what “tent” to replace my Carbon Reflex 2

My lady and I also went through a similar downsizing, from a BA SL2 (~49 oz) to a 2010 TT Rainbow (~34 oz). They're about same size/function and we saved a pound!

My 1st trip w/out seamsealing – hail and rain throughout the night…in a cloud @ 9200' = WET:

Our final tent-ish choices came down to a Squall Classic, Squall 2, and Rainbow. The Rainbow came out on top due to price and availability. It was otherwise neck-to-neck between it and the Squall 2/Classic. I'm still on the fence in all honesty, but I've made my choice for now :)

We both carry trekking poles, but chose the Rainbow for wind-shedding & more site possibilities. Its a bit smaller than the Squall 2 – just big enough for two skinny folks under 6'. The redundancy in carrying poles does chafe a bit though…but trekkers can be used for a 'freestanding' pitch or to reinforce against wind/snow.

So much more went into this decision, just too much. Feel free to ask specifics.

I am curious as to what you decide. Please keep us posted.

I'm a big fan of the SMD Lunar Duo. It's about 40 oz (depending on choice of floor fabric) and very spacious. It's a good choice for tall folks since the floor length is 90 inches! I've used mine in some pretty heavy rain (summer time) with good results.

Nicholas- looks like you went through the same scenario :) I hadn't considered the Rainbow as I was under the impression it was a solo tent, looking at the site it appears it will do for two- albeit maybe a wee bit tight (actually it's fairly close in dimensions to the Carbon 2)

the Squall 2 looks worthy of considering for sure

William- that's a nice looking tent- roomy too! When you add stakes it's going to be pretty close the Carbon 2 in weight and while it's certainly roomier my goal is to shed some weight (while not freaking my wife out too much! :) )

What about the 14 oz version of the MLD speedmid plus a bearpaw tents pyra net 2 at 13 oz plus even if you went all out with 12 MSR ground hogs you are all up right at 35 oz. Plus you would have nearly 80 sq ft of coverage area while still having a bug proof and floored sleeping area.

Just another option to consider I guess.

that looks like a nice combo :) light and should be wife approved

how does the bearpaw quality stack up to MLD?- they (MLD) have a duo inner tent as well

Mike,

I have an GoLite SL5 with an MLD Duomid bug tent inside. All up its about 51 oz. The only reason I suggested you going with the bearpaw over the MLD for a bug tent is it claims to be one oz lighter as well as only like $90 instead of $165. Not sure if you are giving up a bunch of quality as I have never seen a bearpaw product. That said I am happy with my MLD duomid bug tent for my purposes and if you dont mind the extra cash or the extra oz you will no doubt get a quality product from MLD. Just depends on what you are looking to spend and what not. Good luck.

ahh gotcha :)

do you use your MLD inner net for two? enough room? have you tried the inverted V setup w/ two poles by chance?

tia

Bear Paw stuff is good, top-quality stuff. Plus you get it MUCH faster than MLD stuff. MLD is great too, but the wait and price kinda kills it for me. That being said, you may even want to look at the Pyra tent from Bear Paw. New, but looks good.

Mike,

I haven't used the bug net with trekking poles really. We just tie paracord from the top of the tipi to the top of the bug net. We put the bug net off to one side of the tipi and gives up plenty of space for cooking and hanging out, out of the wind and rain. As far as space in the bug netting, my wife and I couple our neoairs together as well as zip our sleeping bags together so space isn't an issue but based on what I have seen you could easily fit two separate sleeping bags/pad setups in there especially if its your wife (assume you don't mind being near your wife ;) )

Here is a pic:

The main ways to save weight over a CR2 are:
– using trekking poles
– using lighter fabrics (cuben)
– switching to a single wall

The Six Moon Designs Haven is a 2 person shelter that is double walled like your CR2 but about 8oz lighter because it utilizes your trekking poles. This would be a simple, painless switch.

The next more radical switch would be a mostly cuben, trekking pole supported double wall like the $595 Hyperlight Mtn Gear 2 Person Echo (~30oz all in). With a shelter like you are paying a lot of money but you haven't really compromised anything compared to your CR2. Another option in this catagory is the MLD cuben DuoMid combined with the inner net tent.

Next, you could make a fundamental switch in your shelters design and move to a single wall shelter. This is a change you are going to notice more because you now need the skills and resolve to handle condensation. There aren't a lot of single wall shelters that use both trekking poles and cuben. There is the Zpacks Hexamid Duo but you're also making a floor compromise (netting). There is also the discontinued SMD Refuge X. If you don't want to pay for cuben then you've got quite a few options from TarpTent (Double Rainbow), SMD (Lunar Duo) etc.

The lightheart duo?

Seems like a decent option and saves weight if you already use trekking poles.

