Family Shelter

Hilleberg Stalon. This tent was invented for you! Of course, it would help if you have a lot of equity built up in your house for that 2nd mortgage you will need.

You basically buy as many modules as you need and stack them side-by-side. They make modules in both 2 person and 4 person sizes and you can mix & match. So, you could use one four person and one two person module for a capacity of six. You can also add an internal vestibule to cook in as pictured below.

Come to think of it, you could get all your relatives to buy one of these and hold a family reunion that could stretch across an entire national park!

http://www.hilleberg.com

I saw that, but man those are heavy. To be able to sleep 5, I would need the 4 man part (8 lbs 13 oz), the 2 man part (7 lbs 1 oz) and the roof extension between them (1 lbs 12 oz) for a grand total of 17 lbs 10 oz! I could go ligher with a Nammatj 2 (5 lbs 8 oz) and a Nammatj 3 (5 lbs 12oz) for a total of 11 lbs 4oz which is better. Or, the Nallo 2 (4 lbs 3 oz) and the Nallo 3 (4 lbs 10 oz) for a total of 8 lbs 13 oz.

I have been considering this as an option, but that is some pretty expensive gear. I would like to exhaust all possible options before I decide to put that much cash down.

sigh… after my own years of research on this very same subject, tipi/cone shelters are really the only option. they are the only way you can really have a light shelter for that many people.

where do you do most of your backpacking? admittedly i am in the (very, very) dry southwest, but even those times i have had condensation it has never been a deal breaker for me. it's the price i gladly pay for a shelter that light. in wet times (i seem to recall we used to have those times), and even in dry times, we just carry a simple ground sheet – well, two ground sheets. one for each side of the pole.

the Titanium Goat tipis can have mosquito netting added. the TiGoats are really fine shelters and if you can get over the price (Made in the US of A) they are a great choice.

I thought 'Holy Grail' was just one? :)

From a practical side, I agree that the tee-pee shelters are great. I have a Golite Hex 3. Granted, it's for only my wife and me but a child would fit in comfortably. It is a great lightweight 4 season shelter. Pryamids don't have vestibules though. You can buy a floor for the Hex. I have one that I use when expecting wet conditions. It is very heavy duty but not so light. I sewed velco all around the bottom to attach bug netting as necessary. Black Diamond also makes a variety of very lightweight pyramids also.

Hex3 29.5 oz, Hex Floor 25.6 oz on my scale.

I have 3 kids, and we take a 4/5 night trip each summer. We also do a fair bit of car camping. I was unable to find a "happy medium" shelter that worked for both purposes.

Our backpacking set up is two shelters: (1) a GG tarp (about 10 oz) and (2) a Oware 9×9 pyramid (26 oz), when expecting rain, or a homemade catenary tarp (16 oz), when not expecting rain. This is a light comfortable solution for us. We will carry 2 polycro ground sheets on the chance the ground is wet.

Oware also sells an 11×11 pyramid that weighs something like 46 oz and will sleep 5 adults. I was tempted by this tarp, but decided two tarps gave me more flexibility.

When we car camp, we borrow my brother's canvas springbar! This fits us all and is HUGE unpacked and packed.