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Tents?


rodw

16-Feb-2004
9:51:22 PM

On 16/02/2004 Mighty Mouse wrote:
>Vietnam isnt too bad- i was over there last year for a month and while
>there is always the dodgy tourist crap, i came across a lot of good quality
>gear

Did you get any climbin in or isnt there any?


mousey

17-Feb-2004
6:23:38 AM

yeh i unfortunately didnt have any gear with me so it was bouldering only- but Halong Bay is an absolute goldmine of limestone towers waiting to be climbed. my plan is to get back there one day and just climb


trent

17-Feb-2004
11:25:43 AM

Take a look at the Fairydown Altimate. 2-person alpine tent. 4 poles. Front and back vestibules(although the back one is small it is big enough for two packs) and it weighs 3.2kg. I have one and so does my friend and we both agree that they are awesome bombproof tents. wind, rain and snow from any direction doesnt phase this bad boy. It has heaps of internal pockets and attachment points for a clothes line. Im used mine in hot weather too and because it has two doors it ventilates really well.

I have a Minaret which is awesome for 3 season stuff especially when wet as you can pitch the fly first, then put the inner up from the inside. The new material from Macpac is great. UV30. Its a silicon treated nylon that is UV stabilised. The best part is that it seals the needle holes itself, so there is no need for seam sealing. Also because the silcon encapluates the indiviual threads rather than coating it the nylon is much more flexible with gives it a higher tear strength for a lighter material. I the snow i found it to be a good tent provided i pointed it bum to the wind and made some snow walls. On a rocky surface the tunnel design is a pain where as the free standing Altimate is great.

My experience with Biblers and for that matter any single skin tents is that unless you are in below freezing conditions you end up living inside a rainforest. Not really recommended unless this is going to be an alpine only tent. However, MSR and Fairydown are looking into single/double skin hybrid tents. Essentially it will have a waterproof, breathable roof with mesh/material sides. In foal weather the sigle skin is lowered to the ground to seal out rain and snow. I fine weather the single skin is raied to expose the mesh (breathable) sides. A great idea that will be functional in most conditions but still lightweight and compact like a Bibler.

Trent

justin

29-Feb-2004
1:25:03 AM

i have a salewa sierra leone, and swear by it. its been awesome in both the snow (australian) and the pines in summer. Its great for bushwalking, but larger enough for two people to call it home for a longer amount of time. The vestibules are big that allows for gear storage and cooking in snow etc.

i wouldnt even dream of getting anything else, waterprrof, strong...

cheers justin


Robb

1-Mar-2004
2:07:54 PM

ive had a bibler eldorado tent for a few years now. used it in patagonia, aconcagua, bolivia. awesomely water proof and bombproof. good venting and sets up in about 2 minutes. freestanding so you can jump inside and put up the poles quickly and easily.
and the other bonus that it is super light. the bibler eldorado is slightly bigger than the i tent and worth the extra bit of money. a vestible is also available that works quite well.

i tested it briefly in australian conditions for a weekend b4 i went o/s and it performed as any tent would in moderate rain and windy conditions. fine. A tent is unecessary in australia 95 percent of the time anyway. why bother banging in tent pegs when the sky is clear and small tarp, sleeping mat and bag can be set up in about 1 minute.

neil - why would you want to sleep in when there is climbing to be done?

some people rave about the macpac tents - Im not convinced.


Rich

1-Mar-2004
2:45:56 PM

rob i think i met you at gilhams crags.. i was leading do u mind if i smoke just when u were leaving..
u still goin on about your no tent idea?
and uh when's the plastic tour of oz happening then hey? ;-)

cheers
Rich


jens

1-Mar-2004
11:14:36 PM

I have a 'no-tent' tent. it's called a swag, and I love traveling around the outback with it. Always sleeping with great view of the stars. Only problem is, I have a girlfriend that likes to have leg room with some form of privacy. I think I have found the ideal tent though, the Mountain Harware 'Hammerhead'. I had a look at it, and it's possible to roll back half of the fly to expose the sky through the inner fly-mesh.

Went to snowgum and asked for a discount. They told me that I missed the sale they had on their phase-out models of 25%. They didn't want to take my cash, when I asked to get the same reduction. Snowgum obviously don't need the cashflow.


shmalec

2-Mar-2004
1:13:15 PM

Macpac Olympus
-flaps like crazy in the wind.
-very fast to put up as fly is velcroed to inner
-lots of trouble with poles lately (inserts tearing out)
-nice and long if you're 6' 2"
-generally happy with it but its abit heavy for general hiking and not quite sturdy enough for serious mountains. Bit of an all in one compromise. Wouldn't get it again.

if you're getting one for mountaineeing get one with a decent vestibule for cooking and go for lots of crossing poles. Mountain hardware seem very solid.
If its just for general ozy use, get a very light one for hiking and a very cheap one for car camping. The car camping one will protect your expensive one from general wear and tear.


jens

2-Mar-2004
6:38:59 PM

good advise, thanks!

dodgy

9-Mar-2004
3:54:42 PM

re-the Bibler Eldorado etc. Bibler have a new model, same layout as the Awhanee.
Two person, lots of headroom, good ventilation, 4 season...
The slogan reads "lose weight now, ask me how..."
1.3 Kg.
Any questions...


jens

9-Mar-2004
11:34:25 PM

Thanks Roger, I'll have a look on their website.

