Tentilating

“With money as no object.
What is the BEST 1 and/or 2 person Tents going.
3 Season and/or 4 season.
I mean wicked light weight too :-)
Thanks
GroG”

“Freestanding or not freestanding? Any aversion to teepee-style tents?”

“Well, if money's no object, I've heard good things about the Stephenson Warmlite. I don't think it's four season though.

I've got a Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight 2, which is a 3-season tent, but it's not particularly light. Not heavy, mind you, but not light either. Great tent though. I also have a Sierra Designs Light Year, which is a one-person tent. I haven't used it yet, so I have yet to find out if it's any good. It seems like it will be fine though.”

“The Black Diamond Megamid is a teepee-style tent that is very roomy. It weighs just over 4 lbs including the center pole (if you use that, you don't have to), and 8 stakes. They now make a sil-nylon version that weighs about 2 1/2 lbs that's identical in every other way. They are both floorless tents so you have to carry a ground cloth and I carry a lightweight bug net during the warmer months.

Personally, I like the extra room and the fact that I can stand up in it. I've used several different tents, this has been my favorite so far.”

“Black Diamond makes a sil nylon version or someone else?”

“Cap,
With all my other equipment screwups, Hydro Bladder, Boots, Pack, mountain house food..yada yada yada. I am trying to figure out, if the tent I have is the wrong one too. I have a 2 person The North Face "Pebble". Seems the dewd at Galyan's is @#$^%#$ Jackass and has steering me wrong. I have a box of reciepts, which 1/2 of the sh-t has been returned. So with the PA-Paloosa coming, I want to make sure my tent is not a piece of Crap. If I have to, I will return it for a better one. Actually I do want to return it and up grade to a 4 season light weight 2 person, I dont know about the freestanding versus not, remember I'm a NOOB.
I wanna stay under 40 lbs......
I'm making mental notes for my New Hiking expiriences titled. "How to reduce Nooobism"”

“ooops, the "under 40lbs" is for my total pack weight, not the tent...
haha....”

“Don't worry about freestanding. They are a little easier to set up and move around but you have to stake any tent down anyway.”

“What don't you like about the pebble?”

“TarpTent works for me.”

“I prefer a freestanding tent, mostly because sometimes I cant drive a stake into the solid rock of the Arkansas Ozarks.”

“You probably don't need a 4-season tent. Unless you're planning on camping someplace where you're expecting a snow load, and I don't think you're going to get one at the PA-palooza.

The dude at Galyan's is probably doing the best he can. He may not know a damn thing about backpacking, or alternatively, is stuck in his 1960's idea of what backpacking is, when guys who were used to carrying 60 lbs of gear in rucksacks made fun of you if you didn't carry a gadget to handle every conceivable trail mishap. I don't know where you live, but if there's an REI nearby, you might get better ideas from them.”

“Skullcapdude - Black Diamond makes a sil nylon version or someone else?”

“I dunno, the Pebble may be fine ?
I am going to sleep in it this weekend in the back yard to see I hope it pours out!
I guess I am just doing the "Preventive maintenance" to find out it is no good or OK.
Also I have little time to reload before Pa-paloosa.”

“That Pebble looks okay, although I read a review that say you might get wet because the fly is too close to the tent body. But you might can fix that by guying out the fly really good. Be sure and take some extra stakes and guy line.”

“yeah, I was little hard on the Galyan's Dewd, but he tells me how much he hikes and how does this and that. He very well maybe a great hiker, but as a sales rep he SUCKS. I live in Upstate NY and I will be hiking in the NE. I do plan on hiking/Snowmobiling in the winter with a over nighter in the woods.”

“Everybody goes through iteration on their gear. I'm on my third backpack, second tent, second pair of boots (soon to be a third possibly) second filter, third stove, etc. etc. It's part of find a balance between what you can carry and what works for you.”

“huhuhuh you said "iteration"

Phew !!!
Thanks Bit, you just made this Nooobies day alot better.
I owe ya a trail beer sometime :-)”

“I was a Noooobie not too long ago, found stuff out the hard way. Glad to pass on the info.”

“I really like my tee-pee tent too because of the weight to space ratio. I've put 3 people and gear into it and it weighs about 3.5 lbs with the center pole and a ground cloth. It can be tricky to find a large enough space for it though.

I don't use it in the winter though - I have a very sturdy (and heavy) 4 pole tent for that. I know a lot of people use a tee-pee in the winter and love it - I just don't trust it in a blizzard.

There is no 'perfect' tent for all uses.”

“That's an important point, there's no one tent that will satisfy every situation.

Gear addicts use this line of reasoning to buy more tents than they can really afford...”

