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Heavy tent

Heavy tent


Postby Accez » Sun Jan 12, 2014 1:17 pm

Hello everybody,

We are going to complete the West-Highland Way the first week of september.
We are with 4 people there.
We want to deal with only one tent and this tent is very heavy (+- 9 kg or 18.8 pounds)
I know, this tent is too have to drag the whole route with other stuff.
But because we are with 4; one rucksack would be filled with this tent and the wearer his sleeping bag and mat.
So the weight of his rucksack would be at MAX 12/13 kg (+- 27.5 pounds) and that isn't too heavy I've read.
His other stuff (like clothes etc...) would be spread in the rucksack of the other three with a total max weight of 12/13 kg too.

Will this pretty heavy tent be a huge trouble?

Thanks
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Re: Heavy tent

Postby Rudolph » Sun Jan 12, 2014 2:14 pm

Yes.

But try for yourselves. Go for a trial wild camp with it - packing your sacks as you would for the WHW.
Walk 10 imiles over a few hills uphill then walk back the next day - remember to soak the tent . to giet the full experience of carrying the wet tent.

If that goes Ok you'll know you'll be fine. My guess is that you will get a lighter tent when you get back.
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Re: Heavy tent

Postby Dan Scheer » Sun Jan 12, 2014 3:31 pm

A 12-13kg backpack is no problem at all. I generally consider up to 14kg ideal, up to about 18-20 not a big problem, up to 26 manageable for a long days walk but not much fun and to be avoided if possible. But that is really quite dependant on your physique, strenght and fitness and you best try out for yourself before going on the WHW.

Other downsides I could see with a single large tent:
- large footprint, especially if you are camping wild, it can be easier to find space for several small tents than one large one.
- single point of failure (maybe I just spent too much time in IT....)
- guess it depends on how well you all 4 get on, if I spend a week walking all day long with the same people, I rather have some space and quiet in the evening and wouldn't necessarily want to spend my evenings cramped up (it's Scotland, chances of rain are high, or midges depending on when you go which both confine you to your tent) in one tent with the same people as well. that may be me just being a bit of a loner though :)
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Re: Heavy tent

Postby tenohfive » Sun Jan 12, 2014 3:42 pm

Get two 2 man tents instead. You can pick up two cheap tents (like the Vango Banshee 200) cheaply, especially second hand - but I've seen them sell for as little as £60 new each. And they'll come to less than half the total weight. There are also the benefits that the others mentioned above.

Don't forget that calculated weight rarely matches the actual weight you're carrying - I'd bet a fiver that the 12kg packs end up being more than that in practice.
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Re: Heavy tent

Postby Accez » Sun Jan 12, 2014 6:54 pm

We can also share the parts of the tent.
The tent can be devided in 5/6 parts so if we split the tent we have 2.5 kg each, what is the same weigth of the Banshee tents.
I think a soaked tent wouldn't be a big problem because it is made of water repellent plastic.
The only problem (i think) is that the weight of the tent isn't spread and that the whole 9 kg will begin to weigh.
I think we don't want to buy a new tent because this tent is very good, only the weight is a disadvantage.
But I hope and think that there is a solution for this :)
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Re: Heavy tent

Postby tenohfive » Sun Jan 12, 2014 7:07 pm

When I'm carrying everything I need on my back, excess weight is one of the biggest disadvantages that I seek to avoid. Even saving 1kg per person is a significant amount, and like others have said - a 2 man tent has other advantages such as pitching options (I gather from your other thread you're looking to wild camp, so this could be significant) and less disruption as 3 people each night wake up and go out to relieve themselves etc.

But I think Rudolph has suggested a sensible option - a trial run should give you a good idea and could well be a good experience as preparation for the trip more generally.
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Re: Heavy tent

Postby Rudolph » Sun Jan 12, 2014 7:11 pm

Accez wrote:I think a soaked tent wouldn't be a big problem because it is made of water repellent plastic.
Fair enough - you know your tent best.
The only problem (i think) is that the weight of the tent isn't spread and that the whole 9 kg will begin to weigh.
I think we don't want to buy a new tent because this tent is very good, only the weight is a disadvantage.
But I hope and think that there is a solution for this.

Excellent. Good news that you've got it sorted. Enjoy your trip.
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Re: Heavy tent

Postby Accez » Sun Jan 12, 2014 7:36 pm

We are going to test it btw.
The two things; spread the tent and the tent in one rucksack and spread his clothes.
If the two things are both bad, we are going to buy another tent
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Re: Heavy tent

Postby Porrige Pot » Mon Jan 13, 2014 10:57 am

i'm concerned about your operational concept - having such a heavy tent means that you need 4 people to carry the tent plus food, fuel, clothes, sleeping bags, roll mats etc.. for 4 people, what happens if a week before (or indeed during..) your trip one of the group breaks his toe or sprains his ankle - can 3 people carry the same tent and food, fuel, clothing, sleeping bags, roll mats etc.. for 3 people, or is 4 the critical mass? the tent isn't going to weigh any less just because fewer people are sleeping in it...

