Erik the Black tarping in Oregon
Choosing a shelter for a backpacking trip is one of the most important gear decisions you can make. You want something that is lightweight, easy to set up and provides adequate protection from the elements, given the season and location where you plan to hike.
What your backpacking shelter is NOT
One mistake beginners make when choosing a shelter is looking for a “home away from home”. When you hike all day long you live on your feet. Not inside your shelter. So you should not think of your backpacking shelter as a home away from home.
What your backpacking shelter REALLY IS
It’s one more piece of heavy gear that you have to lug around on your back all day, that only gets used for a few hours at night. On trails like the Pacific Crest Trail you can go for weeks or months in the summer without ever needing to erect your shelter. (On my ’07 PCT thru hike I set up my tarp fewer than 20 nights in the whole 5 months I was out there)
I think it helps to think of your backpacking shelter not as a portable house, but as a piece of emergency gear (like a 1st aid kit). You want it to be there when you need it to keep you warm and dry. But it should be lightweight and no-frills so it doesn’t weigh you down the 80% of the time when you aren’t using it.
How much should a backpacking shelter weigh?
If you are planning on hiking long distances (more than 100 miles) I recommend keeping your shelter weight under 3 lbs per person. Ideally you want to aim for 2 lbs or less. My 3-piece modular tarp system weighs just 16 oz – 25 oz and provides all the protection I need from wind, rain, snow and bugs.
Here are some of your choices…
Lightweight shelters suitable for 3-season backpacking and thru hiking:
* Pros and cons refer to each category of shelter in general, not the specific models pictured.
Tarps & Poncho Tarps (0.5 lb – 1.5 lbs)
Gossamer Gear Spinntwinn
Pros:
- Easy to pitch (but there is a learning curve)
- Lightweight and spacious, good ventilation
- Lots of room for gear, stove, dog, girlfriend, etc.
Cons:
- No bug protection (unless you add a bug tent)
- Only partial wind protection
- No floor (need a good ground cloth)
Tarp-tents (1.5 lbs – 2.5 lbs)
Henry Shires Tarptent Contrail
Pros:
- Complete bug protection, bathtub floor
- Lightweight and compact
- One-stop shelter solution
Cons:
- Cumbersome to pitch (varies by model)
- Narrow and claustrophobic
- Poor ventilation, condensation
U.L. Freestanding Tents (2.5 lbs – 4 lbs)
Big Agnes Seedhouse SL1
Pros:
- Quick easy pitch, freestanding
- Full bug protection & bathtub floor
- Double-wall, good ventilation
Cons:
- Heavy weight & bulky
- Narrow & claustrophobic (with rain fly on)
- Very expensive
Hammocks (1.5 lbs – 2.5 lbs)
Hennesy Hammock
Pros:
- Comfortable (up off the ground)
- Lightweight and compact
- Bug protection
Cons:
- Requires trees to set up
- Not much room to move around
- Cold underneath (added insulation required)
Bug Shelters (for tarp camping)
Sea to Summit Bug Pyramid
If you use a tarp mosquito country, consider these options to keep the bugs out:
Bug Bivy: Lightweight bug net that covers the top half of your body, used in conjunction with your sleeping bag to provide mosquito protection while you sleep, or a…
Bug Tent: Bug protection for your entire body. Clip to the bottom of your tarp or set up with trees/trekking poles. Some are floorless and others include a bathtub floor.
Ground Sheets
Tyvek - a popular U.L. groundcloth
If you use a tarp, or just like to sleep out under the stars from time to time, you will need to carry a separate ground cloth. Here are a few popular U.L. groundcloth options:
- Tyvek: Water resistant, light, cheap
- Sil-nylon: Lightweight, waterproof, but slippery
- Spinnaker fabric: Ultralight, expensive
- 2 mil painters cloth: Light, waterproof, cheap
- Mylar space blanket: Ultralight, fragile
Execellent Article !
Really enjoyed it.
Greetings from Germany
Sauerkraut
You should also note the Zpacks Hexamid shelter, offers a full shelter for under 9 ounces! was tested on a through hike of the CDT and it held up.
http://www.zpacks.com/shelter/hexamid.shtml
Your set-up is similar to mine:
1. Dancing Lite Gear Tacoma Tarp 16ozs
2. A-16 Bug Bivy 6ozs
3. Tyvek Sheet 5.5ozs
27.5ozs with the same flexibility you described.
