Rain and mesh tents, and flies – perplexed by new generation of freestanding tents…

That tent is not freestanding. You'll have to stake it out unless you want to have a bad time.

The way to pitch it in the rain is to lay down the groundsheet, put in the poles, put the rain fly over the poles, crawl inside, and then attach the tent to the poles from underneath the fly.

Tarptent Moment DW with crossing pole.

What is the priority?

1) Freestanding, or

2) Fly-first setup?

The Hillebergs do the latter very well.

Threading poles through sleeves was a pain. Clip on is much easier and faster. If you worry about rain you may be able to put the fly on first. MSR supports fly-only setup. Admittedly, I have not tried it.

@Jeff Jeff –

I gave that image as an example – I am talking about completely freestanding tents. But that means I have to have a groundsheet – which is even more weight!

@Greg –

Priority is not getting the tent wet, then freestanding. With my old REI freestanding, I could do both by leaving the fly over the tent and put the poles under from the sides… The new tents seem to have this combined one-pole-with-4-ends kind of system.

@Anton

Why was threading poles through a sleeve a pain?

Well then, what do you think if the Hillebergs?

Jimmy,
All ot the Tarptent models are designed to be set up fly first or fly and inner together.
You have 14 versions to chose from :
http://www.tarptent.com/index.html
franco@tarptent

Big Sky makes several freestanding tents that set up dry. My Big Sky Chinook 2P sets up with the fly and inner already attached.

As mentioned above, Tarptent also has some freestanding options that set up dry (Moment and Scarp series).

I'm kind of in the why-do-people-want-freestanding camp. It seems to me they have a single advantage–fine tuning placement is slightly easier. For that you pay in weight and difficulty setting up in wet weather. So unless there's a compelling advantage to freestanding I'm missing, maybe look at other options?

@GREG –

I love the hillbergs – but they're hella expensive! Thanks though for the rec, I'll continue to look into them.

@Todd –

I'm not sure its that simple. When camping with non hardcore campers, freestanding offers a lot of quick benefits. Placement is nice, but also not needing a ton of room in the event you're cramped; ease of girlfriend/partner setting up tent; and not needing a million ropes, lines and other things that get tangled.

@Franco –

Thanks for the tip! I'll check it out now.

My first tent was made by the long defunct British company Phoenix. The flysheet pitched first, and it had pole sleeves, but the similarities with Hillebergs ended there. I remember fighting with it regularly, as the poles still had to be inserted into fabric cups at both ends, and it was far from an easy job.

In the last four years I've had a number of Hillebergs, some with sleeves, some with clips. The sleeved design on the Hillies is far superior to my old Phoenix. Slide the pole in the sleeve, the other end is enclosed. Pop the plastic pole cup on this end, and tighten with a strap. My single pole Enan takes 2 minutes to pitch. My three pole Keron 3 takes 4-5 minutes. The Soulo and Staika I owned and sold both had clip systems, and there was a lot more walking around the tents to get them pitched. From memory I'd say the Soulo took 5-6 minutes and the Staika closer to 10.

Of course a freestanding shelter makes site selection easier, and in Hilleberg's case most of their domes use clips, while the tunnels use sleeves. Just last weekend I was stymied in my efforts to pitch a tunnel below treeline, because there were few sites suitable for such a long tent. I took me 90 minutes and the tent was far from a secure pitch. The soil was poor quality at the foot end, and there was bedrock just a few inches below the surface near the head end. A freestanding dome with clips would have made my job much easier…

"Price is not an issue."

Well then, …

"I am talking about completely freestanding tents. But that means I have to have a groundsheet – which is even more weight!"

Erm.. why having a freestanding tent means you have to have a groundsheet?

"…not needing a million ropes, lines and other things that get tangled."

Unless there is no wind whatsoever where you camp, you're going to use pretty much the same amount of ropes, lines and other things as you would with non-freestanding tents. Or risk watching your new purchase become a balloon and disappear into a blue sky – freestanding tents are particularly good at it!

"Price is not really an issue." — "I love the hillbergs – but they're hella expensive!"

Which is it then? ;)

All of Sierra Designs new tents allow for pitching the entire tent at once. this keep any rain out of the tent while you're pitching. Many of them are free standing as well. The Lightning 2 FL is less than 3 pounds and seems to check your other boxes. I have the flashlight and love it (though it's not free standing).

"Why was threading poles through a sleeve a pain?"

Fabric would catch on joints, you have the sleeve flat on the ground, it's a two stage process (feed and then anchor ends), etc. It just took a look more time than a clip on system.

Try a good modern double layer tent (like MSR) sometime, they are really a pleasure to set up. Not to mention that many people would use mesh tent only configuration or fly only. It's just a better and more advanced design.

Personally I have moved on to a floorless pyramid and a single wall 4-season mountaineering tent (for desert camping).

You guys got me – price isn't an issue within reason! But $900 tents are too much for me. Apologies.

Jimmy,

What's your budget and how many people should it accommodate?

I like the cloudburst 3 from tarptent for a great balance of weight, price, weather resistance, ease of setup and though not freestanding, not very many tie downs needed.

I also have a Hilleberg Anjan 3 which is a little but more robust, but has less room, and costs more, and is heavier.

The free standing tents I have get less and less use since having the two tents mentioned above. My preference was previously for free standing tents, but after a bit of experience with tarptent and Hilleberg, I have changed my thinking.

Compared to a teepee, tarp, bivysack, freestanding tents do have a lot of advantages, but tunnel tents and several designs from Tarptent really mitigate the "finicky, fiddly factor" of lightweight shelters.

For times when weight is the most important consideration, I still have a floorless trekking pole pyramid.

My personal recommendation for most people is tarptent. If maximum durability at the cost of weight and price, go with Hilleberg, but for most folks, I think Hilleberg is the wrong choice as what you gain in durability paid for with cost, weight, and less interior space.

Tarptent rainshadow 2, is another one of my favorites for its space to weight ratio, but is a little less optional in bad weather.