Shelters

[HaddenLo]

When hiking the AT would anyone advise on not taking a tent or tarp and just plan on only staying in the shelter. Im trying to save money and weight but I dont want to be ill prepared.

[Lone Wolf]

When hiking the AT would anyone advise on not taking a tent or tarp and just plan on only staying in the shelter. Im trying to save money and weight but I dont want to be ill prepared.

NEVER count on space in shelters. ALWAYS carry a tent or other form of shelter.

[drdewrag]

Depending on when you begin your thru, you may only rarely find space in a shelter unless you pull up in the middle of the day. Yeah, spend the money and carry the weight...

[rafe]

What Wolf said. Carry a tent or tarp or bivy.

[Littlest Hobo]

Do a quick search on this - this is the one opinion from LW that everyone on WB would agree with. On those cold, rainy days on the trail, (most) everyone on the trail will be looking to get access to a shelter. And no amount of squeezing will get 20 people to fit into a shelter designed for 6. And not amount of pleading from you will get anyone to move out to make room.

[HaddenLo]

Thanks for the help what would you advise to carry. I will start in Damscus in June and want to get as far as i can north by the end of August.

[bigcranky]

An Equinox 8x10 foot sil nylon tarp from Campmor:

http://tinyurl.com/ywhjdu

13 ounces, $65. It has exactly the same bug protection as a shelter (none), but it will keep you plenty dry if pitched carefully. Use your trekking poles to pitch it. Bring a head net or a piece of noseeum netting if you think the bugs will bother you.

Here's a thought experiment for you: You arrive at a shelter late in the afternoon, in the pouring rain. It's cold. The shelter is completely full, but you are not carrying any sort of tarp or tent. You tell the shelter occupants that you are not prepared, and ask if one of them would please go set up his or her tent in the pouring rain so that you can have their nice dry shelter space. How do you think this will go over with the other hikers? Bring the tarp.

[Ender]

When hiking the AT would anyone advise on not taking a tent or tarp and just plan on only staying in the shelter. Im trying to save money and weight but I dont want to be ill prepared.

Not carrying a tarp or tent (or hammock) yourself and relying on the trail shelters would make you ill-prepared. All you really need is a lightweight tarp, which shouldn't cost much more than $75 at the very most. Of course, if you feel like getting some decent sleep, bring a bugnet as well, or else you'll be miserable.

Seriously though, bring something yourself. The shelters often fill up very quickly, especially when it's raining, and you can NOT count of there being space in them when the weather gets bad. If you don't bring a tarp or tent yourself, you are going to get wet.

[Ender]

If weight is your primary concern, here's the lightest tarp made. It's not cheap at all, but you won't find a lighter tarp out there...

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/stealth_zero_nano_ultralight_tarp.html

and here's it's bigger brother, still very light.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/stealth_one_nano_ultralight_tarp.html

If money is your main concern, go with the campmor tarp.

[PJ 2005]

If you want a cheap solution for a "just in case" situation, try Tyvek. It's light, readily available, and waterproof. you can wrap yourself up like a burrito (best to use an 8x10 piece) and stay warm and dry. If you roll it loosely it's almost a tent. Home Depot baby!

[mnof1000v]

I carried a tent, but I stayed in shelters a lot. Like the others have said, the shelters do tend to fill up. However, if you're in the front of the pack, or you're an early starter, you will most likely arrive at a shelter with space. Of course, even if you arrive with space, you may have to contend with a night (or several) with 15 or 20 new friends.

I know a lot of people have mentioned bringing tarps and other shelters. If you're looking to save weight, and spend less money, there is another option. You could carry an emergency tube tent. They're available from just about any outfitter for like 7 or 8 dollars. And realistically, you might only need to use it a few nights. I'm surely going to get a couple negative responses to this. These tents are not anything fancy, and you wouldn't want to pitch one in really bad weather, but they hold up for at least a a few pitchings if you're careful. And if you were worried about one falling apart, you could even carry a couple and still keep the weight/volume down.:banana

[Jack Tarlin]

Wolf said it well, but to add a few things:

1. You can't count on space when you get there, and while folks will try and
make room for latecomers in bad weather, eventually a shelter gets maxed
out. In bad weather, you're screwed.

2. You might not make it to a shelter for whatever reason....fatigue, injury,
too far away, whatever.

3. In a few cases, the distance between shelters is further than you'll want
to hike.

4. There might be space in a shelter when you arrive, but maybe it'll be full
of folks you don't want to stay with, like rowdy college kids; 19 Born-
Again Cub Scouts; a crazy lady with 3 dogs, whatever.

5. There will be times when you won't WANT to stay in a shelter. There
are thousands of beautiful places to overnight on the A.T. that aren't
anywhere near shelters, and if you're dependent on the shelter system,
you'll miss them.

6. Distances between shelters is irregular. In many cases, you might start
your day at a shelter, with the next one being 9 miles away, and the one
after that, 11 miles further. In other words, you're forced to do a real
short day or a long one. If you're tied to staying at shelters, you've
severely limited your overnight options, and will frequently finding yourself
stopping early, or more likely, doing more miles than you want to do.

7. In short, bring some sort of shelter, whether it's a tent, tarp, bivy, or
hammock. There are better ways for you to save money than by skipping
a personal shelter of your own.

P.S. Have a look at the "Articles" section of Whiteblaze. A guy named Weathercarrot posted a great article on hiking on a budget.

[Spirit Walker]

One consideration since you are only hiking midsummer - how badly are you affected by mosquitoes? A tarp is fine if you don't mind bugs. Some folks prefer a tent with netting so they can sleep on top of their sleeping bag when it's hot without getting bitten. There are a lot of lightweight tents out there.