phughes

I've never seen the appeal of trekking pole type tents for bicycling. I get it for backpacking, you will have trekking poles with you, so you save weight by not carrying tent poles. The posted tent is a very good one, but for bicycling, you generally won't have trekking poles. On top of that, I think that my carbon fiber trekking poles weigh a little more than my aluminum tent poles do. I see no advantage.

staehpj1

I don't use poles to hike so they aren't an advantage for me either way, but some folks may like to have them even for short hikes when touring. So maybe in that case they might be an advantage.

Tourist in MSN

I did not buy my bike touring tent because of the trekking pole design, I bought it because I liked the weight, size and shape. I cut aluminum tent poles to use on it. And later cut some different ones with more segments so that the folded up poles would fit in my front pannier. Thus, I made a trekking style pole tent work for my needs.

I posted this photo of it in post number 8 above.




And when I looked for the photo to re-post it here, I see that you said: Oh, and nice setup. What tent is that?

I suspect you did not realize it was a trekking pole tent when you asked that question, but there are no trekking poles in that photo.

Tourist in MSN

I was on a backpacking trip a couple weeks ago. I used to be a one-trekking-pole person, but a year ago on that trail in some tricky footing, I decided this year to bring two poles. I am not sure if it was the two poles this year, but I had almost no knee problems. I suspect that the places where I had to step up or down really high were less stress on my knees when I could use two poles to take more weight off than if I had used only one pole like I used in the past.

That said, the other trails I have hiked in the past that were not as rough, I would again use one pole if I hiked on those trails again.

In two weeks on that trail, I only saw one person backpacking with no poles. I did see one person through hiking with one pole, but she was packed very light, she was the only one I saw on the trail that used a bivy instead of a tent. There might have been other bivy users that I was not aware of, she camped at the site I was at so I saw her bivy.

phughes

I have them because I needed them for a different purpose for work. I have used them hiking on steep hikes in Alaska though. I only took one, but it was very helpful. For general hikes I haven's used them. I will say they came in handy while rehabbing a torn achilles tendon.

phughes

I like your setup, it really is nice. I wasn't aware it was a trekking pole tent. Nothing wrong liking a particular design, something that fits your needs and desires well. The tent I commented on would weight in very close to the weight of a traditional tent with poles, once you added in the weight of the poles necessary for the tent. For its cost, you could find a very nice tent with poles for around the same total weight, and pay less. I was more commenting on the fact others have posted about them before, touting the low weight, disregarding the weight of the poles needed. All those factors may not matter as long as the tent ticks off the boxes in your tent requirement list.

I stand by my statement though, yours is a nice setup.

phughes

Yes, two poles would help save the knees. I will graduate to using both soon. They really do help, especially if you do any steep grades.

Tourist in MSN

Thank you.

bwilli88 

If you are not hiking or using trekking poles, then get some poles at your local hiking supply that would fit.

staehpj1

Yeah, there are lots of places that sell tent pole replacements that can provide something. A few companies sell poles specificalls designed for trekking pole tents that are intended to be carried on a bike. They break down into a short length to fit easily on a bike. CNOC is a source for them, Zpacks is another. There are a few others as well.

Many of us have left over poles from old tents that have been retired that could be pressed into service. They'd likely be aluminim and a bit heavier though.

Tourist in MSN

I bought a long tent pole with lots of segments from Asia on Ebay for not very much. The math was complicated but I figured out how many segments I needed and how short to cut each segment so that I could fold up the pole to put into my front pannier where I usually carry my tent. Used trekking pole rubber tips on the ends.

The tent photo I posted above in post 106, the rear pole is much shorter than the front, I doubt that any off-the-shelf folding poles are sold at that length. That is a discontinued Big Agnes tent, I do not think they sold tent poles separately for their trekking pole tents.

I have commented so many times that I cut these tent poles, I finally took a photo. Used 11mm diameter poles which is probably overkill for strength, 230 grams.



I have mentioned before that my first pole cutting and measuring attempt was to make a DIY version of a click stand for my titanium bike. I wanted that one to be short enough when folded to fit in a handlebar bag.





It takes a bit of time to figure out how to do it, and double check it. As Norm on This Old House says, measure twice and cut once. But I am retired, I have the time. If in doubt, cut it long, you can always shorten it later.

Amazon might be cheaper for poles now, shipping costs from Asia have risen on Ebay.

