Adventure brand Sea to Summit is making a sizable splash with its entry into the technical backcountry tent market — the Alto and the Telos, two lightweight models that are landing in spring 2021. The company is calling it “genre-shifting,” and after seeing the demonstrations and specs of these new Sea to Summit tents (and their innovative pole architecture in action), it’s a pretty fair description.

Three years’ worth of research and design went into the creation of the Alto and the Telos, along with their expansive line of accessories. The tents feature what’s called Tension Ridge pole construction, which alleviates two common pain points of modern tents: liveable space and ventilation. The Tension Ridge architecture allows for an inverted pole design that angles up to achieve an impressive internal height, ceiling ventilation, high vertical walls to accommodate modern, thicker sleeping mats and pillows, and
a more accessible dry entry/exit.

“The result is a roomy experience with a superior space-to-weight ratio that outperforms any other tent in its class,” Sea to Summit said.

The Tension Ridge architecture also makes Sea to Summit tents highly adaptable to temperature and humidity. Both the Alto and Telos tents are outfitted with a unique, adjustable cross-ventilation system consisting of a Baseline Vent and an Apex Vent. The construction and position of the Apex Vent allows for significantly better airflow and more effective condensation mitigation. This was achieved with the vision of Jake Lah, an expert of modern tent architecture.

These tents are loaded with custom and proprietary hardware, and they include features like the modular FairShare Storage System that allows for easy division of the tent amongst campers, a pole storage case that doubles as a LightBar for interior illumination at night in combination with a headlamp, and tent and fly stuff-sacks that clip into place as a storage pocket inside the tent.

For people who love stargazing but fear rain, fear no more. Both Alto and Telos provide the flexibility to leave the rain fly in a star-friendly, partial, or fully-opened position. The rain fly remains ready to rapidly deploy should an early-morning rainstorm appear. However, the best party trick is the Telos’ ability to transform into a roomy open-air shelter for cooking, shade, and weather protection known as Hangout Mode (as you can see in this next image):

Both the Alto and Telos tents come with a range of model-specific footprints and accessories, to fully customize the perfect tent to climate and feature preferences. 

---

Here’s a look at the Sea to Summit technical specifications for each of the tents:

Telos TR2 & 3 (mesh inner w/sil-PeU fly) starting at $499

• People: 2 or 3
• Season: 3 or 3+ season
• Doors: 2
• Vestibules: 2
• Freestanding + Hangout Mode – adaptability with the Telos rainfly
• Tension Ridge — allowing more internal living space, higher doors, and best in class ventilation
• Apex and Baseline Vent — Allowing cross-ventilation and climate adaptability.
• LightBar + FairShare System — modular stuff sacks for tent distribution and organization
• Minimal Trail Weight (Fly + Inner + Poles only): 52.2oz /3.26lbs for the 2-person; 69.2oz/4.32 lbs for the 3-person
• Packed weight (Above + pegs, stuff sacks, guy lines): 58.2oz / 3.64lbs for the 2-person; 76oz / 4.75lbs for the 3-person
• Floor Area: 28.2 square feet for the 2-person; 39.74 square feet for the 3-person
• Vestibule Area: 19.3 square feet for the 2-person; 21.5 square feet for the 3-person
• Ridge Height: 3 feet 4 inches for the 2-person; 3 feet 5 inches for the 3-person
• Door Height: 3 feet 7 inches for the 2-person; 3 feet 10 inches for the 3-person
• Fly Material: 15D Nylon
• Fly Waterhead: 1,200mm – 1,500mm
• Floor Material: 20D Nylon
• Floor Waterhead: 2,500mm – 8,000mm
• Tent Color: Grey (sil-PeU)

Buy the 2-person Telos tent here.

Buy the 3-person Telos tent here.

---

Alto TR1 & 2 (mesh inner w/sil-PeU fly) starting at $399

• People: 1 or 2
• Season: 3 – 3+ season
• Doors: 1 (for the 1-person) or 2 (for the 2-person)
• Vestibules: 1 (for the 1-person) or 2 (for the 2-person)
• Tension RidgeTM – allowing more internal living space, higher doors and best in class ventilation
• ApexTM – Allowing cross-ventilation and climate adaptability.
• LightBarTM + FairShare System – modular stuff sacks for tent distribution and organization
• Minimal Trail Weight (Fly + Inner + Poles only): 33oz / 2.06lbs for the 1-person; 41.4oz / 2.6lbs for the 2-person
• Packed weight (Above + pegs, stuff sacks, guy lines): 38.6oz / 2.41lbs for the 1-person; 47.7oz / 2.98lbs
  for the 2-person
• Floor Area: 19.53 square feet for the 1-person; 27.54 square feet for the 2-person
• Vestibule Area: 7.5 square feet for the 1-person; 18.3 square feet for the 2-person
• Ridge Height: 3 feet 3 inches
• Door Height: 3 feet 7 inches
• Fly Material: 15D Nylon
• Fly Waterhead: 1,200mm
• Floor Material: 15D – 20D Nylon
• Floor Waterhead: 1,200mm – 2,500mm
• Tent Color: Grey (sil-PeU)

Buy the 1-person Alto tent here.

Buy the 2-person Alto tent here.

 

Images by Sea to Summit

We are committed to finding, researching, and recommending the best products. We earn commissions from purchases you make using the retail links in our product reviews. Learn more about how this works.