Tent for Wrangells in August

[schmalzy]

I was in the south wrangells this September 10-20 with a Kuiu mountain star. Some wind, rain, snow. Tent worked fine, but I would probably go with the storm star if I was expecting lots of snow. We got several inches wet heavy snow, and with all the mesh on the Mtn star, you often got wet if you brushed against the mesh&fly from the inside. Nothing major, but would go stormstar next time

Good info, thanks. This hunt is an August hunt but others may not be.


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[JPhunt]

Went with Mont Aug, 2020 in the Alaska range. Took the Mountain Star tent it worked great, easy to set up, had plenty of room, and handled the wind and rain with no complaints.

 

[Clarktar]

No one uses a floorless tipi style ?

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[schmalzy]

No one uses a floorless tipi style ?

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All I currently use for Texas and AZ but zero experience in AK. I know a few guys use them with success but seems to be overwhelming majority go with traditional floored tent.


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[kaboku68]

Old School but best school. Look for a Black Diamond Eldorado on Ebay or find it in overstock. You should be able to find it for less than 500. You can find carbon fiber replacement poles and skip the stakes to use rocks as tieouts. You are surrounded with rock everywhere you go. That cuts down on your weight. Vent the Eldorado properly. The toddtex fabric can take the monsoon if it comes.

I am also a bigger guy and I use a microfiber WM Badger with an OR Bivy sack. It is warmer and more comfortable than a synthetic bag and the Bivy keeps it dry in the wettest conditions. I can tell you that if you emulate this you will be very comfortable no matter what comes your direction.

 

[gfb0904]

I used a Storm Star in the Wrangells this year and am happy I had it. It easily survived a significant multi day wind/ice storm. A three season tent would have probably survived it, but it would have been sketchy. I'm at the point where I'd rather carry a bit of extra weight in my tent to have a more bomber setup. I usually use a Hille Nallo 3 GT when hunting the Wrangells with a partner, and that setup has always been awesome.

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

No one uses a floorless tipi style ?

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I exclusively use a Floorless DCF mod while sheep hunting, even through the end of the season in late September.
It requires a bit more experience to know it’s capabilities and how to use it appropriately, but it will weather anything that my Kuiu Mountainstar will, probably more actually.


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[Clarktar]

I exclusively use a Floorless DCF mod while sheep hunting, even through the end of the season in late September.
It requires a bit more experience to know it’s capabilities and how to use it appropriately, but it will weather anything that my Kuiu Mountainstar will, probably more actually.


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Awesome to hear. This echos my opinion but I admittedly have not used a mid in AK mountains, but I have in the North Cascades in WA during late fall.

Look forward to packing my DCF mid this August/September.

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[B_Reynolds_AK]

I was in the south wrangells this September 10-20 with a Kuiu mountain star. Some wind, rain, snow. Tent worked fine, but I would probably go with the storm star if I was expecting lots of snow. We got several inches wet heavy snow, and with all the mesh on the Mtn star, you often got wet if you brushed against the mesh&fly from the inside. Nothing major, but would go stormstar next time

I think the Stormstar could have even been more wet, due to condensation, in those conditions. I find that the Mountainstar is the driest tent I’ve ever used in wet conditions, due to the fully mesh interior that doesn’t build up any condensation. I think the ideal storm worthy tent would be the Stormstar, or something like the Hilleberg Allak, with a full mesh inner.


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[schmalzy]

I think the Stormstar could have even been more wet, due to condensation, in those conditions. I find that the Mountainstar is the driest tent I’ve ever used in wet conditions, due to the fully mesh interior that doesn’t build up any condensation. I think the ideal storm worthy tent would be the Stormstar, or something like the Hilleberg Allak, with a full mesh inner.


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Great feedback. Thanks.

Pretty sold on the mountain star for performance/weight/price.

I’ve got a borah bivy i use in my floorless that’s pretty lightweight. Worth using to keep pad and bag clean and together or not worth the weight penalty?

Have slept in a “traditional” tent in probably 10 years.


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[B_Reynolds_AK]

If I use my Mountainstar, I do not use my Borah Bivy. As you know, you will get condensation inside the bivy at times. I stay perfectly dry in the Kuiu tent. Now you might want to consider taking a bivy for emergency use out on the mountain, away from camp. I will sometimes bring a SOL waterproof/breathable bivy ($60) for that use, when I have a traditional tent for camp.The Borah wouldn’t make a good stand alone bivy while exposed out in the open.
If I’m going ultra light with the mid, I almost always have my full camp with me, or close by, so in that case I do not bring a SOL bivy.


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[ColeyG]

I've been using the Hilleberg Anjan 2 GT as my sheep tent for a few years now after switching over from the Nallo 2 GT to save a pound and a half. I love the configuration and everything about these tents for mountain hunts. The big vesti is key for extended bad weather and keeping your packs dry etc.

Due to the lighter weight poles you have to be careful where you set up the tent with regard to wind. It will take a beating, but not the worst that the AK mountains can deal out. I have yet to find a sub 5lb tent that will.

 

[dogman11]

I used the mountain star in the northern yukon i think 3 yrs ago when it snowned 3ft deep on Aug 16th.
We were stuck for 3 days needless to say my rainsuit was needed to keep the moisture off my sleeping bag.
I like Kuiu products except for that tent, I'm either going with the storm or a Hilli very soon.