The trekking pole rubber tips also came from Asia, bought on Ebay.

staehpj1

The last project I used tent pole tubing for wasn't touring or even camping related, but I happened to buy a more than long enough shock corded anodized T6 aluminum pole make poles fo any 2 pole treking pole tents. I ordered from Amazon and paid about $15 with free shipping. In the past I would have had some tubing from defunct tents, but these days am out of it other than a few short pieces. Prices vary and the average is higher, but I think you can still find similar deals

One could save some ounces and work by ordering the premade carbon fiber ones from CNOC or Zpacks, but they'd pay a bit more than double the $15 for the aluminum. Not sure about cutting your own carbon to length. I have never priced that. I did once fashion one pole for tarp camping from mismatched carbon arrow shafts that I found in the woods. Not sure what ever happened to it. I also tinkered with the thicker sections of broken fishing rods. They can be found for free,

HendersonD

I use a Zpack Duplex which is very light weight and large enough to take me (6 foot 2, 195 pounds) plus any gear I wish to bring inside with me. A bit pricy but the weight savings is nice

Carbonfiberboy 

Going long, one packs for the eventualities, so more gear rather than less. We see the same thing in long distance bike touring. The base gear can still be ultralight, but one takes more extras.

My wife and I have done a 10-day backpacking trip in early September for decades. We usually include a segment of the PCT. It being September and in Washington, we see many thru-hikers, the successful ones, and get new ideas about gear etc. every year since the gear keeps changing. This year we saw no one with a mini-pack. Everyone had about a 20 lb. base pack. One can get dead if the weather goes bad and folks are figuring that out. The women noticeably carry more gear. Smarter.

We saw a new tent this year, by Gossamer Gear. I couldn't believe how small and light they are. These also use 2 trekking poles, but as shown above, one can build one's own poles. We've only seen one thru-hiker up here w/o a proper tent. We were hiking in the rain and passed a person in a covered hammock, soaked, still in bed mid-day. Didn't look like fun, plus further north there are frequently no convenient trees.

Hiking poles: the cool thing about 2 hiking poles is that they work your back if you use them properly, like a XC skier. We hike a good bit, so I appreciate that when riding my bike, less upper body discomfort. One will burn more calories per hour at the same speed, which is OK with us. It is definitely slower if one is hiking fast. Those folks carry them stowed. Pretty much all the thru-hikers use the folding foam pads, but I prefer the ultralight Thermarests which live inside the pack or pannier.

The 2 of us use a roomy three person tent, backpacking or touring, the BA Seedhouse SL3. We can emerge in the rain, fully packed and in our rain gear. Tent goes on top then. The gear getting so light, we saw a few thru-hikers with 2-person tents, new to us this year.

phughes

Okay, and that is my point. There are plennty of other very good tents available, with poles, that weight the same or less once you add poles to the "lightweight," expensive trekking pole tent. This is why I do not see the point to the trekking pole tent for a bicycle tourer. Yes, some may offer some advantage for some people as mentioned before in this thread, but short of some specific design that meets a specific need or desire, a traditional tent will be as good, if not better, and be much less expensive.

A lot of this comes down to personal preference of course, and we all have out own. One size does not fit all. I am simply saying that once you add poles, a trekking pole tent stops having a weight advantage for a bicyclist. A hiker carrying trekking poles anyway, will reap a benefit. A bicycle tourer not already carrying some type of pole won't. I already carry a Clickstand on my touring bike, which I can use with my hammock to set it up as a bivvy if I so desire. I also have rigged a way to actually hang my hammock with only one tree or other support, using my bike at the other end.

The Durston Gear X-Mid 2P that was posted before will cost $300, not bad actually for a trekking pole type tent. The normal carrying weight for it is 2 lbs 4 ounces without poles. You can buy an REI Quarter Dome SL 2 for $264 at the moment, with a total weight of 2 lbs 14 ounces, with poles. Very little weight difference, and probably no weight difference once you add poles to the Durston. Oh, and no poles inside the tent to deal with. After years of using tents with poles inside the tent, I am very happy not having them inside anymore. Backpacking whilst using trekking poles, I would gladly use a trekking pole tent and deal with it, not for weight savings as much as having to pack rigid poles.

Of course the Durston tent that was suggested is on the low end of the trekking pole tent spectrum as far as price goes. Most are much higher. If you want lightweight with poles, not a trekking pole tent, you can get a Nemo Hornet 2 for $299, which weighs 2 lbs 6 ounces with everything included, only 2 ounces more than the Durston is without poles.

