[pct-l] light weight tents

[sveriksen@yahoo.com (Svein Eriksen)]

You do get some additional weight by going
freestanding. But not much. Here are some suggestions:
* The Clip Flashlight, good tent but definetly not
freestanding.

* Bibler, very expensive tents. I used an I-tent
(2-person) on my Pct thruhike and wasn't too happy
with it. I have the 2-door version (98-model) which
weigh less than 5 pounds including stuff sack and a
couple of stakes. No vestibule, and really not the
tent for extremely wet weather as the doors make it
difficult to get in/out without letting a lot of water
in. Small for two people, very nice for one as long as
you're not too tall. Used to be listed as 3lb 11oz at
the Bibler site for the one person, now changed to a
more realistic 4lb 3oz for a one door and 4lb 11oz for
the two door. Look it up at
http://www.bibler.com/text/products.html. They also
got the slightly larger Eldorado, 4lb 8oz for the one
door. That might be a good option.

* Eureka. Made the freestanding one-person Zephyr.
Real weight less than 4lb. Mine is from 96, and has
worked fine for most of an AT Thruhike. Not big enough
rainfly to protect agains wind-driven rain, so might
not be ideal in Washington in the fall. Also strictly
one person.
http://www.eurekatent.com/comparison_frameset.html.
The Zephyr now seem to be named the Backcountry 1.
Extremely good value for the money. They also have
several other interesting designs.

* Hilleberg. Swedish manufacturer, which makes the
tents pretty expensive in the US.
http://www.hilleberg.com/Home.htm. They have several
interesting models. I own a Niak, a two person model
that's almost freestanding, that is the main tent i
freestanding, but the vestibule need two stakes. More
is better (as always). Also take a look at Unna which
are sold as a one person, but which actually has as
much internal floor space as many small 2-person
tents. No vestibule, but you can easily (partly)
remove the inner tent for cooking inside. Also note
that even if the weights seem high they are actually
fairly correct (in contrast to most other
manufacturers). The Unna would probably been my
favourite on a thruhike (alone) if not going with a
tarp.

* Mountain Hardwear makes two interesting tents that
I've never seen in real life. The Tri-Light 1 & 2.
http://www.mountainhardwear.com/tents/superlight/000122.html
If the stated weights are correct then they are the
lightest (almost) freestanding tents around. Max
height are pretty low though. You might also check out
he model Approach.

* The North Face: Make good tents, but not the
lightest. Slickrock and Canyonlands are interesting
models. Almost bought a Canyonland in 99, but changed
my mind when the guy I talked to at REI weighed one
for me. Later, I've heard people say it actually are
close to the stated weight. Might be differences
between production series, check out before buing
(it's also not really freestanding. Seen the Slickrock
a couple of times, but never slept in one. Again check
the weight. Also the rainfly design doesn't look ideal
for wet/windy conditions. http://www.thenorthface.com

* Marmot: Several good designs. Got an Ecclipse, stay
away from it. Their website at http://www.marmot.com/
doesn't seem to work today. But I've tried one of
their other models, two person - think it was a
Nutshell but can't be sure with their site down. Three
assymetrical poles. Nice and roomy for two. Small
vestibule. Sorry I can't remember the name. Note that
Marmot is the manufacturer that has the biggest
difference between real and stated weights I've ever
seen (closely followed by Patagonia). So check
carefully!

Hope this helps.

Svein


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