That's it! Gone back to tent...

[lightweightmick]

  What could be nicer than putting up a new tent! Taken delivery today...

Looks like the working weight is going to be 579 gms - anyone guess which make and model..?

I ditched tents years ago in favour of bivvy, then tarp and bivvy, then hostels and camping barns, so I've come full circle, but with modern materials the gap between bivvy and tent has closed up so much. My previous lightest tent was just under a kilo... so this comes in at nearly half that, making it a worthwhile choice towards becoming more self-reliant again.

[gunwharfman]

I'm going through "I love Bivi's" at the moment. What I do like about it is not being enclosed in one space and can only judge what's going on outside by sound. I haven't had to face wet weather yet, either getting the Bivi ready at night or when I have woken in the morning. I also feel a Bivi offers more opportunities to easily wild camp and I'm less conspicuous than when in my tent. I'm not fixed a rigid about it if I need or want to I'll just go back to my tent.

I'm guessing, is it a Z tent?

[SteamyTea]

What could be nicer than putting up a new tent! Taken delivery today...

Looks like the working weight is going to be 579 gms - anyone guess which make and model..?

I ditched tents years ago in favour of bivvy, then tarp and bivvy, then hostels and camping barns, so I've come full circle, but with modern materials the gap between bivvy and tent has closed up so much. My previous lightest tent was just under a kilo... so this comes in at nearly half that, making it a worthwhile choice towards becoming more self-reliant again.

I give up, let me know the answer.
I am also interested in what your last tent was.  Mine comes in at about 1.2 kg.

[watershed]

Nordisk Lofoten ?

[SteamyTea]

Similar size to my little cheap tent, which I bought as a test before I paid decent money on one.
I find it a bit small, i like to be able to share my space with my gear.  And have somewhere to cook safely [not setting my tent on fire].
I like the mass though.

[forgotmyoldpassword]

579 makes me think DCF, maybe a 1 person mid with no inner?

[lightweightmick]

579 makes me think DCF, maybe a 1 person mid with no inner?

No Cuben Fiber... I always planned to make a tarp out of Cuben... maybe they have sewing machines in heaven (...I've been good lol)
I did make my tarp out of .5oz spinnaker but Point North only had white in stock... I did plan on buying a green one from Poly IO but he went bust after my first order of Cuben stuff sacks and poly io footprint... I think he must have overstretched himself in setting up a small production facility..?
Here's the tarp:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eibBXNvePxk
Crikey seven years ago!

[Patrick1]

I wonder if there's a tendency to move around a cycle of tent - tarp - bivvy as we get fed up with the limitations of each. I'm flirting with tarp at the moment, having enjoyed tent but chafed at the weight and the enclosure, and used a bivvy a fair bit but got fed up with the lack of space to dress / cook in the rain. I think tarp's going to be fun for a while, but come midge season I'll end up adding an inner, and then I'll be pretty much back to tent weight and enclosure. And so the cycle continues...!

[gunwharfman]

Re: Tarp, if you are thinking of buying an Alpkit tarp I would suggest to have a serious look at the Rig 7. I have the 3.5 and for versatility, I think it's just a bit too small.

[Patrick1]

Re: Tarp, if you are thinking of buying an Alpkit tarp I would suggest to have a serious look at the Rig 7. I have the 3.5 and for versatility, I think it's just a bit too small.

Thanks, GWM. I bought a cheap Aliexpress silnylon tarp a couple of months ago, actually. 500g and 3mx3m, about £30 if I remember correctly. It seems very pleasingly well made, having used it for lunch stops on a number of day walks recently. My 12 year old daughter has got quite into researching different configurations on YouTube and is keen for us to try some overnight trips with it once the weather is a little more springlike! I've been impressed with how many options there are with a tarp of that size, from fully enclosed "tents" to very open "shelters". I'm sure we'll have fun experimenting.

[richardh1905]

The one thing that kills off the idea of a tarp for me is midges.

[gunwharfman]

I take a net over the head with me but have never had to use it yet.

[lightweightmick]

Nordisk Lofoten ?

You wouldn't, by any chance be in Glasgow..? 

[lightweightmick]

Re midges...I made an inner tent out of no see um... hooked up to each pole then thin elastic hooked over the tarp pegs - worked well.

Before I got this tent I was considering making just a head-end net, with some very thin elastic to nip it around the bag cover...

...and I needed the bag cover as I spent a very cold night one year up at Grisedale Tarn where the wind got up and took all the heat from my down bag... the tarp that year was the top of a kid's playtent lol
(The lightest bag cover is probably still the AMK Escape Lite at 155 gms. I spent a comfortable night in it on the last night of the Bike-Hike year before last at the Lion Inn, though the landlady did loan me a duvet... otherwise even in July it'd've been a shivery one!)
Yeah, so by the time you tot up tarp, midge tent and bag cover you're up to the weight of a small light tent (though they ain't cheap!)

[lightweightmick]

Thanks, GWM. I bought a cheap Aliexpress silnylon tarp a couple of months ago, actually. 500g and 3mx3m, about £30 if I remember correctly. It seems very pleasingly well made, having used it for lunch stops on a number of day walks recently. My 12 year old daughter has got quite into researching different configurations on YouTube and is keen for us to try some overnight trips with it once the weather is a little more springlike! I've been impressed with how many options there are with a tarp of that size, from fully enclosed "tents" to very open "shelters". I'm sure we'll have fun experimenting.

I think it's great that your daughter is keen on trying out the tarp!