Advice re: something lighter than my BA Seedhouse ??

[Eileen Duncan]

I'm trying to cut weight (base 15.6 lb). My EE quilt is nice and light, but my pack and tent account for about a 1/3 of my total! I have a BA Seedhouse. Without a ground cloth, and having replaced the stakes for lighter ones, the tent weighs in at 38.4 ounces. As I'll be hiking solo (JMT) and sleep cold, I like the privacy, warmth, and bug protection my tent/fly provide, and I love the spaciousness of the Seedhouse.

Nonetheless… Can anyone suggest a lighter shelter set-up that might also provide some degree of privacy, insulation, and bug protection and does not require trekking poles? I don't hike with trekking poles, and it seems most tarps call for them. Is there an alternative for those of us who hike without trekking poles? Oh, and there won't always be trees around either…

[Ken Thompson]

I don't think you'll find much that is lighter enough to make the switch. 2.4 pounds for a double wall, poled shelter would have been a miracle 15 years ago. Unless you went single wall with some perimeter net and a single pole. Even that will be over a pound unless you spent the dough on cuben and give up some of the privacy. You must be carrying something else that is really heavy for what it does. The shelter is not your problem.

[Phillip Asby]

I have a Seedhouse SL1 and periodically look at alternatives that still provide insect protection (Southeast=skeeters) and some measure of privacy (backpack with Scouts a lot so this matters).

And I have the same dilemma – a single walled shelter would work but as noted absent cuben and a lot of expense the weight savings don't seem really worth the significant extra cost.

To get much lighter – like an order of magnitude – it seems to take giving up an enclosed shelter and/or cuben.

[Jake S]

You shouldn't have condensation issues out west with a single walled shelter like a Tarptent Conrail (~$225 28 oz w/pole) or a Six Moon Designs Wild Oasis tarp (includes perimeter netting) (~$200, 16 oz w/pole).

[Mike W]

I've gone from a Seedhouse to a Fly Creek to a Tarptent Notch. I use the Notch with trekking poles most of the time but sometimes use the extra poles that I bought from Tarptent.

I also have the semi-solid inner for my Notch that blocks drafts very nicely (much better than the Fly Creek which had solid sides but a full mesh door). With the additional poles and semi-solid inner, the Notch weighs the same as my Fly Creek (32 oz), so you'd save a bit of weight over the Seedhouse and gain 2 full vestibules and dual side entry.

[Stephen Murphy]

This is supposedly 5 oz. lighter than my 2013 version. I like the side entry too.

[Delmar O’Donnell]

> I'm trying to cut weight (base 15.6 lb). My EE quilt is nice and light, …I have a BA Seedhouse. …the tent weighs in at 38.4

So tent is 2 lb 6 oz, pretty good for a double wall, the EE quilt is maybe around 1 lb 6 oz, but base is over 15 lbs? Who's the weight culprit then? What does your pack weigh? Pad?

[Jeff Jeff]

I carried the SL1 on the JMT (and then some) and it worked quite well. Although most nights I didn't even bother pitching it. Your pack should be light enough anyways.

[Max Dilthey]

A hammock with a bug net would weigh much less (my lightest hammock setup was ~11oz). Something like a Grand Trunk Nano 7 with an MLD Hammock Tarp and a HUG bug net from Arrowhead Equipment, along with dyneema whoopee slings.

Still, hammocks aren't for everyone.

An enclosed tarp, one with doors, plus a bug bivy would do the job and cut considerable weight. Still, tarps aren't for everyone.

The lightest option I see for you is probably the Tarptent Contrail. It has bug net around the door and along the sides, but it's single-wall, and it can be pitched with an extra pole from Tarptent and doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

Still, if I were in your position… I'd probably just keep the seedhouse.

[Ken Thompson]

"Still, hammocks aren't for everyone."

And not a realistic choice for the JMT.

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