What pack do you have on in your picture? And where are you going with that thing?

Re:
"What pack do you have on in your picture? And where are you going with that thing?"

That is a Six Moon Designs Starlite.
I was hauling out a bunch of garbage that a group had left in a campsite. They had left a whole lot, maybe 10 lbs of food containers, beer cans, etc... What a mess:-(

I was surprised how much that pack can hold.

I switched to tarp tents to save weight and have tried several of them. This is some what I learned. I prefer the tarp tents with the attached floor and bug mesh. My trail name could be "hikes with bugs" here in the Southeast-I want the full enclosure. At the end of a day it is much easier for me to pitch a tarptent with an attached floor than to pitch one without a floor. (try pitching one without the floor once and you will understand) I started with a Squall Classic but could not stand the noise Spinnaker makes. I sold that to someone here and bought a Contrail. I switched to a Lunar Solo because I prefer a side entry. ALL of these tents are excellent and are around 1.5 lbs. This is just some food for thought if you do decide to go with a tarp tent..

Wow. I didn't think SMD made a pack that big. And that is really sad someone left that much garbage.

It actually looks bigger than it really is. The top is wide open with stuff tied on top. The side mesh pockets are stuffed to capacity.
It was probably less than half that size before we did the campsite cleanup.

The extra garbage was a lot of cans and stuff, so was mostly air. So the pack didn't seem that much heavier.

I have always wondered why the pack in your avatar was so stinking big Steve... but didn't have the guts to ask! :)

+1 on Sierra Designs Lightning...excellent Shelter

Hi U,

Re:
"I have always wondered why the pack in your avatar was so stinking big Steve... but didn't have the guts to ask! :)"

I always thought it looked like some kind of Photoshop retouch job, but no, it's real:-)

Not quite the "Flextrek 37trillion":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nM6wfjuirE

"But is snow really an issue with 3 season hikers?"

In the Sierra Nevada Range, I have been snowed on in every month of the year. I just got snowed on in late May.

--B.G.--

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"I have been snowed on in every month of the year."

Me to, in the Uintas and Yellowstone, but never more than a few inches. Never enough to require a 4 season tent.

I do know that there can be freak storms, but I don't think it is a reason to carry a heavy tent.
If you should get in such a situation, you have to kick the snow off from time to time is all.

You are fixated on freestanding meaning 4 season. Why is that?

Free standing for me has nothing to do with snow, it's all about the wind.

I've tried non-free standing and it was a real pain when the wind shifted. With my freestanding tents I can pop a couple of pegs and re-orient into the wind and it takes only a minute or two. With the non-free standing tent I couldn't face re-pitching (too much work)... which caused some issues for me.

+1 on the BA Fly Creek.

Thanks for the recommendations. I had a look at most of the suggestions, and I like the look of the Skyledge 2.1. Granted, it's not the lightest, but to me it looks like it would meet all my requirements.

Does anybody have any experiences with it? How does it hold up in winds? Is it comfortable to use a bug tent when it's hot?

Reviews are quite good; the most cited con seems to be that it's a bit cramped for 2 people. But I could still go for the 3 version.

Vaude (a German brand) makes a nice lightweight tent, the 'Vaude Hogan Ultralight Argon' (quite a mouth-full). It's a 1+ to 2 person, 4 season tent. Weight is 1500 grams (3 pounds, 5 ounces)(includes inner, outer, poles and pegs).

Freestanding doesn't have anything to do with a shelter's ability to withstand snow or wind. That is marketing hype. Don't fall for it.

Freestanding is a term that means that a shelter doesn't require that it be staked(pegged) down. All shelters should be staked(pegged) down in most cases.

A three season shelter should be able to handle three season snow loads approx. 95% of the time.

Many dome, freestanding shelters will collapse under one foot of snow or 50 knot winds. I have seen it. You can replace the tent poles with heavier, more expensive poles to overcome this. You can also extend a shelter's weatherpoofness by adding tie-points and lines.

My point is that freestanding doesn't determine a shelters ability to handle weather. A Wenzel freestanding dome can't compete with most lighter pyramid non-freestanding shelters in heavy snow or strong winds.

And no competent structural engineer is going to tell you that a freestanding dome can handle weather better than a non-freestanding pyramid/tipi/hoop design without adding lots of weight to the structure.

Many will disagree, but I'm trying to steer you away from the marketing hype. For backpacking, there are many options that are lighter and more weatherproof than your typical car camping dome feestanding shelter.

Many will tell you that their 3 lb solo shelter is the most awesome thing in the world, but there are too many people out there that do major long distance hikes with 1.5 lb tents that would never consider anything heavier except for extreme expeditions.

I think a good comparison to make would be the Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2 and the Copper Spur UL2. This way you can compare a side entry tent that has more vertical walls to a front entry tent with sharper sloping walls. The single, front entries are used in the lighter of the UL tents, and they usually have more sloping walls to save weight. Your local BA dealer should have both to look at.

Once you have that info, you can narrow down your search. Also, I didn't see if you used trekking poles or not. If not, your weight savings will decrease with non-freestanding tents. Good luck with the search. Most of us have had, or still do have many tents. There is always some trial and error.

The Henry Shire Tarp Tents have floors and bug netting. You might want to check them out just to see.

"Freestanding doesn't have anything to do with a shelter's ability to withstand snow or wind. That is marketing hype. Don't fall for it."

Positively uninformed, generalized advice.

Have a look at my reviews of the Big Agnes Seedhouse SL1, Fly Creek UL1 and the Vaude Power Lizard UL. The two Big Agnes tents are definitely 1 person only tents so you'd need to SL2 and UL2 respectively but they are excellent tents and you'll see why I think so from my review - www.journeymantraveller.com is my blog.

The Power Lizard is a contender too. It is a palatial one-person tent and a snug two person tent and it is only 1040g (2.3lb). It can withstand, according to Vaude, very strong wind and, having used it, I can certainly see that may well be the case. I did not like it, but that wasn't because it was not a good tent, I just preferred the layout of the Big Agnes tents. If you are solo camping much of the time but need a two person tent every so often, it is worth a look.

just to get back to the question-
1)Any number of Henry Shires Tarptents will most likely suit you. If you want a double wall "feel' look at the Rainbow or Double Rainbow with the clip in liner.
2)Six Moon Designs- esp the Haven or Vamp
I have dealt with Tarptent & Six Moon designs and was very satisfied
3)Big Agnes Fly Creek UL 1 or 2
Also look at GossamerGear, Mountain Laurel Designs- altho they are more tarp like in design- but very good products.
Montbell has a hybrid tent as well- but tight (Crescent 1 or 2)
Might check Big Sky International- but be aware of delivery problems, at least in the past (hope this doesn't start a new thread on this). REI Quarter Dome, SD Clip
Flashlight, MSR Hubba Hubba are all well over 2.5 lbs.