A place to chat about gear and the philosphy of ultralight. Ultralight bushwalking or backpacking focuses on carrying the lightest and simplest kit. There is still a good focus on safety and skill.

Forum rules

Ultralight Bushwalking/backpacking is about more than just gear lists. Ultralight walkers carefully consider gear based on the environment they are entering, the weather forecast, their own skill, other people in the group. Gear and systems are tested and tweaked.
If you are new to this area then welcome - Please remember that although the same ultralight philosophy can be used in all environments that the specific gear and skill required will vary greatly. It is very dangerous to assume that you can just copy someone else's gear list, but you are encouraged to ask questions, learn and start reducing the pack weight and enjoying the freedom that comes.

Common words
Base pack backpacking the mass of the backpack and the gear inside - not including consumables such as food, water and fuel
light backpacking base weight less than 9.1kg
ultralight backpacking base weight less than 4.5kg
super-ultralight backpacking base weight less than 2.3kg
extreme-ultralight backpacking base weight less than 1.4kg
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Re: Tent for two

Mon 24 Jul, 2017 4:20 pm

Franco wrote:If we did a survey and 50 people replied to it , it wouldn't be 1% of what we sell in a year.
How would we know if those that enter the survey are just a vocal minority or represent the market ?
Do you think MSR does colour surveys before they launch a new line ?


I have no idea what MSR or other big retailers do. I was just curious what Tarptent did.
And you're absolutely right, there is more to survey methodology than randomly accepting entries.

It may be that it doesn't really matter, or that it's just not worth the time and expense. It could be that the vast majority of people would buy tents from MSR or Tarptent regardless of the color. I might be an outlier in caring about it.

Anyway, the Scarp 1 is a very nicely designed tent. It isn't perfect but it ticks a lot of the boxes.

Re: Tent for two

Mon 24 Jul, 2017 4:54 pm

Orion wrote: It could be that the vast majority of people would buy tents from MSR or Tarptent regardless of the color. I might be an outlier in caring about it.


I care about it, but not enough to stop me buying the tent. Way I see it, aesthetics are the last item on the list after things like space, weight, durability, stormproofness, blah, blah, blah.

Scarp's a good tent. It would still be a whole lot better if it was bright red, but.

Re: Tent for two

Mon 24 Jul, 2017 7:34 pm

Tarptent colour stands out. One can spot Tarptents with just one look by the colour coordination. Great marketing ploy and the colour works for me fine.

Re: Tent for two

Mon 24 Jul, 2017 7:47 pm

GPSGuided wrote:Tarptent colour stands out. One can spot Tarptents with just one look by the colour coordination. Great marketing ploy and the colour works for me fine.
Same colour as MSR NX series, and my Naturehike SR2. Stands out perhaps, but certainly not unique to TT.Image

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Re: Tent for two

Mon 24 Jul, 2017 8:38 pm

Here are 10 brands that have sold grey tents. I could post more....
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Re: Tent for two

Mon 24 Jul, 2017 8:51 pm

I like a tent that blends in except when I've lost it
I like grey for that reason; I also like gray for similar reasons
Colour is the least of my worries but if there are two or three tents that tick all the boxes, are all about the same weight and cost I would pick the most neutral, UNLESSS I was going to lose it of course, but bright flags and retro tape can fix that if needed

Re: Tent for two

Mon 24 Jul, 2017 8:59 pm

Top "not a Tarp Tent" - SMD Gatewood Cape - mine is a dark forest GREEN but when I bought it I could have had grey, tan or another colour - Red?!

Re: Tent for two

Tue 25 Jul, 2017 5:40 am

Ah, but TT has that yellow strip over the grey. Or is that not universal across the line?

Re: Tent for two

Tue 25 Jul, 2017 8:16 am

That yellow stripe is the sleeve on the sleeved tents.
It happen by accident.
When Henry made one of his Rainbow prototypes he had run out of the grey fabric so used yellow for the sleeve.
I told him that I liked that touch of yellow so he kept it in the production model.
BTW, some prototypes were made in bright red silnylon, not a good look for the production versions.(loud sort of red)

Ron Moak at SMD is a friend of Henry Shires. They both walked the PCT and started selling their own products within two years of each other (TT in 2000 ,SMD in 2002)
He does offer his shelters in both grey and green. I would think that if green was the dominant choice for customers , Henry would know about it.
But as I stated before , TT is not allergic to green, it's just not a viable choice right now for us.

