Which One Person Shelter

[Atif Khan]

Son is going off to college so am looking at one person shelters: DCF, ultralight, mid, non freestanding, strong in wind and snow. MLD Solomid, X-Mid, Aeon, something else? All suggestions welcome.

[Perry H]

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[jscott]

Notch Li. Done and done.

wait: snow? How much snow? are you looking for a four season tent?

[Matthew / BPL]

How about a Yama Mountain Gear Cirriform Min? Front and side entry. Excellent craftsmanship. It doesn’t slope down at the ends like a traditional single pole mid. The lack of a built in interior allows you to go with a bug innernet, splash/bug bivy, no inner. It pitches easily and you can leave it open on the front or side.

I like a modular shelters because it allows me to gear up differently for different trips. Also, I like the simplicity of sleeping in a splash bivy under a tree when the weather permits.

I think TT’s ProTrail is a nice choice too. I haven’t been in one but I liked my Contrail with it’s really wide bathtub.

The Notch is really nice too if you don’t mind the relatively long packed length (because of the struts). This is probably my favorite 1P tent I have ever used but I didn’t like how it fit inside a small frameless pack.

[Brad Rogers]

MLD Solomid XL

[John S.]

Might need to know height of you and height of sleeping gear…pad plus bag loft?

[Atif Khan]

6 feet even; loftiest bag is a Feathered Friends Peregrine EX -25F mummy (long) with a 9.5 inch loft on a Neoair XTherm (regular) with a 2.5 inch height.

[R L]

Agree with the Solomid XL.  I find the Pro Sil a bit too transparent at times for my hiking locale and site selection is important.  There are many times when any given shelter is for shade more so than weather protection.  If Mr Bell ever jumps on the SilPoly wagon, I’d buy five to hand out at Xmas.  I have slightly modified a Lan Shan 1P inner that marries quite well.  Good luck with the search.  Pic below.  Pay no mind to the yard.  sigh.  We have no water.

[R L]

[Atif Khan]

Good to hear. I was leaning towards the Solomid XL. If I go for the DCF outer, would you pair it with a DCF inner or a Silnylon inner? If so, why?

[Sam Farrington]

Atif,
Both the DCF and silnylon are waterproof, and will not breathe. So would not use them for an inner tent.  Although I’ve been looking at breathable fabrics with some water resistance.  RBTR has a couple, but they’ve been out of stock for some time.  And the fabrics that are fully waterproof/breathable (WPB) may be OK for garments, but not allow water vapor to pass through without considerable pressure.  A lot of the ones looked at had decent durable water repellent treatments (DWR), but almost no water resistance.  When folded into a pouch and filled with water, and slight pressure was applied, it just came gushing out and thoroughly soaked the fabric.  Which is not what I want for an inner canopy.  So continue to look.  There is a fabric used by Locus Gear that purports to use both DCF and eVent, and be very light, but it is not available in a tarp.  There was a thread on BPL  looking for this fabric; however no responses were posted.

[Brad Rogers]

Atif K – I prefer Silnylon for the inner net floor as it’s not only cheaper, but it’s more abrasion resistant and puncture resistant than DCF, both of which are important for floors.

[jimmyjam]

I have a TT Protrail Li and really like it a lot. Things I like: super light, easy set up, only takes 4 stakes, large vestibule for pack storage, easy entry for a front entry shelter due to the tall front, lots of room inside, good ventilation. My other favorite one person shelter is a MLD Grace Duo in DCF paired with a bivy or MLDs Bug Bivy 2. I’m always torn between which one to take.

[R L]

It’s a disease.  Can’t stop once started.  Was just out in the yard pitching a couple then weighing a few of my different options.  Complete kits all coming in around the same weight(s) when said and done. Xmid 1P, Solomid XL with Lan Shan inner, BPWD Min 1 Full Slope side entry paired with any of three different tarps.  Plus on occasion, using the Lan Shan 1 inner with a flat tarp.  And I just ordered a Mid Duo from Liteway.  I belong to the “you ain’t right” club.

[Author]

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