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  1. #1
    pickle pickle's Avatar
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    Default February start date tent question

    I am on a fixed income and cannot afford a winter tent so do people use a 3 season tent and do you have any problems with it?

  2. #2
    Registered User 4eyedbuzzard's Avatar
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    Many people use 3 season tents in winter on the southern AT. Very few thru-hikers carry 4 season tents - but very few thru-hikers start in February. The head start you get starting before March 15 or even later is offset by usually having to get off the trail in bad weather and wait it out in towns. Postholing in deep snow is slow as well. And you'll have to carry heavier clothing/gear, more fuel, and probably microspikes. So that 4 week head start amounts to half of that, maybe. Some 3 season designs are better than others. If you can pull the rain fly down almost to ground it will be better against blown snow and rain spray. It will never perform as well as a true 4 season tent. There's a lot more airflow coming into a 3 season through all the internal mesh. If a big storm hits, you're likely going to want to bail out to a town and wait it out anyway. You can hole up in a shelter if it's really bad as well, if you have enough food and fuel, but it's hard to stay warm in a 3 sided open shelter when you're not moving. Don't underestimate the increased cost of starting too early. Waiting out a couple of big storms in towns will be expensive hit on a fixed income.

  3. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by pickle View Post
    I am on a fixed income and cannot afford a winter tent so do people use a 3 season tent and do you have any problems with it?
    Specific to your question: Biggest issue I've had with a 3 season tent in winter is wind blown snow. If you camp in snow, just bury the bottom of the fly, but dry camping followed by wind driven snow can be a pain. The spindrift will come through the netting and then your body heat melts it leading to a lot of moisture. If you do bury the fly you end up with moisture issues due to lack of ventilation. Wet insulation is what will drive you off trail even if your will is strong. I guess death is always an option too, but I try to avoid that.

    Take snow out of the equation and a three season tent vents nicely, especially with some wind, so works well in the cold. You still need to control your vapor moisture, but it is a lot easier to manage without snow to deal with.
    “The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait until that other is ready...”~Henry David Thoreau

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  4. #4

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    Very few people in the southeast own four season tents, just a few hardy souls that brave winter in the higher elevations by choice. I started on the AT on Feb 20 with a three season tent. I had no issues because of my tent choice. I also only spent one day taking a zero because of winter weather. I stayed ahead of the bubble and finished in 140 days and I had a slower than average walking pace.

    From observing Trail Journals over the past dozen years or so, I would say that about every third year there seems to be a blizzard in March or early April in the southern Appalachians that drives people off the trail for several days, but not every year. If you leave in Feb, you will walk in snow, but it may not be as impactful in some years. Know your equipment limits and the limits of your experience. Establish your lines of comfort and don't be shy about recognizing when mother nature is pushing you past those lines. A good backpacker isn't afraid to head inside when conditions become sketchy.

  5. #5
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    FWIW: I use three season tents regularly in winter conditions. I rarely use either my 4 season backpacking tent or my mountaineering tent, both of which are warmer than a three season tent, but they also weigh 10 and 5 lbs compared to 2 and 3 lbs for my 3 season tents. Adequate sleeping insulation (bag/quilt/pads) and pitching in protected areas with little bits of snow wall around the edge of your 3-season tent (to reduce both wind penetration and snow build-up) are more than sufficient to make a good winter shelter system for much less weight and bulk than the 4-season tents.

    If you want to stay on trail with maximum comfort regardless of conditions, a good 4-season tent handles heavy winds and heavier snow loads without as much effort on your part. But with a 3-season tent, you can still wake up in the middle of the night on the one or two nights out of a long trip that require midnight snow clearing, and you can take the added bother of a more careful and creative guying out of your tent to handle harsher winds when hunkering down in a big storm. However, as mentioned above, most thru-hikers just get off trail in the harshest conditions and do just fine with 3-season tents and not extra special digging or guying.
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  6. #6
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    The Hilleberg Enan is an impressive crossover between winter/summer performance and lightweight...except for the price.


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  7. #7
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    Default February start date tent question

    Three season tents are fine. I hike and camp year round in GA, NC, and TN using regular Marmot, REI, and cheap Kelty tents. I've never seen anyone with a true 4 season mountaineering tent here. Weather can be bad but if it's that bad, the shelters and roads are not that far apart.

    Time for Tipi Walter to give us a winter camping story...

  8. #8
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    If you do feel inclined to look at 4-season tents, Big Sky International makes a solid 4-season tent, the Chinook. 1-person model runs about $450, and a little over 3lbs. 2-person is about $550, and a touch over 4lbs.

    Their 3-season Revolution model tents would work as well. All of their tents can be purchased "a la carte" -- you can, for example, get a full fabric inner for the Revolution that would keep winter winds and snow out.

    I don't know what your budget is, but thought I'd throw it out there.
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