I agree Erik, I don’t use a tent 75% of the time either. I do however prefer a tent with floor, at 24 oz including the poles and stakes, I can have a two person Gossamer Gear Squall Classic and don’t need to carry a ground cloth and if I have a hiking partner they can carry the stakes and poles.
This is a great set-up for couples (which I have used it for), a big person, or someone who likes a lot of room.
Greetings from England,
This is what I’m packing for this years PCT. 790grs, outer, inner & grounsheet:
http://www.terra-nova.co.uk/Product_Type/Tents/Superlite_Tents/Laser_Photon_Elite_GREEN.html
‘Nuff said, see you at the ADZPCTKO
Fozzie
Have you ever had water coming into your tarp during hard downpours? Have you ever had the need or can think of a need to pitch both the bug and tarp tent together? Is that even possible? Thanks.
Great Info, Thanks! Last year, on my section hike from Lake Tahoe to Old Station, my main problem wasn’t rain or mosquitoes. It was biting ants. I can remember only one ant free night, just south of Drakesbad. I think the sharp volcanic soil near Lassen Park kept the ants away that night. This year I’m carrying a floored bug shelter in addition to my tarp and Tyvek ground cloth.
Hi EtheB -
Pam and I use a similar setup for two.
1. Gossamer Gear Spinntwin Tarp – 8 oz.
2. Granite Gear Haven (when buggy) – 17 oz.
The Haven has a silnylon floor with mesh walls and easily clips to the tarp at the ridgelines and at the tarp’s four corner guylines (which elevates the corners of the haven forming a bathtub floor). Perfect for a couple, palatial for a single.
3. For a groundcloth I use an Adventure Medical Kits Heetsheets Survival Blanket – 96″x60″ at 3.5 oz. (more durable and not crinkley like an emergency space blanket)
This combo makes a sub 2 lb. well ventilated bugproof shelter for two. In 2008 we used the tarp only until we hit the Sierra and the mosquitos made using the net tent with the tarp more pleasurable. Have fun on the trail, we will be on the AT this year.
-Mark-
Thanks for your comments
@ RoguePhotonic: The Hexamid looks like a great design. I actually met Samuraii Joe on the PCT in ’07. I’d be interested in the 2-person version when he gets that ready. I’ve never been able to tolerate “single person” shelters personally because they are so narrow and claustrophobic.
@ Tag: I have had wind-blown rain (and snow) make it’s way under the tarp, but in bad weather I will pitch it low to the ground and stay near the middle. Because the tarp is so large there is a lot of buffer space between me and the edge. I plan to run a clothesline under the ridgeline of the tarp which will give me a place to clip the peak of the Bug Pyramid.
@Watertank: That’s interesting. I’ve never had a problem with ants on the PCT… but the mosquitoes love me. I’ve heard that different bugs are attracted to different people’s body chemistry.
@Mark: Thanks for the heads up on that survival blanket. After 3 yrs my spinnaker ground sheet has popped a hole and GG is all sold out. I was debating between duct taping it or getting something new.
I used the Shires rainbow on my 09PCT and I’ve used a squall and various kinds of tarps from time to time. You should point out that when using a tarp you MUST be persnickity about setting up with regard to wind and where water might gather. I’m too lazy and just like to plunk the sucker down without too much thinking and babying of the shelter. After 12 hours of hiking I’m too tired for much else. I’m surprized to hear you poop out after only 10 hours.
Ive been testing out the Gossamer Gear The One, it comes in at around 15oz on my scale. Ive had it in hard rains and 40+ MPH winds (you do need ear plugs when its this windy it is noisy!) and it has performed well in both conditions. I had condensation one night when it was in the low 20′s and a bit damp out but i wasnt to bad. Ill be taking it out on the PCT this year to run it through it paces.
Love your blog. I’ve been toying with the idea of lightweight backpacking, but Brazil makes it tough to do so. It’s not uncommom to have an all-season day.. it starts off as a nice spring day, gets summer-30-degrees celsius hot around noon, pours down at around 5pm and goes down to 12 degrees Celsius at night. And in the mountains it can go as low as 0. And of course the humidity makes it all worse. Mosquitoes, snakes, lizards, bugs of all kinds.. Can’t imagine sleeping on the ground without protection. Dow is a big nono.
BPL Nano + MLD bug bivy + stakes and guylines = ~ 14 oz.
I made a one-person Bilgy and a ground cloth from left-over silnylon. I coated one side with homemade silicone sealer. Will be testing my system in two weeks. Love the fact that the whole system weighs just under 2 pounds.
Bivy’s are light and great as well!
