Touring - Tent Weight

I found a good deal on a 3 aluminum pole, double wall, 2 person tent. Do you think 6 lbs is heavy for a touring tent. Also it rolls up 22 x 7. Seems kinda long to fit on a rear rack. A self inflating Thermarest mat is about the same length I'm thinking about buying. How do you haul them? Do you think the poles will fit in my panniers?

You can save probably about 1.5 lb with something like a Sierra Clip Flashlight. Disadvantage is that is not free standing.

For the ultimate in lightweight, try an ultralight tarp instead of a tent. About 2 lbs total.

I am just begining to get into touring on bikes, but I have done a 200 mile stretch of the AT on an attempt at a thru hike. Had to go home for personal reasons but I did learn a bit about how much weight is a key ingredient on long trips. Depending on temperatures I would go with a backpacking hammack, which have a couple of key advantages.

1. Weighs 1.5 - 2 pounds :)
2. Comfortable now matter how rocky the ground is
3. Water dosn't pool underneath you in the rain.
4. Insect free (certain models)
5. If you have no where to hang it you can pitch it out like a tent using treking poles. Now I know on a bike tour you wouldn't have these but i'm sure you could improvise.

Henesy makes a good one called the backpackers hammock, I would check it out as an ultra light weight solution.

I have a hennessey hammock, however they're 1 person jobbers, not 2 if that's what you need. They are cool in that they are very lightweight, and can be pitched on the ground in a pinch. Not the best thing to use when rogue camping though, a tarp or bivy would be a better idea. A 2 person hoop tent should be around 4-4.5 lbs but they are typically not freestanding (which means you can move the tent while the tent is still pitched.) REI, MSR, SD, all make good fairly inexpensive 2 person hoop tents, some even make a "1.5" person tent which would be squishy for 2 but will work in a pinch. It's kind of made for somebody who wants alot of inside space.

Jay

I found a good deal on a 3 aluminum pole, double wall, 2 person tent. Do you think 6 lbs is heavy for a touring tent. Also it rolls up 22 x 7. Seems kinda long to fit on a rear rack. A self inflating Thermarest mat is about the same length I'm thinking about buying. How do you haul them? Do you think the poles will fit in my panniers?

I always pack my tent in a way markedly different than the way it comes packed when you first buy it. Make sure youcompress out the air trapped in it as you roll it up. I wrape the tent, the fly, put the poles inside my ensolite foam pad, and put them on the top of my rear rack. During rainy weather I protect it all with separate plastic bags: all that nylon can absorb a heck of a lot of water!

roughstuff

I've been using a jungle hammock the last couple years and its OK for a weekend trip. I like to sleep on my side and its hard to do in a hammock. Theres no room for gear or changing clothes and I don't like spending much time in it except to sleep.
I would hate to wait out a rain storm in it :p I kept thinking about someones post I read sometime back that said "you need to bringing along a couple of trees" when I was trying to find trees the right distance apart. I got it because I have a bad spinebone and after sleeping on the hard ground I can hardly walk. I'm hoping a Thermolite will be enough padding.
I like freestanding tents in a downpour. I've been in a few tents that collapsed
and I think a 3 pole would hold up well.
Roughstuff, how big a tent do you use?

a self-inflating pad will certainly help, but its real benefit is creating a buffer between you body and the ground. if your first concern is padding, look around at some foam pads. they can't compress nearly as much as a thermarest, but they are far more comfortable. ideal would of course be both, but this would bring up the always fun weight issue. a hiker friend of mine doubles up in this way, and he swears by it. so does his girlfriend.


best,

matt b.

I think 6lbs is somewhat on the heavy side.You should be able to find a good nonfreestanding at around 3 lbs and freestanding perhaps 4lbs.Now these will be called 2person but are what I call 1 1/2 because they only hold 1person with gear confortably.A true 2person would be 5 or perhaps even 6lbs but unless you have 2 persons it is not needed and if you do then you have an added person to distribute weight carried.My tent is a TNF 1 1/2 person freestanding close to 4lbs I believe and it has unique collapsing poles so it packs small but is not currently being offered.

In my opinion, 6 lbs is too heavy. As suggested earlier, a Sierra Designs
Clip Flashlight is a good tent to consider for 1-2 people. Mine weighs
in at 4lbs exactly. When I want to go lighter (which is usually), I go with
a tarp. An in between option, and one that I'd like to pursue, is the Tarptent
Cloudburst. Sort of a tent/tarp hybrid that sleeps two and weighs 32oz.
Check them out at: http://www.tarptent.com

baker

nice one baker. I wish I had seen those tarptents when I was thru hiking. If I don't go with the hammock I'll definitly be picking one of those tarp tents up.

Thanks

Ray

I use a Eureka Juno 2-person tent. It's freestanding, weighs in at about 5 1/2 pounds and was reasonably priced at $99.00. Also, it's easy to pitch, roomy enough for me and all my gear, and has held up well on tour. Finally, it's bug proof (a real plus here in Minnesota). Some folks scoff at the Eureka brand, but it works for me.

There are a lot of touring or back packing tents that are for 1-2 people that weigh around 3 pounds. Check out Campmor, they have the Eureka Zeus 1 EXO tent, it's made for only 1 person but weighs 3 pounds and packs down to 5"x14". Or if a 2 person tent is what you need then check out the Eureka Zeus 2 EXO tent weighs 3lbs and pack size is 6"x15". If you want a extremily durable 4 seasons 2 person tent then look at the Eureka Alpenlite 2XT it weighs more at 6 pounds but the pack size is 6"x19". These tents are just a small sampling of what's available and with more internet research you could find more. But pack size and weight is crucial for touring; too large of a pack size and your going to have trouble getting it to fit on a bike and too much weight means you may have to sacrifice something that you may need so you can carry the tent plus it's all that much more weight to carry. You need to always be thinking of what is the lightest smallest thing available that will do the job. Here's a few web sites about touring that you should read to educate yourself further on what you need to have:

http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/touring/index.htm

http://www.kenkifer.com./

http://www.myra-simon.com/bike/tips.html

Right now I'm in the planning stages to do some touring across America and Canada and have started by educating myself than I can make some intellegent decisions when I start buying, and these websites are sites I found in that pursuit.

My 'touring' is traveling from one campground to another here in Southern Illinois.
I've got front and rear panniers mainly to distibute weight. Most of my gear is for camping. Besides a sterno stove, mess kit, AA flashlight-lantern combo, I carry a small wood saw, bolo machete, collapsable fishing pole and a pump pellet pistol.The rest is just clothes,small towel,rainsuit,sm radio,rope,poncho,various extras and a cheap ultra light sleeping bag.
I bought a cheap freestanding tent that weighs about 3-4 pounds but it onlly has a rainfly that covers the very top. With fiberglass poles I'm kinda worried how it will hold up in a downpour.