Cheap, Lightweight Skeeter Shelter?

http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=55

http://www.yamamountaingear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=12

http://www.sixmoondesigns.com/nettents.html

http://www.bearpawwd.com/shelters_floors/bug_bivy.html

http://www.bearpawwd.com/shelters_floors/minimalist1_bivy.html

http://www.bearpawwd.com/shelters_floors/minimalist2_bivy.html

http://www.bearpawwd.com/shelters_floors/net.html

http://www.rei.com/product/798574/sea-to-summit-mosquito-pyramid-net-single

Anna's links are excellent, as usual. My latest solution to those few weeks when the mosquitos are really bad is a SMD Skyscape Trekker. I have a few tarps, a nettent, and a bivy to mix-and-match but I thought a single quick-to-set-up shelter would be the thing. Time will tell. Six Moon Designs does make a polyester (and cheaper) version of the Skyscape called the Scout:

http://www.sixmoondesigns.com/tents/SkyscapeScout.html

Also, you could buy any net-tent you liked even if it doesn't match with a tarp and just set it up by itself. Then, set up a smallish tarp nearby if you think there's any chance of rain. If your 3am mad dash from one to the other is fast enough, you won't too wet!

Finally, we're lucky to have great outdoor resources here in Oregon. I have bought from all the companies listed above, but don't forget that Six Moons is a local company, near Beaverton.

Hey, thanks Anna and Steven. At $33, the REI Sea to Summit Mosquito Pyramid Net is my price range sweet spot. But it is not freestanding and, as mentioned, it's not always the case that one finds a flat spot for one's sleeping bag under a handy limb in the mountains here.

Has anyone sorted out a way to use trekking poles to hold that thing up? Or some other McGuyver-ish solution?

This is a freestanding bug hut but it is a bit heavy for just a bug hut compared the above recommendation.

http://www.rei.com/product/777772/rei-bug-hut-pro-2-tent

Angus: Thanks, but yeah you're right: that REI bug shelter is more than what I'm looking for: weight-wise and great-big-silly-thing-sitting-in-the-middle-of-camp-wise.

Syca More: Thanks to the link to Mike Young's bivvys. I may not want something as confining as a bivy.

I'm hoping to find a freestanding half-length netting thing that covers my upper body and head without draping itself across my face and making me crazy in the middle of the night.

(You would not want to see me crazy in the middle of the night. AAAaarrrrgggghhh!)

Perhaps the thing I seek has not yet been invented….

http://store.mpgear.com/a16bugbivy.aspx

On the first REI bug tent:

Grab a long stick, and tie together with your trekking poles to form a tripod over the tent, hang the tent from the intersection of the poles.

Hang on: that REI Bug Hut 1 Pro Shelter (http://www.rei.com/product/777771/rei-bug-hut-1-pro-shelter) is about right, price-wise.

And the Integral Designs Bugabivy (thanks, Syca More) is five ounces lighter. But it's 30 bucks more.

"This is a tough decision here. Get my ass kicked or collect $200."

(Guess that quote.)

I would check out the A16 Bug Bivy. It meets your criteria of a lightweight free standing torso length shelter which relies on your sleeping bag to protect your lower body. It is about 6 oz. Due to the fiberglass loops it is a bit bulky but it is not hard to pack it since the thing is so thin.

http://www.tinytrekker.com/item/30-6000/Adventure-16/A16-Bug-Bivy/1.html?utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=CSE&utm_term=Adventure+16+A16+Bug+Bivy&utm_campaign=

[Edit] Wait, no, Stephen, no disrespect, and using a stick could work, but Mathew's A16 Bug Bivy idea looks the ticket. So

Mathew [/Edit], like dude, you may have found my sweet spot. SIX ounces, FORTY-three bucks. What's not to like???

Cheap and Lightweight. The way I like my women…and my backpacking gear.

Golite currently has the Shangrila 1 inner for $30

http://www.golite.com/Clearance.aspx

It's designed to clip into a tarp (the SL1) which they are out of stock but you may be able to rig something up pretty easily for use with trekking poles.

TAJE–I have a review of this product up. Check that out, and if you want to give it a try I will send you mine, complete with camping smells and bug guts (used one summer, no holes that I'm aware of), for free. Seriously. PM if interested.

I found this on their website today.

http://www.williswall.com/willis-wall-blog/2011/7/3/the-b4-ultralight-upright-and-prone-bug-protection.html

Eric,

That Bivy Buddy/Bug Bothy — I'm afraid that I'd just have to kill myself if anyone saw me waddling around camp in that thing. I want to go light but must have some pride.

the simple rectangle bug nets from campmor or lots of other stores, that are designed to fit a single or double bed, should work and are cheap. I have used them on paddling trips hanging by themselves or hanging from a tarp, or drapped over the paddles stuck in the beach. I haven't weighed them, but they are light, being unstructured, they are sort of bulky, but can be compressed a lot. the main problem for use is getting the sides to stay down, but that is only because I have them rigged too high. If they are low enough to drap, you can use rocks or anything to hold them down. You can pick up the edge to go in and out. Yes some bugs may get in, but they will invariably fly up into the corners and get stuck.

I would like to upgrade to a fancy option some day, but that would be mainly to get more headroom for sitting, since their sidewalls are not the tall. I have never tried to sleep in it, since I have a tent too.

I would like to thank everyone who offered solutions to my question.

Like in most other endeavors, one must deal with compromises. Now it's pretty much up to me to find something that does the job without costing too much or weighing too much.

My ten year-old Six Moon Designs Europa II weighs 33 oz (925 gm), blocks mozzies, and provides rain protection.

I was looking to give up rain protection (always risky even on the eastern side of the Oregon Cascades) and gain a view of the night stars in exchange for less weight and smaller packed size.

I gotta say that of the various products out there, only the Golite Shangri-La Nest at 16 oz (450 gm) looked to be an attractive option, esp. because it comes with an integral ground sheet in its price and weight, but they are now "temporarily out of stock."

Drat.

This is one of the few times that I've missed out on a sale due to tardiness; my usual pattern is to jump at the first thing that looks like it's even a close fit.

The other option that seems a fit is the Coghlan's Hiker's Mosquito Net (example: http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___86660) and add a ground sheet. Looks like it would suffice. And at 5 oz (140 g) I should be able to drum up a ground sheet that will keep me under a pound (450 g).

What's a good 8 oz (225 g) ground sheet suitably sized for one guy?

Jack: It is puzzling to me that you shopped both for a tent and a net tent. If you get a 2 man double wall tent like many suggested you already have a freestanding net tent just by using the inner without the fly-2 birds 1 stone. Polycryo for groundcloth.

John, I didn't shop for a net tent or a tent. Please read my OP. All I was looking for is recommendations for (and I quote): "What's a lightweight and cheap skeeter shelter for sleeping? I sleep on a pad with a quilt. Can't count on there being a tree limb in the right place to tie up mosquito netting, so whatever I get kinda has to be free-standing. I have trekking poles, if that's of any help."

What's the puzzle?

You shopped for a tent with your wife just before this?

"You shopped for a tent with your wife just before this?"

Yes, I did. Totally different trips — my wife allowed that she would like to take one (1) backpack with me this season, but I'm looking to take a few either by myself or with my son. The trip with my wife will be after mosquito season, probably late August; a couple of the trips I have planned are for the High Season of Mosquitoage.

Hope this satisfies your puzzlement.