Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 79
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Amherst, Mass.
    Posts
    4,684

    Recs for Super Crazy Light Freestanding Sort-Of Two-Person Tent?

    Not concerned about four-season use. (Have a Rab Summit Extreme for that.)
    Not concerned about true two-person roominess. (Have gotten along just dandy with my touring partner in the diminutive aforementioned Rab Summit Extreme.)
    Do want freestanding. (But don't mind if the corners have to be staked out, as seems like some of the newer minimalist freestanding designs use the poles to provide structural support, although some corners might require stakes -- yet then again, stakes are required anyway to keep these tents from blowing away.)
    Am concerned that some of the door designs might let in lots of rain during entry/exit.
    Not interested in various tarp designs and other floorless designs etc, as well as requiring the use of a ski pole, etc.

    Leading contenders seem to be (in no particular order):

    Easton Mountain Products Kilo
    Brooks-Range Foray
    Mountain Hardware SuperMega UL 2
    Terra Nova Solar Photon 2
    Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2
    (Platinum version though seems to save very few ounces at the potential drawback of all-mesh walls that could let in some water from sideways rain blowing under the fly?)

    Weights are very hard to compare, since what is actually included in a quoted weight varies so much -- seems like the most sensible basis is just body + fly + poles, as guy lines, stakes, and stuff sacks can be mixed-and-matched from various other sources.
    They all seem pretty similar though, especially since I want to achieve some significant weight savings from my BD Firstlight (at about 2 lb 14 oz for body + poles + seamsealed, excluding stakes, stuff sacks, and estimated weight of currently attached guy lines).

    Okay, Glacier Peak, here we come!
    (Or maybe not...)
    Mo' skimo here: NE Rando Race Series

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    SW CO
    Posts
    5,588
    Quote Originally Posted by Jonathan S. View Post
    I want to achieve some significant weight savings from my BD Firstlight (at about 2 lb 14 oz for body + poles + seamsealed, excluding stakes, stuff sacks, and estimated weight of currently attached guy lines).
    Maybe I'm out of my element here, but I doubt you'll achieve a "significant" weight savings with any of the above options. (Personally, I'd bring a scale before I bought them and find out a real-world weight, since oz matter at this point.) The cost to weight-savings just doesn't make sense to me. Why not go with a tarp design?

    I ask because I'm in the same situation (own the BD Firstlight and would like to decrease my pack weight). I think the next time I decide I want to shave weight, I'm probably gonna go with a tarp-like thing. Just curious why you don't want to go that route.

    Really not trying to be a dick, just trying to follow your reasoning.
    "Alpine rock and steep, deep powder are what I seek, and I will always find solace there." - Bean Bowers

    photos

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Schruns
    Posts
    839
    I'm with auvgeek; if light is right, you gotta go floor less. Beta mid for two people.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Sandy, Utah
    Posts
    14,410
    Easton is KILLING IT right now...great stuff..good price (but with ultralights everything is pricey) I carry a firstlight but have never had 2 ppl in it.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Not Brooklyn
    Posts
    8,319
    Tarptent.com

    specifically the Contrail, which is a 1+ person tent that weighs 26 ounces.

    or the Rainbow which weighs 2 lbs and is sort of free standing.

    Despite the name, they are most certainly more tent than tarp, although many of their designs require use of a ski/trekking pole. They are superior products and very easy to use, plus they are lighter than all you've mentioned. My squall 2 is just fine in a heavy rain. It's easy to tighten the pitch to keep out rain without getting all the way out of the tent

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Eburg
    Posts
    13,243
    If you want ultralight, give up the freestanding requirement. Tunnel and quasi-tunnel designs have better weight-to-space ratio, are more stormproof and are more windproof than freestanding lightweight tents. As you note, you gotta stake out a freestander anyway.

    +1 to auvgeek and JRainey's suggestion to go floorless, e.g., Tarp Tent Squall, Six Moon Designs Lunar Duo, Mountain Laurel Designs Duomid.

    If you require a floor, consider the Stephenson 2C. If you got that route, PM me and I'll give you beta re a DIY mod to add stake-out gussets. With that mod, my 2R is as windproof and stormproof as expedition tents weighing 3X. (I'm too tall for the 2C.)

