Which Backpacking Shelter is the BEST

hey y'all Dixie here today I want to talk to you about backpacking shelters more specifically tents tarps babies and skin I know when I first started backpacking and I realized that there were several different types of shelters I was kind of confused on which one would work best for me so today I'm gonna give you a rundown of each type of shelter some of the pros and cons and hopefully this video will help you decide what works best for you and your personal preferences and the terrain that you'll be backpacking in first let's go over tents because they're the most commonly used on trail and I feel like they have the best weight - price - ease of setting up ratio some of the benefits of using a tent are one they are pretty roomy compared to other backpacking shelters so I like to be able to set up my tent crawl inside and just spread my gear out everywhere I like having that extra space to keep my gear in especially if it's raining outside because with some of the other shelters you may have to keep your pack and other things outside and try to waterproof them but with the tent most of the time even in a one-person tent you're gonna have enough room to squeeze in your pack and the rest of your gear also if it's raining and you have a tent that has a vestibule it's nice to be able to cook inside that vestibule so you're not having to worry about trying to cook out in the rain and then get inside of your shelter and initially I feel like tints are the easiest type of shelters to set up so they require the least skill you pretty much pull it out of the box read the instructions and set it up there are drawbacks to each type of backpacking shelter and tents are no exception so with the tent you have to kind of make sure that you've got flat-ish ground I have certainly set up on some ground that is not ideal for tinting and then I end up surfing all night so my sleeping pad slides or you know I've got a big root in my back or things like that so you kind of want to make sure that you have a relatively flat clear spot for a tent and even if you find a nice beautiful flat spot the ground still isn't always comfortable especially if you're a side sleeper like me your hip can kind of tend to dig in the ground even with an inflatable sleeping pad although those do help a lot and finally tints are a little bit heavier than some of your more minimalistic options like a tarp one of the main things I look for in a backpacking tent is the weight because with any of the shelters when you're having to tote something from point A to point B you obviously want it to be functional but as light as possible so what I target with a backpacking tent is anything under three pounds there are some more traditional or you know old-fashioned backpacking tents that can weigh around five pounds or maybe even more but with the technology today even if you're on a tight budget you can usually find something for around three pounds or less that isn't going to completely break the bank I prefer to go with a three season tent you'll either see three season tents or four season tents if you're just starting out chances are you're not going to be backpacking in the heart of winter so a three season tent will generally be latter and will cover you for what you need in the spring summer and fall if you're gonna be backpacking alone like I do I go with a one to two person tent I prefer the two-person because usually for not that much more weight you get a decent amount of extra room again to spread your stuff out or roll around you know whatever you want to do in your tent and then the final thing I look at is the vestibule slash door situation so I definitely want a tent that has a vestibule because as I mentioned before on rainy days I like to be able to cook in the vestibule also it just gives you room if you wanted to put something out there for some reason and have it not get wet while it's raining now if you're a couple that's gonna go backpacking together I recommend having a tent that has two doors one on either side and two vestibules one on either side because I have used the backpacking tents before that sleep two people but only has one door and one vestibule on and ends and I feel like you're just gonna disturb your partner more getting up and going pee in the middle of the night also if you're both trying to cook in the vestibule things can get a little tight with the elbows and stuff so I just think that's something to look for if you're gonna have two people in one tent together another variety that you'll see among tents is that some of them are freestanding some of them are what I call semi freestanding and then there are non freestanding Tain's a freestanding tent is a tent that stands alone without staking now of course it could still blow away and heavy wind but it sets up and basically supports itself with its own designated temples the good thing about these tents is that if you're setting up on something like solid rock or extremely loose sand that you don't have to worry about you know having to stake it down for it to be rigid and for it to be taut now the issue is these tints are generally a little bit heavier because they're more sturdily built so it might be hard to find one that's three pounds or less and then also a lot of these don't have vestibules you can purchase a vestibule sometimes to attach to one but then you're adding weight on an already not lightweight tent an example of a sub 3 pound freestanding tent though is the black diamond first light two-person next up is the semi freestanding tent basically the body of the tent to the part that's gonna have like the mesh and the part that you actually physically sleep inside of sets up with designated tent poles and that part is freestanding now the rain fly which goes over it and usually creates the vestibule on the tent will have to be staked out so I guess the negative side to this is that you will have to use stakes to set this up properly especially if you're gonna be in a rainstorm