If you could have only ONE solo shelter?

[S Long]

If you were limited to choosing only one solo shelter, or you had to start all over again and money was not an important factor in choosing, what would it be and why?

[Jay Wilkerson]

MLD CF Patrol Shelter at 8.8oz and storm proof plus YAMA Mt.Gear 1.25 bug shelter.

[David Ure]

Tarptent Notch.

Light, double walled, modular, sets up outer fly first, dual doors, side entry, dual vestibules, exceptionally stable, and sets up in about a minute.

[Harald Hope]

If only one, I'd have to make my own, otherwise the two I have are a very nice set for different seasons. But to have exactly what I wanted, and if only one, I would have to make it. Dual trekking pole supports, but not like the notch style, it lacks triangulation of the supports, those have too much wasted space inside in my opinion. Plus some spicings from Roger C's nice tunnel designs and methods he was nice enough to share with us, I think.

A zippered entrance zpacks style hexamid, using a second pole somewhere, and/or some short carbon fiber poles, with a built in floor bathtub floor, not that netting stuff, would be closer to the idea I think, but with less guylines required to maintain the structure of the body. ie, nobody makes it, but several people make parts of it.

[BlackHatGuy]

A bit of insight:

When asked in 2010: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=38526

When asked (for all intents and purposes) in 2011: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=51684

As for me, a Lightheart Gear Solo.

[Stuart .]

Nooooo! Don't force me to choose.

Where when and why are you going with one size fits all?

Maybe Trailstar. Maybe Cuben Duomid. Maybe StratoSpire 1. Maybe none of the above.

My head hurts.

[Nick Gatel]

A big tarp.

[W I S N E R !]

Well, if it was only me I think this would do just fine.

[Ken Thompson]

Come on Craig. This is BPL.

[Travis Leanna]

[Anonymous]

Haha Ken!

[W I S N E R !]

That setup turns heads for all the wrong reasons.

…unless the inside of that teardrop is lined with quilted purple velvet, embroidered pillows with tassels, red silk sheets, mood lighting, a vaporizer, and a primo sound system.

Maybe it feels bigger on the inside.

[Nick Gatel]

Well Craig, that is pretty cool. I thought we were talking backpacking shelters. Joyce and have camped over 700 nights in this…

… but I still stand by the big tarp choice for backpacking.

[Ken Thompson]

Tough customer huh?

How about the one I actually built?

East side, best side.

DVD, Stereo, Electric bed warmer, Queen size bed, etc…

[W I S N E R !]

The inside of Nick's pop-up. Amazingly spacious and airy.
He's more laid back than he lets on.

[Anonymous]

Craig and Craigs' pads = PimpMaster Funk Daddy?

I never would have thought….

[Steven Paris]

Ken . . . you built that?

Awesome!

[David Erickson]

Considering that I just recently purchased the SMD Skyscape-X, I would have to say this is the one that I would have :-)

[Ian]

I'm torn between the school bus with 500 cans of chili or the chic insulated shipping container and a lifetime's supply of humus, haikus, and capuchinos. The school bus really appeals to my wild side and sends the world the message of "get off my lawn" but the insulated shipping container HAS a higher R value than a straw bale house and the hippy chicks dig 'em. Of course, the thought of looking at another woman besides my wife makes me want to vomit and cry at the same time. That's my official statement.

The USGI bivy and USGI poncho has always served me well from a performance perspective but I'm new to UL and the weight doesn't jive with my current goals (2.5 lbs bivy and 1.5 lbs poncho.) Seems that most of the other bivy selections on the market reportedly have condensation problems so now I'm looking at shelters like the SL2 which will accomodate my 6'3" self.

If you need any other uniformed opinions please feel free to ask.

[Franco Darioli]

I just had my first panic attack.
Thanks for that

[Ian]

Well done man! I would love to build a teardrop. Looks great!

[Anonymous]

"Ken . . . you built that?

Awesome!"

He also genetically designed and engineered from raw organic material that little canine looking creature found in same :0

More seriously, pretty f'ing cool skills there.

[Ken Thompson]

That was a fun project. Started building it at work and surprised the wife.

Hamish, the dog in the photo was the alarm and auxilliary bed warmer.

Rad setup if I say so myself. The trailer is in Pasadena now I think. Blue and white now too.

Nick's looks NICE inside!

[David Ure]

That's amazing, Ken. You can build that but can't sew a tarp. Jeeze.

[Anonymous]

"That's amazing, Ken. You can build that but can't sew a tarp. Jeeze."

He just may be a Trailer making Savant of sorts?

[Author]

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