Seriously?Originally Posted by dla
Do you know how HARD it is to find a reasonably priced free standing double wall tent that does NOT weigh five pounds by itself?
I told myself that the only way I was getting a tent was that it had to be (in combination with my top quilt and pad) lighter than my hammock setup. It had to give me head room to sit up. It had to have a side entry, and not have an entry so sloped that rain would pour into the tent the instant I opened the fly - this has happened to friends with end entry Big Agnes tents, which have such a slope to the inner that there is literally inches left in the vestibule - which then gives you no room for the pack and boots you can't fit in that solo tent with you, your pad and sleeping bag. I also didn't want to pay more than I paid for the hammock.
If you want a tent that actually works for you, it's a huge challenge to get something that is light, cheap and adequate to the task - in my case camping in areas where a freestanding tent is the most effective option. Beaches and high alpine open granite slab where you have to weight down the shelter you use with rocks.
Having additional features that make the tent comfortable for me made it impossible - I settled for a three pound Sierra Designs tent that I found deeply discounted (it's a $300 tent most of the time) that I can sort of sit up in. I found no other tents that met the necessary budget, space, side entry that spared my knees and kept me somewhat more dry (it's just plain mad to expect a dry camp in a tent, you drag the water in when you're coming in out of the rain and trying not to get soaked while doing it) AND be freestanding.
The fact of the matter is that no shelter is suitable for all situations - which is why I have the hammock, sometimes go with just the tarp, and sometimes take either the tarptent or the double wall tent. I go a lot, and california has such variable terrain/conditions that it is just plain unreasonable to imagine one method works everywhere. And finding a tent was misery. It was much easier to find a hammock that worked. I managed to get shelters that in combination with the top quilt and a neo air keep me at 5 lbs (6 if I take the tent) regardless. The hammock and two quilts, the hammock, pad and top quilt, the tarptent/quilt/pad, the tarp/pad/quilt - all weight out within 6-8 oz of each other. Tent still heavier.
Oh, well. You take what you need when you need it.
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