Nube Stratos: Unboxing and Initial Impressions!
A few months ago, we posted about how much we love our Nube from Sierra Madre Research and how it is our preferred camping shelter for our trips. However, we also mentioned that Sierra Madre Research was coming out with a new model that they called the Stratos. We preordered and it finally came!
A few bullet points as we took our initial impressions:
- Pros
- We love the fact that the rainfly and the bug net are separate. This gives the user more options as they camp. The one thing I was sad about with the Nube is I couldn't watch the stars while falling asleep. Now I can.
- We think having the two separate pieces will also help with packing. We don't have one big piece to fit in a backpack now but several smaller pieces that can fit more ways. Definite plus.
- The zipper on the bug net for getting in and out is MUCH IMPROVED. It used to be a team effort to unzip the Nube. Now it's a cinch.
- Cons
- We loved the fact that the videos on how to set up the Nube were clear and covered every aspect of the set up process. This was not true for the Stratos. If we had not had experience with our Nube before trying to set up the Stratos, this would have been a much more frustrating process (10 out of 10) then it ended up being (5 out of 10).
- It seemed like the video that did show how to set up the Stratos had many steps that seemed really cumbersome. This might not actually be a con if we had actual instructions to watch and learn. On a personal note: the instruction videos were what I thought took Sierra Madre Research to the next level. To take the time to attach QR codes to each point on the shelter with a short video on how to set it up showed me the intentionality of the company to have great customer experience. I hope this is just a blip for early adopters and something the company will fix here soon!
UPDATE: Sierra Madre has indeed come through (in fact, was only days behind) and has their instructional videos up! You can find them at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWq6YZhMZsvz1LTH3HUSUTA
Watch our unboxing and our initial impressions below!