What do you use for a spike tent??
Elk
Contributors to this thread:
I search of options for a spike tent. What does everyone use? Need some advice
Lots of good choices and preferences. In ancient times I just used a bit piece of visqueen and a rope between two trees.
I have as Kifaru Tarp but prefer a UL tent with a floor. But lots of guys like tarps. Seems like we are willing to accept a bit more weight for comfort as we get older. At least that's how it worked for me.
I haven't been much into bivy hunts but have considered it just for fun. I've looked them over for awhile now & do know one thing, get a 2 man if for one hunter, a 3 man if for two hunters, etc. This way you can get your pack & bow inside & keep dew & inclement weather off your gear! Lots of tents to choose from these days! It seems the lighter they are the more expensive they get! (grin)
Too, woodstove or no woodstove?
ElkNut1
Last year I used a canvas teepee but Little Petey packed it, not me.
I use one of the Henry Shires Tarptents. Super light, excellent quality and made in USA
If I'm going light weight in decent weather I'll use the fly off my 4 season Hilleberg Nallo. SUPER room, light, and not much bulk.
I use a 2 man backpacking tent from Sierra Designs. Older tent, great design. I have a light tarp and hammock setup, have not field tested it yet.
+3 on the Tarptent. I have a StratoSpire and love it. TODDY
Love my Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2
Ill use the fly off my Alps Mountaineering 4 person tent
BA Copper Spur ul2 fly and footprint, or a home made version like Cnelk showed a while back.
You can get some deals on good used ones on the backpacking website classifieds, as well as Rokslide.
One of my tents is a Cabelas XPG UL that I got on sale, and for an affordable option I've been very happy with it.
I went to a floor tent after one of those horrendous rain\hail events where water was literally flowing across the ground, through my tarp. I wasn't in camp, and everything got soaked.
I'm going to use a Kifaru Megatarp this year. Big enough for 2 plus gear. Stove compatible.
A few years ago while mule deer hunting. The only flat spot was a mule deer bed. Tarp plus a bivy sack for the sleeping bag.
first week of elk season last year using two tarps
same spike camp but later added my mt tent for more warmth and comfort.
Just me... Marmot Tensing 3.
Me and a partner for a long stay... Marmot Halo 6. Yes 6! We can stand up inside it. We split up the components to pack in.
MP, I like a 3 for myself too, and will carry an extra pound to get that extra space. A few days of awful weather makes that bit of space pretty worthwhile during a hunt.
For summer backpack trips it's not such a big deal because you aren't on a "mission", working hard, dealing with gear and wet clothes and boots.
Depending on the hunt but either a kifaru paratarp with a bivy sack, a fly creek ul2 or a nemo pentalite 4. All work great.
Kelty Noah's Tarp. Only issue with a tarp is mosquitos in the early season, otherwise they're a great option for going light.
BPWD luna 6. Lite outdoors 18" cylinder stove if needed.
Tarptent Moment when I use a tent, occasionally I use a Kifaru Supertarp.
Sparky27's Link
I'm using the Seek Outside Little Bug Out Shelter. I love its versatility from open-ended tarp in the early season, to a wood-stove compatible, all-weather shelter late in the year.
Kifaru super tarp or a Hilleberg akto are great choices
Big Agnes Fly Creek UL3. 3 is a little bigger than absolutely needed but not much more weight than 2.
Seirra Designs One person tent - side door much better than door at feet or head. Vestibule big enough for back and boots to keep dry. Kept me very dry during huge Northern Colorado flooding a few years ago.
Six Moons Designs Lunar Duo, Tarptent Double Rainbow, Go-Lite Shangri La 3, Kifaur Megatarp.
All you can do in a 1 man is sleep. A 2 gives you room to sleep next to your gear before you have to dig through it or walk on it. I'll always pack the weight so each guy has a place to eat, sleep, cook and get in and out.
Like you said Lou.... if you have to hole up in there for any length of time you'll be thanking yourself. Even when I'm not I never complain about having room to move. Things dry quicker in a bigger tent too.
Here;s what my son and I used last year.
Big Agness Fly Creek - pretty good for one, tight squeeze for two.
