNett's Silicon Seam Seal—available on our Orders Page and at other outdoor retailers.

Through much hands-on, practical field testing and personal use, we have developed the Alpha Fly's size and shape, materials choice, attachment points, and reinforcements for the best package at a minimum weight. You will find it to be exceptionally versatile, practical, useful, and essential. With it, you have a whole weather-protected campsite in the wilds—and with your Alpha as a kind of "loft bedroom" above your site!

***

(For those who want to read on!)

Speaking of Versatility...

More on the Treez mythos and legacy

(with some set-up and technical details)

The same versatility we build into our Flys/Canopies guides our whole philosophy of discovery and design for our Tree Tents. In the beginning, we tried to build a two-attachment point model, but when you tense up such a creature, all you get is a tightrope... stable in itself, but not so good for human comfort or balance. When I saw that we must go to multiple points for stability...and we have designed various embodiments...the first thing I worried over was, "How hard will it be to find set-ups in the woods?" If it was going to be a pedantic challenge only, then I would have abandoned the whole effort as only a flight of fancy, a mental exercise come to its end, or a crazy, cantankerous machine. It had to be simple, easy to grasp and learn, and infinitely practical too.

I hit on three points of attachment as the next simplest thing above two—Three—a Triangle, a geometric shape of great stability, and a shape, stretched into a regular isosceles shape—two longer sides—that would easily afford a user's body outline and not have a lot of unusable excess...but use that excess as readily accessible storage! Sure, a rectangle might do it in a little shorter space, but that would have required a fourth attachment point. Still, would set-ups be easy to find in a typical asymmetrical forest? Turns out, after tens of dozens of experimental set-ups, the answer is "Yes"! Now, when I walk through a woods, I see set-up after set-up, turned this way and that. They are everywhere in most naturally wooded settings. It turns out there is a geometry of lines that is almost infinite between the random trees of the forest.

What are the minimum requirements to set-up a Treez Tree Tent? Pick two trees at least as far apart of the head side of the tent, maybe a little more to allow for the lines to work—as little as six feet with the Alpha, or as much as about 30 feet with the gear supplied. Extensions can also be made. Call these "the head-side trees." Then pick a tree for "the foot end." This tree can be nearly anywhere between the head-side trees, but at a suitable distance from a sight line between the two head-side trees—With the Alpha this tree can be approximately 10-20 feet distant from the sight line between the head-side trees. Again, extensions can be added, but the basic rig supplied will usually provide many possibilities.The foot-end can also be askew from the center of the headside line; it doesn't have to be nearly exact. It can be well off to either side as long as the tent floor profile fits within the geometric triangle formed by the three trees. See these sketches from our early printed manual for the FlyingBivy. They still apply.

More versatility! Then the tent can be moved around within the selected forest triangle by various intuitive adjustments to come to its regular triangular shape, flat and smooth, and ready for an occupant, and by more than one means. Our standard 10' Tree-Saver Bands (TSBs) can be installed around a tree or limb with only the one wrap of the TSB passing around the tree and through either of its own end loops. After this loop is snugged to the tree, more winds can be passed around the tree to shorten it as needed. On small trees, one may have most all of the 10' to use as needed or not. On larger trees, it may take up much of the 10' to wrap the tree. (If you live in the Redwoods, we can make up custom length TSBs for you, or you can simply link TSBs with carabiners,but never loop them to each other's end loops as the tension of our system will bind them so tightly together, you may never get them apart again!).

Also, TSBs can be wound around a tree in either direction, changing slightly the angle at which they leave the tree and go toward the attachments to the tent. Also, the TSB joint, where it passes through its end loop after circling the tree, need not point right toward the set-up. It can be moved to different spots around the tree's circumference before it is snugged down. A questioning user may wonder if it will not slip toward the tent when tension is applied, but, generally, if snugged down well first, it will stay right where it is...or any tendency to slip will occur at first tensioning and can be snugged out then. This also gives a lot of fine tuning length adjustment to the TSBs. When the TSBs are in tentative position, hook the foot end to its TSB with a carabiner and stretch out the tent toward the head side area. Lay out the Tensioner Hardware Unit between the two head side trees, extended fully, or less if not needed—yet another point of variable versatility. The heavier lines at both end of the Tensioner are called Tree Lines. Take each one and lead it out to and through the loop at the loose ends of its TSB. (TSBs have an identical loop on both ends; one is being used to yoke the TSB to the tree.) From this installation through the TSB loop, run the Tree LIne back to the tent and attach it with a Timber Hitch to the stainless steel attachment ring at its corner of the head side. This is yet another adjustment point in the versatility of the tents. You may use as little or as much of the Tree Line as needed to tie off. Excess can be coiled and hung when done, but always leave at least a few inches of excess below the knot so there will be no danger of it pulling through. A Timber Hitch will release fairly easily after great pressure has been applied to it. Many knots will not. Learn it and use it only and make sure it is tied right. Do the same for the other corner of the headside to the other tree's TSB. Try to take out the slack, just by hand, and lift the tent off the ground and snug it up a bit as you tie the second Timber Hitch. Then the main tensioning is done by the Tensioner. After it is as tight as you can get it, apply the final tensioning of two head-side D-Ring strap tensioners around the bundle of the Tensioner lines wherever they land on it. (Move them slightly to one side or the other of the Tensioner plate if they happen to land right on it or on another part of the hardware, a block {pulley}, for example.) To use these D-ring web straps effectively, you must make sure you have set the head side within a range of approximately 6" to 36" short of the line the Tensioner will form between the two head side trees when it is set up taut. See our illustrations and videos for tricks we have learned to get this accomplished and tightly. Using these, will "finish" the tautness of an already tight rig and give you a great, level, nearly lineal sleeping experience. It is possible to use the tent without them but much better with them. In some really asymmetric layouts, the user might only be able to secure one of them, but it is best to play around with foot-end TSB lengths so as to use both of these as often as possible.

