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  1. #1
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    Default Should I bring a tent?

    I'm hiking for 10 days in the Smokies and was recently told by someone that there's no need to bring a tent since we have to sleep in the shelters anyways. I'd like to leave my tent behind to save the weight, but the planner in me says to bring it just in case. Any advice? (Also the idea of sharing my sleeping bag every night with a few dozen mice is pretty unappealing.)

  2. #2
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    always bring your own shelter. the shelters may be full regardless of reservations. the smokys are poorly managed

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lone Wolf View Post
    always bring your own shelter. the shelters may be full regardless of reservations. the smokys are poorly managed
    A tarp and groundsheet will do the trick at little weight and cost.
    "It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss

  4. #4
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    Always have a shelter when you are out for a multi day hike.
    Last edited by BirdBrain; 04-02-2015 at 21:57.
    In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. - Abraham Lincoln

  5. #5
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    ++1 always bring a shelter, what if you break an ankle between shelters or have some type of emergency & MUST get out of the weather for survival reasons?
    Take Time to Watch the Trees Dance with The Wind........Then Join In........

  6. #6

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    I agree with everyone above. You will have to use a tent if the shelters are full. I also agree you probably could get by with a tarp and ground sheet to use in a pinch.
    Whether you think you can, or think you can't--you're right--Henry Ford; The Journey Is The Destination

  7. #7
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    Thank you everyone!

  8. #8

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    shelter fill up and they can also be some ppl in there can get on your nerve's bring tent..

  9. #9
    Registered User 4Days's Avatar
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    My wife and I went with Hammocks that can be used as tents. Sure its 3 lbs of weight but they can be setup anywhere, even on the ground, and we plan on using daylight and how we feel as guides opposed to distance. I have met people who use to the tarps and they are light and a good solution if you don't mind snuggling up with bugs and critters during the evening. I see shelters as a great place to hang and have a meal and clean up. Then move on a bit to sleep in quiet w/o food smells. Kinda the stealth camping model.

  10. #10
    Registered User Walkintom's Avatar
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    Bring a shelter.

    Shelter could be full. You could twist an ankle or break a leg and need to wait for someone to help get you out.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by EJ3 View Post
    I'm hiking for 10 days in the Smokies and was recently told by someone that there's no need to bring a tent since we have to sleep in the shelters anyways. I'd like to leave my tent behind to save the weight, but the planner in me says to bring it just in case. Any advice? (Also the idea of sharing my sleeping bag every night with a few dozen mice is pretty unappealing.)
    Bring a tent, as shelters can fill up, or you could have something unexpected come up.
    Time is but the stream I go afishin' in.
    Thoreau

  12. #12
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    Stealth camping is not allowed in GSMNP. You are only allowed to camp at designated campsites and shelters and you have to have reservations for each site you stay at (with flexibility allowed to thru hikers travelling the AT). Hammocks are treated like tents and can not be attached to any structure.

    Even though you will have a reserved spot at a shelter, there is always the possibility that an overflow of AT thru hikers have arrived before you or even illegal hikers. It's a lot easier to simply set up a tent or tarp near the shelter (as AT thru hikers are allowed when shelters are full) than it is to confront a shelter full of people to assert your reservation.

  13. #13

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    What hookoo and lw said. Don't even bother trying to argue your reservation if the shelter is full and they are definitely poorly managed considering you are supposed to stay there. I have always carried a tarp tent through the smokies. Been to plenty of shelters where there was 20 ppl trying to stay there. No thanks I'll pass in that ..

  14. #14
    Registered User LoneRidgeRunner's Avatar
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    Default Should I bring a tent?

    ALWAYS take a shelter of some kind. I seldom use my tent on the AT but I always have it. There have been a few times I didn't get to a shelter before I wanted to stop for the day.

  15. #15
    Registered User Christoph's Avatar
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    Always take a shelter no matter where you go. Too many variables to risk not having one. That was poor advice from whoever said not to bring one.
    - Trail name: Thumper

  16. #16
    Registered User -Rush-'s Avatar
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    There are a lot of clueless people out there giving bad advice. Always bring a shelter in the Smokies! That's the last place you want to be without one. If you don't have a 1-2lb tent, get a good Bivy.

    It is illegal to stealth camp there, but if you had to do it for safety - hang your food far away! - you could very easily pull it off and never be noticed.
    "Though I have lost the intimacy with the seasons since my hike, I retain the sense of perfect order, of graceful succession and surrender, and of the bold brilliance of fall leaves as they yield to death." - David Brill

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