What's your winter tent?

Matt,

HA! Even dome tents can get bogged down by a heavy snow fall – well, a least their vestibules can.

Great photo and it makes you want to just crawl back into the tent and have a wonderful freeze-dried omelette and sausage breakfast. Maybe then I’d be ready to do some backcountry skiing.

For now, my winter tent is my only tent, which is the Fjallraven Abisko 1 Lite Tent: I did purchase the extra stakes for more windy conditions and weather load during the winter, however, truth be told, my winter time will be drastically milder than what might consider winter conditions.

Eric

Matt D., That TNF Junebug looks like a shortened tunnel tent, a good winter design when guyed out properly.

Bob M., Keerect! The “flat spot” at the back of theTNF Tadpole does collect snow and sags like crazy. It’s a good 3 season shape but a very poor winter tent shape, as I discovered in a 2 ft. snow storm.

I’d never have those problems with my guyed out Moment DW and interior X-ing pole. That solo tent is virtually bombproof, especially with my mods.

The Junebug was an exceptional design. It was essentially the Westwind without the center hoop. I really think what allowed me to use that tent all year round was the inclusion of a full nylon door panel behind the netted door. That would make all the difference in the world.  Even with the netted ceiling, when the tent was fully guyed out, it was strong and comfortable. I just added the crossing poles because I was tired of kicking off snow in the middle of the night, and there were times when having a “mostly” freestanding tent was very convenient (on sand, snow pack, and on a granite slab.)

Found an old pic of my setup 20 years ago with the crossing poles:

I have been using a cuben Solomid as my winter shelter for a few seasons.

Andy,

how well did the berms help in keeping wind out? Have you used this technique to keep snow out when there is snow coming at angle?

The problem with so many of the tents shown in photos is that they cannot handle high winds. They are only suited to sheltered sites.
What’s more, putting walls of snow around those tents to protect them doesn’t work either in high wind. Those walls get scoured away very quickly.

Here we see a boulder sticking out of the snow. When the wind goes around the boulder it has to speed up a bit. That starts preferential scouring, leading to the sort of eroding away around the obstacle you see here.

I have built protective walls using hard blocks of quite frozen ice/snow, and seen them disappear in a few hours. Several times in one night in fact. Of course, if you KNOW you are going to be camping deep in the forest in good shelter, you can probably ignore all this.

Cheers

I’m a bit late to the party…Have been busy :)

Still favoring the Jannu, trialed a supermid at the tree line last season but I’m not totally inspired by the huge unsupported surface area of fabric it provided, nor having to deal with blocking out that ground level snow that gets carried by the wind. It was a fine shelter, but its hard to compete with the comfort and convenience of a 3kg winter tent.

I’ve been thinking about the direkt 2 too. I have a friend who isn’t a stranger to bad weather on mountains who says good things about it. By the sounds of it the tent flexes rather than breaks in strong wind. In a similar vein there’s this nemo creation – 500g heavier but comes with a vestibule attachment in the price, and looks potentially to have much better moisture management – it has vents, is made of a WPB, and has that curious moisture curtain. (Moisture management concerns are the main reason I’ve not yet bought a direkt 2.). Not as many people using it as the direkt 2 though, so its a bit more of an unknown quantity.

Go strait for the BD megamid every time!  Nice to be able to shovel out a decent amount of livable space.  makes for a great, comfortable base camp to come back to at the end of the day.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/CABELAS-INSTINCT-PERSON-TENT/2437113.uts?avad=55963_af682899&WT.mc_id=al41227&Subid1=SID&subacctid=41227&subacctname=41227&adname=Custom+Link&adtype=cl&adid=NA&utm_medium=AFF&utm_source=41227&rid=12&WT.tsrc=AFF

I know it isn’t exactly UL but in deep winter I’m happy to carry a little extra weight
Any thoughts on it?
I’m a big bloke, by the time I put my Arctic sleeping system inside this tent there would not be much spare room

@moondog55

As long as extra weight means extra protection comfort, I find that acceptable. But, afterall, it’s your dime and your back. My go-to winter tent has been the Hilleberg Staika (8lbs 11oz) because I’m carrying the tent for two people and much of the places I camp seem to need a freestanding tent. It’s been unflappable in high winds.