some examples of the semi freestanding tents that I have used are the Big Agnes Fly Creek ul - that I used on my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail and then in Washington on the Pacific Crest Trail I use the Nemo Hornet one person and next up is the non freestanding tent with these tents they require guidelines and stakes and usually either trekking poles or limbs if you get in a bun but they do not typically have a designated set of tent poles which saves a lot of weight if you want to learn more about trekking poles I have a video that covers them in detail on the channel but trekking poles aren't a necessity for backpacking it's just that most people do use them especially for longer trips so even though non freestanding tents are typically set up using trekking poles most manufacturers have the option to buy dedicated poles for those specific tents I did notice when I used my first non freestanding tent they do initially take a little more skill to set up but once you get the hang of it it's just as easy as anything else an example of a non freestanding tent is the Z packs duplex that I used on most of my PCT thru-hike and my CDT through hot the next thing to consider is whether you want a double wall tent or a single Walton so what I mean by double wall tent is you have the mesh body of your tent and then you have the rain fly over the top of it so that's one wall two walls one of the things I really liked about having a double wall tent was being able to just sleep in the mesh body part and look up at the sky and see the stars if it wasn't a rainy night and I still had protection from bugs also the double wall tents are pretty well ventilated because the condensation that comes from your body and the moisture and air and all of that will collect on the rain fly of the tent and then run down to the ground rather than collecting on the inside of the tent you know on the only wall and then being a problem if you brush up against the side of the tent now all tents are gonna have some kind of condensation but double walled tents just do a little bit better with that another benefit of a double wall tent is that they are typically a little bit warmer on the inside they keep you more insulated and I kind of did an experiment with this not intentionally on the CDT Aaron perk and I were all camped out in the same area and Aaron and I both had single wall tents well perc had a double Walton and it got surprisingly cold that night and all of us slept with our water filter outside of our sleeping bag because we just weren't expecting the temperatures to dip down low so we didn't protect them and Aaron's filter froze and my filter froze but perks filter did not freeze there are a lot of variables that could be considered in this you know maybe perc produces more heat or maybe that one certain spot the park was at was magically a little bit warmer but you know I really do think that the fact that he had a double wall tent and we both had single Waltons did play into them they do tend to run a little heavier than a single wall tent made out of the same material because there is more material and then also I found that the double walled tents take a little longer to set up because you're putting up two separate pieces rather than one piece you know all together at once and in the rain if you set up the mesh body and then you have to take the time to pull out the rain fly and throw it over in my mind they can get a little bit more water on the inside while you're setting up then a single wall tent that is made out of a waterproof material that just goes up and you're not really having the floor of the tent exposed as much most double walled tents are made out of nylon or polyester nylon is typically stronger and a little heavier than the polyester but that means it can sag a little more and collect more water and heavy rains you may also see tents made out of something like silh nylon or still poly which just means it's nylon and polyester that is impregnated with silicon single wall tents are basically constructed so that the mesh part and the rainfly are just all together in one piece so in general with having just the single wall less material means less weight also because they usually set up with trekking poles you're gonna save weight of designated tent poles and as I mentioned before I think that they're a little bit better for setting up in the rain now the negative aspects of a single wall tent is you're gonna deal with more condensation because you don't have that mesh barrier and then the rain fly where the condensation can collect but you can mitigate this a little bit sometimes even if you're not having a heavy rain but just a light rain or you're sleeping somewhere that feels a little more damp you can leave one of your vestibule doors open for some added ventilation and then you just have to be mindful when you're in the tent not to rub up all against the wall where the condensation is collecting also as I mentioned before they can be a little cooler in cold weather and then because they're less ventilated they can also be a little warmer and hotter weather and also you really can't look at the stars like you can in a double wall tent where you just leave the rain fly off I mean yes you can leave the door open and kind of lean out and look but there was a specific meteor shower on the CDT where I was really wishing I could have that double walled tent I open the vestibule and you know kind of laid to where I could see out but it just wasn't the same as sleeping in the mesh part of the double wall tent with the rain fly off single walled hitscan beam made out of the same materials as double walled tents but the most lightweight option is going to be Cuban fiber known also as Dyneema this material is strong it is waterproof it is very lightweight and it is also extremely expensive one final thing to keep in mind about using a tent is that some tents require a footprint to protect the bottom of the tent if your tent does require a footprint the