There are many tent options available today. This is a great thread since so many options have been posted and discussed. My point is to no automatically think that a trekking pole tent will save you weight, because once you add poles, they will come in at basically the same weight as a tent designed and sold with poles. You also will not have poles inside the ten if you go with a standard type tent. Now, a trekking pole tent is a great idea for people who both hike, and bicycle tour. For everyone else, short of some special feature you may like about a specific trekking pole tent that outweighs other options, you will be able to buy a standard type tent, that is just as lightweight, possibly lighter, than a trekking pole tent.

For me, so far, I have only used a Warbonnet Blackbird hammock for bicycle tours. I also have an REI Passage 1 tent which I absolutely love. I just haven't used the Passage 1 on the bicycle yet. I have used it on motorcycle trips though.

On a bicycle, I would rather have a heavier tent, though I have already shown you can have a traditional tent just as lightweight as a trekking pole tent, than have a tent that is a a compromise in some area. On a bicycle, a few ounces one way or another isn't as important to me as it is when I am carrying the load on my back while hiking.

Tourist in MSN

I fully agree with your long post, I just chose not to re-post all of it.

This thread also discussed to some length the advantage and disadvantages of self supporting tents, thus making this thread pretty complete.

phughes

Yeah, I think this was a really good discussion of tents overall. It should be a good resource for those searching. I learned a lot.

afrowheels

A bit late to this but just to say that I have used a Hubba Hubba on tour and it's been great. One of the lesser-known upsides is that because it has a standalone frame (doesn't need pegs) and the inner has mosquito netting, it can be useful in situations where your accommodation is not great quality and there are lots of mosquitoes or other bugs: just set it up inside a room or on the bed! Did this a few times and it gave me a better night's sleep and saved me from a lot of bites.

staehpj1

I have one and it is a really nice tent, but way more tent than I personally want to carry for solo use. For those who want a two person freestanding tent this is a nice one.

indyfabz

My BA Fly Creek is semi-free standing. You can pitch it with or without the fly, but doing so does not give you maxim floor space or allow you to stretch out the fly.

In June I did a tour in Vermont. Except for the final night on the road, I stayed in lean-tos every night. (Vermont state parks are good that way.) No need to use the fly or stake out the tent body fully.

staehpj1

I have never done a trip where I could rely on lean-tos every night (except for a few overnight or two night hikes). It must ne nice to just leave the fly home. I have taken another approach in lean-tos and under other shelters and used a hoopless bug bivy. That worked pretty well too and only weighs a few ounces. It is essentially just an envelope made of thin fabric on the bottom and netting on the top.

Pratt

Out of idle curiosity I looked at the MSR 2 person and the NEMO Hornet 2 person at a local store today. The NEMO was a pound lighter and $80.00 cheaper.
Maybe the MSR had a ground cloth, I didn't unpack them.

cyccommute 

Out of hundreds of nights camping, I can think of only a handful where I didn’t use the rain fly and of that handful, I can think of only one night where I actually didn’t have to get up in the middle of the night to put on the fly. I’ve just given up on the whole idea of pitching a tent without the fly on. One memorable night on the inlet to Ruedi Reservoir, I went to bed when it was about 80°F and woke up at about 3 a.m. freezing. There was literally frost forming.

I hate putting a rain fly on in the middle of the night!

indyfabz

During my trip last month I attended my fly only a few times. During a two-night stay at a state park there was heavy rain predicted for the first night, so I used it then. Most other nights, including one in a lean-to, I simply draped the fly over the tent body for privacy.

staehpj1

You must not camp under a pavillion roof or similar location in hot buggy weather much or ever or you'd have pretty frequent occasions to leave the fly off. That can be a common situation on some ACA routes like the TA. I have never had to put a fly on in the middle of the night, not once.

Your point about getting cold didn't occur to me. I typically would have thought about rain as the reason since I usually would have left the fly off when under some kind of roof. That typically for me is most often on summer trips and isn't at too high altitude so it doesn't tend to be places where it gets too cold at night. I sleep really warm so I don't get chilled easily. A light frost and I am fine even with my summer bag and no fly.

The times/places where leaving the fly off tended to be likely were when it would be hot and buggy. Granted there are times when it can be hot and turn cold at night, I've seen 110F and had ice in out water in the morning in a 24 hour period once, but that kind of extreme has never come up combined with a pavillion roof and a buggy evening so that we were inclined to leave a fly off.

These days I have been using a tarp and bivy so it is more about pitching or not pitching the tarp and crawling into or not crawling into the bivy. Crawling into the tarp is not a big del and is something I routinely do as the night gets colder. I have chosen to not pitch the tarp and had an unexpected rain shower blow up. I just pulled the tarp over me and my gear in those cases rather than pitch it.