Trekking pole tents and base camping

Generally I pack up everything and take it with me because I would often spend the night in a new location and besides, my pack isn’t that heavy… gives me a bit more of a workout and I don’t have to be sure to have my 10 essentials :). When I am with others and there is a planned base camp and I wanted the poles during the day I would collapse my shelter and re-stake to give what I leave behind protection. In past years I had a pole which was lighter than my trekking poles but not as stiff, that I would sometimes bring.

I guess it depends on the tent, but I have been able to flatten my tent in a way that leaves it protected with a little added weight in the right places. Or you can replace the pole with an appropriate stick, if you are camped in the right terrain. If you are expecting endless soaking rain and brutal winds, then you might want to pack it up, but in that case you might abandon the day hike anyway.

I just take the poles with me, leaving the tent staked in place. Of course there is no food in the tent, and the sleeping bag is in its waterproof stuff sack. The pad remains inflated.

For me, it would really come down to the conditions you are going to be facing. I don’t like leaving tents up during the day because of UV damage and curious animals. Depending on the terrain/conditions, I would take down the tent, but leave the stakes in place. Setting the tent up again should be relatively easy this way. I would put the tent in a bag and store it somewhere safe around camp.

Good question now that I have a notch Li. My answer is zip the doors tight and Velcro the ends shut, lay it “folded flat” with stakes in place and lay some branches or rocks on it for the day.

OR just leave it set up and (horrors!) day hike without poles, just taking your bear pray, .44 magnum revolver and 6″ blade hunting knife. You’ll be safe Mate.

But leaving yer $$$$$ tent also means leaving behind your $$$$ air mattress and $$$$$ down sleeping bag/quilt. Oooo!

On my last trip I just left my tent set up and hiked without my trekking poles.

Done all the above

1. left my MLD tarp flat and taken my poles with me

2. left the poles in the tent and hiked without poles

3. and sometimes, brought one CF pole from MLD so the tent just needs one hiking pole and then just hiked with other pole.

This is part of the reason why I can’t use trekking pole supported shelters. I use my trekking poles in the steep and rocky terrain I travel in. After setting camp I like to explore around. I’ve had a good handful of times where they’ve saved me in a serious slip. I could only imagine if I didn’t have them. I ended up purchasing a dedicated CF pole, so my trekking poles were free to use. But that just adds redundant weight. And I hate that.

I am now on my 2nd ultra/lightweight tent and have always opted for carbon tent poles from the manufacturer.  The slight additional cost and weight to do this is well worth the peace of mind knowing that if the rain and wind come in, my tent and gear at camp are dry and secure, and I do use my trekking poles to hike.  It is not unusual for us to have very strong winds*, and I would be concerned about weighting a collapsed tent with rocks and logs and having those things put rips in the fabric should the tent blow.   I would worry, and I do not go backpacking to worry.

*Last month a group of us were camped at a lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.  We experienced very strong winds one day:  dust and silt blew into all the tents, things blew across camp, and at least one large tree on the trip out had blown down across the trail.  The experienced sailor in the group estimated that based on the waves and whitecaps on the adjacent lake,  wind speeds were in the neighborhood of 55-60 mph.