Great blog, I’ve never gone on a hike over a week long, and it wasn’t over 20 miles in. It sounds great being out there for months at a time. And you’re right, unless you have a pack animal you need to pack light.
How do you guys deal with water on the ground with these kind of setups??
Here is what I contend with on a daily basis here where I live:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/abelajohnb/4669720911/
I would love to switch over to a tarp setup but unless I wanted to sleep in mud, I cannot think of a way to solve this.
@ Yokhannan: WOW! That is some pretty bad mud. I have to admit that I have never camped in mud that bad. If it’s always like that I would probably opt for a tent or tarptent with a bathtub floor instead of a tarp. The times when I have camped in mud with my tarp what I will usually do is dig a trench around the perimeter of my ground cloth using a stick (with an outlet on the downhill side) so the water flows around my groundcloth instead of over it.
Yeah, I have a tarptent moment and it is a total failure 99% of the time. Anymore it does not even go. I have had to switch over to hammocks in order to get out of this crap. Yeah, it’s ever where like it shows in that photo. I’ve been thinking about having a custom made CF bathtub made that is 6-8 inches tall and go that route. It’s the only thing I can think of.
I prefer:
1) SMD Gatewood Cape-Also my raingear
2) STS Headnet-Also my bug-gear
3) GG Polycryo Groundheet
Total: Around 14 oz not counting the weight save by replacing rain jacket/pants. On clear nights I don’t setup the Cape and sleep under the stars.
I will be hiking the JMT with my son this summer as my 60th B-day present. Your website and Atlas are well done and informative. I look forward to receiving my copy of Ultralight Backpacking. Do you have any specific recommendations for cooking gear & shelter for a 2-man team that may differ from what you show in your videos and on the website? The gear you show seems to for one person. Thanks.
@joe One thing you will need in a shelter on the JMT is mosquito protection. Unlike other trails where the bugs are just an occasional nuisance, on the John Muir Trail they are a nearly constant companion. For two people hiking the John Muir Trail I would recommend either a lightweight two person tent (such as the REI Quarterdome T2 – 63 ounces, which I personally own and love) or a two person tarptent (one of my favorites is the Six Moon Designs Lunar Duo – 39 ounces). Although the freestanding tent is a bit heavy, you and your son could divide the weight so that one of you carries the poles and rainfly and the other carries the tent body and accessories.
For cooking – an isobutane canister stove (like the MSR Pocket Rocket) works as well for two people as one. That is what I cook with. The only thing you need to do is make sure you have a large enough pot to cook both of your grub in and enough fuel. My cookpot for 1 person is 700ml and I can usually cook all my food with a little room to spare, so a 1300ml pot (like the Evernew 1300) should do the trick for two, though it might be a tight squeeze. An 8 ounce canister should give you enough gas to last both of you between resupplies.
Have fun on your hike and thanks for buying a John Muir Trail Atlas!
Six Moon Designs Meteor Bivy, provides bug protection, groundcloth and wind blown rain reduction. Allows me to use a smaller 5×9 rectangular Monk tarp or poncho in the worst conditions.
On milder nights, I can cowboy camp with bug, dew and light rain protection.
The best 7 ounces in my pack.
Why can’t you use a groundsheet as the tarp? It weighs less than a tarp and is also water resistant
@John I don’t use a groundsheet as a tarp because it is not large enough, and also because I need it to go underneath my sleeping pad (which is only 3/4 length) to block moisture seeping up from the ground.
Hey Erik,
Question about the Sea to Summit Bug Shelter. I understand its not “No See Um” netting. So how is it holding up against ants, fleas or really small critters? Thanks
Hi Eric,
What is your opinion/advice on bivvy sacks? Pro and cons?
Cher
H
@Henry: I have only used the Sea to Summit bug net a couple of times. Most of the time I do not carry it. It does not have a floor so would not prevent crawling insects from coming inside. I don’t know if small bugs like fleas would be able to make it through the net, I have never noticed them before.
@Hannah: I have never personally used a bivy sack, but from what I have heard the two downsides are claustrophobia and condensation. Since they are not really that lightweight I think a tarp or tarptent is a better lightweight shelter option.
Hi Erik-
We both know the greatest assest to hiking long distances is the ability to adapt, overcome, and keep hiking. While gear is important, it is your mind that drives your body. You and I could hike with anybody’s gear list….. we just would finish with ours. Give me a heavy pack and I will show you strengh. Give me a light pack and I will show you speed. Look for me behind you or in front of you for I will never quit. Hike on my friend……… HopSing