Camping using outer fly

[NickyRannoch]

I'm too tight to buy an ultralight tent and bivvying looks claustrophobic. Does anyone have any experience of just using the outer fly to camp under?

My only concern would be the wind carrying it off.

[fhaggis]

Never done it, but it's basically an enclosed tarp! For the weight difference, be aswell a sister taking full tent

[NickyRannoch]

Never done it, but it's basically an enclosed tarp! For the weight difference, be aswell a sister taking full tent

I'm trying everything, I don't understand why my pack weighs what it does when nothing inside it weighs anything

[Ben Nachie]

You could post a gear list with weights and we could suggest where you'd get the biggest bang for your buck.

[gaffr]

We have used, with our old tent, the flysheet without the inner abroad and in Scotland.
The only problem in corsica was the dust getting into the sleeping kit..When windy a few stones on extended guy strings did the job.
Out replacement tent... A now fine aging Saunders single hooped pole we have used only with both inner and outer.

[prog99]

I've used my inner (wild country trisar) on its own when I knew it was definitely not going to rain. Stayed warmer than you'd think.

[WalkWithWallace]

I use a MLD Trailstar which is basically a tarp/tent hybrid and it's fine. You'd maybe want some sort of ground sheet for it though.

As someone else said, post up your gear list to see if there is anything unnecessary.

[rorymch]

Ditch the tent and go bivvy/tarp combo - I use a DD Tarps 3 x 3 and an ex army bivvy bag (not the lightest but very waterproof and breathable) - gives me vast amounts of room for kit/cooking/friends and is much lighter than any tents I've ever carried.

Also once you wake up to views without having to unzip a door you'll never go back to using tents again...

[rgf101]

I'm trying everything, I don't understand why my pack weighs what it does when nothing inside it weighs anything

What does your pack weigh? I've got a Berghuas monster which is something over 3kg empty - but get everything in the right place and properly adjusted and it's like it's not even there, despite being full.

[fhaggis]

Ditch the tent and go bivvy/tarp combo - I use a DD Tarps 3 x 3 and an ex army bivvy bag (not the lightest but very waterproof and breathable) - gives me vast amounts of room for kit/cooking/friends and is much lighter than any tents I've ever carried.

Also once you wake up to views without having to unzip a door you'll never go back to using tents again...

One question...midges??

[NickyRannoch]

Thanks all. I'll come back to this in the coming weeks to see what I can cut. The half bottle is non negotiable

[Alteknacker]

Just a thought: I've been going through a weight reduction exercise in preparation for overnighters in summer, starting with the biggest potential saving, and working down. I swapped an already light (1.3kg) tent for a breathable bivvy bag (200gm), a 2.4kg rucksack for a 1kg model, a 1.6kg sleeping bag for an 800gm model, a 590gm mattress for a 200gm mattress.... and so on. I was quite surprised how much weight I could shed.

I tried the bivvy bag in the garden on a frost night, and it was absolutely fine. Might be worth thinking about....

[rorymch]

Ditch the tent and go bivvy/tarp combo - I use a DD Tarps 3 x 3 and an ex army bivvy bag (not the lightest but very waterproof and breathable) - gives me vast amounts of room for kit/cooking/friends and is much lighter than any tents I've ever carried.

Also once you wake up to views without having to unzip a door you'll never go back to using tents again...

One question...midges??

Ha, good point - I only ever overnight in the Autumn to Spring months anyway so have never had a problem with midges...

[Giant Stoneater]

I have used the outer without the inner,during the night I had a mouse on my head,lots of spiders and a sleeping bag with slugs on it,great fun picking them off in the morning.

[Pastychomper]

I have used the outer without the inner,during the night I had a mouse on my head,lots of spiders and a sleeping bag with slugs on it,great fun picking them off in the morning.

Now I remember why I prefer hammocks - though they don't seem to work in most of the highlands for some reason.