[at-l] How important was freestanding for you?

[Mike Cunningham]

Hi,
 
Freestanding is easier on a tent platform. They can almost always be avoided.
 
I'm an older hiker, too, 63 at last count. I use a tarp. It does take longer than a tent to set up but mostly because I have to decide how I want to set it up. It is great to take down in the rain because I pack it last.
 
I will admit to carrying a headnet & a piece of netting similar to mosquito netting (a yard or so of netting from the yard goods dept at Walmart-big enough to drape over me from above my head to about my waist). Either is effective against mosquitoes although you may want to wear a hat with a brim. They also work well in shelters.
 
The tarp & both pieces of netting are less than 1 pound.
 
I also carry a piece of tyvek for a ground cloth & occaisionally a 6 ounce bivy if I expect bad weather.
 
 
hikermiker

--- On Tue, 8/25/09, Amy Forinash <amy at forinash.net> wrote:


From: Amy Forinash <amy at forinash.net>
Subject: [at-l] How important was freestanding for you?
To: "at-l List" <AT-L at Backcountry.net>
Date: Tuesday, August 25, 2009, 7:47 PM


I'm pondering buying a smaller shelter than my Tarptent Squall 2 for  
my thruhike.  In people's journals I keep reading about them setting  
up tents in shelters for protection from bugs, or setting up on a  
platform where they couldn't use stakes.

On your hikes, how often have you needed / used the freestanding  
feature of your tent if you had one?  The only time I haven't been  
able to use stakes on my section hikes, I used rocks to secure mine  
(non-freestanding) tent.  But then again I've never been at a shelter  
where there was plenty of room for a tent AND the bugs were bad AND I  
had a reason to not want to set up on the ground (like mud).

-amy
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