Large silnylon tarp, line, pegs, groundsheet, and bug net are less than two pounds. Nice and airy, too. Or see Lightheart Gear or others for tents at similar weight.
"It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss
Ive got a haven tarp from six moon designs that, with tieouts and bug bivy, weighs a hair over two pounds. I use it most of the time and if I stay in a shelter, the bug bivy works well to keep the bugs off me, as well as the mice.
ZPacks Tents...expensive but light and work well.
If you can swing the cost...I completely agree.Originally Posted by KDogg
yep. can't wait to use mine!
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A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world. ~Paul Dudley White
I really liked my Big Agnes Copper Spur UL1 on the trail last year, and it weighs less than half of what your 4 season tent weighs. Tarps can keep you dry, but they don't block wind or bugs.
PennyPincher using a Zpacks tent....
You owe me a new irony meter...my old one just exploded...
Have you ever had hypothermia? Having some shelter available could potentially affect your survival someday. In other words, being cold and wet overnight can be dangerous, not merely unpleasant.
But, these days my 5 1/2 pound tent usually stays home home on the shelf. Instead I now usually carry one of Henry Shires' Tarptents with me, a one person Rainbow. With a tyveek ground sheet that Tarptent weighs just slightly more than two pounds. I sleep dry and mosquito free in the Tarptent, but with a pack weight that is 3 1/4 pounds less than what I previously carried.
Being somewhat "old school", I don't own a cell phone nor Do I bring any electronic devises with me while backpacking. I believe carrying weather appropriate clothing and some form of lightweight shelter is much more important. I've only rarely needed to use a map and compass in the woods, but on those occasions they've been invaluable.
Last edited by Siestita; 03-13-2017 at 23:56.
Where do you normally hike? Is this for an AT thru-hike?
Just flopping down on the ground in a bag can work pretty well on some trails. On the AT, for a thru-hike, not so much. It's easy to have 3-4 days of solid heavy rain, and that bag will not be worth much after the first night with a couple of inches of rain. (For a weekend hike with a solid good forecast, maybe okay.)
But a 5 pound 4-season tent is way overkill. Plenty of sub-2 pound tents out there, or sub-1 pound tarps. Lots of choices, I'd look hard at the Tarptent Notch for a lightweight, 3+ season, well ventilated tent that weighs about a pound and a half and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Or the Moment if you don't use trekking poles.
I just realized I can take out the inner "wall" of my tent and use it essentially as a free standing tarp tent. That should cut the weight in half. I'll have to take it apart and weigh it.
My Big Agnes Fly Creek has that option built in...many tents do...
I grew up in the Southern Adirondacks, which are full of mosquitoes and no-see-ums, so to sleep without bug netting anytime of year earlier than September does not compute for me. They will drive you insane. No kidding. i have noticed in my spring and fall hikes in Georgia an N.C. a rather strange lack of insects. I have yet to go there in summer, but might be doing it this year, so I'm curious as to the bug situation as I traverse N.C. on my A.T. journey. But, anyway, back to the question, I use a tent. I only sleep on the floor (like at a shelter) when I was young and passed out at a party. I prefer the ground to a shelter floor any time. I have used tarps and all manor of tents, and frankly, the new fabrics are so light, and the designs so efficient, that any weight differential is null. Tarps can give you lots more interior space, that's for sure, but you need some kind of floor to keep the crap and bugs out of your bag. Then there is the dreaded Lyme tick. I fear that little mother more than bears, more than crazy locals. With warmer winters, they are spreading like crazy. Lyme disease is no joke.
So, I would suggest a one person tent with the door on the long side, and opposing venting. Several brands out there at about 2 1/2 lbs and very little pack size. Of course, there is the zpack cuben fiber job at 19 oz! a little out of my price range though! Good Luck!
Granted, the AT doesn't require much in the way of navigation skills, but if it's the kiddie pool, why do you need our help deciding what shelter, if any, to carry? Please be sure to let us know when you get from one end of the kiddie pool to the other.
5lb tent is overkill. Are you attempting a thru-hike? If so, you better bring some sort of shelter with you. Have you seen the tick forecast for this year? Better get something with a bug net. I don't go into the woods without a shelter of some kind. A good tarp/bivy setup can cost as much or more than some tents.
"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
As far as the "Kiddie Pool" comment goes, I thought it was pretty funny. The AT is logistically far easier than the PCT or CDT, so a lot of newbies seem to gravitate to it. That said, the actual hiking part can be rather challenging. Besides the rain and insects, the AT is Olympic pool caliber when it comes to elevation gain and loss. Neither the PCT nor the CDT exceed it, and they are longer trails. Surprised?
Pinching pennies makes ZPacks gear possible. If you like that sort of stuff.
Wayne
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Just bring a poncho, you'll be fine.
I believe that you should always bring some sort of shelter. That said, it does not need to be a tent or anything fancy at all. Just some sort of emergency shelter that will keep you warm and dry enough during a soaking wet rainy, snowy, sleety night. Heck, I saw a dude who carried an emergency bivy he made himself for weekend trips out of a couple trash bags taped together... he figured it would get him through a night, maybe two, of terrible weather. He wouldn't be comfortable in it, but he'd be alive, and then he would hike out the next morning to head home. And it weighed maybe 3 or 4 ounces would be my guess. Not a solution for a thru hike, but for a weekend hike it was fine.
That's really all you need, but I am a firm believer that you do need at least something like that.
Don't take anything I say seriously... I certainly don't.
There are some reasonably priced tent options at or under 2 pounds for a solo. The lighter you get, the less you get. In other words, single wall single door and single vestibule are the price paid for lightest weights. There are a few freestanding double wall tents at or under 2 pounds as well, but they come in over 300 bucks. Of course, you can go with Zpacks Soloplex, a great single wall single vestibule single door tent that comes in under 16 ounces but will lighten your wallet almost 600 bucks.
Do your research. Know what you can and cannot live with. Be sure to check the INSIDE dimensions of your bug net interior...and see whether it spreads out or is constant thru the tent. I can live with front door, some only want side entry. I can't live with short heights, some can. I can't live with constant narrow tents(under 30 inches), some can. YMMV.
No need to carry a tent that heavy. Plenty of offerings much lighter (check out Tarptent).
But I'm sorry, anyone who is planning to be out more than 2-3 days (about the length of any good weather forecast) needs to be self sufficient. That means carrying a shelter. I personally use a tarp that weighs less than a pound and have weathered plenty of storms with it.
Having once experienced someone coming into a full AT shelter and DEMANDING space because he was special in that he couldn't be bothered to carry a shelter. One person, against the opinion of the majority, moved outside in the rain to set up his tent, because in his words, he didn't want to see a darwin awards death from exposure in front of him. You can imagine the hate that guy generated.
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