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    near zombies
    Posts
    421
    Big Agnus Fly Creek. either the UL or Platinum. right around 2 pounds with poles, fly, and tent. Both are pretty solid for what they are. As noted, platinum may not prevent a side-rain as well, but 5oz is 5oz

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    SW CO
    Posts
    5,588
    Quote Originally Posted by Big Steve View Post
    If you want ultralight, give up the freestanding requirement. Tunnel and quasi-tunnel designs have better weight-to-space ratio, are more stormproof and are more windproof than freestanding lightweight tents. As you note, you gotta stake out a freestander anyway.

    +1 to auvgeek and JRainey's suggestion to go floorless, e.g., Tarp Tent Squall, Six Moon Designs Lunar Duo, Mountain Laurel Designs Duomid.
    I haven't yet done any research: are the three options you listed considered "tunnel" or "quasi-tunnel" designs? If not, can you recommend some? Oh, and btw: the Six Moon one weighs as much as the BD Firstlight, but the Dumoid looks absurdly light. Have time to comment on the differences?

    Quote Originally Posted by Big Steve View Post
    If you require a floor, consider the Stephenson 2C. If you got that route, PM me and I'll give you beta re a DIY mod to add stake-out gussets. With that mod, my 2R is as windproof and stormproof as expedition tents weighing 3X. (I'm too tall for the 2C.)
    The next "real" tent I buy will probably be that one. But I didn't mention it because it doesn't save him any weight over the BD Firstlight, just adds expedition capabilities.

    I don't know why Stephenson tents are not more well-known - they seem to have a fantastic weight-to-stormproof ratio.
    Last edited by auvgeek; 05-17-2012 at 10:16 AM.
    "Alpine rock and steep, deep powder are what I seek, and I will always find solace there." - Bean Bowers

    photos

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Amherst, Mass.
    Posts
    4,684
    So my reasoning goes something like the following, starting from a current shelter quiver of:

    1. Absolutely zero chance of precip, and winds no more than pleasant breeze = bring nothing!
    2. If solo, and some very slight chance of very little precip, with winds no more than a pleasant breeze = MLD eVent Bivy (which is also useful for snow shelters, or extremely wet weather even if in a tent).
    3. Wet weather, but just light amounts = BD Firstlight . . . or something even lighter?
    4. Possibility of very wet = currently looking to fill that void, since right now I’m having to escalate to #6 below.
    5. Snow and/or high winds = BD Firstlight.
    6. Anything = Rab Summit Extreme.

    The problem with the BD Firstlight is that it’s kind of a 2 season tent: great for winter weather, and fine for only moderately wet weather, but *really* wet weather is a big risk.

    I have the original yellow version. My understanding is that the successor green version is somewhat more consistent across different production batches in terms of water resistance, yet is not any more water resistant overall than the original yellow version on average.

    When I conducted a backyard test, with rain forecast toward the end of the overnight period, it stayed dry at first. But then when the rain kept up throughout the morning, and I periodically returned from my home office to keep tabs, eventually rain was seeping through the small top flat section.

    Since then, I’ve added even more amounts of seam sealer across all of the small top flat section (i.e., not just the actual seams), as I suspect that water pooling up there was the culprit. The tent walls are of course the same material, but they’re so steep that the rain drains off them without saturating them – or so goes my theory! I should probably test the tent again in my backyard now that the top is totally sealed up...

    So when I go on PNW volcano trips in the late spring and early summer, if heavy overnight rain is possible, then we end up taking the Rab Summit Extreme (or changing our plans...). Relative to that, the various ultralight double-wall freestanding tents offer substantial weight savings and are just as weather proof for that kind of three season use.

    And finally addressing a tarp-type shelter: admittedly my experience is limited to just one night (Shasta, Hidden Valley), in what I think was a GoLite Hex2, or something like that. The weather was so nice that any type of shelter was entirely unnecessarily. But still, getting it staked out all taught was kind of tricky within a snow-wall wind break. And then we still had to use my emergency space-blanket-type bivy as a floor to keep (or at least try to keep) snow getting into everything. And if we had been using it for more than one night in the same location, then we would have had to collapse it to use the ski pole for, well, skiing.

