If you have advice on a well ventilated, water-proof tent, let me know. I am planning a Thru-hike and could use the knowledge from anyone who has the experience. Thanks.
BATMAN
Looking and need advice on an at thru-hike tent
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#2
I have a North Face Canyonlands. Works great for me. All mesh tent body, lots of headroom, side entrance, 3lbs. total.
Wolf
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#3
The MSR Clip Flashlight is a popular tent on the AT, and it lasted the length of my thru-hike in 2000 and is still in good working order. I’ve had to seal the seams again, but no complaints.
Little Bear
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#4
I love my Clip Flashlight. It was roomy for one person and kept me dry in some very bad storms. I could also pull my pack into the vestibule. Because of the weight I have switched to a 2lb tarp tent or sometimes a 3lb Hennessey Hammock. Both of which I like for their light weight but have got wet in both of these in bad storms because I wasn’t as careful about setting them up as I should have been.
Big B
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#5
The Clip Flashlight is made by Sierra Designs, not MSR. If you look around gatherings such as Trail Days, you will see that this is certainly a popular tent among thru-hikers. Another choice is the MSR Zoid. That’s my preference because of the side entry. I can reach everything and everywhere inside without crawling into the tent.
Whatever you decide, be sure to check it out first by putting your sleeping bag and everything else that you might want for the night inside, and gettting inside yourself and taking off clothing, putting on clothing, etc. See how it fits first.
You might also consider tarps, and hammocks.
Many choices out there. See what works best for you.
Peaks
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#7
Doesn’t seem like a very durable tent. Does it leak in harsh weather? And the vestible is small. Did you have enough area to store away gear?
Thanks.
dawgtrekker
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#8
Now this seems like a decent tent. Peaks, how was the weatherability of the Zoid? Did it leak? And was the 6-sq-ft vestible enough room for all your gear? I see the Zoid offers the “fast and light” pitch, did you use that often and how convenient was it really?
dawg thanks any and all info concerning this matter…
dawgtrekker
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#9
I like the mess around the body of the tent–seems like it will really vent well. However, is the headroom sufficient? And how is the weatherability of this tent?
Thanks to all for your info…
dawgtrekker
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#11
A rather relative question. [We] like to have them weigh as little as possible. A two person jobber in light weight trim is about 4. Oh, the Canyonlands doesn’t leak, we used it for half the trip in '01. About 3.8#s. I sold that and made a Henry Shire tarp tent, slightly larger than his model, sleeps three, weighs 33zs. www.tarptent.com
Bushwhack
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#12
Concerning the Sierra Design Clip Flashlight & headroom, there is not much. You can hardly sit up in the tent if you are 6’ tall or taller. I found that was not an issue however. When I was in my tent I was either reading, writing, or sleeping.
Little Bear
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#13
My husband and I used a big square piece of sil-nylon as a tarp, made by Equinox, for most of our thru-hike. Ours came with grommets in it thru Campmor, but it would be cheaper to purchase raw sil-nylon if you can stitch a seam. I think it weighs just over a pound, plus guyline and stakes. It’s huge - I think 10X12 square - a smaller size would be better for 1 person and weigh even less. Kept us dry as a bone thru many rainstorms. We prefer tarping now over tenting even when car camping, for the fresh-air, views, extra room. Once, on the AT in PA, we had 5 people and a dog sitting under that tarp during a big rainstorm, and cooked cheddarwurst under there too. It was an impromtu tarp party on the day we passed the halfway point.
I think the reason we stayed so dry in it was because we slept in it so often and got really good at different ways of setting it up.
Here’s a picture of it as we usually set it up:
http://www.trailjournals.com/photos.cfm?id=8556
Jitterbug