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Hey guys,

I recently picked up a BCS 2 plus Grande conversion from the forums and I wanted to post a couple size reference shots for those who May be interested in this shelter. I'll be using yours truley, as the model 5'10 250#, sorry if you where hoping for some hot bikini clad supermodel .

After I've used the BCS2 through hunting season ill post up a more detailed review, but I feel having some dimenational reference shots would have made my decision making process a lot easier when looking at shelters.

For now I just have Grande mode pics as I didn't have a camera operator when I pitched it with the annex/vestibule




Turns out the guy I bought this from also got the BCS2 off the forums and added the Grande conversion later, after SO changed colors from the dark gray/black to the Brown. Also the Brown tarp appears to be a few inches shorter, also a design change I've been told. however it does not seem to affect function one bit. Maybe Kevin can chime in and shed some light on this.



Again I'm 5'10", 250 lbs. I clearly have enough space to stand all the way up without hitting the roof. Coming from a supertarp, where there is only one spot to sit upright, I can't tell you how awesome that is


If I stand shoulder to shoulder with the pole the outside of my head just touches the tarp and my shoulder has about and inch or two of clearance from the side wall from any position where my shoulder is touching the pole

the BCS2 is tall enough for me to stand up, get dressed, walk in/out of and just short enough I can reach the vents to open/close them.



As for the inside sleeping long ways with the pole, I'm about dead even to the center. Leaving me about an inch from the back wall, making the center guyout a necessity to avoid condensation when using a thicker bag. . This was just a quick trip to the local reservoir here in centeral Cali with night time temps at 75 I didn't even bother with my poncho liner until about 3am, so I could snug my feet up to the wall with worrying about getting wet or bumping my head on the center pole. This is about the only part where I wish the BCS 2 was a tad longer. I could imagine stuffing 4 smelly dudes in here and we'd all be head to head . But for most trips it'll just be me and my girlfriend or me and my hunting partner in which case "you stay on your half of the tent and I stay on mine ! " lol

As for sleeping width-wise (as with a nest) its do able for my size in either the front position or back position. Both pads are 20" wide thermarest prolite plus Orange 72" red 60" women's

So far I'm pleased with the shelter. It will fit.my uses nicely. Later ill toss up a few pics with the standard annex as well as some varied tarp pitches with just the base. If you have any requests for angles or set ups let me know, ill be pitching it again this weekend.

My hope with this shelter is that it gives me enough modularity to run solo all the way up to 4 people, with stand up & stove compatibility in the most used mode ( standard vestibule with one or two people).
After I get some more time playing with it I hope itll replace my supertarp. I've weathered thunderstorms under a usgi poncho before but its not ideal.
and in fairer whether I prefer just an overhead or 3 sided tarp but I didn't realize I how much I wanted a walk-in fowl whether shelter until I had to crawl through muck to get into my supertarp earlier this year.
so
Base : fair whether solo
BCS2 fair-ish weather 2-3 hiking minimal or solo hunting a lot of gear
BCS2+stove Duo hiking, solo hunting or duo spike camp Minimal gear
Grande: 3-4 people camping fair or fowl but above freezing,minimal gear.
Grande +Stove : Duo base camp hunts lots of gear
That's the plan we'll see how it plays out

Ps when/if you guys post pics of your shiney new shelters, whichever brand it is. please please for the love.of all that is holy, stand upright in that sucker and take a picture ! Please. We all went through the same process deliberating between size/weight/cost when buying a shelter since its hard to get hands on with these things Before purchase.

A sleeping pad pic does help a bit to some degree but not as much as a pic of you in your shelter sitting,standing,crouching etc. . I've seen angles that make the supertarp and LBO look Like Standup shelters. If you can do cartwheels inside your 12 man I want to see it! No seriously I do if you say X number of dudes with gear will fit in XYZ shelter easy please show it and don't forget to mention your specs. Cuz either there are a bunch of midgets who roam the hills hunting for elk and dear or some folks are over-reaching on their adjectives for shelter size . without your help the world will spin off its axis and descend into the 5th dimension. Help keep the world turning. Your "in-shelter" pics will be appreciated.

PSA complete

Great pics of your shelter, good suggestion for other shelters. Thanks for taking time to give us some real world perspective of the BCS Grande.

no problem !

I figure we all have to help eachother out in that regard. I've made 100% of my pack and shelter purchases based off online reviews and forum disscuions . I'll will spend the 3-4 months of saving money for new gear on the discussion boards researching to make sure I've made the best choice off of available info. So the more there is the better.

Here is my bcs grande.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice

So my plans for getting out there and scouting this weekend along with some field shots got nixed. but I did manage to hit the park and try some alternate pitches with the Grande base panel. With stove jack on the base its coming in at 1.65 lbs on my scale.



with the use of some bungies to the tree I essentially pitched/guyed out as normal. This offeres incredible access and good coverage, just slightly shorter and wider Than if pitched with annex and pole.



Interesting optical illusion with the seam lines but my feet are actually all the way under the tarp. The side walls are not saggy, they are much tighter than the pic would suggest