 

[schmalzy]

I've been using the Hilleberg Anjan 2 GT as my sheep tent for a few years now after switching over from the Nallo 2 GT to save a pound and a half. I love the configuration and everything about these tents for mountain hunts. The big vesti is key for extended bad weather and keeping your packs dry etc.

Due to the lighter weight poles you have to be careful where you set up the tent with regard to wind. It will take a beating, but not the worst that the AK mountains can deal out. I have yet to find a sub 5lb tent that will.

Adding this one to consideration. Always liked how that vestibule looked. A few questions:

How has condensation been with the anjan 2 gt?

Any issues finding suitable spots with it being long?

Not being freestanding given you any issues?


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[ColeyG]

Adding this one to consideration. Always liked how that vestibule looked. A few questions:

How has condensation been with the anjan 2 gt?

Any issues finding suitable spots with it being long?

Not being freestanding given you any issues?


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The jumbo vestibule is awesome and the main selling point of the GT tents in the Hille lineup in my opinion. Having room to sit, store gear, cook, etc when the weather sucks makes a huge difference in moral.

The airflow through the Anjan is very good as compared with other models that have a full fabric door. The Anjan only has mesh. Any tent will condensate under certain conditions, 100% humidity and little to no air movement, and the Hillberg tents are the same. I wouldn't say they are any worse or better than any of the other brand names tents I've used. I've only had to sponge it out once that I can recall and that was after 3-4 days of being stuck inside hiding from pouring rain with basically no wind to move moisture.

The body portion of the tent is pretty small and compact as compared to the vestibule. I haven't had any issues finding a spot for it due to the length, but I have pitched the vesti over uneven terrain, rocks, shrubs, etc. to make it fit, choosing the flatter part of the spot for the body/sleeping portion of the tent.

All Hillberg tents are somewhat finnicky when it comes to the wind and wind direction. With the lighter fabric and thinner diameter poles (yellow label) as compared to the red and black label, I always try to pick a spot with a little wind break and then orient the tent so it will be nose or tail into the wind as opposed to perpendicular to it. I always guy it out well and anchor the corners. If the Anjan has a weak spot it is durability in the wind, but that is to be expected from any super light tent in my experience. The Nallo was better in the wind but I prioritized weight over rigidity and so far that has worked out just fine on the 6-7 sheep hunts I've used it on. I am sure I will get spanked hard by some big wind storm in it one day, but so far so good.

 

[HuntingGriff907]

My Kuiu Mountain Star Aluminum Pole snapped during a wind gust in the Wrangell Mountains this year. Luckily, the repair piece held for the rest of the trip. During the same wind gust, my hunting partner's Stone Glacier Skyscraper's stakes pulled out and blew down a ravine. My buddy had to make a quick decision, and he chased it down the ravine while wearing crocs. The tent sustained no damage from this incident.

I purchased the SG tent for my girlfriend's Friday Creek trip in September where it performed flawlessly. We didn't have any condensation issues with the SG Skyscraper even though our weather was awful for most of the hunt.

For mountain hunts, I always replace the factory 4 corner and 2 vestibule stakes with MSR groundhog 7.5" stakes for increased holding power. Maybe the mountain star should have blown off the mountain as well, but these stakes held it through the wind gusts.

 

[Vek]

Bomber 4-season is appropriate when you have to camp somewhere that the wind howls...e.g. on a ridgeline or saddle. My wrangell hunts involved neither, so I used a golite SL4 for two or the utopia 2+ solo. Maybe I got away with one there, but had no issues in wet or snow. I never had what I'd consider cataclysmic weather though. I habitually stack rather large rocks on my stakes, whatever the tent and wherever the pitch.

 

[AKDoc]

I've taken my Mountain Star on several sheep hunts with my daughter, and it has done us well with neither condensation issues nor any functional failures in some variously challenging wx...rain, snow, wind, etc. I've also used it solo on backpacking trips and numerous 10-day packraft floats. My daughter is petite, so the two of us could share the space just fine. That said, I wouldn't want to share it with another guy. Also, I do apply additional waterproofing spray each season (Obenauf's).



I've got to add that Hilleberg's are exceptionally well made tents...the best. I have a Staika (not for sheep hunting!), and it has been totally bomb-proof in insanely wild wx on Kodiak and western AK for the past eight years...hands down the best tent I've ever owned.

(side-note...you mention the WM Badger...and that is the best sleeping bag I've ever owned!)

 

[schmalzy]

Settled on the Mountain Star. Now just need to find one used or wait for kuiu to get them back in stock.

Picked up a Terralite by WM (25 degree bag) and have a Downmat Winter xp Lw. Pad is a little heavy but super comfortable. Looking at my gear sheet has me tempting to save the pound with an xtherm. Sticking with a high r value pad.

Right now total pack weight (using mountain star numbers) including rifle and spotter is 40 pounds. Rifle is just under 8 pounds all in.

Not included is food (1.5 pounds or so a day) and clothes worn and bino harness/binos.

10 days putting me hypothetically at 55 all in except for clothes worn (boots base layers and pants/shirt), binos and whatever water I’m carrying at the time.


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[schmalzy]

Well counter to my previous posts I Got tempted and picked up an MSR Hubba NX 1 to try while waiting to find a mountain star. It’s light but damn she’s pretty slim. Going to give it a few test runs over next few weeks.

I keep wandering back to a DCF mid (currently run floorless for most things locally) but leery of rolling the dice for this hunt.


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