N. CO, mid-September, 8,200 feet. Matt Dworak (DirtyD) has a great story and photos of their spike camp in this storm, with collapsed tents and tarps, a real mess. They left everything behind and slogged out to the trailhead if I remember correctly
I plan all my spike camp gear in case this happens. It was 65 and sunny the day before. Sure was glad to be in base camp when this hit, and it wasn't the end of the storm either. We got another 5" before it was finished, couldn't go anywhere by vehicle for five days.
MP, I was holed-up with my new bride on our honeymoon/elk hunt spike camp in a "3-man" dome tent for 8 days during the infamous Blizzard of '84. After about 4 days that 3 man tent wasn't NEARLY big enough.. Lucky we didn't kill each other.
How were the first 3 days? 8-)
The first three days we were too worried about what the hell we were going to do if it kept up, tending the horses and gear, trying to slog around and hunt in 2' of snow that kept piling up.
The more we listened to radio reports of all the closed roads, the freak storm circling back with no end in sight, the more concerned we got.
Besides, we'd lived together for three years already so the real "honeymoon" happened long before that ordeal took the wind out of our sails. :-Q
After we finally got out on day 9, with me surfing over some 5' drifts on my belly while hanging onto a rope dallied onto our pack horse, we got on a plane and headed to the Florida Keys for a week.
Some of the "spike camp" photos I see posted would lead to SAR rescues in a storm like that. That's assuming SAR could get anywhere near to try a rescue with all the roads closed and low cloud ceiling, and then could find the hunters. My boss wanted to send out SAR for us, and my dad told them to leave us alone and spare the embarrassment, that I knew what I was doing and would be fine.
Henry Shires tarptent - Scarp 2 model (for one hunter)
I spent 22 days in a cheap REI half dome with just the rain fly during 2013. Wasn't real fun, nor comfortable, but if you're smart -- even during a 100 year storm -- you can get by. But, a two man for one guy is barely enough when the wind and rain find every way possible to get to you.
But, like those posts above, snow will change that analysis. If you're back in a ways and can't see yourself walking out to the truck, suffer a little more and pack a good tipi or tent.
Correction, the tent I use is an older 2 man backpacking tent from North Face.
Easton two man ultra light
Cabelas xpg 2 man or an MSR skinny one
Mike, looks like that GoLight is in the rough on a par 4!
:)
Ace of Spades's Link
I use a BA fly creek ul2. Good light weight set up but I wouldn't want to use it in an exposed area in high winds or snow. There is a great podcast on shelters by the Gritty Bowmen (episode 94)
I'd like to get a Kifaru Sawtooth w/stove for colder hunts.
Josh
Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2 - my newest purchase.
For years I used a Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight model for 2 folks. I think the Fly Creek cuts my tent weight by 50%. Remember, less always costs more! :)
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Best tent I've ever owned - Moss Starlite. Super light, sturdy, and actually has headroom - man that guy could design and build a tent (rip).
I've heard the UL fabrics will wear out a lot faster than more traditional fabrics/treatments. As long as you treat a UL tent like a relatively short term purchase and keep and eye on wear & tear and waterproofing I suppose it's ok.
Second the comment about the cutesy flys or tarps - been in too many unexpected wet snowstorms to go without a bathtub for any real time/distance in. That being said, have a bivy sack if I know it's only going to be overnight but still might rain. Gotta say that wearing a tent does get your bag wetter even with a breathable bivy though.
Bear piƱata, aka Hennessy Hammock.
Honest question for the "open tarp" guys - how do you stay dry with wind and sideways rain/hail/snow?
With the Paratarp I can lower the front pole and hunker down. Not fun but it's survivable. In fact, I carry it as a survival shelter on all-day hunting and scouting expeditions when weather is unsettled.
With visqueen on a rope I had enough slack to fold in the ends and gut it out. But some of the open tarp shelters seem like little more than sun shades that will also collect the dew.
Do you just drop it and pray? I'm curious, not being a smart-ass.
Dirty D's Link
Lou, you've got a pretty good memory! That hunt was pretty much what got me started writing. It's easy to forget that this thing we all live for and look forward to every year can go south PDQ!
