Tube Tents

I hate carrying a tent. I gave it up several years ago. When evaluating my backpacking gear and looking for things to leave at home to save weight, my tent stuck out as an unnecessary item. I know, tents are cool, and it’s nice to have a little privacy, but can you justify carrying the 5-7 lbs in the summer? That’s a huge percentage of your pack weight!

I’ve been leaving my tent at home whenever possible for several years now, but there have been a few times where it has cost me dearly. One night it dewed so heavily that when I woke up my sleeping bag was soaked as was the ground around me. Needless to say, I was a little cold that night. Another time it rained on us.

I would love to afford a Bibler Tripod, but can’t afford it at this time, so I began looking for an alternative. What I’ve come up with seems almost laughably simple… a tube tent. They are usually made of orange 4 mil plastic. Not very durable, but very multi-purpose. They can be used for a ground cover, wind shelter, emergency signal, or a 2 person tent. They only weigh 2 lbs, are very compact, and fold up to the size of a camp pillow. Best of all, you can buy one at Longs or Wal-Mart for about $10.

You will want to bring a length of nylon rope, some plastic tent stakes, and some clothes pins. String the rope through the tube and between two trees or use some sticks or trekking polls as tent poles. Use the clothes pins to keep the tent stretched out. Put rocks or gear inside the tent to keep the sides of the tent shaped like a triangle. The apex of the tent should be about 3-4 feet off the ground.

Using a tube tent is light-weight, cheap, serves multiple uses, and is an effective shelter in light wind and rain. Try it! You may find yourself leaving that expensive (and heavy) tent at home.

Survival Gear Checklist for Hiking

Even if the weather looks good and you’re only hiking a few miles in, it never hurts to have a backup plan. Many unexpected events could lead you from the trail and it’s easy to get lost when you’re unfamiliar with the territory or unable to see landmarks because of tree cover or bad weather. Here’s a list of some lightweight and inexpensive items that may “save your bacon” one day.


Compass and Map
Essential to finding your way home. Know how to use your compass to locate landmarks and read topographic features.

Emergency Blanket
Hypothermia is a main medical problem encountered while backpacking. Use this to keep warm.

Black 33 Gallon Garbage Bags
Use these for all sorts of things! Great for makeshift rain ponchos, waterproof backpack liners, backpack rain covers, etc. You can even use them to melt snow for water! Bring at least two.

Cord
Usefull for building a shelter, hanging food out of the way from critters, making makeshift splints, and much more. I like the orange cord that you can get in the camping section of Longs Drugs or Wal-Mart.

Water Bottle
A wide-mouth Nalgene bottle is the perfect multi-use container.

Foam Pad
Essential to staying warm on a cold night. Can be used to isolate your body from snow when sleeping or sitting. Can be cut up and used for a leg or arm splint.

Folding Saw or Wire Saw
When snow covers all the good fallen fire wood, you may have to find wood on dead trees.

Head Lamp
Don’t ever get caught in the dark without a light! I like the LED headlamps because the batteries often last up to 3 days. On cloudy nights, you may not be able to see your hand in front of your face. This makes searching for fire wood, tending to injuries, or setting up camp almost impossible.

Marking Tape
A small roll of orange tape can help signal a rescue team or even keep you from getting lost if hiking from camp during snow fall.

Signal Mirror
I use a compass with a mirror on it.

Tarp / Shelter
Here’s another multipurpose tool! I like using orange 4 mil plastic sheeting at least 6’x8’. It can serve as a shelter, signaling device, or just something to keep your stuff isolated from the snow.

Tinfoil
Use for building a fire on in wet conditions

Knife
Cooking, starting fires, hunting, building shelters, and tending to injuries often require a good, sharp pocketknife.

Flint
Flints last longer than matches and lighters and are not fouled by moisture. They are lightweight and cheap.

Tinder Canister
Should contain magnesium (my flint has a bar of magnesium attached), waxed cotton, small candle and 00 steel wool. These will burn even if wet. Essential for starting fires in wet conditions.

Whistle
Good for attracting attention.

Toilet Paper
Euphemistically referred to as “mountain money”, know one wants to be stranded without means of taking care of business. Can also assist in fire starting and drying things.

REI Quarter Dome T2 Tent Review

I just bought an REI Quarter Dome T2 Tent and tried it out last weekend. I was very impressed. Here’s the features I like about it.

• It is light weight (4 lbs 2 oz without the footprint.)
• It is free standing so its not necessary to bring the stakes.
• If you buy the footprint (13 oz), you can leave the tent body at home. Just use the footprint, poles, and rain fly for a 3 lb minimalist shelter!
• It has TONS of headroom. Very comfortable. It is ambidextrous too, so you can sleep with your head at either end.
• It has mesh pockets in the ceiling that are perfect for placing your headlamp in so you can see in your tent at night.
• It has collapsible vents in the rain fly for great ventilation.
• The polls and their correlating mounting straps are color coded for super easy set up.
• The tent attaches to the poles with clips rather than feeding the poles through loops in the tent. Again, super-easy to set up.

The REI Quarter Dome T2 is a 3 season, two person backpacking tent. Visit REI’s site for more reviews and specs on this product.

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