Old 10-13-20, 07:14 AM
  #16  
djb
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Ive put my various freestanding tents up many times on hard surfaces, enough times anyway that this is why I have always used them.

Lets face it though, with a superduper light Tarptent, or even with a just a bit more weight but rather expensive Big Brand tent, you still are dealing with having to treat it carefully-- specifically on what you pitch it, sharp sticks, rocks, you name it, not to mention to not being a hack with the zippers, keeping dirt out of the zippers, and not being rough in general.
Some folks are just plain rough with things and wear stuff out and break stuff, others are not.

and we havent even touched on packed size, which Im sure the Tarptents win by a large margin--so for a bikepacking trip where space and weight is crucial, this would be a factor.
Just as the type of trip. If I were ever to do a trip like The Divide route or something with a long time spent on a trip and space and weight factors being an issue, then looking at one of these types of shelters could be attractive.

I do like how easy putting up my freestanding tents are, modern designs are great, nice when you are tired at the end of the day and bing bang boom its up. But I guess one gets used to putting any tent structure up, and a Tarptent probably wouldnt be different after doing it day after day.
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