I've got a pretty decent tent arsenal these days from canvas Outfitters tent to the old bivy sack and they all get used depending on the ocassion. My two biggest goto shelters in a spike camp environment are a Big Angus Fly Creek and a Golite Shangri-la with a sewn in stove jack and a liitle Kifaru packable stove. The biggest thing I learned from that '06 trip is to pay attention to the weather, you need to be in camp keeping the snow off of tents or it will crumple the strongest shelters and use you head, it's the best tool you've got!
I seem to remember bad stuff that hapoened while elk hunting. Like that one 8-day stretch when our boots were saturated, our Goretex pants mildewed around the bottom, and we just got used to living "damp".
The snowstorm when a big spear-shaped aspen branch broke off, ripped through the fly and tent, and impaled the floor where I'd been sitting minutes before.
That hailstorm where I thought I was going to lose my very tough buddy to severe hypothermia several miles from camp.
And the night under a tarp when a downpour struck and water was flowing through the bottom half of my sleeping bag.
Now I always prepare for the worst, from survival to first aid.
I plan to be the guy in the story headlined, "Missing Hunter returns safe, in good condition, after freak September storm"
I used a tarp one time. It worked well until about the 12th hours straight of wind and rain. I will never do that again. I have a nice Eureka 2 man back pack tent with a nice fly. Very light weight dry and give me room to sprawl out.
Sorry but a good tent is worth the weight and can make a ton of difference given the unpredictable weather...
Always assume the worse and have the gear to make it. One night of storm can ruin a week long hunt.
Lots of options but one night on a mouse/rodent infested ridge in a tarp has made me a 100% believer in a floored shelter. Critters running across your face in the middle of the night will change a guy :)
Ace of Spades's Link
I use a BA fly creek ul2. Good light weight set up but I wouldn't want to use it in an exposed area in high winds or snow. There is a great podcast on shelters by the Gritty Bowmen (episode 94)
Josh
Military issue Gore Tex bivy. I put up a tarp lean to with it if weather is really squirrelly
snapcrackpop's Link
Here is another option: http://www.cookecustomsewing.com/
He has quite a following on www.bwca.com and has shelters, tarps and packs.
Also use the BA Fly Creek UL2, but it's not for freak heavy September snows or high winds, IMO.
I had a BA fly Creek ul 2 and at 6'3 it's not enough tent for me. I have zero complaints about my kifaru mega tarp. Lots of room for 2 and by myself it's a mansion
Another BA Fly Creek2 user. Mine lived through a 10+ inch snow in MT 2013.
gil wy- Although I did not have them little b@stards running on my face, I did have a great experience of them running on my sleeping bag while under a tarp. Somewhere around midnight in the middle of the wilderness, I clicked on my headlamp and grabbed my boot and went all postal beating the sh!t out of anything that moved.
Another BA Fly Creek 2 user here. Mine survived an ungodly night of wind in the Bighorns 2 years ago. I got up in the middle of the night to take a leak and had to leave one foot standing in the tent. I was afraid it would blow away if I didn't. Pee blew all down the side of the tent, but at least I still had a tent.
Cool Thread, My Seek Outside BCS-2 ,2-person nest, and/or a Ti-goat large WiFi-stove is going to be my option. Some good looking shelters out there!
LaGriz
I'm no expert but I use a Hilleberg Atko or a Seek Outside Cimarron with a large Wifi.
LaGriz, You will love that WiFi!
Buzz- a tip from a lifelong tent camper... They make little collapsible reusable pee bags so you need only unzip your sleeping bag and not brave the outside elements. Wal Mart sells them in a 3 pack. Priceless when the weather sucks.
Kifaru super tarp. Kifaru sawtooth.
Hilleberg akto
Look into the Stephenson Warmlite 2R or 3R, excellent light weight tents.
Thank you Alpinehunter for the encouragement!
All I have managed to do is a burn in with my WiFi stove. My last couple of hunts have been base camp only events. Work has been too demanding, and no additional winter camping trips could be squeezed into my busy schedule. That said, I have a New Mexico elk tag in hand for this season! May finally get to exercise the spike-camp options.
Can I pick your brain on the hot tent thing? What do you pack for a saw? Have you tried to cook on the flat top Ti-Goat stove. What advice can you offer on condensation prevention? LaGriz