Lightweight Backpacking - Tents

LIGHTWEIGHT BACKPACKING - TENTS. In the previous post in the series, I mentioned the benefits of weight reduction and how it can provide a higher level of pleasure and comfort on your adventures. Continuing the article, I will discuss here one of the key items of the basis weight of a trekker: the tent.

We will see how to reduce the weight of your current tent and which items you should notice a new tent, if you choose to replace your. Also show you some options super light shelters, used much outside Brazil by more experienced trekkers and that perhaps you are not so familiar with.

WEIGHING YOUR TENT

Have you weighed your tent? Know how much each item weighs the same? Well, do the weighing of the inner tent, the sobreteto, the espeques and cordeletes separately and after bundle the two together. The trekker should know exactly how much it weighs each of these items and the amount in your backpack.

A tip: never trust the information that passes manufacturer. The specifications can be confusing, incorrect and even wrong. Therefore, only weighing you ensure the data of his tent. Just so the weight can be reduced and new alternatives studied minunciosamente for each trekking, can help you relieve some grams. Already left home a few espeques and additional anchor cordeletes, for trekking in regions where there is high incidence of winds.

RELIEVING YOUR TENT

If your current tent weighs more than 3kg, there are some ways to relieve your weight without the need to replace it. Do not use anything more than the tent for your adventures. Do not place plastic or tarp over the tent, as well as will not serve for anything, are extra weight. Some come with a footprint that can help waterproofing the floor. Leave it at home unless your tent is too old or too worn.

The original rods may be replaced by lighter, found in the market. You will not have the same reliability and endurance, but will have less weight. Here, it is worth noting how far you are willing to reduce weight, remembering that should be a thought activity and that does not endanger their safety. In some tents, walking sticks can be used in place of the rods, helping to save precious grams of the structure. Finally, if your tent has heavy steel espeques, you can replace them with lighter cuttings of other material such as titanium, weighing just 10g each.

But all this really worth it? Vale yes! And trust when I say that each gram less on each item in your backpack makes a big difference! Let the digital scale be your guide. And if several people share a tent trekking? The idea is to follow the same previous procedures and divide the components of the tent, so that all of the group carry the same weight.

REPLACING YOUR TENT

If you tried to reduce the weight of your current tent and could not, then consider buying a lighter tent. Let's see some important features you should note before purchasing your "own home". These suggestions apply to the double wall tents ie those with waterproof sobreteto and inner tent with fly-screen and ventilation.

We currently have a range of available manufacturers and models, among which I can mention: Lightwave , Newfoundland , Hilleberg , Vaude , WarmLite , MSR , Big Agnes , etc. A good tent of such marks, rotates in the range of R $ 600.00 to R $ 1,200.00 and has its approximate weight 800g and 1.5kg. This reference is to a person tents and unfortunately, no manufacturer sells its items in Brazil. I am happy to mention that I own a Ligthwave t0 trek and a Newfoundland Laser Photon 1. Both are excellent stalls, worth your price is so high.

LIGHT FABRICS

Common tents for camping, have heavy fabric, usually not reliable, simple seams and very reasonable prices. They are designed for use in camps where the car is used for transportation and not to be taken in a backpack. If you pay attention to the specifications of these tents, you will see that they are made of polyurethane coated nylon. This material adds unnecessary weight to the barracks, seen little technology employed in the use of the best fabrics.

Currently, fabrics like silnylon are gaining market share and are employed in various renowned brands in the outdoor world market. The fabric is made of nylon impregnated with silicone, providing high impermeability combined with the low weight of the material. Unfortunately in Brazil, the technology is still unknown or face to his job, as the high import tax rates, preventing the market to offer the end consumer a product of good value for money.

INTERNAL SPACE

We know that stalls with good internal space are conducive to family camps (the women who say), but are overkill for your backpack. Buying a tent for two people, and only one uses, there is no justification for the trekker is carrying extra weight. Lower volume tents may not be as comfortable to sleep, but are lighter because less tissue is used in the manufacture thereof.

