Dual purpose tents

[D_greg03]

I'm wondering if anyone has used any double wall tents that you could set up just the rain fly as a single wall shelter. Then a guy could take the fly as a floorless shelter. And still have option to take a double walled tent when the bugs, snakes or wife call for it.

If any one has experience with this what tents are they.

If this has been discussed let me know.

 

[cvandervort]

Most new tents give you the ability to use the rain fly as a minimalist shelter, but the poles require SOMETHING to keep them in their shape (ie a footprint). So to answer your question: yes, but it's not, technically, floorless.

 

[LostArra]

Scarp II (Henry Shires Tarptent)

no footprint needed

 

[castandblast]

None of the tents I have that are capable of being pitched in "fast-fly" mode without the inner have a way to close the gap between the fly and the ground. With three or four inches of gap any wind can push through and bring in rain or snow. You would need to select a very sheltered site or stack some rocks on the upwind side. Seems like a fair weather option only, and I always seem to generate unpredicted crappy weather just by pitching a tent.

 

[BroodBuster]

I'm pretty sure all of the non freestanding Hilleberg's can be pitched with just the rain fly. But since the inner tent only makes up 20-30% of the weight I've never bothered. That and I've already got two tarps so I just make a game day decision on which to load.

 

[D_greg03]

None of the tents I have that are capable of being pitched in "fast-fly" mode without the inner have a way to close the gap between the fly and the ground. With three or four inches of gap any wind can push through and bring in rain or snow. You would need to select a very sheltered site or stack some rocks on the upwind side. Seems like a fair weather option only, and I always seem to generate unpredicted crappy weather just by pitching a tent.

That's what my fear is too. On my tent the fly might sit too high to be used as it's own shelter. I'm going to try it in the yard and see if I could jimmy rig it lower to the ground for better protection might be able to supplement the tent poles with trekking poles. But in reality it might just come down to getting a true floorless shelter and having both options.

 

[D_greg03]

That's also a good point. I'm not sure how much weight would actually be saved

 

[Becca]

The hilleburg Jannu set up without the inner tent:



We have never actually slept in it like this, just set it up in the yard to see if it would work.

Most of the time if we want a floorless shelter we just take a tipi style tent like our Cimmaron or sawtooth. When we want a more bombproof shelter (say for Kodiak trips, or trips with a lot of wind or snow in the forecast) we take the hilleberg and inner tent.

 

[GibsonKuenzi]

I have a mountain hardwear tent that I use with the fly and footprint only. It drops the weight substantially and increases useable space. I've used it in rain, snow and wind and it's worked. It probably has an 6-8" gap under the fly on the head and foot end and I've never had a problem with it. Then when my wife comes along I bring the inner.

I would suggest getting a 3 person tent if your going to use it for 2 people much. Mine is a 2p and it's super cramped with 2 people.

 

[tttoadman]

I bought a REI 1 man tent cheap off craigslist to play with. I cut about 6" off of the poles just so I could pull it to the ground. I cut all the netting off the inner tent until I had a bathtub floor. It knocked it down to less than 3#. It is really a POS, but I learned a little bit with it, and it packs really small.

 

[tttoadman]

Look at the Marmot Limelight 3P if the 2 person thing is pretty rare for you. You can get this for about $210 on Backcountry.com when it comes up on sale. It has dual doors and dual vestibules. The poles are hubbed in the middle(my brothers 2P is anyway) so it is should be much easier to setup in fly mode than some others. Put your money into a more compact setup for yourself if that is the one you get the most use out of.