Equipment |
Tent |
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Equipment tent
The overall tent categories are: 3 or 4 season, the number of people, single or double wall and free standing or not.
If we’re planning camp in the snow, the tent must be 4 season. Single, double or triple persons depend on the tour. Personally I prefer a free-standing tent, as I can pitch it at any site. To pitch the not free-standing one might be a bit tricky in solid surface or in windy condition. Two wall tents are with a flysheet, one wall without it. It's a matter of condensation and ventilation, which depends a lot from the climate where we're going to. The warmer climate the more ventilated tent should be. Of course, it’s a general rule, as a lot depends on the wall fabric (eg it can be just mosquito net or solid thick wall).
Poles – the lighter ones are made from fibreglass, but aren’t strong enough and they might break up. If you spending time in the mountains or somewhere where the strong winds are, I suggest the aluminum alloy poles.
Pegs – stainless steel are strong but heavy. Aluminum ones are ok, but not light too. I suggest titanium - I have set of 10 pieces plus two thick aluminum pegs, which are used for front and rear of the tent. Weights 6.5 grams, the price of €2, Gossamer Gear.
Seven years ago my choice was winter tent, 1-person, single wall Malachowski. I was very pleased with it, survived a lot of rains and winds, pitching it took me around two minutes. Disadvantage was the weight - 2.5 kg and lack of vestibules. Anyway, they are not currently in production. Nowdays I'm using heavy but solid Mont Bell, I have 1 and 3 persons version, using mostly on car trips.
Then I won in travel writing competition (book Across the World) four season, double wall tent made by Polish company Marabut, model Baltoro (on the picture). It weights 3.5 kg, but it’s much bigger (for the trip with my wife), has two doors (ventilation) and two vestibules (€180).
For the South America Adventure, I bought tent from Big Agnes, model Fly Creek UL1. Its biggest advantage is the weight under 1 kg! According to the manufacturer it’s free-standing, but according to the reviews - almost free-standing. It’s a 3-seasons, it’s not suitable for snow or pitch on the windy summits. It has good reviews when it comes to waterproof, and officially floor is rated at 1200mm. Single space - people who are taller than 180 cm unlikely would say that the tent is comfortable (in this case I would suggest MSR Hubba, a new HP version). Fly Creek is a double wall – pitching takes more than five minutes. Price is a cosmos - start from €250 on the USA websites.
Ground floor is a separate matter. I haven’t used it at all so far, but it prolongs the tent’s floor lifetime, protects it from the sharp edges, makes extra moisture barrier and add extra insulation from the ground. Now I use it, but not buying from the shops (too expensive and too heavy), only from the kite store. The fabric is called Tyvek, it’s very lightweight, inexpensive and durable.
Sometimes I don’t need a tent. Travelling in Africa during the dry season I used large, but lightweight mosquito net. I hung it between the trees, great ventilation and no insects. In South America hammock is very popular (with a small mosquito net around it). My hammock is synthetic and durable - I bought in Cambodia for €1.
Another possibility is to build a shelter (tarp) from a single piece of waterproof fabric, using trekking poles and tent pegs. 
There are no poles in use. You can buy it at Gossamer Gear website (price from €120, weight 200g).
Sounds perfect, but there is a small "but". Under the tarp can be quite nice, if there is no wind nor insects. Unfortunately the wind occurs quite often. There is no help against the mosquitoes. Then you can slip yourselves into the bivy bag, which is a kind of waterproof "cocoon" sleeping bag. At the height of the face you have a mosquito net. It is a place to sleep, but there is no space for eating or sitting. Such equipment is certainly lighter than a tent (no poles in use), but over a longer trekking can be tiring. Compared to the tent such a shelter doesn’t give you extra warmth. An additional tarp’s disadvantage is no possibility to pitch it on solid grounds (pegs use) and in places sheltered from the wind (not on the mountain passes or summits).