[pct-l] Tents....I know, I know, beating a dead horse

[Erik The Black]

Have you tried a tarp yet? 

Tarps a much better than tarptents for the PCT in my opinion. Here is why:

Tarptents are narrow, claustrophobic, cumbersome to set up and waste too
much nylon and mesh trying to create a "sealed environment"... which is
absolutely unnecessary.

On the PCT you rarely need a shelter at all. 80% of the time you can cowboy
camp. The only time you need a shelter is if it's raining or snowing or the
bugs are really bad. And those conditions are few and far between.

I used an 8x10 tarp with a spinnaker ground cloth through many days of
continuous rain in Oregon and Washington and several feet of snow in the
North Cascades. Never had a problem. Never got wet. The benefit of a tarp is
that it is wide enough to keep whatever is coming down from the sky, or
soaking up from the ground, far away from you. Unless you are camping in the
middle of a river a bathtub floor is a waste of nylon.

Tarps are lighter weight, easier to set up, more breathable and roomier
inside. 

As for bugs, the only place on the whole PCT where the bugs were bad enough
to keep me from cowboy camping was the Sierra. And they are BAD there. But
if you think about it, you are already carrying a ton of weight through the
Sierra what with bear canisters and extra food and clothing and all that. 

Since ounce-pinching is pointless through that section you might as well
carry a nice lightweight two person, double wall, freestanding tent. If you
don't already own one it's something you'll certainly get a lot of use from
on short outings and car camping adventures in the future, so it's not
really an additional expense.

I highly recommend the REI Quarterdome T2. I love this tent in a way that no
man should have feelings for a pile of nylon and aluminum. At 3lbs, 12 oz
it's almost so awesome that I would consider giving up my tarp and carrying
it exclusively on long hikes... but not quite.

However, I would definitely carry it through the Sierra. It goes with me on
all trips shorter than two weeks. When I switch my tarp for the tent my base
weight goes from 10 lbs to 12.5 lbs. Not a big deal, and I get to sleep in
the lap of luxury!


Happy Trails!

Erik The Black
www.pctatlas.com