Tent design

I made a BILGY single wall tent from plans. It weighs about 2 lb. The Tyvek footprint (recommended for rough surfaces) adds another 6 oz. It's difficult to imagine making a tent much lighter than 1 lb. per person. It never rained when we hiked with it. I did hose it down heavily right after we finished sewing it and there was no water inside. It's very well ventilated, but we still got a fair amount of condensation under certain conditions. Here's a link to the thread I posted on it.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=14802

If you decide to make make one, I'm sure you can find plans by googleing BILGY TENT.

So none of the Tarptents or SMDs work for you?

Seen the bilgy design and its interesting.
Think I would want it a bit tighter though for wind driven rain etc.

These tents are for the east coast, from Florida to NY. Probably more used on the lower end of the Appalachian for the next few years. Bugs in the summer and a lot of moisture all through the year. I have been on the trail in winter when it was foggy, cold, severly damp and rainy for a week straight.

My mucho expensive down bag from the 70's with 10" loft would deflate a little more each day. End of a few days in that crap it was about a 4" loft.

Still have it but no use IMO to use down bag in that type of weather with all the new super light synthetics out.

A tarp and bivys are out. Want a real tent with some room and noseeum mesh.

Hello,

If you are looking for a real tent.

for 1 person.

1. Check out Six Moon Designs Gatewood Cape (11oz) with Serentity Nettent (7oz) the Gatewood Cape is a poncho tarptent with no floor but add the Nettent and this becomes a full double wall tent with bathtup floor. Its Silnylon and during heavy rains it can mist. Setting up under trees though usually solves this. http://www.sixmoondesigns.com

2. Also check Big Agnes Fly Creek UL1. http://www.bigagnes.com/Products/Detail/Tent/FlyCreekUL1
This is a light weight freestanding tent with poles. trail wt = 1ld 14oz. packed wt = 2lb 3oz. fast fly wt (poles, fly and footprint) is 1lb 6oz. floor space is 22 sq ft. vestibule area is 5.5 sq ft. head ht is 38 inches.

3. Mountain Laurel Designs also has some full protection tarptents and all you have to do is add there Serenity Shelter to make a double wall tent. http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com

Other than full double wall tents I would recommend. Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo & Gossamer Gear The One.
http://www.gossamergear.com/cgi-bin/gossamergear/The_One.html

For 2 person tents.
checkout Six Moon Designs Lunar Duo or Refuge tents. Also check out Big Agnes Seedhouse SL 2 or Copper Spur UL 2.

I two looked at the Nemo GoGo and decided for less weight and more room I went with the SMD Lunar Solo (22.7oz) with a Gossamer Gear Polycro ground sheet (1.5oz). This gives me full rain & bug protection.

James

in double wall, check out the Terra Nova Laser or the Hilleberg Atko (operhaps more 4 season than the TN)

in single wall , the RAB summit extreme

Check out the Scarp 1 from Henry Shires. 4 season, double wall, solo tent with 2 doors/vestibules for 44 oz. The fly is pitched first, then the inner tent attached. This prevents exposure of the inner to precipitation, an important consideration in prolonged rain. The double doors and two peak vents should deal provide great ventilation. It wouldn't be difficult to construct an all-mesh inner for really hot weather; the inner is not load-bearing or framed, so the pattern wouldn't have to be perfect.

That being said, I think an open tarp/bug shelter is the best shelter for hot rainy weather. More ventilation than any tent, covered space to cook, congregate, etc. I find, as a frequent hiker in SE wilderness areas, that it's easier to find a spot for a tarp because there's no defined floor size that must be accomodated.

Have you tried a tarp in damp foggy conditions?

I have found them to be dryer over time than a fully
enclosed tent. Add a large bottle of hot water to
your bed and your down bag won't deflate so much over
the days. A thin synthetic fill bag over a down bag
is even better.

Not to distract from the thread, but 10" of loft is way too warm for foggy, humid conditions–that's about a -40*F bag in +40*F weather! Loss of loft would be particularly horrendous from sweating in the bag too much…

That was a long time ago. In the late 70's.

It was between 5 and 15 degrees at night and believe me I was not sweating.