161–170 of 172 posts
Modern backpacking tents have achieved an exquisite pinnacle of engineering and usability perfection. I am a UX baby (constant whining about almost every tool/service/product I interact with, sorry to everyone who has to be around me) and I love my tent. It is magical the degree to which it has been thoughtfully optimized in so many little ways. DIY tents like this one are interesting and fun if you are into geeking…
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Yes, please! Also curious about preferences for other related equipment - backpacks etc.
Some of the most loved small manufacturers for UL backpacking gear to look into: Mountain Laurel Designs, Gossamer Gear, Tarptent, Western Mountaineering, Enlightened Equipment, ULA, Hyperlite Mountain Gear, ZPacks, McHale Packs (all custom). There are a lot more that I missed, but that should set you in the right direction. Here are some of the most essential items for my setup (tested for ~2000 miles in various con…
Also, my Patagonia sun hoodie is my favorite clothing item I own. I wore it for a week in the Mojave earlier this spring. I was cool and comfortable the entire week and didn't even get a tan on my arms, let alone a burn.
> All things considered this tent, at less than 3 pounds, is one the lightest 2-person, freestanding, tents around that can handle four-season conditions. 4-season tents are made to handle wind and snow accumulation, which this thing definitely would fail. It's a fun exercise for bushcrafting but don't kid yourself and think you can go 15k+ feet up a mountain and survive 50mph wind gusts like you could in a Hilleberg…
I have to say you're mostly wrong about that. That tent design is a few hundred years old and about as proven as any design can get.
And I left that tent setup for about a month in my yard where that video with my grandson reading the temp was made during some pretty nasty weather. During that time we had a snowstorm that dumped about 5" of wet snow and the next morning when I checked on the tent the roof was sagging and the walls were buckling from the weight but it was still standing. I scraped and shook off the snow and it sprang back into shape.
I do doubt it would hold up in 50+mph winds on a bald peak but I don't know of any tent that can that would warm up to 80+ degrees on a below freezing day.
The point is there is no perfect tent for all conditions and most avid backpackers I know own more than one tent and choose them meet the conditions for the trip they're taking.
Modern backpacking tents have achieved an exquisite pinnacle of engineering and usability perfection. I am a UX baby (constant whining about almost every tool/service/product I interact with, sorry to everyone who has to be around me) and I love my tent. It is magical the degree to which it has been thoughtfully optimized in so many little ways. DIY tents like this one are interesting and fun if you are into geeking…
Now you need to tell us which tent you own.
I personally have used a BA UL2 which I loved although it was a bit too flimsy for my taste. Later I got the REI Half Dome SL 2+. "Ideal" is very personal with tents because you are always making tradeoffs but for me, my REI tent is perfect. Not so expensive that I worry too much about it, not too flimsy, decently light, very nice usability, backed by great warranty.
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I'm not worrying about that until the bear is gone.
How do you know it's gone?
That's going to be a condensation fest in there. Pretty sure The Outdoor Gear Review did a real world test of something very similar. They 'work' in that they do heat up, but they're a lot of work and get extremely sweaty when made from those non-breathable plastic survival sheets. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJwvH90g3Yw For a more in depth look at using more 'appropriate' modern materials, 'Simon, A Bloke in the…
Any sort of weather conditions, exposure or ambient humidity would really reveal its weaknesses.
To poorly re-tell a joke from someone who has made been on dozens of expeditions around the world - the ultimate test of any tent is an autumn day on a camp site in a farmers field in north Wales.
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Thoreau says this, in The Maine Woods [0]. (EDIT: Thoreau says that he lived in a tent in Maine, not at Walden Pond.) The author of TFA got it a little wrong. Note to those wanting to replicate this: I'm pretty sure Thoreau's tent catches fire at some point. I'd have to re-read to confirm or deny if it had anything to do with setting the tent in front of the fire, as the author of TFA does. [0] https://www.thoreau-on…
Thanks for the correction/clarification.
It's a baker tent[1] made from SOL Emergency Blankets[2]. They get warm, but what doesn't when you have a long fire in front of you. [1] http://ruralsportsman.com/rediscover-the-baker-tent/ [2] https://www.surviveoutdoorslonger.com/survive-outdoors-longe...
SOL blankets are made from polyethylene which is highly flammable. Seems like a great idea to end up with third degree burns miles from civilization.