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Gimme Shelter It's in the bag -- and in the tent |
By Greg Johnston
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
It was a wonderful, warm July night at Chelan State Park a few years back when campfires flickered and weary campers crawled into their tents and slipped into sleeping bags, thoughts of clouds and rain as distant as a NOAA weather satellite.
It was something of a surprise then, when a loud patter upon the tent woke Papa Camper from a slumber, and he recalled with a start that he had neglected to erect the rain fly on the family mega-dome.
Fumbling in the dark between piles of camping gear stowed in the tent, Papa Camper finally located his shorts and stumbled out to hastily position said fly.
In the morning, continued heavy rain spurred a decision to head for breakfast in town. As short stacks and orange juice vanished, hopes ran high that the sun would reappear.
And that's just what happened.
Upon our return to camp we found all gear in the tent dry, but one thing was missing: Our neighbors in the next site had packed and left, despite having just arrived the previous evening and taking the time and energy to pitch an old, flyless, canvas tent.
Two basic camping facts were immediately evident:
First, always keep your pants within arm's reach.
And second, a tent can make or break a trip.
The same can be said for a sleeping bag, as anyone who has spent a cold night in a skinny sack can attest. But finding and buying a good tent and bag is not difficult, despite a large variety of both.
Tents
There are three basic questions the tent-buyer must answer: How big,
how weatherproof and what design -- dome or tunnel?
"The common Northwest hiker will choose a two-person, three-season,
free-standing dome, but the tunnel-type tent is growing in popularity
because it is usually a pound or more lighter," says Casey Klahn, camping gear wizard at REI's Seattle store.
Dome-shaped tents have become the standard for several reasons. They offer lots of useable room, with plenty of head space, because the lower portion of the sides are nearly vertical. Domes ventilate well, limiting inside condensation, and their construction allows two doors and two windows. They are also free-standing, and unless the wind is blowing hard, do not require heavy staking.
The main dome drawback is weight. Take, for example, two popular backpacking tents. The REI Half-Dome offers 32.6 square feet of floor space, but weighs 5 pounds, 7 ounces. The tunnel-shaped Sierra Designs Flashlight, on the other hand, offers 32 square feet (6 more with the included entrance vestibule) but weights a mere 3 pounds, 8 ounces.
Budget-conscious hikers may prefer the Half-Dome ($99). But if you enjoy trekking on, say, Olympic National Park's Skyline Trail and its 9,180-foot elevation gain, having almost 2 pounds less on your back might be worth the Flashlight's $180 price tag.
In size, tents are generally rated in terms of sleeping capacity, from one person to six or more, and the main caveat is that many manufacturers stretch the capacity ratings of their tents a bit. A tent rated for two, for example, might not be roomy enough for two men.
Generally, figure at least 20 square feet of floor space for an average-size adult, but also consider the tent's shape. The best way to determine what is suitable for you is to go to a store with a good variety
and get inside the tent and try it out for size.
In terms of ability to withstand weather, tents are generally rated for three-season use (such as general backpacking tents) or all-season use (such as a mountaineering tent). The latter are usually heavier because more poles are used, but they can stand up to heavy winds and snow.
Not all tents come with rain flies. Garuda Mountaineering, a tiny Seattle company, specializes in high-quality, single-wall tents that utilize sophisticated venting systems and a laminated three-layer fabric. They are lighter than comparable "double-wall" tents, less bulky to pack and easy to set up. They have repeatedly scored highly in field tests by Backpacker magazine.
One other category is generally referred to as the "family camping" tent, usually used in a campground reached by car. A large, six-person dome with a rain fly is the family camping abode of choice for this writer, having proven itself in the aforementioned storm.
Sleeping bags
Temperature ratings are the subject of a toasty debate within the sleeping-bag industry, but too much importance is put on them by consumers. If you are only car-camping in summer, choose an inexpensive bag with
nylon lining and synthetic insulation and forget about the ratings.
The ratings are of concern to backpackers who hike spring through fall, and especially if they're out in winter. However, although there is a push for the industry to adopt a uniform rating system, to date there is none. That means some manufacturers fudge.
"I saw an add in an outdoors magazine that said they had a 20-degree bag with 2 pounds of Quallofil (a synthetic fiber) for $69.95," says Greg Schwarz, bag designer for Seattle's Cascade Designs. "No way."
What it all means is that consumers should consider ratings as nothing more than general guideline. And remember, you can always wear long underwear and wool socks if it's too cool, and unzip your bag if it's too hot.
"We've had people who work for us take a 5-degree bag to Denali and be fine at 5-below," says Peter Hickner, owner of Feathered Friends, a Seattle company that makes high-end goose-down bags.
The standard choice for three-season hikers is a 20-degree bag. But if you hike or climb year-round, you'll probably prefer two bags: one rated for subzero temperatures in winter, and a lighter bag for other seasons.
The two other main considerations are the type of insulation (down or synthetic) and the shape (mummy, tapered or rectangular).
The rap on down has always been that it loses its loft and insulating properties when wet, and thus is not a good choice for wet Western Washington. However, any bag is uncomfortable when wet, so most hikers carry their bags in coated nylon stuff sacks.
Furthermore, down bags compress into such tiny bundles they can easily be kept inside the backpack.
"We've had so few cases of down bags getting wet in the more than 20 years we've been making them, we almost disregard those claims," says Hickner.
Furthermore, down bags are significantly lighter than synthetic bags. Feathered Friends' highly regarded Hummingbird is rated for 20 degrees yet weighs a mere 1 pound, 10 ounces.
Synthetic insulations retain loft when wet, dry quickly and are less expensive than down. Lite Loft by 3M is considered by many to be the warmest, ounce for ounce, but other good ones include Polarguard and Primaloft, both now rated above DuPont's older Quallofil and Hollofil.
The shape of the bag largely depends on its temperature ratings and the way you sleep. Mummy bags provide a tight fit for less carrying weight and more heat retention. Tapered bags give you a bit more room to toss and turn, but also weigh more.
Rectangular bags are bulky, but great for summer camping, especially for nocturnal acrobats, and can be unzipped for use as a comforter.
And sometimes campers need comforting, like on a stormy night at Chelan.
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