    Some of those TarpTent designs are very interesting, but the 2-person models with some sort of integrated partial floor seem to be just as heavy as the various ultralight models that have an integrated full floor and their own poles. Maybe I’m just too much of a wuss, but if I need to have some sort of wall over and around me, then I want it integrated with a full floor too!

    Quote Originally Posted by auvgeek View Post
    I don't know why Stephenson tents are not more well-known - they seem to have a fantastic weight-to-stormproof ratio.
    Those specs do look very impressive. The lack of recognition though is probably inevitable for a small family-owned company...
    Mo' skimo here: NE Rando Race Series

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    SW CO
    Posts
    5,588
    I have the exact same issues with the BD Firstlight. First time I used it, I was backpacking in the Presidentials and got caught in a monstrous rain storm (which doesn't happen much in the PNW, so I wasn't all that prepared for it). I'll just say it was a good thing I was using a synthetic bag...and even then it was really damp.

    That said, the Duomid suggestion by Big Steve is under a pound for a 2 person shelter. Pair that with a Stephenson for the winter, and it seems to be perfect (assuming you only ever go with a single person).

    ETA: Looks like the Duomid doesn't have floor - guess that's why it's so light...
    "Alpine rock and steep, deep powder are what I seek, and I will always find solace there." - Bean Bowers

    photos

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Eburg
    Posts
    13,243
    When considering tent weight, you need to look full pack weight. Stephenson 2C/2R are very warm double-wall tents, so you can get by fine with a significantly lighter sleeping bag on most trips (and no sleeping bag on some trips). On the other end of the spectrum, floorless tents can be drafty and cold, so you need to pack more insulation.

    Quote Originally Posted by auvgeek View Post
    I don't know why Stephenson tents are not more well-known
    Quote Originally Posted by Jonathan S. View Post
    The lack of recognition though is probably inevitable for a small family-owned company...
    Huh? More Stephensons have been sold than all the other tents discussed on this thread combined. Stephenson tents have been very popular with the mountaineering, high router and backpacking community for years. The original designs date back the 1960s, and are largely unchanged (except for materials).

    Quote Originally Posted by Jonathan S. View Post
    5. Snow and/or high winds = BD Firstlight. The lack of recognition though is probably inevitable for a small family-owned company...
    IME, BD Lighthouse/Firstlight are fine in mild weather but really awful in high whipping alpine winds, i.e., common stratovolcano conditions. A properly staked Tarp Tent Squall 2 is significantly more stormworthy. Stephenson 2R and 2C are in an entirely different class in terms of stormworthiness, expecially with wind stablizers (OEM or DIY).

    I haven't actually seen a Duomid, but there's a very experienced thru hiker on NWHikers who sings its praises. I'm a fan of 'mids. I've spent 100+ nights in my BD MegaLight and (previously) MegaMid. A well staked MegaLight is pretty damn stormworthy. IME, the best tent to cook inside.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Wish I knew?
    Posts
    2,752
    No experience with these guys just thought I would post it.

    http://zpacks.com/
    The pacifists always lose, because the anti-pacifists kill them.

  13. #13
    Hugh Conway Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Jonathan S. View Post
    The problem with the BD Firstlight is that it’s kind of a 2 season tent: great for winter weather, and fine for only moderately wet weather, but *really* wet weather is a big risk.
    Never found it a "big risk" anymore than most other tents, but whatever. I'd agree in really windy weather they can have problems because of the lack of side guy points like the I-tent etc have. that weather sucks donkey dick anyways. A betalight or something is relatively light, but I like floors and bug netting

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    33,546
    Quote Originally Posted by Jonathan S. View Post
    And then we still had to use my emergency space-blanket-type bivy as a floor to keep (or at least try to keep) snow getting into everything.
    Does not make sense.

    given that..

    the weather was so nice that any type of shelter was entirely unnecessarily.
    and

    And if we had been using it for more than one night in the same location, then we would have had to collapse it to use the ski pole for, well, skiing.
    Non issue. Just collapse it. put some snow on collapsed tent... go ski.
    Quote Originally Posted by Downbound Train View Post
    And there will come a day when our ancestors look back...........

