Gear: Big Three – Packs, Shelter, and Bedding

Tent

We care about the following features:

• Free-standing, so we can easily move it around to find the most level and least lumpy spot. When we don’t need the fly we can set it up with no stakes. When setting up with the fly we need a minimum of two stakes, or four stakes for windy conditions. This makes it very easy to set up on a beach, on a granite slab, or on the plywood decking of open-sided shelters.
• Ability to set up a shelter that is just insect netting, so we can have bug protection and concurrently have a full view of our surroundings. We always want bug protection, but when the weather is mild we rarely put on the rainfly. For this reason we limit our selection to double-wall tents.
• Double-door configuration, so even when the fly is on we can fully open both long sides of the tent. We like the convenience of two doors and two vestibules, and it provides for great ventilation options.
• Floor dimensions to be just big enough for our two pads and a little bit of gear. Because we have adequate vestibule space we don’t need to bring all our gear into the tent. We don’t want anything bigger than that because it makes it more difficult to find and prepare a site.
• Interior space voluminous enough for the two of us to comfortably sit and eat.
• Sufficient roof ventilation to reduce interior condensation problems. Surprisingly, there are still tents on the market with no high vent.
• Subdued color, because we don’t want to add visual clutter in wilderness areas and we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves when stealth camping.

The Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL2 tent is perfect for us. It meets all of our requirements and with 6 stakes weighs in at a hair under three pounds. All of the major tent brands make two-door, double-wall tents; the Copper Spur is the lightest. Note that Big Agnes makes several different models that share the Copper Spur name. The HV version means high volume and it is the model that has head clearance at the foot end of the tent. The Copper Spur Platinum is similar, weighs less, costs more, but does not have as much internal volume. The Tiger Wall UL2 has a similar architecture and identical dimensions and weighs 9 ounces less, but it is not available in a stealth color and is not truly free-standing; it would be a terrific choice for a hiker who does not embrace those two requirements.

Many ultralight hikers carry innovative lightweight shelters from Mountain Laurel Designs, TarpTent, ZPacks, HMG, or other small manufacturers. We have used some of these shelters and studied many of them in the field. We have made a decision that we are willing to carry more weight in order to have the conveniences we prefer.

Quilt

The majority of long-distance hikers use quilts, sometimes called top-quilts, instead of sleeping bags. Bag insulation under your body does not add value since it is compressed when you lie on it. A quilt can be wrapped around the side of your body, but does not extend all the way beneath you like a sleeping bag does. Compared to a mummy bag, we have found that a quilt with a good sewn-in footbox is just as warm, weighs less, is more comfortable, and is more versatile for use in a wide range of temperatures. We have been using home-made double top-quilts for decades.

We currently use two Love Bird Quilts. One weighs about 36 ounces and is warm down to about 20 or 25 F. Our warm weather quilt weighs about 29 ounces.

The three companies listed in the table make great single and double quilts. When choosing a double quilt, there are two factors that require particular attention. The first is preventing drafts between the people; the three options in the table have draft flaps to address that issue.

The second factor is the width of the footbox; it needs to be wide enough for two people to still love each other in the morning. The inner circumference of our Love Bird Quilt’s footbox is 78″ (32″ wide by 7″ tall). That is perfect for us; no surprise since we designed it after lots of experimentation. My brother owned a Nunatak Dual Arc with the original narrow footbox, and four of five couples who tried it found it unusable. Nunatak now offers a Dual Arc with a wider footbox. Before purchasing any of these double quilts, mock up different sized footboxes using a blanket, and then talk to the manufacturer to find out which one has an inner circumference that best meets your needs.

There is a common misconception that the pad should go inside the quilt. This is not the case; you want the quilt to snuggle up against your body and putting the pad inside the quilt creates big air gaps.

Pads

The Thermarest NeoAir XLite is the lightest weight pad that we find comfortable enough for a good night’s sleep. We carry the 20′ x 72″ pads. Some hikers carry the Women’s NeoAir, which is shorter (66″), weighs the same, and has better insulation value. We prefer not to hang our feet off the end of the pad so we opted for the longer pads.

If you inflate the NeoAirs by blowing into the pad, then you get a lot of internal condensation. We use a bag to inflate the pads; the bag can be a trash compactor bag, or a large silnylon or cuben sack. We usually use a large cuben bag which doubles as a stuff sack for organizing gear.

We use three home-made pad couplers to link our pads together so that a gap between them does not open up while we are sleeping. Our couplers are figure eight loops of 3/4″ grosgrain ribbon and have sliding clips to which we can attach the edges of our quilt.

We would be interested trying a double sized mat instead of using coupled individual pads. The Exped Synmat HL Duo looks appealing, but it weighs 29.3 oz compared to 25.7 oz for our pair of NeoAirs. We hope Thermarest adds a dual NeoAir XLite to their lineup.

Packs

We both started carrying ULA packs back in 2002. Jim had been happily using the ULA Ohm 2.0 since 2009. This pack had suited him, but might be a little too minimalist for a hiker used to a full suspension backpack. He changed the inner thin closed cell foam back sheet to a thicker egg-crate type of foam to better damp out the sharp corners on various items he carries in the pack.

James is now using an REI Flash 55. His much loved Ohm 2 finally wore out and he needed a replacement. He happened to be in an REI, found this new pack, and decided to try it. As of this writing, he has now carried it for over 150 days and is quite pleased with its performance. Overall, the pack is just more comfortable to wear and it seems robust enough to last a reasonable amount of time. The pack’s most significant downside is that it is heavier than the Ohm; however, by removing a lot of extra straps and other stuff, the difference has been reduced to an acceptable level.

After a significant amount of use, the plastic chest strap clip partially failed during a walk. This kind of thing happens. However, REI was completely unhelpful in providing a replacement clip, which is a $0.10 piece of plastic, without which the pack is not really functional. This company used to have great customer service; given this recent experience and their refusal to provide any meaningful help, we can no longer recommend purchasing this pack or other gear from REI; our first purchase was made in 1968 and we are sorry that they no longer warrant our trust.

From 2010 to 2016 Amy used a ULA Circuit, which we think is a perfect pack for a hiker making the transition from traditional loads to lightweight backpacking.

Occasionally Amy tries out different models. Experiments with Osprey and Gossamer Gear packs lasted only one trip, after which she returned to the tried and true ULA Circuit. At the beginning of 2017 she took the Hyperlight Mountain Gear Southwest 3400 on a trip and found it to be even more comfortable than the ULA Circuit. It is significantly more expensive than the ULA Circuit, but for a hiker who is not price sensitive this is a dream pack.

We cut all extraneous straps off of our packs, so ours weigh slightly less than advertised.

We never check bags on flights; the Ohm, the Circuit, and the HMG 3400 can be carried on.