ULTRALIGHT SHELTERS

Despite the reduction of weight in his tent impact on your comfort level, you can experience a greater reduction still an ultralight shelter is used with network and canvas for coverage. Here, we are not so used to this kind of concept, so let's take a look at the pros and cons of each of these different types of shelters.

1. TENTS AWNING TYPE (TARP TENTS)

Tarp tents are tents with single wall, with all the characteristics of a double-wall tent, but without the separate sobreteto the inner room. They tend to weigh between 1kg to 2kg and are the best choice to dramatically reduce the weight of your shelter without the need to master new skills or change in camp used today. You just need to pitch the tent using their walking sticks, as they do not come with rods in weight reduction purposes.

A good advantage of the double wall tents is that the space that lies between the inner room and the sobreteto, stores and expels the entire interior of the tent condensation, keeping you and your equipment practically dry during sleep. The tarp tents are built slightly differently. The floor is shaped like a shoe box, so that the rain to drain from the sides and not the same. A screen-fly joining the floor with sobreteto to aid in air circulation and to ensure that the condensation flow out. This project works very well in all weather conditions and saves a substantial amount of weight because less tissue is used in its manufacture, but if used in the winter, you might feel a little uncomfortable because of excessive ventilation and no control. Cost approximately R $ 400.00 and can be purchased abroad.

2. BIVAKS (HAMMOCKS)

Bivak

If you are used to sleeping on the floor, on a very comfortable inflatable thermal insulation (in my case), sleep in a hammock can be a very complicated work and a little hard to get used to. They appear to be very comfortable, as many trekkers have a preference for them. There are two distinct parts to a bivak: the network itself, which is suspended between two trees, and waterproof sobreteto (tarp) suspended over the network for rain protection.

Networks can be ideal shelter because you can mount them anywhere, provided you have two trees. They also have a smaller impact than the tents because there is no soil cleaning need where you want to anchor and no compression of the same with their weight and the equipment. Most manufacturers offer a different way of tying in the trees, not to affect your skin and cause damage to them.

The average weight kit (+ tarpaulin network) tends to rotate in the range 1 kg to 1.5 kg depending on the models and manufacturers. The occupied space in your backpack is infinitely smaller than that occupied by a tent and generally tend to eliminate the use of a pillow or inflatable cushion. The main disadvantage of using networks is that they require extra insulation to your surroundings, since there are not very effective protection against cold and wind. For the Brazilian climate, are an excellent choice because of the favorable climate for this. The Kampa kit in Brazil, costs around R $ 260.00 and can be found in stores Earth World .

3. AWNINGS (TARPS)

Finally, an awning is certainly the lightest shelter, practical and compact of the above that you can include in your backpack. These, comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, but they are basically pieces of waterproof fabric that you install on your sleeping bag for rain protection. Are very similar to tents awning type (tarp tents), but do not have floor and screen-fly. Most trekkers who make use of awnings, bring along a hat-fly to use in the face at night and a piece of plastic or Tyvek sheets to put under the sleeping bag when the ground is wet.

Most awnings weigh less than 800g, the silnylon weigh up to half of that and some manufacturers are able to offer products in the house of 200g! The awnings are easy to be assembled, especially if used with trekking poles, or can be strung between two trees. It has excellent ventilation, which eliminates internal condensation, and can be well anchored close to the ground for blocking strong wind or heavy rain. There are several ways frame under various weather conditions. Learning to use them in conjunction with specialized us to anchor, requires some more advanced camping skill and lots of practice to get your skirt not flying with the first breeze. In Brazil can be found for R $ 180.00 in stores also World Earth .

CONCLUSION

As you can see, there are a number of options and techniques available if you want to reduce the weight and size of your tent or shelter of camping. They all have their quirks, their strengths and weaknesses, depending on weather conditions, terrain, your personal preferences and how much you are willing to spend for it.

If you are interested in trying a different alternative, to borrow a friend and test a few times before you spend a lot of money in buying any item. If your friends do not have or do not want to lend, many sites sell tents used by a well irrizório cost compared to new. But remember, only the practice and the search for information will help you to always be ahead of your needs.