Shelter advice for an UL newbie

.. winter

I’d check actual winter trip reports.  Worth noting that 2 hikers, Trauma and Pepper (“trailnames”), who were well versed in snow and ski safety, thru hiked the PCT in winter.   They used a MLD pyramid shelter so may want to look into that (iirc they used the DCF version but felt had they gone sil-nylon, any accumulated snow would have slipped off more easily … fwiw).

Scot here.

If you’re 4-season camping in exposed areas you really have 3 main choices for a 2-person shelter.

1) A strongly built mid like the MLD mids (also check out Tipik in France) or a tepee like the SeekOutside Silver Tip. Very weight-efficient, but the central pole and sloping sides compromise liveability.

2) A tunnel from suppliers like Vango or Hilleberg. Significantly more liveable, but significantly heavier too.

3) A dome tent like the TrekkerTent Saor which is specifically designed and tested for Scottish/Scandi conditions. This falls somewhere between the mids and the tunnels in terms of weight and liveability.

If weight is your priority, a mid or tepee would seem like the right choice provided you can live with the drawbacks.

You are right to be concerned about silnylon, though – it can sag badly in the cold and wet. The new generation silpoly fabrics are a good choice if the budget doesn’t stretch to DCF, and as mentioned they should shed snow better too.

Bigger and heavier but cheaper than those ‘mids you’re looking at would be the Black Diamond Mega Lite: 4-person, 2# 10 ounces (minimum weight of 2# 5 oz), $319.  I’ve never had nor used a liner with it since I grab it when high winds or winter snow camping suggest its use.

@HKNEWMAN thanks! In hindsight i should have posted this one in the winter hiking forum, but i’ll have a look there as weel.

@Geoff Caplan, weight is indeed a priority so that leaves Hilleberg out. I’ve never heared of Tipik, looks like a great option, also a bit easier since its in europe.

@David Thomas, it’s indeed a bit heavier than what i’m looking at, especially with the bug insert, but thanks!

The X-Mid shape is going to shed snow better than most traditional mids because it has steeper walls on all sides, whereas many mids have lower angles on the two end walls  (e.g. HMG UltaMid, MLD DuoMid), where snow does not shed as readily and tends to accumulate on the lower walls (reducing space and adding strain). The X-Mid also has substantially more headroom than a single pole mid, but the downside of that is a greater cross section to the wind, so wind performance is less. It counters that by having peak guylines which single pole mids don’t have, but overall high wind performance is less. Also note that it is a light shelter  (e.g. not as beefy as something from Seek Outside) so you get a ton of space for the weight, but less durable than something with heavier fabrics.

Overall, if your top considerations are snow shedding and a light yet nicely sized living space then it could be an optimal choice. Whereas if wind performance is a top concern to the point where you’d rather sacrifice some snow shedding and interior volume, then you may prefer a single pole shelter.

Hi Dan!

I guess compromises are inevitable. Thanks for being honest about the snow vs wind consideration. I admire your involvement in the x-mid and the amount of time you’re willing to sacrifice to potential customers.

I have a Seekoutside BT-2 tipi – perfect for winter and snow – I use an aluminum pole with it.

I’ve also tried a Duomid – the BT-2 is more robust and stable in high winds and snow.

And since it’s a winter shelter I don’t worry about an inner – no bugs!

I don’t think I would use it on most summer/fall trips – too enclosed for my taste.

Dan

As I’ve said to you before, I’m a great admirer of your X-Mid design. But I didn’t mention it in my post because of my long experience of the winds in the areas where it will be used. I just don’t think it’s the right choice.

Silas

I wouldn’t discount the SeekOutside Silver Tip for winter use. By all accounts the tipi shape works extremely well in the wind. Not the lightest, as they don’t compromise on durability. For example I think they use #8 zips, which seems like over-engineering to me. But not heavy either, when split between two.

I don’t know much about the Tipik Aston but it seems to be a lighter weight version of the Silver Tip concept. There’s a video on the site where it’s doing very well in gusts up to 65km/h.

Geoff;  Note the Saor is a 1P tent.  Got the impression the OP was looking for a 2P.

I was indeed looking for a 2P, but I got my mind already set on the Silver Tip or the Tipik Aston.

thanks for the advice everyone!

@ Dan

“…having peak guylines which single pole mids don’t have,”

My MLD Duo has a guy attachment at the peak which I use all the time.  Do you mean that there is no physical mechanical attachment of the inner pole to the peak guy?

If my understanding is correct, single pole mids typically don’t have a peak guyline. The DuoMid does have a loop at the peak which I think is intended to be used to suspend the shelter from a branch but could be used a guyout (if it’s designed for force in that direction). In that case, you’d ideally want to affix dual guylines to this spot so they can act in opposition (without that, the guyline might do funny things like pull the peak of the shelter off the top of the pole due to the lack of mechanical connection) but one guyline could be using on the windward side if it wasn’t pre-loaded much. I’d be a bit cautious about really anchoring it with dual lines because a loop designed for upward pull can be in “sheer” (good) in that direction, but in “peel” (bad) when it has opposing sidewards pull. Quite likely it would be in peel.

A nice thing with peak guylines is that you can use very low stretch line to really stabilize the shelter under high wind/snow loads, whereas nylon or poly fabrics stretch quite a bit. With just bottom hem or mid-height guylines you’ve still got fabric in the system that has quite a bit of stretch (unless it’s DCF).