[pct-l] Ultralight tents

[Hollywood]

I used a lightheart solo for my thru hike and loved it. It's a compromise between free standing/stake out with only 2 stakes required for structural stability. There are plenty of fly options including net-only which lets you see the stars without the bugs.  Condensation is minimal because its super well vented. Also I can be sitting in it 45 seconds after it was in the bag.  Nylon is great but if I were to get another tent, it would be the cuben model now that I have had a chance to see it in action. 2x the price though...

Don't underestimate the importance of quick setup. You don't get much evening relaxation time if you're trying to keep a thru hikers schedule and each minute you spend setting up is a minute less hanging out.

Hollywood

On Apr 17, 2013, at 10:49 AM, Dennis Phelan <dennis.phelan at gmail.com> wrote:

> there are a couple of questions that you will need to answer yourself
> first; (1) how do I feel about single wall tents and (2) how do I feel
> about free-standing rather than non-free-standing.  the issue are that a
> single wall tent will get condensation on the inside of the tent.  In my
> experience this is a minor inconvience, but you should be aware in certain
> conditions (high humidity) this can be very annoying.  The issue with free
> standing Vs non-free standing is not having to rely on finding a place to
> stake it down.  In my experience this is really only a problem when the
> ground is too hard to drive a stake into or the snow cover is too deep to
> get to the ground.  In those cases most people use a rock instead of a
> stake or use or make a "snow stake" for the snowy conditions.  It also
> should be noted that some of the ultralight free-standing tents are
> free-standing only for the tent, but the rain fly must be staked down.
> (kind of defeats the free-standing concept).  With all of this said, I
> personally use Tarptents which are single walled (at least the models I
> have) and I really like them.  I have noticed that many of the experienced
> thru hikers (the group doing the CDT this year) are switching to the cuben
> fiber Zpack solo or solo plus tents.  (cuben fiber is the lightest material
> being used for tents, it is also $$$$)
> 
> Dennis P
> 
> 
> On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 11:48 AM, Abby Popenoe <apopenoe at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> I'm planning on thru-hiking next year, but for unrelated reasons I need to
>> buy my tent for the trail now. I've been looking at Big Agnes ultralight
>> tents (I'm trying to go under 2 lbs) like the Copper Spur, and Fly Creek,
>> and the Nemo Meta, and I wanted to know people's opinions on these tents
>> and brands in general for the trail. Also, what other tents did people use
>> for a thru-hike and like?
>> 
>> Abby P.
>> _______________________________________________
>> Pct-L mailing list
>> Pct-L at backcountry.net
>> To unsubscribe, or change options visit:
>> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>> 
>> List Archives:
>> http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
>> All content is copyrighted by the respective authors.
>> Reproduction is prohibited without express permission.
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-L mailing list
> Pct-L at backcountry.net
> To unsubscribe, or change options visit:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
> 
> List Archives:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
> All content is copyrighted by the respective authors. 
> Reproduction is prohibited without express permission.