manufacturer will definitely let you know because of course they want to sell you some other piece of equipment now you can use the footprint that is made specifically for your tent if it if it is suggested that you use a footprint or you can use a piece of Tyvek which is going to be a little bit lighter and probably the lightest option for a ground cloth is going to be poly cryo plastic and you can just shape the ground cloth to where it will go under your tent you want to make sure that it does not stick out past your tip because then if it gets rained on water will collect between the ground cloth and your tent and you will probably find yourself in a swimming pool of water not only will the Tyvek or poly cryo options be a little more lightweight but they will also probably be cheaper than a designated footprint that sold specifically for a tent just a quick word on tent stakes I've used everything from a heavier tent state to an extremely lightweight tent stake and really I've used both in windy conditions in hard ground I've set up on a rock slab you can use whatever you're comfortable with so if you want to go with a heavier larger tent state to make sure that your tent is really anchored down well that's fine me personally I go with a very lightweight hook like stake from z pack so I'll put a link to that in the video description if you'd like to check those out but I found that even in very windy conditions or if I'm setting up on a rock slab like I mentioned before I've found ways for like four to five thousand miles to make those very lightweight tent stakes work and that's usually by taking some care when I put the stake into the ground you know making sure that I'm not just like killing it with a rock and and hammering it into another rock and bending it you know I'm just very careful when I put it in the and if I for some reason can't get it into the ground then I just lay it down and stack rocks on top of it but if you're not comfortable yet with using a lightweight stake then go with the heavier ones you have to do what works for you next up I want to talk about tarps tarps are a more minimalistic version of a tent basically so they're going to be made usually out of the same types of materials but because there is a lot less fabric you're going to have a more lightweight option most people who use a tarp are going to use some sort of ground cloth under their sleeping pad to again help with moisture and to kind of keep all of their stuff out of the dirt and also to protect their sleeping pad from anything that could poke a hole into it if they're using an inflatable sleeping pad tarps can set up being tied to trees or with branches also you can use trekking poles there is a lot of versatility with a tarp but with having that versatility there's also some need for skill so this is not something that you want to learn how to use in the middle of a rainstorm there are so many ways to set up a tarp that I'm not going to delve off into that today because I could talk for hours and you could probably still suggest a different way what I would do is if you're interested in learning to backpack with a tarp is to check out some of the ways that other people have preferred to set up their tarps and then see what works best for you some of the benefits of using a tarp again are how lightweight they are the versatility of them you can get some pretty good views you also get to be you know more one with nature there is a ton of ventilation and also a tarp can act as a quick cover for quite a few people in a rainstorm if necessary some of the cons of using a tarp as your backpacking shelter might be less protection from bugs less privacy if you're in a well populated camping area sometimes you might want a break from nature you know we're at it kind of gives you this little haven where you feel like you're in a little den a tarp is not going to provide you with that feeling quite as much as a tent well you're going to have less protection from the elements and again it fires a little more skill than a tent and you're probably gonna need to familiarize yourself with some knots which isn't necessarily a negative thing because that's always a good skill to have there is kind of an extreme option in the world of tarping and that is the poncho tarp now I think that this is really very efficient because you have your rain gear and shelter all in one so it definitely saves a lot of weight but with this you're gonna have even less protection from the elements I think that it would be an okay idea for somebody who already has like normal sized tarping experience it's also a shelter that I think you have to be willing to kind of work with so if it's extremely windy and rainy and you're up on a ridge then you're probably not going to want to stop and use this as your shelter so you're gonna have to be willing to put in longer days to find the right conditions and the right setting for something like this if you want your shelter to be something that you kind of enjoyed chilling out in at camp then the poncho tarp might not be for you one way to get a bit more protection if you're going to use a tarp especially the poncho tarp is to have a lightweight water-resistant Bibby this will give you more protection from the elements also from bugs it's gonna minimize drafts add some warps to your bag and also protect your bag or quilt from back splash so when it's raining and it hits the dirt and then splashes back onto you this will kind of help keep you from getting soaked that way a lot of these lightweight babies will have a waterproof bottom so you could eliminate the ground cloth if you wanted to also there are the traditional variety of bivy bags so these are the ones that act as a standalone shelter and are also very minimalistic so you have this bag that's waterproof and covers your sleeping system and then has a hoop to keep the bag from laying on your face while you sleep at night some of the benefits of using a traditional bivi bag as your shelter is that they can be lightweight