Luke the SL5 is gianormous!! :) very nice setup

good to hear on the bearpaw stuff- I did eye their Pyra- looks very nice, pretty innovative w/ the removable vestibule (great price point too)

Dan- the Haven looks like it would do the trick, very similar in size to the C2, but like you said some weight savings w/o poles

the Hyperlite Echo II looks like a dandy- removable vestibule as well, the inner looks to be very close to the C2- a little on the spendy side, but looks like your getting quite a bit for your coin

the Duomid (w/ the inner "nest") looks very nice- a little more roomy than the C2, lighter and gives me some four season capabilities too- I checked the review section, not a lot of reviews, but solid 5's for the folks that rated it

Jay- thanks for pointing yet another unknown to me outfit- that does look a good option, price is good (as is the weight)

this appears to me to be a very tough choice :)

FWIW, supposedly the DuoMid inner is pretty small and not really livable for two. The floor area is a decent amount, but all 4 walls slope in to a single point so you don't have much headroom. This is what I read when I was looking at the DuoMid + Inner.

Mike,
I have not recieved my speedmid yet(MLD wait time) but my plan is to use the speedmid with the netting option and a polycryo groundsheet. This should have plenty of room for 2 and weigh in about 22oz or so. You can also use the doumid inner net with the speed mid. This allows you to have a small vestibule on two sides of the tent. Good luck
Jeff

Dan- good info thanks, not looking for taj mahal room, but don't want to go any less than the C2

jeffrey- the bottom netting might be an option (nice light one), although I think my wife would feel better w/ a fully enclosed setup (net/floor) :)

speedmid certainly looks roomy, which fabric did you go w/?

I wonder if someone makes a slightly larger (or less sloping) net/floor? would there be any other options of hanging the inner differently- say from a few points vs a single?

Mike,
I went with the silnylon. I have a spintex tarp and a cuben tarp already so I figured this would be my "tuff" shelter.

Your idea with the net tent sounds like a great Idea. I wonder if bearpaw tents could do something like that.

jeffrey- could I get your opinion on the spintex seeing you have a shelter w/ it?

it's obviously lighter (and the same price as sil in the speedmid)- is it noisy? less durable, but considerably so?

tia

I wonder if Ron would be willing to put guyout points midway up on the tent like on the supermid to make it more wind worthy like the supermid. Even if this added an ounce to the silnylon version seems like it would be a sweet setup at 19 oz for a palace for 2 people and 20% lighter than the Supermid.

funny you should mention that :) I saw a little piece on Ryan's site where he was using a customized speedmid- looks like he had mid guys on it- it appears he had it made slightly smaller too (probably in between the duo and speed mid)- I sent him an email to get the exact skinny on it

I'm also thinking if Ron could make the inner duo just slightly bigger to use in the speedmid that would be really ideal

Ron's gone for a week, but I'm going to give him a call when he gets back

one idea on the inner tents- the slant on the pyramid design does take away real estate pretty quickly- what if there were four grosgrain (or other) loops maybe a foot or so off the ground in each corner that could be tethered w/ a short bungi

I noticed on simblissity's inner peace they are able to guy the mesh out and away from the occupant- something kind of along those lines

http://www.simblissity.net/images/inner%20peace/ip-occupant-up.jpg

It's not a four season tent, but definitely good for 3 if you get the door and cuben bathtub floor. I think it'd be at around a pound.

It'd be a lot cheaper with a Tyvek groundsheet and use duct tape to make a bathtub floor. It works quite well actually. But if I had a wife, I'd spring for the cuben floor.

I have a solo, and if you're smaller you could even fit two in it (it would be tight), I'd imagine the duo would be that much bigger. It's probably as close to a tarp as I'll ever get. It would make a stellar solo tent.

It's not freestanding and takes a bit of real estate because of the guylines, but the packability and lightweight is very very enticing. I just got a Double Rainbow (using it this weekend) and looking at it compared to the Hexamid solo, it's quite something…. I now realize how really small the solo is when packed.

I find the solo very comfortable. Great views, airy, excellent ventilation. I had a night of heavy rain (not blowing rain though), didn't have a door and was completely dry. No condensation. I"m not sure how it'd do with two people but I'd imagine it would be fine, lots of mesh. Speaking of mesh, the mesh floor is very durable. I was concerned about it before actually using it, but once I did, it has proven to be no problem at all.

yet another option to ponder – thanks :)

If you haven't seen it yet, the recently announced 2.2 lbs Easton Kilo tent is worth a look. The only major concern is the length inside but that looks so short that I figure the diagram has gotta be wrong. Check out the thread on it also in the G Spot.

http://www.eastonmountainproducts.com/tent/kilo-tent

that did catch my eye in the market report- price point is pretty decent as well :)

I am in a similar scenario as you as I often camp with people I am friendly with ;)

I have been looking at two person tents and have it narrowed it down to:

1) Alpinlite terraform tarp and 2 person bug net:

2) Lightheart Duo:

3) Scarp 2 (bonus for 4 seasons, true double wall and trekking pole optional):

4) Double rainbow:

Right now I am really leaning towards the Alpinlite tarp/bugnet combo at 32.1 oz.