Originally Posted by
staehpj1
I'd go a step further and say that not only is a 4 season tent not necessary, it is a poor choice for most bike touring. You would be adding a good bit of weight, bulk, and expense for no real gain.
Where the wind is bad I do usually pitch the tent where there is a least a little shelter from the wind. It doesn't have to be much, a slight rise in the ground, a retaining wall, a berm, some trees, or even the edge of a corn field will suffice. It has worked for me even the wide open and windy country like Wyoming, Montana, Kansas, Eastern Colorado, and Texas. On the Trans America our group of three managed with a cheap 4 person dome tent.
If your tent has those little ties that attach the fly to the pole, you know, the ones we all ignore... Tie them if wind is expected, they make a big difference. Extra tie outs are another option, but I have never bothered with them and been fine in some pretty severe conditions.
I personally really like the Eureka Spitfire 1 for those trips where I use a tent. It stands up to pretty strong winds and is light and inexpensive (you can find them for a little over $100). It has enough room that I have been comfortable with my 55 pound dog in the tent with me. I prefer it over tents that cost 2, 3 or 4 times as much.
Then there is the fact that our level of exposure to suffering in the event of an unlikely failure is low when touring. So even if we had a tent failure, we would have a single miserable night, and find another tent or a place to stay indoors the next day or so.
I have gotten away from using my tent for most trips and take a bivy a lot of the time, but when I do take a tent it is my Spitfire. To me the one drawback to the spitfire is that the poles break down into a rather long package. Some folks find it on the small side and tall people might find it too short. The length thing depends on whether you are willing to have your head and feet in the tapered ends. The tent is actually very long. In any case I think the OP mentioned being on the short side so it should be a none issue.
Setting up guy wires for a tent isn't that hard and, in the case of some tents, it's necessary even in light winds. I folded a Eureka Alpine Meadows 4 in half because I didn't set up guy lines. The Alpine Meadows is a large tent (48" at the peak) and catches the wind like a sail. That's the only tent I've ever had a problem with however. The Big Agnes tents I have are both low tents that would probably stand up to a hurricane before then would be damaged.
I will add to you comments about Eureka tents. They are a good product for a good price. I carried a Eureka Timberline for years..still have it...before I went to Big Agnes. Eureka tents are heavier than the Big Agnes (about double the weight for the same space) but they are also about half the price. If they have a failing it is the width of the packed tent like you said. The Eureka tent package is about 25" long. If you want to put that in a pannier (I don't know why you'd want to carry a tent that way but to each his own
), that's too long. It's even long for putting on a rack.
The Big Agnes tents are 18" long for comparison.