“I'm w/ Skullcap. I have several shelters. The MegaMid is, by far, my favorite one. Very roomy. Total weight (shelter, optional pole, stakes, stuff sack) is 3 lb 9 oz.

For twice the price, you can get the Mega Light - Same design. Weights 2lb 11oz.”

“Too funny,
I was thinking about 3-4 tents/bivy already.
1) The North Face 2 person I have now..
2) I've been licking my chops at the O.R. Advance bivy or a Todd Bibbler Bivy
3) I want to get a 4 season (4 pole?) 3 person tent for Winter camping with my friends on the sled trails.
4) I have a Nice coleman Car tent 12x12...haha
I could put each one inside the next smaller one that would make a real cool Fort!
I'm becoming a Rookie GEAR SLUT !”

“PS...
Skullcap I owe you a Trail beer too :-)
Actually, I Owe all of the TTer's one. So I will just bring a 1/2 KEG!
Bottoms up!”

“Hilleberg!”

“Have to agree with chili--found many places where driving a stake is nearly impossible so I like free standing. But then I've never been able to afford a tent that I really like. :-(”

“Looks like I am retiring my megamid and getting a Mega Light.”

“You and me both home slice.”

“Nothing wrong with the pebble and you are SUPPOSED to guy out all tents when you set them up. If you don't and you get wet then it's operator error. Don't blame the tent because the user was lazy.

I went to using a tyvek tarp when it was less buggy (winter in Florida - fall/early spring everywhere else) and just bought a tarptent.

I keep going lighter and lighter and have owned over 10 tents but I've also been backpacking 20+ years. Just don't get caught up in the gear rush. You are already ahead of the game by keeping reciepts.”

“If ya wanna blow some cash on a puppy that's light and bombproof, I say check out

Bibler

The I-tent and Eldorado are popular models. Some folks prefer them with two doors to increase ventilation.


(there are usually some 'specials'... tents with 'cosmetic blems', etc... but not right now, it looks like)”

“I know I’m a heretic here but unless you’re a mountaineer, I just don’t see the Bibler as a good choice.

If you add the weight of a vestibule, there are lighter tents available. They don’t breath well at all so you have to get a two door model.

I know they are made extremely well and are bomb proof but for backpacking there are better tents for less money.


Flame away!”

“Burn, Sucker!”

“I went absentee on you. It is Black Diamond that makes the sil-ny version. They call it the Mega Light.

I want one. G00SE wants one. The problem, we're both cheapskates and the Megamid we have is only two years old. Sometimes it sucks to be a tightwad.”

“Yeah skully. You fired up my gear jones and then kept me hanging. Fortunately, tarabull came up with the name.

I thought I had my gear all worked out but now I need one. It sucks to be such a spendthrift.”

“See what I mean.”

“My kid bought one a couple weeks back at Galyan's too. We looked at various options in the price range and to be completely honest I think the Pebble is a deal at $100, especially if you're going to use it as a one-man tent. I did a bunch of research and it's a discontinued model apparently, which originally was in the $200 range.

Sure, there are lighter tents out there. But I don't think you're going to find a sub-five-pound freestanding dual-wall tent for under $100 with the build quality I see on the Pebble. The way they handle the seam taping on the fly is superior to my $170 REI Half-Dome Plus 2 (2002 model).

*shrug*

Give it a try and if it's no good, take it back. Galyan's here tends to be pretty good on customer service.”

“You guys do know that there are ways to "stake out" a tent without driving a single stake, right?

Sorry, I stand corrected, the Megamid is under 4 lbs. Now that I'm finally getting the name right I guess I'll have to start working on getting the weight right ¦ ) .”

“maybe you could find a coupon for it, Violin.
:-)”

“The pebble is 5 and a half pounds.”

“I alraedy have one lyra. My NY/NJ Trail Conference card gets me 10% off at Campmor and Ramsey Outdoor.

I didn't want to get into the whole thing about the need to stake down a tent but I don't always get a nice grassy spot with a foot of top soil either. New England granite is no picnic. Tents (even full of gear) can blow far, far away if not staked down.”

“Deadman anchors work great for that.




The only problem is finding four dead men to put in them.”

“Problem finding dead men? What problem?

I thought everyone here carried a titanium axe?”

“Exactly. That's what group hikes are good for ; ) .”

“I said finding, not making....”

“ARGH!”

“Well, umm, yeah, I just find mine sorta lying in around in the underbrush like, you know..............”

“My day is complete.


I made lyra go "ARGH!"”

“I guess you can go home early.”

“Unfortunately, my employer requires another hour and 20 minutes or so. Ah, life sucks...”

“Perhaps you could show him your titanium axe?”