27 July 2008
Ultralight Tenting
Posted by admin under: Equipment .
If you read around for a while you’ll start getting intrigued with the idea of camping without having to carry a lot of weight. You have to have a tent, though, right? Well, some people don’t think so, but even those that do want to have it be as light as possible. Enter Henry Shires who invented his own tent out of silnylon and mosquito netting. If you hike with a hiking stick then you’ve already got your main tent pole. Henry even gives away all his plans for how to make this ultralight cover at http://www.tarptent.com/projects/tarpdesign.html.
Why would he do this when he could make money selling these tents? Well, because he makes money selling them. He also has a lot of others. He’s improved on his original design and continues to make ultralight tents: http://www.tarptent.com/products.html
The prices start at $179 for a one-man tent and then go up to $260, but the weight never reaches four pounds, even on the biggest models. The smallest barely weighs more than a pound. Oh, my knees. I might have to get one of these for my birthday so I don’t have, you know, health problems.
I’ve definitely seen heavier tents for more money, generally because they don’t allow for the fact that you might have hiking poles that you can use for your shelter. I think it’s a great idea.
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