If you snowcamp, what tent do you use?

[SteveM]

Good choice on the WM bag. I'll be in the market for one this year. I've been eyeing some WM bags

I'm moving to Colorado in about 6 months. Just bought a house with some acreage at the 9000ft level, so trying out new gear in extreme conditions should be as easy as setting up in the driveway.

I've been searching the net for quite some time for as many reviews on Tents, bags and possibly a little heavier duty (cold rating) pad that I could get. I was very interested in the Eldorado (and an Integral Design Tent). I love free standing tents. And, it sounds great to be able to hop inside and set it up when the weather is a little excessive. I just came across a whole lot of negative reviews on the condensation problems. Which, may just be the fault of the users.

Adding another 1 1/2 lbs or thereabouts for a vestibule, turns it into a not-so-light tent. All said, though, if I had the chance to play around with one of them in some storms without having to buy the thing, I'd jump on it. I don't really enjoy removing those snow anchors after things have frozen.

Well, I'm heading out to mess around with the Nallo again. Hopefully, with a little more experience with it, I get some even better results.

[hikerduane]

My brother and sister-in-law live in CO, they moved a year ago from Lakewood to Grand Junction.

I have a number of WM bags now. I am thinking of washing and then selling my 2 year old Caribou long and getting a warmer Megalite to handle the cooler temps I have run into in late Spring and late Summer. For that matter, the whole Summer also.

I have a Exped DAM which I don't use too much, it is heavy and takes forever to inflate with the stuff sack/pump partly due to trying to keep it in the tent while inflating. On the trip into Lake Winnemucca, I only had it and no additonal pad to sleep on. I stayed warm and felt no cold from underneath. I usually bring 2 pads of some kind for snow camping, but wanted to cut down on the bulk this time.

[SteveM]

Hiker Duane,
Just wanted to let you know the outcome of the Nallo 2 this weekend. I added to my last review. Didn't have quite the luck with condensation this time. I'm starting to believe that there isnt a tent that doesnt form ice. But, I'll keep looking

http://www.summitpost.org/show/mread.pl ... t_id=13932

[hikerduane]

SteveM, thank you for the additional report. Kind of makes you think, what the heck will work?. You said it was vented too. I guess if conditions are right, not much you can do. Even my Squall had bad condensation one night that had no wind but I am guessing, high humidity after a light storm had come thru. I was told by others and HS himself to pull the beek back. How many stakes does the Nallo 2 require and what exactly was the problem setting it up?

[SteveM]

HikerDuane
The Nallo 2 takes 9 stakes to hold it down. Three on the foot end. Two on the vestibule (or 4 if you want to stake the door down). And two on each side. The loops on the foot end have string to tie to or directly to loops on the tent itself. By tieing to the strings, you get lift at the bottom which allows more ventilation however, when it's snowing, you have to peg it to the ground, thus less "flow thru" ventilation.

As far as getting it set up, it's a two piece tent. The inside section is held to the outside via short straps and a form of button that fits thru a loop on the outer tent. There's probably about eight of these loops on each side (top/bottom). If the wind is blowing, the tent tends to wrap a little and can create a little confusion determining which end is up.

The worst part was, the ground was as hard as a rock. So, the more stakes you have to deal with the harder it was to set up.

Don't get me wrong. I like the tent. I just prefer to deal with as few stakes as possible when snow camping. Either the ground is hard or there's several feet of snow and the snow anchors freeze into the ground and they're a pain to get out in one piece. I realize that snow camping in itself is a challenge and maybe...... that's just something that I can't get around having to deal with, but I'd like to get more opinions (and more chances) to try out as many free-standing 4 season tents that I can before I buy.

If it works out that they all have condensation problems (as it's starting to appear), I might make the Nallo 2 my choice of winter tents. Everything else about it is great. But, there are a few others I'd like to check into before making that choice.


Good luck on your quest
Steve

[hikerduane]

My old Eureka summer, A-frame tent was a pain to set up in good weather. Free standing tents are a little easier to set up I guess. I was thinking that is quite a few stakes for the Nallow 2, but my SD tent takes 8 stakes if the fly is used. I didn't have any trouble setting it up at Lake Winnemucca. To properly set my tent up in the winter, on snow, I should get an ice axe. I can't do a good job of anchoring my tent unless I can dig down further then my boots can kick out and then there is the problem of unearthing them in the morning. I've gotten by with sticks when needed, but at Lake Winnemucca, I should have buried my stakes instead of using sticks, which only one small one broke.

Nice photo, thanks for the info and chat.

[SteveM]

HikerDuane,

You might look at the Hilleberg Jannu. Slightly heavier than your 5 lb limit, but not by much. Two piece tent, tied together and freestanding...

http://www.hilleberg.com/Catalog/jannu_4053774.htm

Also, a little article from Hilleberg about condensation.
http://www.hilleberg.com/Condensation.htm

Take care,
Steve

[nazdarovye]

Duane -

I'll bring the Hilleberg Saivo on one of our NorCal Hikers snow trips this spring, and you can check it out. The Jannu is basically a scaled-down variant on it, with one vestibule instead of two.

- Steve

[hikerduane]

Thanks Steve. I checked out a SD tent last weekend. Expanded my search a little.

[norcalhiker]

I use my Bibler Tempest and I like it. I've also used: Trangos, MSR ones, Sierra Designs and Megamids. I like mine the best.