I will start by saying it was a pleasure dealing with the folks at Tensa when I ordered this stand. They had great communication and were a pleasure to work with. I got this stand about 4 days before I started a cross-country trip ( FL to VA to CO to UT to FL) which would be about 35 days total. I planned on using this stand for a good amount of the trip, however fortunately/unfortunately circumstances allowed me to use it literally every night of this trip.
I really wanted to like this stand, I really did, but I really wanted to like my TATO stand as well. But, even though a lot of people do, I really do not like the TATO stand. I have had a lot of issues with mine (mainly stability issues involving wind, and yes it’s set up correctly). I was weary that I would have those issues with the Tensa as well. But here is my gosh darn most honest review on what I think of this stand after putting it through its paces. I’ve set this thing up in driveways, basements, backyards, and about 7 different campgrounds/RV parks.

SETUP- My first setup was a bit rough. Took some figuring out to do, but I got the gist of it with the included directions. The first week I had the stand I used the method of only one anchor on the foot end. This does work well, but I’m clumsy, awkward, and uncoordinated. One night, I had a cramp kick in in my calf and in the process of getting out I got tacoed in the stand, along with my underquilt, hammock, topquilt, and fronkey bugnet. It was a hot mess. I went out and picked up another orange screw, and for the rest of the trip I anchored both ends and the stand held up as solid as a rock. I could move freely in the hammock without the fear of being trapped in my bugnet again. As far as stability goes, we had some pretty crazy wind in CO. Strong enough to blow over my families staked out tent. However, that stand held strong through it all. Setup time and take down became a breeze by the end of the trip, less than 5 minutes. The “needle” on each end of the UCRs made life easier. The toggles held well. The packed size of the stand is remarkable, considering the weight capacity. Fit right in with the rest of my setup, without taking up any extra precious cargo space (unlike the TATO).

FREEDOM- of course having a stand you can setup pretty much anywhere, but the size of this stand fully setup opened up the possibilities. In a couple of places, the sites were very small and we were sharing one site with a large RV and my wife’s 10 man tent. Space was limited, but in every case I was able to setup just fine.

THINGS I LOVE
the size and weight, both packed and deployed. I could also move the stand while deployed easily for fine tuning when needed.
The simplicity of it all. I am still amazed at how it all just works. Setup me take down can be done in 5 minutes or less.
The build quality of everything was top notch.
The small touches on the UCRs, makes the setup all the easier (though I’m debating on switching the center one out for a fixed eye dog bone)
Cost. Yes, $300 is quite a bit for a stand. But I paid $350 for my TATO, and I will take this stand over that one any day. Money well spent considering performance
Reliability- With only minor user generated error/failure, this stand stood up the entire trip night after night and did what it was supposed to do. Even pushed close to the weight limit for 30+ days, still holding up like a champ.
The Tensa crew was top notch to work with.
THINGS THAT COULD BE BETTER/THINGS IM STILL WORKING ON
I am still working on getting the stand in a configuration that lets me comfortably setup my tarp. I do think with this stand a diamond, asymmetrical, or standard hex would work better. It seemed the doors on my superfly were causing the issue on either end. I setup my tarp a few different ways, but I am still working on finding the “best” way forward
I will say that handing in the driveway really did a number of on the end rubber pieces. But they are really easy to replace.

Overall, I am more than impressed with this stand. It has exceeded my expectations in every way. In most cases I am truly blown away with how well it performed and how compact it traveled. Never once on my trip did I doubt the stands ability to perform and hold my big but up (well once I started anchoring both ends. I am sure with more time I will figure out an optimal setup for a tarp. Down the line I will look at selling my TATO and probably picking up another one of these.

Thank you again to the Tensa crew for getting me my stand for this trip. In all honesty, the trip would have been pretty terrible without it.


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