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I am going to be moving lots this fall and several hunts in the mix. I have been lugging around my eight pound North Face tent for years and it seems to be getting heavier. Any suggestions for a lightweight and affordable bivy. I prefer one that is all enclosed top bottom but might consider one without a bottom...
Dude, 8lbs.! Forget the bivy. Get something like a Tarptent 1.5person at 2lbs., and you’ll be living the “light” life.
Unless you are camping in really snowy weather, that is. Then, you’ll need more tent, as I’m sure you know.
X2 on the tarp tent. I had a RAB bivy and it was just ok. The tarp tent systems are so much more user freindly and functional
Bivy ain't for everyone, that includes me. There are so many great tent or tarp options these days. Tarptent "2man" options are great as mentioned above. Big Agnes fly Creek or copper spur "2 man" is another proven favorite. If you're willing to go floorless, then there's even more options from seek outside, kifaru, etc. For 8 pounds these days you can have a tarp or tipi or pyramid structure with titanium stove and bring a couple hunting or snuggle buddies. Sounds like you might have found a good place in your gear list to drop weight and make a solid structure upgrade. Good luck, tent shopping is always fun.
I have a fly creek UL2 and it gets the job done.
Get a light weight two man tent. I have the MSR Hubba NX. Lots of great choices on tents. I recommend you get one with two vestibules. Reason why is if you have a hunting partner no crawling over each other to get out, and it also allows more storage space.
IdyllwildArcher's Link
It's not "affordable," but you'll have a hard time finding something lighter that's this large and can handle rain, snow, and high winds. You use a piece of Tyvek for the bottom. You won't believe the difference in your pack with this thing vs your 8 lb tent. Huge inside. Buy once, cry once.
Lots of great options out there not bivies... have several 2 & 3 man tents that are under 3 pounds and a couple under 2#.
Really like those floor-less style tents. Also look at Kifaru and Seek Outside.
Orrr I could get a custom bit and pannier and make you Treeline into my pack mule!!!! ahahahahah Promise to feed you and occasional apple or carrot...hahah.
I appreciate the suggestions but to be honest those are a little more than I want to spend. This might sound crazy but in the long past I used on occasion a cheapy Walmart two man...25 bucks and worked pretty well I saw on their website they are better now and come in at three pounds. I do like things to have a bottom it just seems if things are wet to begin with invariably the rest of your stuff gets wet plus in the Western high country and out fo the blue flash down pour is not unusual
I get a substantial discount with KUIU and was looking at some of their stuff but no one had mentioned it. I don't like having to buy all the pieces...but open
Visit Rokslide for used gear. So many offerings noted above.
I will get on my soapbox. A good night sleep is huge for me. You don’t have to go ultralight and break the ban on tent .(But 8 lb is nuts!) pick up something in 3 lb range. The bag and pad is where I spend.
I will check out rockslide good on pad and bag....
Oh also a tip here...when making your sleeping spot I kick out a body shaped trench in the dirt gives me depressions for my hips and shoulders legs and feet...makes it WAY better
Z-Bare if I get 4-5 hours tossing and turning sleep up there that's as good as it gets no matter what....many times less...
I’ve looked at tarp tents before. I’m now interested in the tent from Stone Glacier. I’m not a fan of floorless shelters either. I just don’t like creepy crawlers, slippery slithering things or hairy rodents in my tent.
I like a floor for a variety of reasons. My current favorite is a Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL 2. Light but roomy.
Stone Glacier has a 1 man tarp for $165. I don’t think it’s even a pound? Maybe I should check that but it’s light. Bivys suck in my opinion. 8lbs for a tent is crazy. Your gonna be a happy camper with whatever route you go.
Not as light as the Hyperlite that Ike posted, but much lighter on the wallet, check out a Luna Mid style tent from Bear Paw Wilderness Designs.
I’m very happy with the Luna 6 that I have.
Everyone prefers a floor. I thought I'd hate my floorless tent, but it's really not that big of a deal with a 8X5 foot piece of Tyvek.