By the way, what happend to you on the weekend? The Raps were great, and the weather played along as well. Hope we can catch up again soon.


neats

10-Mar-2004
10:29:15 AM

me thinks he has a new toy...


jens

10-Mar-2004
11:27:37 AM

One of those two wheeled ones, I feel!

Better chance of catching up with him in a hells angels bar!

twon2is7

31-Dec-2004
11:54:32 AM

On 9/02/2004 JohnK wrote:

>Saved a bunddle by
>getting it mail order directly from NZ (they are an NZ based Co).

URL please? where did you order it from?

thanks!


Paulie

2-Jan-2005
1:45:27 PM

There are tents and there are tents. I have 2 and a bivvy.

If you want an "on mtn tent", then buy one, but be prepared to put aside a lot of $$

My Olympus caters for most everything the weather throws at it. I don't know how you all have been pitching your Olys but if guyed properly, they are bombproof - even in a cross wind - and I've had mine in some truly horrible weather with barely any movement (of course they flap a bit, it's a bl**dy tent!!)

My g/f and I lived in our Oly for 4 months while cycle touring Canada, and have conversely had it on a glacier in the middle of winter at -20 in a full on blizzard and in full on torrential rain in Poland and also in a Fiordland...

The only problem we've had with it (in 4 years) is that the poles have fractured a couple of times...probably more to misuse (read: standing on them) than anything else - it's never good to break a pole, but the good thing about Macpac is they're well represented in a lot of countries and it's easy to get a spare/repair really quickly.

The beauty about the Oly is the number of pitch variations you get with it (3). Last winter on various winter climbing trips we used just the Fly and poles up on Ben Nevis to save weight, brilliant. Then in summer you can pitch it sans fly in 30 degrees under a starry sky, again, brilliant.

Paulie


rhinckle

3-Jan-2005
8:20:50 PM

what you need is a synthetic sleeping bag. then buy a tent for the cold. you don't need one for the heat & if it rains you'll still be warm. a cheap synthetic bag at 1000m in autumn & overnight rainstorm. ( i did this as a test with a car to retreat to). perfectly warm. no zippy noises. you get to see the stars. just don't forget the insect repellant.
actually:
get a tent for winter and a good hammock for summer.


Superstu

3-Jan-2005
9:23:47 PM

nothing more tragic than seeing a big bucks mountaineering tent getting UV zapped in the dirt at Arapiles... (usually by some uni club snob on uni-funded club gear... )

definitely two tents are the way to go.. one for above the snow line only, and something cheap for everything else, or sleep out, or get a van... in the end it saves you money so you wont have to replace your good tent every few years


shmalec

4-Jan-2005
7:54:29 AM

On 2/01/2005 Paulie wrote:

>My Olympus caters for most everything the weather throws at it. I don't
>know how you all have been pitching your Olys

Had mine in a blizzard on Aconcagua for 3 days with a dozen guy ropes and a 1.5ft high rock wall facing into the wind. Admittedly it survived which is more than alot of other tents and I was glad I'd paid a little extra for something decent. However, it needed an overhaul afterwards including complete replacement of 2 front panels and repair of all 4 main attachment points most of which had torn. It flapped like crazy because of the large unsupported sections between poles and alot of the waterproof coating on the fly broke up. I've also had at least 4 broken poles in the last couple of years.

If you want one tent for everything its worth the money but is a kilo overweight for general Oz hiking and I think you can get stronger ones eg North Face, Mountain Hardware for big mountains.

Its still in good nick and is my only tent so maybe its just the grass being greener elsewhere.

Jens - bought anything yet?


Paulie

4-Jan-2005
12:25:19 PM

On 4/01/2005 shmalec wrote:

>Had mine in a blizzard on Aconcagua for 3 days with a dozen guy ropes
>and a 1.5ft high rock wall facing into the wind.

You're keen mate :) I probably wouldn't take the Oly up Aconcagua...


Superstu

4-Jan-2005
9:10:42 PM

i have a mountain hardware trango 2.... it's real heavy... but super comfortable... heaps of pockets, hooks, nifty features, good space usage, can be set up on rocks without pegs... slept three at high camp quite OK although it's a two person tent... brilliant for base camp/advanced base camp , it will stand up to anything, with crossed poles and super strong materials. Probably not a good choice for light and fast alpine ascents, and it won't be coming out of the bag in Australia unless there is snow under it.

my partner is onto her second olympus... the flys just don't last and they are darn expensive to replace.... so I got the trango 2 for the last trip and it came home looking pretty good.

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