Anyone use a floorless shelter in the Sierra's?

snopro176

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It looks like a decent route to drop a few pounds out of my pack and gain some room back. Main use would be 5k-9k August-october. Mosquitos i know would be miserable if near water but other than that? I killed a rattlesnake a few years back around 5k as well, down the road actually from one of the places I plan to hunt, so there's that in the back of my mind haha

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I used one august , september no problems at 10k ft


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snopro176

snopro176

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I figured the higher you go the less probability of those kinds of critters. I'm half tempted to give it a go just to see. The worst case to me would be mosquitos, just have to choose the spot wisely

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RosinBag

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I have done trips with no shelter at all and was fine. That isn’t my normal practice though. I don’t have any stand alone floor less shelters. I have a bivy, one person and two person tent I choose from. They run between 1.5 and 3 pounds.
 
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Hammock would be another early season option


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snopro176

snopro176

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I haven't gotten on board with the hammock idea yet. Im leaning towards a jimmy tarps granite mountain, under 14oz, good amount of room, but looks like you could set it up just as a spot to glass from as well. May be able to fashion a half nest if need be. A bivy is a good lite option, I've never tried one though, not sure I could stand the casket feeling haha

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idig4au

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Depending on weather, time of year and length of trip, I'll either go shelter less with a OR Bug bivy treated with Permethrin or I will go with floorless shelter with an MLD Duomid using either a bug nest or Tigoat bivy. Not worried about rattle snakes. Ants and mosquitoes are the things to protect against.
 
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snopro176

snopro176

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So I went with a luxe mini peak 2. They have 1 and 2 person inner bug nest that you can add, but you can also go floorless and save 1+lbs. I didn't save much weight over my previous setup but it's much more versatile. I wanted something I could run 2 if the wife wanted to come, accepted a nest, but also could act as a tarp or sunshade for glassing. Extremely reasonably priced too, I'd definitely give them a look, they just became available in the US.
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LionHead

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I've used nothing but floorless. I'm usually between 7-1000 ft in D5 or D6. My first shelter was two ponchos snapped together and a Mt serape. I've since upgraded to a tipi . Somehow bugs have never been an issue up high. Once at the Modesto res I camped to test a shelter and got eaten alive by ants ..never in the mountains. Lol....nice set up by the way looks adaptable.
 
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snopro176

snopro176

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I'm actually taking it out for its maiden voyage this weekend, but I think it's going to be better suited for later season and for hunts where Comfort is going to outweigh the weight penalty. For right now in archery season I've been running a simple tarp and bivy setup. I've never done the bivy thing but so far it's not the worst thing ever and it really is extremely light, versatile and takes up little to no room in the pack. I don't see myself hunting much above 8000 feet anytime soon that's why the bug thing was kind of lingering on my mind and I can definitely see an archery season ants being a problem in certain areas. This was 2 weeks ago in x6b
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Owenst7

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I live in Reno and backpack year round in the Sierra's. The only shelter I use is a MS mountain shelter, other than using a hammock when it's warm out. Really can't stand tents after going to tarps.

If you pitch your tarp close to the ground, the mosquitoes really can't get in anyway. There really aren't any mosquitoes in the Sierra's anyway. The tiny things you might see are wussies anyway and pretty much disappear before you even get the DEET out.

I worry more about red ants than snakes. I'm always excited to see a wild snake (moved here from Alaska where there are none) but have yet to see a rattler in the 12 years I've lived here. Red ants are dicks though!
 
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In the sierras Id mostly be concerned about ants. Having those bastards crawl all over you and your stuff sucks. I have begun using a hammock for early season. It is friggin awesome. No tent, no pad, no pillow. saves a lot of weight and is super comfy when you get it right. Not to mention it doubles as the most comfortable chair while in camp.
 

Owenst7

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In the sierras Id mostly be concerned about ants. Having those bastards crawl all over you and your stuff sucks. I have begun using a hammock for early season. It is friggin awesome. No tent, no pad, no pillow. saves a lot of weight and is super comfy when you get it right. Not to mention it doubles as the most comfortable chair while in camp.

Try glassing from it. Imagine glassing from a lawn chair. It's worth carrying the hammock for that even if you don't sleep in it, assuming you've got the landscape to sling it.
 

desertcj

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I carry a tarp Aug-Sept. Most of the time, I just sleep on my pad under the stars. If I'm still backpack hunting in Oct, then I use a Big Agnes 2 man tent. I think it stays a bit warmer. Tent is 5lbs, tarp is 2lbs so yeah. I've damn near been eating alive by mosquitoes in the Sierras so hearing that there aren't any is pretty funny! Ants, ya I've been crawled on all over by wood ants, never got bit or bothered? Never seen a rattler and hope to keep it that way. I'm usually between 7,000 and 11,000 but I've never slept above 10,000 or so.
 
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