And if you're carrying your camp on your back in true bivy fashion, every ounce counts. If you're spike camping, then, yeah, you can afford some more creature comforts.
I don't think there is such a thing as a good bivy, hate those things.
It depends on where you camp, lots of places floorless is not feasible due to bugs.
I have a Shires Tarptent Double Rainbow and it has served me well. Also an old Golite Hut 1 floorless shelter that only weighs a pound.
Wow lots of options...yeah I know that tent is heavy...I had a light three season one before it and got tired of the weather makings its way in....it was heavier but I knew no matter what I had a dry spot to recover... I use to do lots more back country stuff and less and less as the years go by and spike and truck camp mostly now...just did'nt feel like dropping five bills....
Last year when on my elk hunt in NM I knew it was going warm and clear the whole hunt and just brought a 7 dollar tarp...and it worked fine to feel like a had a little protected spot and keep it kept the wind off of me... For some of my overnight scouting this summer I might try and Walmart Cheapy 30 bucks 3 pounds and keeps out the weather...well we will see this summer I get to pick and choose the best nights to overnight
https://www.amazon.com/Country-Products-campa%C3%B1a-trekking-ultraligera/dp/B07537XGKQ/ref=sr_1_19?dchild=1&keywords=ultra+lightweight+backpacking+tent&qid=1595399318&sr=8-19
what about something like this??? I almost always have trekking poles and if not lots of sticks around
I didn't do the link right just highlight it right click and go to...
I just took the kids on a backpack trip and needed a 3 man tent. Bought a Mountainsmith Bear Creek 3. 6 pounds with the full tent, fly, stakes and a footprint. That's heavy but is also set up to be used with just the fly and footprint which drops a lot of weight (Fast Fly is what they call it). Mountainsmith is local but found it on sale in Vermont with free shipping. Pretty pleased with it for a lower priced tent. Bigger than needed for solo but they make a 2 man as well.
Tough to beat the Tarptent Rainbow or Double Rainbow... pack small and are light.
A floorless shelter is not for everyone. I was a huge skeptic till I used one. However, I don't use mine in areas that have a lot of snakes. I don't like them for snuggle buddies either.
I've had many of tents and tarps over the years and there pro's and con's to both.
Now that said a few years back I found a company called Hyke and Byke that makes tents and sleeping bags. The prices are very good. I been using thier 2 man tent called Yosemite 2 and so far have not a bad thing to say about it. It's as good as my last name brand tent that cost me $350. It's not ultralight. As it weighs in at 5.5 lbs with the supplied foot print, good stakes and a aluminum skake pusher.. Yes it can be used as a bivy, has 2 doors, 2 vestibules and a gear loft. On the facebook hiking groups I'm hearing very good reports on thier sleeping bags. They have a new 15 synthetic bag that weigth at 2.8 lbs. If this bag compresses down to close to a downbag, I may get one. It only $124 on there web site. There stuff has a life time warrtany, 24 hour call center, free shipping on order over $35 and I believe on your first order $15 off. that would put my tent at about $100 + or -.. Ed
Kifaru supertarp. Haven't used my bivy since.
Question on floorless tents/tarps. What if you get to where you are planning on setting it up and the ground already wet or snow covered. I have carried a piece of tyvek and sleep on it before the problem I have had is it almost impossible to stay on it 100% of time.
I have never set up my teepee in an area covered with snow but I have on very wet ground. I carry a length of Tyvek and a very lightweight bivy sack. I put my Thermarest pad and my sleeping bag inside the bivy sack and then lay the bivy on top of the Tyvek. I've never had any issues at all with staying on the Tyvek. The Tyvek and the bivy sack are somewhat redundant but to me, it just seems to keep my sleeping gear a little cleaner.
I've snow camped with mine. No problems. I've used Tyvek and plastic sheeting on different trips. I have some silicone "dots" on the top and bottom of my pad. They keep it from sliding and keep me and my bag or me and my quilt from sliding. A slight depression in the snow keeps you in place as far as snow to sheet contact.