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Eburg
    Posts
    13,243
    Collapsing a tent during a day tour is good practice, lessens the exposure to UV rays that degrade tent canopy fabrics.
    Last edited by Big Steve; 05-17-2012 at 01:54 PM.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Posts
    84
    I've spent some blowy rainy stormy cascade and bitterroot nights in the BD firstlight and big agnes seedhouse sl (precursor to the fly creek) and both held up fine and kept us reasonably dry.

    I haven't had an issue with the BD soaking through but the BA fly is quite waterproof.

    The BA seems to collapse in transverse gusty wind even worse then the BD but I think this is somewhat unavoidable in super light tents...haven't had an issue with noticeable amounts of wet getting in over the bathtub floor but the flycreek floor may be lower. It also has much less headroom then the BD ... so much so that two people can't really sit up in it at once which makes it seem very cramped when sitting out storms.

    The BA is my choice for most warm season trips mostly because of the additional mesh and "good enough" wet weather performance...we spent one trip bivied in the BD in super buggy but hot conditions at the base of an alpine rock route and decided we needed more mesh. The BD is my choice for worse weather unless it is going to be really hot. I might bring one of our older non ultralight tents for a multi day trip with lots of expected rain.

    The brooks range (and maybe the similar mountain hardware) tent you mention look like they might address some of the issues I have with the BA and offer a much more usable vestibule.

  17. #17
    Hugh Conway Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by ncognico View Post
    I experienced moderate rain, inside my firstlight.
    Bullshit. Learn to fucking vent a tent dipshit.

    There were a number of things I didn't like about the firstlight (to short, poor guylines, didn't like the vestibule hookup), relatively lightweight top fabric. The waterproofness is way, way, way overplayed on tgtard

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    SW CO
    Posts
    5,588
    ^^ Nope. I had the same thing happen to me. When it rains hard enough, water seems to seep through the fabric. Then the rain pounding on the tent causes the water droplets that had seeped inside the tent to mist down on me (which was referred to as "moderate rain" above). I don't know that I would go so far as to say it was moderately raining inside the tent, but it was certainly "misting" heavily enough that it woke me up from a dead slumber (and I've slept through a hotel fire alarm before).

    Yes, I seam sealed it first; no, this wasn't my first single-walled tent.

    Edit to clear up the writing for Hugh, who seems to be confused. Also wanted to add that this has only happened to me once. Since then, I've learned to bring my other tent (Integral Designs MK1) when it's raining super hard.
    Last edited by auvgeek; 05-17-2012 at 07:46 PM.
    "Alpine rock and steep, deep powder are what I seek, and I will always find solace there." - Bean Bowers

    photos

  19. #19
    Hugh Conway Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by auvgeek View Post
    Nope. I've had the same thing happen to me. And yes, I seam sealed it first.
    It's called condensation fuckwhit.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    SW CO
    Posts
    5,588
    Thanks Hugh. I know what condensation is. And I'm telling you this wasn't fucking condensation.
    "Alpine rock and steep, deep powder are what I seek, and I will always find solace there." - Bean Bowers

    photos

  21. #21
    Hugh Conway Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by auvgeek View Post
    Thanks Hugh. I know what condensation is. And I'm telling you this wasn't fucking condensation.
    So you don't know what "moderate rain" is?

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    SW CO
    Posts
    5,588
    Not sure what your problem is Hugh, but I've edited my post above to make it more clear.

    I'm no stranger to single wall tents. I've never experienced this issue with my Integral Designs MK1 XL (though I think it's now called the MK2). I like the Firstlight, it just doesn't work (for me) in a downpour.

    But hey, think whatever you want.
    "Alpine rock and steep, deep powder are what I seek, and I will always find solace there." - Bean Bowers

    photos

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    voting in seattle
    Posts
    5,122
    A good bivy sack from Outdoor Research...


    Tents are for the winter.

  24. #24
    Hugh Conway Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by auvgeek View Post
    Not sure what your problem is Hugh
    bullshit, that's all.

    XavierD - stuff your bivy sack shaped cock in your mouth fucktard. bivy sacks are for retards and interwebz hardmen

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    On Vacation for the Duration
    Posts
    14,373
    I'm using a Made in America, 1980, Eureka 12' X 12" cabin with the optional 6' X 12' attached dining fly. 7' tall at the center. Add a queen sized Coleman air mattress and all is good for a 1- 2 week stay. Weighs about 50 lbs.
    A few people feel the rain. Most people just get wet.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •