Tent vs. Tarptent

[-Ghost-]

Thanks for all the excellent responses guys! Ill definitely give the Moment and Lunar Solo serious consideration.

[Tipi Walter]

This is the reason I hesitate to recommend a single-wall silnylon shelter to absolutely everyone for every hike. In my experience, a silnylon shelter is good for no more than three nights of continuous heavy rain. After that, you need a few hours of good sunshine or a night in a motel to dry off.

But on a long trail thru hike, you're seldom more than three nights away from one of the above. Especially if the rest of your load is as light as the tarptent and you can walk 25 or more miles a day.

If you like to head out in the worst possible conditions and base camp somewhere, or enjoy a lingering pace of 10 miles per day in the 100 mile wilderness when a hurricane blows through, a tarptent is probably not a good choice. Get the right tool for the job.

The TarpTent is good if you can walk 25 or more miles a day?

Ain't that the truth. That is why there is no such thing as the best gear...just what is best for a situation.

Thing is, the situation changes. You go to the roof with a hammer and find out you also need a saw. The job changes. So does the environment. The "best gear" would be something that can handle all conditions within reason(no tornadoes please)and still be light enough to pack. On a recent 20 day trip I tied in with 6 backpackers for 7 days doing the BMT. One of them had a single pole hoop TarpTent and we got caught in a windstorm with heavy rain. The tent is pictured below. The guy had to bail out of the trip because his TarpTent leaked around the pole seams and got his bag wet.

Later in the trip the rest of us walked thru a cold rain and arrived at a 5,000 foot open bald, Whiggs Meadow, in a fierce windstorm. See second fotog. I was the only one who decided to camp on top in the wind while the rest found a sloping hillside in trees. I did so because I had 12 stakes for a tent that is designed to take high winds and rain, while also working perfectly well in calm conditions on quiet summer days.

The point is? The job changes and you need a tool that can do more than one thing, a shelter that can handle 70F with no wind and 25F in a wet gale ON THE SAME TRIP.