The tarp tents are sold out I tried to look on rokslide but I can't figure out how to filter teh offerings to just tents....too much to weed through i saw a "msr-zoid-backpack-tent' on craigslist that looks good...trying to make figure that deal out
If you truly want a bivy.. which, is not for everyone.. a good stout bivy sack is the Gortex bivy used in the Military Sleep System (MSS). You can find the online or in military surplus stores for about $60 to $75. They come in right about a 1lb if I remember correctly, but they are high quality and bullet proof. That, sleeping bag, sleeping pad and tarp should keep you under 5lbs for your sleep kit.
I use the Kuiu Mountainstar 2p, great tent and all in just a touch over 3# actual trail weight. Their Summit refuge is excellent as well and Very lightweight if you get a significant discount they may be quite affordable.
Seems as though most are anti bivy which i get given they can suffocate you or cause serious claustrophobia. We use them in the wildland fire world and I've used mine on wintery type hunts with a sil nylon tarp over. I have the OR Alpine Bivy and its bombproof. A few guys have the OR Helium which is lighter weight and they like it as well.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/114319425112
Like a bivy on steroids
Sharp slinger looked at the ebay listing might be a player wish they had a buy it now option Brotsky....I looked it looks like I get about 30 percent off Kuiu and still pretty expensive.
Checked out the MSR tent in person and it was too heavy......so still looking!!!
Check out camofire once in a while, they have good deals on tents some times.
Ted, here's my take: you are a physical specimen. A brute. A rested hunter is a better hunter. Get something that's comfortable for YOU, now at your age and for the type of hunting you will do now and in the future, and don't worry about an extra pound or two for your sleep system. Think about being cooped up in an MRI tube (bivy) for a couple days in a storm. I backpacked all over the West with a piece of Visqueen and paracord between two trees in my 20s. Then I grew up and got smart.
My sleep system now is a Marmot Helium 15 long (2 lbs 4 oz), a very roomy BA Copper Spur HV UL 2 (2 lbs 12 oz) and a Thermarest pad (1 lb). An extra couple of pounds vs a truly spartan minimalist system won't be noticed by a super-fit guy like you.
You can drill holes in your toothbrush and cut chunks out of your underwear if you need to shave weight somewhere else.
Thermarest neo air....if your tossing for 4 to 5 hours you need a better pad.
Lou.....thanks for the kind words I'm loaded with fast twitch but the slow twitch endurance has always been lots harder and overcome with biting down harder on the mouth piece and gritting through it....but its all getting harder at 60 for sure. Your sleep system sounds about right. 98 percent going to go with the small tent. It has always been my mindset...if I have that little cocoon of dry warmth to recover its all good ...last years I did my NM pack in and up hunt and knew the weather was going to be crystal clear and just brought my bag and a cheapy tarp. When at trail head I realized I had left my pad in Colorado....oh well. But I think i might have mentioned a KEY to better sleep is digging a body shaped trench with room for hips and shoulders and it was surprising okay without the pad. Your right the reason I still have this heavy tent is I have being doing less crazy backpack trips and more day hunt out of remotes truck camps...used llammas off and on and such and just have put off getting a new one and when I had to use it I just loaded that heavy beast up. Saving six pounds is a lot. This year I have a couple special hunts and I need/want a lighter tent. Kinda got it narrowed down. Corn I'm not that great of a sleeper even at home so if I was to get 5 hours of sleep on a hunt and a nap or two throughout the day I'm golden.
Got a deal opn a new Big Agnes tiger wall ultra light....it has this really cool led light system that add like nothing to the weight...got all sort of cool reviews its in the mail gonna bust it out soon!!! Thanks for all the thoughts!!!
Going from 8 lbs to 2.5 lbs is going to be a big differences.
For sure can't wait to fill that other six pounds up with other crap ahahahahah
You can carry 8 or nine 9 beers! If you average it out on you only going to carry them in and the empties don't weigh anything on way out you can carry a 18 pack. ;)