they're still going to protect you from mosquitoes and the elements but the flipside of that is these bivy bags are pretty confined so you might deal with some condensation issues also I personally would feel kind of claustrophobic in like a coffin like the shelter and because they're so small you're probably not gonna have space to put your gear inside the shelter so it's going to be the situation where you kind of have to waterproof your gear and set it outside now an option for that is if you line your pack with a compactor bag then you can just put the pack inside that compactor bag and roll it up and whatever here you want inside there to be protected if it were to rain outside well that is it for all of our ground dwelling shelters and next up we have hammocks the hammock community is ever increasing in size as time goes on and I have had a lot of people tell me that their favorite thing about sleeping in a hammock is how comfortable the hammocks are and how well they sleep at night in fact I've had a lot of people say that they thought that they were never gonna be able to backpack again because sleeping on the ground just wasn't an option for them anymore because of a bad back but after discovering hammock camping then they were able to start backpacking again other than the comfort of sleeping it's also nice to have a hammock after a long day of backpacking that you can just set up and lounge in at camp it's very convenient to have a hammock in an area that's extremely rocky or Rudy as long as you have some trees to set up in because it doesn't matter what the ground is like you're gonna be hanging out in the trees anyway but on the negative aspect side of things you do have to have trees to be able to set up your hand you're also not going to be able to spread out as much as you would in a tent if you have a hammock and then there is gonna be a little less privacy associated with a hammock than with a tent you got to make sure that your booty ain't hanging out for everyone to see you while you're changing clothes it's a little more difficult than saying with tents or tarps who reduce the weight while still protecting yourself properly from the elements the reason I say it's difficult to decrease the overall weight of a hammock setup is there are a lot of components to this type of system you'll have the hammock itself and then some sort of suspension system whether that straps or cords and then you've got to have a tarp or rain fly to protect you from the rain potentially some bug netting to keep the mosquitoes and flies out and then an over quilt and or under quilt depending on how you should expect the temperatures to be now when it's warm enough some folks might use just the hammock and a foam pad but you have to keep in mind that in a hammock because you're hanging up and there might be drafts of wind coming under you you won't have that insulation from the ground to help keep you warm some hammock systems are sold as a one-piece type deal that covers all your needs and then there are others where you can piece them together separately if you choose like with tarps it's going to take a little bit more skill to set up a hammock than it but with anything else when you do something over and over you're gonna get it more efficient at it I started out my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail with a very heavy and cheap hammock set up I had no prior experience so the whole needing a little bit of skill thing I was definitely lacking in that but I think that I'm gonna give it another go I've had a lot of folks say you know you should try it again don't knock it until you try it properly so pretty soon here in the future I am going to purchase a proper hammock set up give it a spin for a couple of days and I will record that and let y'all know how it goes kind of doing some research right now on what option I want to get so if any of you hammock errs have some suggestions please feel free to leave those in the comments below I've always heard that the ultimate hang is a great resource if you want to learn more about hammock camping and they have an updated version the ultimate hang - available now so I will put that in the video description if you want to check it out for those of y'all who are just getting into backpacking I know that this was a lot of information all at once to think about backpacking shelters but just as a summary if you're looking for something that's relatively simple and light and reliable then you might want to opt for attempt if you're looking for something that's more minimalistic and as lightweight as possible and you don't mind it requiring a little more skill then you might opt for a tarp and finally if you're truly looking for the best way to be comfortable while backpacking and to get the best sleep at night then you might want to try out a hammock just like with all backpacking gear your shelter is gonna bowl down to personal preference and for those of y'all who are watching today who are more experienced with backpacking feel free to share in the comments what shelter you use and why you think it's the best option for you because the folks who are just getting into backpacking can probably learn a lot from that especially if they have preferences in common with you either way whatever shelter you choose you're gonna need to be warm and cozy inside when you sleep so tomorrow I'm gonna be covering sleek systems if y'all enjoyed this video today do not forget to subscribe and thank y'all again so much for watching and we will see y'all next time you

Channel: Homemade Wanderlust

Views: 673,603

Rating: 4.8852267 out of 5

Keywords: travel, hiking, backpacking, hike, gear, adventure, fun, story, Appalachian, Trail, PCT, CDT, thru-hike, Auburn, Alabama, epic, climbing, canyon, national, nature, mountains, update, park, lake, trail, tents, camping, summer, University, Aubie, River, stream, Mountains, National, Scenic

Id: 4P5yypHZ-5A

Length: 23min 4sec (1384 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 04 2019