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rene
01-13-2005, 15:10
Being very new to backpacking I have no clue what to expect at any given shelter. I've read several books on all the gear etc.. I gather that most shelters protect you from the weather. How do you protect yourself from insects. It sounds as if you would be less accessible in a tent or hammock

Rene

Lone Wolf
01-13-2005, 15:17
Shelters are dirty, confining, noisy and most times rodent infested. Bring a tent or other shelter. Pretend they don't exist. You'll rest better.

Footslogger
01-13-2005, 15:25
Being very new to backpacking I have no clue what to expect at any given shelter. I've read several books on all the gear etc.. I gather that most shelters protect you from the weather. How do you protect yourself from insects. It sounds as if you would be less accessible in a tent or hammock
Rene======================================
They range in style and age but are basically (with a few exceptions) 3 sided wooden structures with a raised floor. They are typically mice infested and during the wet/hot months when there is very little breeze they can become a haven for mosquitoes.

That said, the shelter areas tend to be the evening gathering spots for hikers and there are generally some decent tenting spots (that varies a great deal too though). The placement of shelters in most cases has to do with the availabilty of water. I don't know the exact number but many of the shelter areas have privys.

What I think they come in most handy for are those cats/dogs raining nights, when you arrive in camp and would have to otherwise set up a tent in a downpour.

Hope that helps ...

'Slogger
AT 2003

neo
01-13-2005, 15:35
i used shelters 98% of the time from springer mt to delaware water gap,
my last section hike i stayed only in 3 shelters,from delaware water gap to dalton mass,did more stealth camping,plan on more hammock stealth camping from here on out:sun neo

MOWGLI
01-13-2005, 16:01
THey sure are nice lunch spots on those rainy days!

PROFILE
01-13-2005, 19:43
I agree with all the descriptioons of the shelters but it is not as bad as it sounds. On my hikes to include the thru-hike, we use shelters about 90%. However, I am never without a tent. Sometimes the shelters are worst than described above.

rpettit
01-13-2005, 20:42
Some people like them, some people dislike them. I won't sleep in them. They are good areas to duck in out of the rain, each lunch, organize gear etc. They are prone to rodent infestation. If you like mice crawling all over you and your gear, sleep in them. Otherwise, tent or hammock away from the shelter. If you camp in the immediate area surrounding the shelter, you will be subject to the same rodent invasion.

Palmer
01-13-2005, 20:47
They're not all that bad. I'd prefer a tent or hammock, but I'll grab a shelter if it's raining. I hate packing up a muddy tent!

I've also found that as I get older the wooden floors are tough on my joints. A tent is better, a hammock is best.

Mouse
01-14-2005, 00:11
When the insects got bad in New England I often used my Nomad tent like a mosquito net, hanging it from the ceiling to get headroom and put my airmattress and sleeping bag inside. Any tent that has mesh sides would work.

LionKing
01-14-2005, 00:38
Great for lunches unless the water source is 20 miles downhill, bad if you hate people who snore like freight trains on acid. Which I am legendary for disliking.
In the begining I avoid them unless the weather is crap, because early on, they are full, 8+ people moving, snoring and getting up to use the bathroom, or the kind who get up at 4 am(WHich is fine) and bang everything really loud or talk to themselves about where this is or that is(Which isnt fine),and in the summer mice, the lack of a tent makes you the main course for Skeeters, you do not want to be buried in your sleeping bag, unless it is a cold wet night.

They are social, great for laughs, and not a bad place to eat dinner, share stories until the majority of them are gone to bed and getting to know folks type place. Some of my biggest laughs have come right at bedtime in a shelter...and I mean the kind where my stomach is hurting from laughing so hard...numerous times..

Try not to be the one of two people who talk loud until 1 in the morning in a shelter when it is obvious that everyone else is long gone to sleep...that is what tents are for.

I would say tent, or like me, Cowboy camp...that rocks! But the occasional shelter life is worth the experiance.

Skyline
01-14-2005, 02:12
I like everything about shelters except the sleeping-in-them part. They are great for breakfast, lunch or dinner, socializing, usually have a spring nearby ("nearby" being a relative term of course), often have a privy, often have decent pre-hardened tentsites not far away.

Shelters are even good when raining for those of us who tent almost all the time--if we tent nearby and wait to pack up until the shelter inhabitants are gone in the morning, we can use the cover of the shelter to pack up and avoid getting much of our gear wet. Same thing at tent-pitching time, with the cooperation of those using the shelter.

But sleeping in a shelter--not for me, YMMV. I'm a light sleeper, and find that every little movement from others keeps me awake. And I move a lot my own self, tossing/turning, so I know I must have the same effect on others not to mention my alleged snoring. Add the rodent quotient, and the fact that I often hike with my dawg, and a tent is my best option.

saimyoji
01-14-2005, 02:20
Add the rodent quotient, and the fact that I often hike with my dawg, and a tent is my best option.


Well, you could've saved us the time of reading your post by stating simply: "I've a dog, I'm not allowed in shelters." :D

Right? I am right...right guys? C'mon, back me up here. :)

Someone wanted to start a new dog thread?? I sense another one coming on here....:bse

Jack Lincoln
01-14-2005, 05:11
Shelters are dirty, confining, noisy and most times rodent infested. Bring a tent or other shelter. Pretend they don't exist. You'll rest better.
Exactly. Why stay in a shelter? Pitch your tent and make a camp like we all do, at least all the ones that want to have a singular experience. ****, I snore too damn loud for anybody in a shelter to keep from killing me.....


Peace


Jack Lincoln

Jack Lincoln
01-14-2005, 05:15
Probably spelled that wrong but that is all the shelters are. Stay away from them. Your experience will be enhanced.......

stranger
01-16-2005, 00:28
At the end of a 20 mile day in the rain they can be a haven, great for lunch as previously stated, and a good place to cook, eat, socialise, but not great for sleeping most of the time.

Think of this...walking mile 17 down a beautiful trail, the sun is shining, the day is almost complete, dreaming of your starch dinner and whatever tomorrow holds. Theres the sign up ahead, you turn down the side trail and it starts to get louder. You see the structure, smoke, lines of trekking poles up against the wall, maybe a dog, 3 tents set up, and 10 people in a shelter despite the beautiful weather.

The skeeters are out, you keep brushing up against people, you can't even find a place to cook, someone asks you to fill up their water bag as you start walking downhill to the spring. Night falls, you lay down, people are up and talking, moving around. Then the latecomers arrive and ask to make room even though it's clearly well packed already. They of course need to cook and probably won't go to sleep for atleast 2 hours. You hear the mice shifting around making their game plans, maybe one will dart over your sleeping bag and that's always a pleasant experience. Now everyone is quiet and laying down, finally...time to rest.

Then the snoring starts...Bring a tent, tarp, hammock and use it, you will be much happier.