Next hike
Trekking in Europe 2013
Summer 2013 we made our first really long mountain trek in Europe, starting from early June until early September 2013. We started the hike in Alsace and follow GR5 through the Jura mountains and the french Alps. At the Mediterranean Sea we had a small break for all most a week before continue our walk in the Italian alps follwing GTA (Grande Traversata delle Alpi).
Finding the right tent!
There is so many things you have to consider while picking gear for your hike. As our next hike will last for four month you will have to consider some other things. You really need to find stable, reliable and strong gear.
One thing we have to find now is a suitable tent. Some of the requirements is that it has to be lightweight and at the same time both comfortable and withstand bad weather.
On internet you can find plenty of website and forums with reviews and discussions about gear for your hike.
The first tent we thought of was Stephenson’s Warmlite but at the moment I have second thoughts as I have read some reviews about it and it seems a bit small to sit two person at the same time.
We have before used a very light tarptent from tarptent.com. It is very nice but a bit uncomfortable as you can’t sit up straight inside it and you have to crawl out and in. For shorter hikes this works all right but for a long distance hike I think you should use a bit more comfortable one. It should also feel safe and cope with heavy weather with strong wind and rain.
I have been looking at some other tents from tarptent.com, Scarp 2 (ca 1,7 kg)and StratoSpire 2 (1,1 kg), Double Rainbow (1,2 kg). All of them seems really nice. StratoSpire 2 and Rainbow is much lighter then the Scarp 2, but they all seems comfortable, roomy and they have space also for your package. Double rainbow feels a bit smaller but two person can still sit up at the same time. My experience also tells me tarptens.com tents usually are very fast and easy to set up which is especially of importance if it is bad weather and when tired. All three also comes with a really nice price compare to many other lightweight tents.
Take a look at them on Youtube. StratoSpire , Double Rainbow , Scarp 2
I think I like Scarp 2 best for it’s comfort but it is a bit heavy compare to the other two. With some extra equipment this one also can be used in winter time but I guess it will be a bit heaver than 1,7 kg then.
If any tips or advice or thoughts on these tents or any other for that matter, please let us know.
Our new tent has arrived!
The tent we choosed to use for our hike is Scarp2 (tarptent.com). It is a bit heavy (1,6 kg) but we think it is worth it as it will give us the comfort we wish to have on our long-distance hike. Still it actually is a bit lighter than expected but probably after seamsealing all the seams this probably will add up to a total weight of 1.7 kg, according to the specifications found on their website.
We will soon test it in the field. Afterward we will post a review and some images here.
