This tent is like no other in my opinion. It is a real shame that SD quit making it. I think it was the best kept secret in the tent world. The "Convertible" monikor has likely misled a great many folks into thinking this tent has a weakness when compared to other hardcore tents. On the contrary, it has an advantage in the fact that it can ventilate much better than most assault tents yet hang with the best of them if not surpass them.
If you can find one of these used, jump on it!
Bottom line is that I sure hope SD comes out with a new version on the Tiros Convertible before mine wears out. I don't know what I'd replace it with.

Customer Service

No customer service needed.

I seam sealed my tent and just took my time and did it right. No leaks. No need for four one ounce bottles of sealer like one other person reviewer stated. Thin coats work well.

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I've been in just about everything out there. My job puts me out in the field and often sharing other people's tents. Bibler makes some nice stuff but I still prefer my Tiro Convt. CD.

I bought mine in 1999. The rain fly has its seams sealed at the factory. It does not leak. This is an awesome tent, very versatile in all seasons.

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this is a great tent, the design is phenomenal, the convertible features are well worth the money because you are able to use it as a lightweight 3 season tent or a hardcore 4 season mountaineer tent. the only problem that i had with it is the fact all the clips on the inside of the rain fly leak like sieve. when i called the company with this problem they told me i had to seal the seams myself, which is fine, except that it took me 4 bottles of seam sealer and a week of work because it's dfficult to seal all around those little clips. but after sealing the seams where all the clips are attached to the fly and the seam around the tent floor, i could sail in the tent to london.

Customer Service

i expected better customer service for the cost of the tent. the service was barely average.

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Bought this tent to expand my camping range into 4 seasons. Got another SD tent for summer and looked long and hard at the trade offs between a convertible style tent vs. a true 4 season tent. Decided that the small amount of extra weight due to increased fabric and zippers, etc. was worth it to have a tent that could be used year round. Vestibule is great with lots of room. The interior of the tent is good, but I'm 6'3" and I'm pushing the height limit when lying down. My only complaint about the tent is that my version did not come with taped seams on the fly (I hear that this year's model does have taped seams). I seam sealed the tent before its first use and was surprised to find water pouring in during a rainy trip to the Smoky's. The reason it leaked is that the interior of the fly has clips that attach it to the tent for added strength. The seams where these clips were sewn in leaked profusely and the clip served as an effective bridge to transport the water directly onto the tent. I have since re-sealed the areas, but have yet to get a decent rain to determine the effectiveness. My tent was also missing the little center gear loop despite it being shown on the specs. Five minutes and some thread fixed that problem. It's expensive, and I'm not sure I would have paid the full $550 for it. I mangaged to get it at a really great price from rei and would reccomend it if you can find it on sale.

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This is a tent that you can depend on no matter what the conditions. We chose this tent over all the others in its class because it had the best strength/weight ratio (No gimmicks, every square inch of this tent is a static truss), ease of set up in harsh conditions, and the best ventilation for a 4 season convertible. I was sceptical at first of the frog eye vents weather proofness in the larger vestibule but this tent has been though a 10 hour torrential rain storm where the tent was essentially pitched in 4"" of water and the inside of the tent and the vestibule did no leak one drop! We recently piched this tent in zero degree temp - 1.5' of snow - 30-40 mile/hr wind conditions on top of Spruce Knob. The pole clips make setup so quick that we were in our tent in less than 5 minutes. The only change I would make to this tent would be to make the optional vestibule free standing. Buy this tent!

Customer Service

If you buy a SD tent call them before you seam seal the tent. They will tell you the best way to do this and still leave the tent's seams repairable.

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TNF VE25, SD Omega CD

Tent is very strong for winter activities. Large vestibule is great for cooking in poor weather. Zip open ceiling panels provide good ventilation in warmer and humid weather. Found to be a little overkill (setting up four poles and numerous fly clips)for summer, but it's hard to make a tent do both winter and summer camping well. Good tent if you are only going to have one tent for winter and summer.

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$399? If you can find this tent for that price, BUY IT. Retail is $550.
This is a bombproof tent, as it should be, considering the price and weight. Personally, I'll carry a little extra weight for a shelter I can rely on when things get really nasty. Last June I was caught in a fierce thunderstorm on a western PA mountaintop. I had time to set the tent up for extreme conditions using all 28 anchor points and 16 guy lines. The winds were strong enough to bring trees down, but the tent held solid. The "Mountain" and "VE-25" may be a little stronger, but they are very specialized winter tents. The Tiros Conv. vents very well for a 4 season tent, but it is still hot in the summer with the fly on. The huge winter vestibule can be substituted with the included 3 season one to save some weight. You can also remove sections from the cross brace pole bottoms to shed more weight. There are anchor points on the side of the tent for the now shorter poles. This set up actually increases the interior space by pulling the sides out. Overall, this is a perfect tent for all but the hottest, humid summer days. But who wants to endure an unexpected severe storm in a flimsy summer tent? Oh yeah, you can also use a footprint and the fly for a superlight shelter. Get the tent and share the weight with your partner. Practice setting it up securely before you actually need to.

Customer Service

My tent didn,t have a center loop inside. Sierra said it was a safety design to prevent a fire from a candle lantern, but later included the loop back in the tent design. I stitched one in myself. Personally, I think they just goofed and forgot.

Similar Products Used:

North Face Mountain
North Face VE-25