Tents : splitting the weight

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Lynn

The inside of my winter tent has a structure very similar to that of an Olympus. Velcro ties between the inner and the outer at the poles.

Cheers

[Lynn Tramper]

"The inside of my winter tent has a structure very similar to that of an Olympus. Velcro ties between the inner and the outer at the poles."

So you could thread the poles through the velcro ties and guy out the inner without using the fly??

[Franco Darioli]

Brad
Yes I did get your point, mine did not come out as intended…
It was meant to be " if you own the best ever shelter made for every possible situation and designed to please one and all , why would you not use it?"
( it was a bit humor at my expense..)
Franco

[Jason Elsworth]

+1 to Roger's comments and let's not forget our friends in the UK. I often remember on Dartmoor two people laying down on the fly whilst someone pegged it out – just to stop it being carried off into the next county. 36 hours of non stop rain were also not uncommon.

[Ashley Brown]

I generally agree with the points above.

I find having a separate outer fly more convenient, because I don't often set up in the rain. Sometimes I have to and it's generally not a big deal. The rest of the time (which is most of it) I enjoy the separate fly because I can dry it out in the morning to get rid of condensation etc.

If I was often having to put a tent up and down in wet and windy conditions no doubt I would prefer an attached inner. But having used both in mostly fine conditions I much prefer the separate fly. In hot conditions its nice to whip it off in the morning, or leave it off entirely.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Lynn

> So you could thread the poles through the velcro ties and guy out the inner without using the fly??

Nope. My Velcro attachments are simpler. The fly has one strip of hook part and the inner has one strip of loop part. And can you imagine the hassle of trying to set up guy rope attachment points? Fergedit.

Cheers

[Roger Caffin]

> 36 hours of non stop rain were also not uncommon.
In the UK, 36 hours of non-rain is uncommon …
Ducks for cover (but I have lived and walked there).

Cheers

[Brad Groves]

Franco, I get it ;). Some people have gear closets to dial in their stuff; I'd imagine you could have one just for tents!

Roger, your statement that "extrapolating from conditions you are familiar with in your locale to conditions far away or even in a different country is risky – sometimes even foolish" was pretty well groundless. No one said or implied anywhere in the preceding posts that you should take a summer tent on a mountaineering trip. Indeed, comments were aimed precisely at appropriate tents for appropriate conditions. And we were talking about why one would split the weight of the tent, not weather-appropriate tents for given conditions. I know that all Aussies are broken-glass-eating backcountry travelers who only travel in conditions that border on near-death experiences, but come on…

Lynn, from your description, tramping clubs do sound horrid! I had no idea such a thing would exist. Like militarized recreation or something.

[Lynn Tramper]

"Lynn, from your description, tramping clubs do sound horrid! I had no idea such a thing would exist. Like militarized recreation or something"

LOL. Militarized recreation sounds close, but a lot of folks belong to these clubs so they must find some fun in them. To be fair, it helped get me out into wilderness that I knew little about and might not have done at the time on my own. But there were a lot of egos involved, many who thought the point of each trip was to get to the campsite first, so it became a race, while others like me were botanising and taking photos, or even, heaven forbid, enjoying a leisurely lunch stop. In this kind of situation, if the person you were "sharing" a tent, stove, etc…with was a racer and you were not, splitting gear and food was definitely problematic, and I would no longer consider trips such as these. If I'm sharing gear with someone, we are walking the same pace and making the same stops, end of discussion! Otherwise I might as well go solo.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Brad

> all Aussies are broken-glass-eating backcountry travelers who only travel in conditions
> that border on near-death experiences,
You forgot about the Drop Bears…

> take a summer tent on a mountaineering trip. Indeed, comments were aimed
> precisely at appropriate tents for appropriate conditions.
Ah, but that is more or less the point I was trying to make. We can have a violent hail storm in mid-summer in the low-lands. We can have a 12 hour storm happen when the forecast from a day earlier said 'fine'. And NZ can be even worse …
This variability seems to be very different to the (very nice, I'm envious!) stable weather you get in some parts of America. Hence my comment that 'extrapolating from conditions you are familiar with in your locale to conditions far away or even in a different country is risky.'

Cheers

[Diplomatic Mike]

Settled weather? Yeah, i've heard of that mythical beast! :)

Personally, here in Scotland i always go for 'all in one', or outer pitching first. I want to guaranntee a dry bed, and not depend on speed or luck.
Some folk are happy to use inner pitching tents here though. I love optomistic folk.:)

I disagree with Lynn on the Warmlite though. I haven't had a problem with rain getting in. I carry a small tarp that i can use as an awning if needed. The benefits of the Warmlite in stormy weather outweigh this slight inconvenience for me. A Warmlite with a porch would be perfect though!;)

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