theres also the issue of what happens if the group breaks up due to different fitness levels or bad weather - you've got one person with a tent but no food and nothing to cook it on, and not a lot of spare clothing and no sleeping bag, and three people with lots of food, clothing etc.. but no shelter to get into should that become required.

as others have said, finding a space big enough to pitch a 10kg tent could also be something of a lottery.

i genuinely think you're going to starting this trip with absolutely no redundancy or wiggle room whatsoever, if the slightest thing affects the groups load carrying/speed/distance capability (which, lets face it, spending 7 days walking 90-odd miles through the highlands of Scotland with significant weight on your back might just do..) then your whole group is in trouble - you could very easily find your trip over one the first day.
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Re: Heavy tent

Postby Dan Scheer » Mon Jan 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Couldn't agree more with Porridge Pot there. (ok, that sentence sounds weird... I generally don't tend to argue with my porridge, honest!)

I miserably failed my first attempt on the WHW because I went in completely clueless but most imporantly ill prepared with a far too heavy pack. Not a big deal as I don't live far away and it was a very spontaneous trip so apart from a bit of petrol money and pride, I didn't lose anything.
You guys may very well be perfectly fine with the setup you have planned there, but you are coming a long way to do this trip and it would be a real shame if something went wrong and you had to abandon your attempt. You are putting all your eggs in one basket with no real backup alternatives and hoping for the best. I have done my fair share of long distance walking since that first attempt and one thing I learned is that things never go to plan and it is always worth having a backup plan ... or two or three ideally.
It is understandable that you are maybe not keen on forking out several hundred quid to buy new tents, but just think of how much money you will have wasted if something goes wrong and you will have to abandon your trip altogether.
Also, the bigger the group, the bigger the chance that something goes wrong
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Re: Heavy tent

Postby Porrige Pot » Mon Jan 13, 2014 1:57 pm

i'm in vigorous agreement with Dan on this - you might think buying two £100 2 man tents is a waste of money, but if the tiniest thing goes wrong you'll have wasted a weeks holiday, however much deisel it takes you to get to the WHW, your train/coach tickets to get you back to Glasgow, and any accomodation you've booked at either end.

assuming you're somewhere south of Carlisle, that is likely to trump £200 for some tents by a very large margin...

if you really want to find another option, could you use bashas/tarps? the weather will almost certainly be ok, though the midges will still be out and feeding voraciously in September...
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Re: Heavy tent

Postby Mountainlove » Wed Jan 15, 2014 12:21 pm

I am no fan of carrying a heavy backpack and during long days you will hate each kilo you have to drag along!
So why carry it when you can use the services which will drive your heavy gear to your next location?
I did it when I walked the WHW, walking with a light day pack and having everything else driven. Back then it cost me £35 Pounds for the whole week and I met people with heavy backpacks who ended up doing the same.

If you already have the tent it will save you money to buy a new one and if money is tight, just pack a bag up with the heaviest things and share the cost between 4 of you.
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Re: Heavy tent

Postby WalkingDutchman » Wed Jan 15, 2014 1:04 pm

Dan Scheer wrote:I generally don't tend to argue with my porridge, honest!
:lol:
What if your porridge decides to argue with you? :wink:

On-topic: I would not be worried about the weight, but I tend to carry a lot of weight anyway (at least: compared to others around here, I don't think it's a lot - for me it's comfortable). What I would be worried about is the weather turning bad: can you comfortably spend a rainy evening/night in that tent? For a week? You might be lucky with the weather, but this IS Scotland ... I have used a really small tent up till now (a glorified bivy-bag, really), and rainy evenings or evenings where the midges were out in force were not pleasant, for the simple reason my tent is so small I could not sit upright inside it. Got me something a little bit bigger (and also a bit heavier :lol: ), but that should make rainy nights much more comfortable. Depending on your group, and on how well you get along together, I would go with two 2-person tents (you can easily find second-hand ones for a reasonable price), and test out this setup over at least a two-night weekend (I never take anything up with me that has not been tested at least twice, usually in my own backyard - has the neighbours looking strangely at me, but I don't care 8) ).

On the other hand: if you're prepared to improvise and are good at it: go for it and have fun! Enjoy yourselves, that's what it's all about and if you think you can handle this then do it. You've started preparations early enough that I'm not too worried about that at least.
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Re: Heavy tent

Postby Dan Scheer » Wed Jan 15, 2014 4:44 pm

WalkingDutchman wrote:What if your porridge decides to argue with you? :wink:


I mash it into ball shape, call it Wilson and have a chat with it :)
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Re: Heavy tent

Postby bikerbill » Sat Jan 18, 2014 1:25 pm

Read this post with interest. A good few years ago 4 of us had the same idea, so planned a trial run doing a couple of sections of the WHW with a 4 man tent and all the gear that goes along with it. Started off from Crianlarich to the Inverornan hotel where we planned to camp at the river behind the hotel. Other people had the same idea, so finding a place to pitch the tent became a problem. In the morning we moved on to the Kingshouse for the final nights camp.
Conclusion: The 4 man tent was not much of a problem divided by four people, though finding a suitable place to pitch a large tent can be. However, as mentioned before, we opted for 1-2 man tents each which proved ideal.
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