Re: Tent for two

Wed 26 Jul, 2017 1:38 am

Franco wrote:I would think that if green was the dominant choice for customers , Henry would know about it.


That's touching on what I was asking: how the decision was made. And it sounds like it was based on Henry's experience and intuition.

While there are some functional issues associated with tent color I think it's primarily fashion. And I suspect that, like other areas of fashion (e.g. clothes), consumer choice actually runs second in terms of determining what styles are sold. Primarily we buy what's available, not necessarily what (we think) we want.

Perhaps Henry is right; there's reason to think he is. It would be interesting to see the numbers when/if Tarptent offers some shade of green.

Re: Tent for two

Tue 01 Aug, 2017 9:07 pm

I don't yet own a TarpTent - I'm quite keen to get myself a Scarp1 soon - they look like a great little tent.

Now just my 10cents worth...

Most UltraLight Tent manufacturers these days routinely offer their outers in a selection of colours.
Most UltraLight Tent manufacturers also offer their inners with a selection of inner designs, combinations, materials and/or colours - or a choice of the whole lot.
A mass produced tent off the shelf just cannot offer this.
I would not classify any TarpTent as 'UltraLight'.

ie. If you take the Locus Gear 'Khafra' as an example it is offered in 3 different coloured outers, 36 different inner designs/materials/zips and 4 different inner colours - that's excluding the full mesh inners and their variations. If you multiply that by the colours available it would roughly be: 36x4x3 different options - plus another 3x4x4 for the mesh combinations available.

The downside compared to something mass produced and/or 'off the shelf': $cost and waiting time.
Off the shelf tents generally offer: Option a. or Option a.

Re: Tent for two

Mon 13 Nov, 2017 3:49 pm

Hey guys!! I'm new to overnight hikes and the last time we had an oztrail 2.1kg 2 person tent. Did an overnight last year at wilson prom through sealers cove -> refuge cover -> waterloo bay and back to tidal. Thinkign to upgrade gears this year to something in the extreme-ultralight zone (doing another one this year!)

Been seing adverts on facebook on this Illumina Amber X tent from this website called Novaprosports saying its 1.3kg (whistles) ...but coudlnt find much reviews on it. Some of my friends are already getting it for our next hike but I thought to find out more from the experts here who have any idea of this tent?

https://novaprosports.com.au/collections/camp-hike/products/illumina-amber-x-1-2-person-ultralight-freestanding-hiking-tent-orange

I did some reserach but nothing in this weight seems to be around this price (thinking to get one below A$200).

Or if there are better recommendations out there please advicE!! :) Summer is here!! woohoo

Re: Tent for two

Mon 13 Nov, 2017 7:30 pm

lily2217 wrote:Hey guys!! I'm new to overnight hikes and the last time we had an oztrail 2.1kg 2 person tent. Did an overnight last year at wilson prom through sealers cove -> refuge cover -> waterloo bay and back to tidal. Thinkign to upgrade gears this year to something in the extreme-ultralight zone (doing another one this year!)

Been seing adverts on facebook on this Illumina Amber X tent from this website called Novaprosports saying its 1.3kg (whistles) ...but coudlnt find much reviews on it. Some of my friends are already getting it for our next hike but I thought to find out more from the experts here who have any idea of this tent?

https://novaprosports.com.au/collections/camp-hike/products/illumina-amber-x-1-2-person-ultralight-freestanding-hiking-tent-orange

I did some reserach but nothing in this weight seems to be around this price (thinking to get one below A$200).

Or if there are better recommendations out there please advicE!! :) Summer is here!! woohoo
That tent is a Big Agnes Fly Creek 2 clone and is most likely a rebranded version of the Naturehike Cloud UP2. I have another of their tents and it is very well made for the pricepoint. One thing to note with this particular model is that without a spreader pole it is very narrow at head height. I wouldn't recommend it for 2 people but the Star River 2 is fantastic (though a bit heavier).

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Re: Tent for two

Tue 14 Nov, 2017 8:04 pm

Tent-wise seems domes give a bit more internal room but are more complicated/extra parts ñ joints.

Recently got a bivy bag mainly for extra protection for a new air mat but also gives me options towards trying tarping and hammoking as different ways to walk.
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