To sum up Treez Tree Tents practical versatility: Your selected triangle of trees can be skewed off quite a bit from a perfect isoceles or equilateral triangle (though those may be the easiest to use). Your tent can be moved around within the footprint of the triangle of projected lines between the trees as long as they provide, overall, a larger triangle than the base of the tent is. TSBs can be set at various lengths to help you position the tent. This can be done by adjusting the number of wraps around the tree, and by where the joining loop is placed on the circumference of the tree. TSBs can be wound around a tree either way to alter the angle at which the TSB points toward the tent. Lengths of the Tree Lines can be adjusted as to where the Timber Hitch is tied to the front corner ring, to help attain the desired position of the tent in the larger triangle footprint of the trees. Finally,the foot end TSB should be set to allow the two head-end D-ring web strap tensioners to be added at the end of the set-up. This is intuitive after a try or two, but the tent can be quickly dropped and this length readjusted as needed if you have not set the distance right. (D-ring tensioners work this way: Take the loose end of the D-Ring strap, run it out and under the Tensioner's bundle of lines and back over the top of them to the double D-rings. Pass it through both together, then turn it back over the rear one and put it back through the front one. Then you can draw the D-Ring strap down very tightly, and the D-rings lock it in place. This works just like a D-ring pants belt, and is simple and intuitive to use. To loosen them, first take the tension off the main Tensioner fully, and then they can be released, but probably not until you do that! See our videos where we show old "marlinespike" mariner skills for tips and tricks on the fairly athletic skills needed to get the Alpha to a good full tension.

Strategic Baggywrinkle and other things you need to know

Baggywrinkle is an old mariner's term for a chafeguard for squaresails where they rub rigging. We just like the sound of it, but our "baggywrinkle" does helps extend the durability of our tents too. For us,it is the strategic bits of extra cloth, stretch panels, seam designs, etc. in our cuts and patterns. It got there by much field testing and R&D, and it means our tents may have a bit of extra wrinkle when they are freestanding with no load in them. This will stretch out under user load and will allow the tent to "shape-shift" a bit as needed without collapsing or experiencing overmuch strain and without being easily harmed as the user moves about in it.

Also, we have striven for the best blend possible of high strength but with low pack weight. Our webs and harnesses and attachment gear are all equivalent to equipment rated for climbing and yachting loads. Yet our tent fabrics have been chosen from backpacking's lightweight cloths--our wall panels being 2.5 oz nylon ripstop and our fly being 1.3 oz Silnylon, etc so that we come in with an amazing weight of only 8 pounds when the whole rig is added up, and the packing size for all the assembly of elements and parts is down to about the size of an average down sleeping bag! ...and fits easily on or in the average backpack, bike pack, kayak port, etc.

We do encourage the user toward a "friendly" use of the tent for the longest durability. We suggest opening door zippers all the way before exiting and entering to reduce strain on them, and if they are stiff under one particular user weight position, we suggest you change position to ease the strain on opening or closing if needed. Good common sense will see the zippers being very durable in use.

We do offer replacement parts if needed. Our tent poles are by Easton Aluminum, the "Ferrari of tent poles." Rule of thumb: They are "half the weight, twice the strength" of fiberglass poles. We also offer replacement Tree Saver Bands ("TSBs") if yours become worn—especially in the bearing area of the stitched eyes, a chief wear point. We also will build custom length TSBs upon request, or you can join additional standard, 10', TSBs with carabiners which we can also provide. (Never interlock the end eye loops directly one to another—instead join them with a carabiner—or you will bind them together under load, probably inseparably!) We will also service and replace parts on Tensioners and their lines—the larger lines, "Tree Lines" and the smaller lines "block and tackle lines" that gain the purchase tension through the Tensioner.

If these Tensioner lines ever get too tangled to use easily, just untie the "stopper knot," a "figure eight knot" and unthread the line from the cleats and the block's (pulleys) and re-"rove" it through them again--simple logic shows where they go: From the "becket" end, where the Tensioner line is attached by its eye to the single block, run the line up through one of the double blocks pulleys, then back to the single block and through it's pulley; then back to the double block and through its second pulley; then, back to the Tensioner—to which the single block is attached; run it through the "cam-cleat" there, and then through the base of the nylon standard cleat—which is provided as a safety back-up, and then restore the "stopper knot" or "keeper knot" which is a "figure-eight knot," but, can be a simple overhand knot if you are feeling "knot-challenged." BTW, if you want to impress your friends with some marlinespike seamanship knowledge while camping in the wilds, say "reeve" the line (past tense "rove") through the "block" (not pulley)!

If needed, email us,for help and further instructions: