Ultralight means getting ultra trashed.................

Traindriver

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Dec 5, 2018
Messages
118
Location
Central Mi
I had great luck on a 7-day trip in some harsh ass wind rain and snow using a Big Agnes Copper Spur UL-1. I’m a bigger guy 6’1” 280lbs and it was easy to keep warm with body heat. Gale force winds and rain three of the nights and two days, snow another day. It’s small by all means but there was just barely enough room for everything. It really impressed me how well it held up.
 

sneaky

"DADDY"
Joined
Feb 1, 2014
Messages
10,063
Location
ID
I had great luck on a 7-day trip in some harsh ass wind rain and snow using a Big Agnes Copper Spur UL-1. I’m a bigger guy 6’1” 280lbs and it was easy to keep warm with body heat. Gale force winds and rain three of the nights and two days, snow another day. It’s small by all means but there was just barely enough room for everything. It really impressed me how well it held up.
Define "harsh ass wind" because we've had multiple days just this week in Idaho that would destroy that tent, and tents that are stronger

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 

Traindriver

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Dec 5, 2018
Messages
118
Location
Central Mi
Define "harsh ass wind" because we've had multiple days just this week in Idaho that would destroy that tent, and tents that are stronger

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
30-40mph sustained with 60Mph gust it literally took away about 4’ of shoreline in a day. It was the craziest weather I’d ever been stranded myself.
 

Broomd

WKR
Joined
Sep 29, 2014
Messages
4,221
Location
North Idaho
Rab Summit Mountain Bivi --nuff said. (its actually a tent but named 'bivi' due ot the lack of flame retardant--legal jargon.)
I should have posted earlier and saved you the heartache.

Comparably Hiily is heavy, expensive and oversized.

My wife and I have put our Rab tents through 85 mph winds and sideways rain on Kodiak and everywhere else.
Honorable mention, Integral Designs MK 1 lite.
 
Joined
Sep 22, 2013
Messages
6,389
If I'm in for crap weather, I don't wanna be in a small tent i can barely sit up in. May seem counterintuitive to most but that's when I go to the 4 season Clark hammock. The wind is broken by the tarp but I can run the tarp a bit high if I want and the hammock will gently rock me to sleep. I'm up outta the wet mud, happy as a clam. The tent campers left in the middle of the night.
 

Attachments

  • hammocks.jpg
    hammocks.jpg
    53.4 KB · Views: 110
  • hammockavatar.jpg
    hammockavatar.jpg
    9.4 KB · Views: 110
Joined
Oct 29, 2016
Messages
698
Pick a Hilleberg of your choice.
I’m running a Akto for a solo tent and a Kaitum 3 for partner trips.

Heard great things about the Soulo, Niak, Nallo/Anjan.

Just have to decide what label and model you like the best
 

Simon85

FNG
Joined
Oct 20, 2020
Messages
17
My first choice is hilleberg I had only good experience with this brand. Wind, rain, snow no problem.
 
Joined
Aug 10, 2019
Messages
2,496
Location
Lowcountry, SC
Rab Summit Mountain Bivi --nuff said. (its actually a tent but named 'bivi' due ot the lack of flame retardant--legal jargon.)
I should have posted earlier and saved you the heartache.

Comparably Hiily is heavy, expensive and oversized.

My wife and I have put our Rab tents through 85 mph winds and sideways rain on Kodiak and everywhere else.
Honorable mention, Integral Designs MK 1 lite.

Comparable Hilleberg "AKTO" weighs literally exactly the same, has a huge vestibule, and retails for $85 more. And it's a double wall.


 

Moserkr

WKR
Joined
Feb 26, 2020
Messages
997
Location
Mountains of CA
Opening day this year we set up a 8.5’ tall, 13’ diameter Titanium Goat tipi on a dirt patch on an exposed ledge. Great for glassing the basin, but the second night was hell. 50+ mph winds all night, and with no floor, the dirt blew into everything. My mouth, eyes, sleeping bag, all my gear. I started to worry about losing the tent after an all night beating and got my buddies up early, told em Id had enough. I never say that and they were surprised I did, and they had been wanting to leave for hours. Would i recommend that tent in that kind of wind or storm? Hell no. But she took it like a champ and made me very confident in it now. I would also trust my SO bt2 (silvertip) but it wouldnt be fun.
For floorless, I think a kifaru sawtooth or seek outside could handle it. But its sketchy to me in those conditions to have a single pole that is not well attached be your complete lifeline between you and harsh weather.
 

Kevin_t

WKR
Rokslide Sponsor
Joined
Dec 2, 2012
Messages
1,162
Location
Colorado
FWIW I know of a late season mountaineering trip that destroyed 2 4 season tents via broken poles and stopped fabric . Everyone ended up in a single pole Redcliff and the only damage was broken guy line or two


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Simon85

FNG
Joined
Oct 20, 2020
Messages
17
To find the middle way between light and heavy. If u take a tent with only 1kg I wouldn't bet on under have duty.
 

damxam

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Feb 10, 2016
Messages
273
Location
MT
My Eolus withstood some pretty gnarly wind and snow at 10k’ this spring. Steady 45-50 with 60+ gusts and I was pitched directly into it due to bad planning. Bucked it all like a champ.
 

Broomd

WKR
Joined
Sep 29, 2014
Messages
4,221
Location
North Idaho
Comparable Hilleberg "AKTO" weighs literally exactly the same, has a huge vestibule, and retails for $85 more. And it's a double wall.


Hillly has a decent tent there...thanks for linking. But I could see Kodiak weather banging that long tube like a rented mule.
To be honest, I'd avoid a double wall tent on an extreme hunt. I treat those hunts like a mountaineering exped.
Take the single wall for the ease of set up and bomber-proof construction. Condensation needs to be managed, but when the SHTF, I climb in and pop it up in mere seconds. Bomber.

Below: Mountain goat hunting Kodiak.....the yellow tent is the Go-lite Utopia floorless for eating/card playing etc.. The green bomber is an Integral Designs MKIII. One of the best, toughest tents ever made. Everest-grade.

edRjVox7Samo6nAd1dcz+g_thumb_fe2.jpg
 
Joined
Apr 22, 2012
Messages
7,411
Location
Chugiak, Alaska
Here's another option similar to that MK 1 Lite. It's less than 2 lbs., also bomber as hell, but also very expensive.
 

sneaky

"DADDY"
Joined
Feb 1, 2014
Messages
10,063
Location
ID
Hillly has a decent tent there...thanks for linking. But I could see Kodiak weather banging that long tube like a rented mule.
To be honest, I'd avoid a double wall tent on an extreme hunt. I treat those hunts like a mountaineering exped.
Take the single wall for the ease of set up and bomber-proof construction. Condensation needs to be managed, but when the SHTF, I climb in and pop it up in mere seconds. Bomber.

Below: Mountain goat hunting Kodiak.....the yellow tent is the Go-lite Utopia floorless for eating/card playing etc.. The green bomber is an Integral Designs MKIII. One of the best, toughest tents ever made. Everest-grade.

View attachment 227229
You can either double pole the Akto or get a 10mm pole for it. Also, the interior and exterior pitch together so there's no difference really in pitching it compared to pitching the single wall shelter you linked. Except you can actually sit up in an Akto and have a vestibule. I'd still go with a Soulo or Allak because of the better room and 3 pole construction that handles wind much better. A pound or pound and a half for peace of mind is worth it. There are some killer single wall tents out there, but space for gear and comfort is usually much more limited in them.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
OP
mtnwrunner

mtnwrunner

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 2, 2012
Messages
3,905
Location
Lowman, Idaho
Thanks for all the suggestions and replies......really good stuff. Lots to think about.
Don't mind spending the money if i don't have to throw it away or burn it at the end of hunting season. Seems i do that alot..............
I do know that am going to pack the extra weight for a better setup.

Randy
 

AKDoc

WKR
Classified Approved
Joined
May 16, 2015
Messages
1,556
Location
Alaska
As I read through this thread, which is fun and very interesting, one thing seems wonderfully clear to me...

For those of us who have spent considerable nights in a tent/shelter in the middle of total nowhere under absolutely crazy, punishing winds with added rain and/or snow...listening to it blowing and pounding through the entire night and withstanding numerous violent gusts with our fingers-crossed that the tent holds while also thinking through various "what if" scenarios...we all are so genuinely thankful for our tents/shelters in the morning when they make it through the night intact! I know I have been! It's a truly well-earned and very binding loyalty that becomes created for many of us.

I'm not an ultra-light guy, but I'm sharing the above observation with truly good intent. Lastly, out of loyalty and respect to my very good buddy from numerous nights of the above adventures, who is a well-traveled "base-camper" across Alaska for the past six-years, but waaaay over-weight for this conversation, I've got to say thank you....Hilleberg Staika...the best built tent I have ever owned.

Western Alaska...
IMG_1225.JPG
and Kodiak...
IMG_0730.JPG
 
Top