Upcoming “Ultralight Shelters” live symposium (Oct. 7)

I went through a similar transition. MSR Hubba, TT Scarp, TT Moment single wall, BA Copper Spur UL1, Zpacks Hexamid, and finally a TT ProTrail Li. I’m eventually going to add 2 additional hem loops on each side like you have, but I was looking at the MLD Loop Superkit. Might be overkill though.

I ultimately decided on the ProTrail Li by considering what I really needed in a shelter and not “packing my fears.” I’m a fair weather, three season hiker 99% of the time so I really only needed protection from bugs and occasional pop up storm/rain clouds in the Sierra Nevada, good interior space, and ease of setup. I got tired of trying to pitch a Hexamid perfectly taut, along with the footprint required due to the guy lines.

I’d consider ultralight around 24 oz and under. I was looking at tarp and bivy options before the ProTrail Li, and realistically they would be only 2-3 oz lighter  (flat or cat tarp/bivy) or sometimes heavier  (Yama Ciriform/bug shelter, granted, that would be a DW setup) than a ProTrail Li.

Yeah Chris, Tarptent’s Dyneema “Li” tents with their new ultralight “solid” walls that are lighter than netting (!) are hard to beat. This is especially true when you are beat at the end of a day and need a fast pitch shelter. I hate messing with a tarp when I’m tired.

Well, those are all good tents, but a small “pup” tent is what I use. It is a BA Scout 2 Carbon coming in at 13oz for the tent, ground cloth and stakes/guy lines. it isn’t really a 4 season tent because it holds ice/water on the roof a bit tighter than the older silnylon.

Any issues with the the 0.34 fly? I remember a few companies making tarps out of 0.34 years ago, but I’ve only seen 0.51 at a minimum now except for BA.

No, none yet. I have more concerns about the 0.51ozy floor. A more puncture resistant ground cloth adds about an ounce.

Christopher Yi; Thanks for that tip/link to the MLD Super Loop Kit.

Hadn’t noticed that before and looks very useful. Especially the little rings on the loops.