2-person shelter that can be split for 1 person

[Leo L.]

Funny question maybe:
I'm in the planning of a hike, 10 days with my wife, and I'll continue another 10 days solo.
So when being together we would like to have some, if very little, luxury and a somewhat spacey shelter.
When continuing solo, I would save weight as much as possible, and easily can live with a very small shelter.
I expect the trip to be quite wet and windy, as this is our usual everyday weather.
And I have to buy some kind of shelter anyway, as all my stuff is quite old and heavy.
So the idea popped up, to get 2 pcs of a kind of shelter that we can build into one roomy one, as well as use 1 pc as a small single shelter.
We both will carry a simple rain poncho anyway, if this might help.

Anybody ever heard of such kind of shelter?

[swisscross]

I like your thought process but I am not aware of such a tent.

I am about to purchase a Lightheart gear solong 6 for me and my daughter.
Large enough for 2 people, might be cramped but huge for one person....weighs less than 2 lbs which is lighter than my dedicated one person tent.

Their duo is actually lighter than my current tent and would be roomy for the two of you and only a few ounces heavier than the solong.

I am flirting with the idea of adding a small tarp to extend our usable space when we both go. Especially if rain is expected.
Granted she is only 9 years old.

[Leo L.]

The idea popped up yesterday, when we a bunch of old friends set around the campfire, chatting about the old boyscout days. We had canvas tents then, each for 4 kids, positioned opposite each other, and the space between the tents was covered with a large rainfly.
So shrink this system down to two solo tents, set 1.5meters apart, cover the space between the tents by one of our ponchos, and we would have a roomy area for the evening chores, a private sleeping chamber each, and splitting the gear for the solo trip would be easy.
So now if there would just be a professional version of this setup?
And, with which kind of tent such a setup would work? (mainly concerning the additional pull the poncho cover would add to the tents)?
We will not have many trees to use in the area we will be hiking, as this will mostly be above tree line (camping lower than tree line is prohibited here, and we will just stealth camp in the woods one or two times).
So it comes down to more traditional setups, freestanding with (hiking-)poles.

[KidA24]

https://www.tarptent.com/protrail.html

It even looks like a boyscout tent

[Leo L.]

How would this come close to the original question?
Sorry that I distracted you by mentioning Boy Scouts!

[MuddyWaters]

Why not just get a 2p shelter thats light enough for one?
Or take only the tarp/fly and ditch the inner?

[Leo L.]

Would be another possible way to go.

So obviously there is no such solution on the market?

[Venchka]

The TarpTent company has several models fit for two yet won't break the back of a solo user.
LightHeart Gear has already been mentioned. Similar offerings.
Or buy a pair of solo tents from either company.

Wayne


Sent from somewhere around here.

[Franco]

Leo
The very first version of the Tarptent Double Rainbow was built by me in my backyard.
2-Rainbows.jpg
Henry ignored that design , made the Rainbow floor a bit wider and added another door .
Kind of a conventional way of doing it but it is our best selling shelter...
( I was just having a bit of fun with the Rainbows ...)
Oddly another designer I know attempted your idea with one of his pyramid designs (and funnier still it was aimed at boys scouts...) but that did not sell well so it was discontinued.
That mid designed evolved into this :
TwinPeak.jpg
but the original concept was of two separate shelters plus the canopy in between.
Still each shelter was about 1.4 kg (around 1.1 in silnylon) and you can get doubles now for around the weight of one of those singles (TT SS2 for example...)
franco@tarptent

[rickb]

Anybody ever heard of such kind of shelter?

Big Agnes makes 2 and nominal 3 person shelters that can be pitched as a conventional tent, or as just a fly with a footprint.

When hiking together you could have the luxury of a conventional tent, but enjoy weight savings after your partner walks off with the tent body.

My wife and I really like our 3-person Big Agnes, but have never really considered the so-called "fast pack" configuration for ourselves.

Just thinking this sort of conforms to what you were thinking.

Other shelters might enable a similar strategiy which would allow you to hike part B of your trip with just the fly-- so you could ditch the tent body, and footprint and poles, too.

[Franco]

"Other shelters might enable a similar strategiy which would allow you to hike part B of your trip with just the fly-- so you could ditch the tent body, and footprint and poles, too."

well you can't ditch the poles and footprint if you want your fly to stand up .
Fly Creek UL2 HV - Fast Fly-zm.jpg
However you can use any TT double wall shelter fly only without a footprint as you can with other integral pitch tents (mostly European designs...)
ss1-13.jpg
(TT SS2 fly only)

[Starchild]

There are some, but consider, if you can handle the price, zpack tents, the double models are just a few oz heavier than the single ones and would give a lot more room. Overall much lighter for a cuban fiber double tent then a regular single tent. The only downside (well ignoring the high price), is the larger footprint of a double.

[KidA24]

How would this come close to the original question?
Sorry that I distracted you by mentioning Boy Scouts!

You basically laid out what you wanted to do. Purchasing two of those tents could very well let you do exactly that. That was my point.

[wornoutboots]

I haven't heard of such a tent. You could carry a 2 person & mail yourself a 1 person at her ending point?

[Leo L.]

Thanks so much for all the good input!

Weight is one point, money is another. I would not hesistate to spend good money if I get something in very good quality that fits exactly my need.
Cheapest way would be, to use my old Salewa Sierra Leone, which is 4kg, and for the solo part only using the rainfly, the poles and the ground sheet, a setup that might have around 2.5kg.
Very heavy, but no extra money. Well, actually too heavy.

I will have a close look at the lightweight products you were recommending, and see what's available here in Austria.

[The Kisco Kid]

I have the ZPacks duplex. Great for two and still superlight for one!

[Leo L.]

Followup: Just got my new MSR Hubba Hubba NX.
It took some time to find a shop here that has a good selection of tents on stock in order to get a real hands-on.
I like the design ot the MSR, admiring also its delicate machined Aluminium parts. The one I maybe will swap to something sturdier are the lasercut Aluminium pegs.

[Bronk]

The Army used to issue what they called shelter halves...basically it was two pieces of canvas that could be put together to form a two person tent...that way each soldier would only have to carry his half of the tent. But I don't think you could really do anything with just one half of it.

[Leo L.]

Just recently read Norman Mailer's "The Naked and the Dead", and he's always speaking about "pup tents", I think this is the same.
Designed to be used by two, no use if single, as you said.

[Venchka]

Followup: Just got my new MSR Hubba Hubba NX.
It took some time to find a shop here that has a good selection of tents on stock in order to get a real hands-on.
I like the design ot the MSR, admiring also its delicate machined Aluminium parts. The one I maybe will swap to something sturdier are the lasercut Aluminium pegs.

Leo L,
Do you plan to use the Hubba Hubba NX by yourself?
Please keep us posted on your findings.

Wayne