The Argali Owyhee 1P Tent is a pyramid-shaped tarp that can be purchased with an insect-proof insert: this is a review of both.  Who is Argali Outdoors? They’re a backcountry hunting gear company that manufactures and sells ultralight backcountry and backpacking gear. There is a lot of overlap between hunting and backpacking so this is a great fit, even though most hunters stay well away from trails and travel cross-country to scout game. In those circumstances, you still want to minimize your gear weight for ease of travel and because every pound you carry in gear, means one less pound pound of meat you can carry out if you have a successful hunt.

RELATED: Best Ultralight Pyramid Tarps

Argali Owyhee 1P Tarp

The Owyhee 1P Tarp is a six-sided floorless tarp with a zippered side door, weighing in at 14 oz. It requires one trekking pole to setup and goes up fast. Made with siliconized polyester (silpoly), it must be seam-sealed before use, a service that the manufacture offers for a small fee (trust me, you want to pay someone to do this for you). Silpoly absorbs very little water if it gets wet and doesn’t sag as badly as siliconized nylon (silnylon) does.

• Tarp Weight: 14 oz before seam sealing, 16.8 oz after, including guylines (confirmed)
• Material: 20D Nano-Ripstop SilPoly
• Coating: sil/sil 2500MM treatment
• Min # of stakes require to pitch: 6, recommended 8
• Dimensions: 106″ (l) x 71″ (w) x 50″ (h)
• Insert Weight: 15.8 oz (confirmed)
• Includes: tent stakes, extra cordage, seam-sealer
• Price: $225 for the tarp, $45 for the seam-sealing, $135 for the insert
• Pros: Spacious interior, easy-to-setup
• Cons: Trekking pole blocks front doorway and is easy to knock over at night

The doors can be rolled back and are held in place with conventional toggles.

The Owyhee 1P has lineloc cord adjusters at each guy-out point and there are additional guy-out loops positioned along the seams along with reflective elements. The two vestibule doors have their own guy-out points and lineloc adjusters so you can open each one independently, leaving one closed if you want to use the vestibule it creates for gear storage. The vestibule YKK #5 zipper is bi-directional, which is helpful when pitching the tarp so you unzip it from the top to reach in and position your pole without completely opening the doors. This helps keep the interior drier if it’s raining.

There are reflective elements sewn into the seams so you can find the tarp in the dark.

The tarp can be pitched close to the ground in stormy weather or with an air gap around the perimeter for added ventilation. The peak has a kick-stand vent to help reduce internal moisture and is reinforced with X-pac so you don’t have to worry about puncturing it with a pole tip. There also a guy-out loop at the top of the peak, so you can leave both doors tied back and just stake out the peak for views and ventilation.

Argali claims that the tarp is large enough to house a 6’3″ individual. While that’s technically true, you have realize that the amount of space above your feet and head is limited under a pyramid because the walls slope closer to the ground at the ends and side. It’s not bad in the Owyhee which has a large enough footprint that you can try to center yourself in its sweet spot, but it is just a fact of life when sleeping in pyramid shelters.

Argali Owyhee 1P Insert

The tarp with the insert deployed.

The Owhyee 1P Insert consists of a floor and insect netting, and while it’s not strictly necessary, it does increase the comfort factor considerably when insects are on the loose. It’s simple to add to the tarp setup, but is not, by itself, a standalone shelter.

As you can see the living space of the insert is good – that is a 6’ quilt and pad. Unfortunately, that guy-line must be tied to the zipper, which is not so good.

The insert has five guy-out points situated around its floor that connect to the tarp’s guy-out lines with tiny little carabiners after the tarp has been set up. The floor floats on the ground because it is not rigidly connected to the interior seams of the tarp and is there fore self-adjusting if it set of on a pitch that is not completely level.

However, there is no connection between the peak of the insert and the peak of tarp. Instead, during setup, you need to remove the trekking pole holding up the tarp, and reposition it in the peak of the insert to hold both the insert and the tarp up.

The trekking pole must be inside the insert which cannot conveniently be used as a standalone shelter by itself.

This setup is awkward and it would be so much better if the insert’s peak could be connected to the inside of the tarp’s peak. This could be as simple as adding a clip to the underside of the tarp’s peak and adding a small webbing loop to the top of the insert’s peak. This would allow:

1. the trekking pole could be positioned outside of the insert providing more room for the occupant and lessening the risk of knocking the pole over at night. You could also push the trekking pole tip into the ground, making for a very secure anchor.
2. the trekking pole could be positioned at an angle, instead of vertically, providing more room to get in and out of one side of the insert’s rainbow door.
3. the tarp could be packed and unpacked together and fully connected, making the set up process easier and faster. It’s a little cumbersome to do that now with just the floor corners pre-attached.

This is just my opinion. The current way the insert works is fully functional; I just think it could be better and be more competitive with my suggested changes.

Recommendation

The Argali Owyhee 1P Tent (Pyramid Tarp and Insert) is a spacious ultralight shelter that weighs in at a smidge over 2 lbs. It’s easy to set up and have several ventilation and door configurations to help reduce internal condensation. Pyramid shaped tarps like the Owyhee are very wind and storm worthy, hence their popularity with wilderness backpackers and hunters.

Disclosure: Argali donated a tarp and next for review.

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