This winter, I’m trying out the Hilleberg Jannu (7lbs. 1 oz) for the lighter weight and smaller footprint. Although I’m tempted to camp with just a footprint and outer tent while there are no bugs, the warmth of a inner tent makes the extra weight tolerable.

@moondog55

Here’s a Hilleberg Jannu + footprint for sale in the Gear Swap section:

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/fs-hilleberg-jannu/

If I was a tad closer to flying over the pond I might have grabbed it and had it sent to a mate but I’m in the advanced preplanning stages at the moment.

It is a reasonable tent for the conditions tho

Getting ready to pull the trigger on Seek Outside 6-man tipi and woodstove. Total weight is 9lbs 13oz.

It would be used when I go with a buddy or two so that weight would be spread over several people. The woodstove will be one a welcome addition as I’ve never had one before. It will be nice to be able to get clothes dry at night and be warm enough to sit around in a shirt.

Looking forward to it.

https://seekoutside.com/6-person-tipi-pre

I have to admit, this is my most commonly used winter “tent”.  A USFS cabin.  That started when the kids were in pre-school and it allowed us to get out in the winter and keep it a positive experience for them.  It continues because when taking our middle-schooler and her friends, or a math team out for a weekend, they have a better time “camping” when there’s a place to warm up.  Also, a roof makes it, summer or winter, more of an all-weather trip – no need to cancel because of 3 days of rain or -5F temperatures.

I use a Golite SL4 with a stove jack. Now on the hunt for a new stove for it. Probably just build one.

Aside from cabins and lean-to’s, I use my 6 lb 15 oz vintage 1980 Sierra Designs Dome tent (original, not the stretch version).  I’ve replaced the pole elastic cords and re-waterproofed the fly and floor more than once.  Still seems to work fine (although I don’t use it often any more).  But I have only used it in relatively sheltered or low-wind conditions.

Have yet to use my modded TT SCARP 2 in a heavy snow with the two X-ing poles beneath the fly. Additionally I have a custom made, stronger main pole. This winter I’ll do my best to be a snow storm chaser and test it.

It’s a good tent in heavy winds with those two X-ing poled and side and end guyed plus 4 fly hem stakes. As I call it, “Braced, guyed and pegged down”. By burying the main pole ends in the snow a few inches the fly will be even lower and dead men will be used for fly stake loops.

My only concern is the SCARP 2’s vertical and rectangular ends. They are not aerodynamic in the least but I have them modded so they too are staked down at the center. I can open the end zippers a bit for venting and still control their opening size against the wind making the opening larger. So far, in gusts up to 60 mph., they have been very “unflappable”. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

I have a go lite Shangri-la 5 that I  installed a stove jack in, complimenting my titanium cylinder wood burning stove. 10 in. Round,and 18 in. Long, I don’t use the inner but taped 2 frog tog ponchos together for the floor. The tent and stove only weigh a little less than 8 lbs, (titanium stove pipe is 6 ft, long and 3 in.wide) so it is very backpackable, it is better to go with someone or even 2 to share extra weight. One good thing is you don’t need a cooking stove that can all be done on the wood stove.

I now live in Cleveland Ohio, does anyone know where I  can legally winter camp that is within a say an  hour each way drive e? Thanks bobbyd

Helliberg

David beat me to it. My go-to tent is a cabin at Tahoe, with a little kitchen, a bottle of wine, books, and a Warriors game on the t.v.

So great at the end of a day of snow adventures.

How many nites in that Tahoe cabin to pay for a Hilleberg?

I’ve used a Black Diamond HiLight the last two winters when I’m going to be in heavy snow. Love the useability/weight, breathability is ok, hate the length. I just wish it was a couple inches longer.  I had high hopes for the MSR AdvancePro 2 but it’s a front entry and even smaller than the HiLight.

I have been strongly considering a mid from Locus Gear but just not sure I’ll like it since I’ve never used one being married to my solplex for years now.

Not heavy snow pic follows…

I’ve used several different mids for winter outings, also take advantage of USFS cabins as well :)  The mids worked pretty well, but were lacking with higher winds, last year I purchased a BD Firstlight- heavier than the mids I was using, but much better handling the winds.  I’m 5’11” and while not overly roomy, I had plenty of room.