High Sierra Topix

I went through three Sierra Designs tents over the last 35 years--the first being the model that preceded flashlight, then flashlight, then flashlight clip, then more recently converted to a Big Agnes for further weight reduction. None was free standing.

I have always envied free standing tents when I try to put stakes into rocky ground, but every time I think of getting one the weight deters me from doing so. This last trip I only used the tent as a mosquito barrier and used just four stakes without the rainfly. That was heaven. To properly stake it with guys for a windy storm requires as many as 13 stakes, but it is a very sturdy tent in a storm when this is done, taking me through six inches of hail unscathed.

But I have many, many times longed for the ability to move then tent when I find a better location, or just to dispense with all the finagling needed when a stake won't go in the ground. Part of the workload I pay for the privilege of being in the wilderness.

what I like most about free-standing is quick setup and if you get needles in the tent, you pick it up in the morning and empty out the crap.. If you're actually trying to fit your tent in a hole, you have other problems (MNSHO)..

Of course, I weighed my Lhasa Hotel and she punches in at 7ish lbs. Still comfortable and reliable. Yeah, I'm not hard on equipment. I was young then.. Weight didn't really enter the equation, and I was mostly using for winter stuff.

???

I just pull out the stakes, bundle up the tent, move it with everything inside, anchor it down again. I have a Lightheart Solo that uses two stakes. Just two. Dead easy to take out the trekking poles to go for a day hike, too - yank em out, go hiking, return, stick em back in there and it's a tent instead of a waterproof gear cover.

Empty it out? Sure, I can do that too. Turn it inside out, shake, quick pull back through the door.

Ain't hard to do. Not at all. Just because the tent doesn't look like a big box kite doesn't make any of it impossible.

thought you just spun your hammock around?

rlown wrote:thought you just spun your hammock around?

The glory of a hammock -- you don't need to do that. All the junk stays out of it because you sit down, pull off your shoes, then get in.

Henry Shires' products are great. I use the Squall 2, and the only issue I've had in the backcountry is wanting to camp in locations where I cannot stake the guylines into the ground. When using rocks instead of stakes, I've had moderate success, but I have not achieved the same tautness as when staking.

Has anyone else ever had issues with wind on a freestanding tent when using rocks instead of stakes?

Also, one other thing is that you will add a couple ounces to your tent when seam sealing. But you will still come in way underneath in terms of weight (not money )with a tarptent product versus a freestanding product.

longri wrote:Here's an illustration of the difference in footprint between a free-standing tent and a non-freestanding tent.

That's a nice graphic. My solution is even simpler - don't use shelter unless it's either raining (or might rain later). If it is raining (or might rain later), then you probably shouldn't be in an area ie above treeline on hard granite, where it's difficult and/or too narrow to pitch a non-free standing tarp. If it is raining (or might rain later), and assuming you're a little bit lower with a little bit of room, then setting up a non-free standing tarp is pretty straightforward.

Of course, I'm sort of a super-minimalist so it might be a bit easier for me to forgo certain comforts. For example, when I was 19, I dropped out of college before my junior year and moved to the north shore of Oahu. I bought an old Nova and slept out of the back seat for a month. I had a pair of surf trunks, a t-shirt, sandals and 2 boards. A friend from Santa Cruz came over, so we upgraded to a 12x10 brick storage room for $90/month ($45/per person). It didn't matter though, since we were 20 yards from Sunset. 40oz, ramen and a radio filled out our nights.

I returned to civilization before a year was up (and graduated 2 years later), but the minimalist instinct still holds. You really don't need much to have fun as long as you have the basic equipment for what you're doing for the particular time & place that you're "doing it". In the summer, that means shoes, hat, water bottle, quilt, tarp, food and the ability to walk.

steiny98 wrote:Has anyone else ever had issues with wind on a freestanding tent when using rocks instead of stakes?

Rocks can move sometimes. It happens even without wind but wind makes it more likely. And guylines usually need adjustment even when the anchors don't shift. Another point in favor of the freestanding tent.

Hobbes wrote:

longri wrote:My solution is even simpler - don't use shelter unless it's either raining (or might rain later). If it is raining (or might rain later), then you probably shouldn't be in an area ie above treeline on hard granite, where it's difficult and/or too narrow to pitch a non-free standing tarp. If it is raining (or might rain later), and assuming you're a little bit lower with a little bit of room, then setting up a non-free standing tarp is pretty straightforward.

I like to cowboy camp too but not everybody does. It's colder and can be wetter (dew). Bugs are more likely to bite. Little bits of junk are more likely to get under your expensive inflatable pad and puncture it. Wind can blow your possessions away. That annoying full moon might be in your eyes. And, for many people, there's a desire to be in a kind of "nest".

If it's raining a non-freestanding tent on hard granite above tree line works just fine in the Sierra. What else are you going to do, run downhill a thousand feet?

Innernet solves the bathtub floor issue.