3 Man Gear Configuration

[Poser]

Party of 3 doing a backpack style Elk hunt for 7 to 10 days. As far as maximizing weight efficiency and distributing shared gear, what do you guys recommend for shelter and cooking options? We were discussing going with a tarp type option, but something big enough for 3 + gear seems like it would be a very large, single piece of gear. 3 separate tarps? A 2 man tarp and a 1 man tarp? Cooking wise, one stove with possibly a slightly larger pot in order to save time heating water? What makes the most sense?

 

[Stid2677]

The Kifaru Sawtooth, can handle 3, would be tight but doable for sure even with gear. A stove is a critical item for me and I would never go with just one. The Jetboil SUMO is a great option for 2 or more with a small rocket or soto stove as a backup. The Sawtooth, can be shared with one guy packing the Sawtooth and the others packing the stakes or poles. Tarps are great until you get some real weather. If folks aren't warm and dry they will quit sooner, seen it over and over.

Sounds like a great adventure.

Steve

 

[Poser]

Steve,

Thanks for the response. We're still open to shelter ideas, though not sure if we want to invest in a 3 man tent for one trip. I do have a Mtn Hardware 3 man, 4 season tent that I have used on mountaineering trips such as Rainier and Pico de Orizaba in Mexico, but its overkill for Sept in CO ands it is a little cumbersome to setup on a daily basis. Its a fine basecamp tent, but I'm not sure I would categorize it as ultralight setup.

The 3 of us have a mixture of experience with backpacking and climbing backgrounds. Of course, we all hunt, but this will be our first endeavor with backpack style hunting. Have any other suggestions for shelter?

 

[trk3263]

I think the big question is what altitude and temps are you thinking you will have. Tarps are a great setup for UL but your question is very broad with the info your giving

 

[2rocky]

I would have a base camp setup then go ultralight tarp setup overnight out of there.

If the weather gets nasty, you have a rally point with extra clothes, and wood and a place to dry out.

My approach would be to do day scouts in 3 different directions then meet back up at base camp to compare notes on where the elk are and then the 3 of you take 2 days worth of gear and food and make a play on them.

The advantage to this is when you feel beat up and cold and lonely you just go the 3 miles back to base camp instead of 6 miles out to the trailhead to rest up and recharge. Then hit it hard in another direction.

Base camp can serve as your meat staging location pre-packout so you can not burn as many hunting days if you kill early.

Base camp might be your mountaineering tent, and a "hay tarp" with some firewood cut and a bottle of firewater, Hell even a chair.

 

[Poser]

~9,000 to ~10,000 feet.
Temps: ~30 to ~80 degrees.

 

[Justin Crossley]

The Golite SL5 would be a perfect setup for your trip. (Or something similar)

I would take one stove and a pot big enough to share unless you need to have the ability to heat water during the day while you're hunting. Sometimes I will bring tea or coffee for those cold morning glassing sessions. You probably won't need that in September though.

You don't need a backup stove imo. In Colorado in September you can start a fire to heat up your water if somehow your stove failed to work.

 

[Poser]

I would have a base camp setup then go ultralight tarp setup overnight out of there.

If the weather gets nasty, you have a rally point with extra clothes, and wood and a place to dry out.

My approach would be to do day scouts in 3 different directions then meet back up at base camp to compare notes on where the elk are and then the 3 of you take 2 days worth of gear and food and make a play on them.

The advantage to this is when you feel beat up and cold and lonely you just go the 3 miles back to base camp instead of 6 miles out to the trailhead to rest up and recharge. Then hit it hard in another direction.

Base camp can serve as your meat staging location pre-packout so you can not burn as many hunting days if you kill early.

Base camp might be your mountaineering tent, and a "hay tarp" with some firewood cut and a bottle of firewater, Hell even a chair.

That's some good suggestions. -will give those ideas some thought.

 

[7mag.]

The Golite SL5 would be a perfect setup for your trip. (Or something similar)

I would take one stove and a pot big enough to share unless you need to have the ability to heat water during the day while you're hunting. Sometimes I will bring tea or coffee for those cold morning glassing sessions. You probably won't need that in September though.

You don't need a backup stove imo. In Colorado in September you can start a fire to heat up your water if somehow your stove failed to work.

I was going to say pretty much the same thing. The SL5 without the nest should work great for 3 guys and gear. The Weight isn't too bad either. I think there is one for sale in the classifieds, without the nest for $200, right now.

For the stove, I've been running the same stove on 3 or 4 overnighters a year, for 7 years now without a single problem. Maybe I'm just lucky though.

 

[swat8888]

Last year on a 2 man hunt we had a SL5 and a MH skyledge 2 man. The SL5 was basecamp even though it was lighter. The MH was freestanding and we could set that thing up in about 90 seconds (which we had to do twice when the skies suddenly opened up). SL5 is awesome to have for the weight/space, but nowhere near as quick to properly setup...especially if you're on rocky ground and it usually takes 5-10 mins just to wiggle around all the stakes to get them shoved between all the rocks.

Both of us usually take our stoves, sometimes, if we plan on staying together....ie- one guy has already killed, then we'll share a stove...or at least leave one of the fuel canisters behind.

The biggest mistake I seem to make when basecamping it is not taking enough food....not enjoyable being stuck away from basecamp with a growling stomach. Thank god for blueberries in sheep country.

 

[fillthefreezer]

ill be the odd man out here i guess, i would not want to do 3 men and gear in an sl5, especially if you had to be in there with weather

 

[swat8888]

^^^^^I agree, or at least I won't be the one straddling the pole.

 

[Lawnboi]

What kind of hunting. 1 setup? Want to be very mobile? New setup every night? Temps are nice and warm so I'd sleep in my tarp if I wanted to move and I'd take the tipi if I wanted all three of us under one roof or I was not moving very much.

Also consider terrain, sometimes it's hard to find a place to fit those big shelters.

 

[Justin Crossley]

I guess I'm not sure how you can't fit three guys and gear in this tent? If you don't use the nest, you have even more room.

We are talking about backpack hunting not truck hunting.

 

[Justin Crossley]

Those are all full size sleeping pads.

 

[dirtytough]

Heck sheep hunting in AK we would use a 3 man tent for 3 guys. The Sl5 would be a palace compared to that. I have also used a 3 man tarp tent for 3 guys before and it worked. Never took more then 1 stove as long as all the guys were staying together, and I have hunted with 4-5 guys on occasions.

I guess it depends on how much room you need/want.

 

[Poser]

Interesting responses, y'all. -keep them coming.

 

[Nick Muche]

I guess I'm not sure how you can't fit three guys and gear in this tent? If you don't use the nest, you have even more room.

We are talking about backpack hunting not truck hunting.

Justin, is that the SL-5?

 

[Justin Crossley]

Yes it is

 

[Ironman8]

I don't have any experience with it, but on paper (depending on how you plan to hunt), the Seek Outside LBO may be perfect for multiple guys since it's modular and each of you can carry one section of the shelter (ie. Base + Tarp + Base) ....which from what I understand will sleep 3 comfortably even if you had a stove with it. You can also use that to "break apart" the pieces and branch out solo for scouting/hunting like 2rocky suggested and have a shelter in case it turned into an overnight. This would negate the need for a separate base camp, and probably be lighter in the long run. There's alot of possibilities with something so modular...

Stoves are another matter that is probably more personal preference than anything...