Tents

Not sure if MSR currently has a distributor in SA? I met a guy in Dec that claims the distributor buggered up and he now has the rights for importing them. Mailed him for prices but he never responded. (Fearless Adventures)

On my Vango tangent (not affiliated..), they also make a tent called the Zephyr which looks like a carbon copy of the Hubba Hubba but sells for 4K. Heavier but more durable fabrics. And they sell it as a breathable "warm weather" tent seemingly good at preventing condensation. This tent is also on my side-list but doesnt look like it will be ideal in strong winds.

On bivis, Camp and Climb (they have an online store) sells a bivi for 1600 that gets good reviews on Amazon. Looks like a cheap military re-issue type of thing. Called the Highlander Kestrel. I want it but dont know what i will be using it for haha. Steadily developing Gear Aquisition Syndrome.

Getting my DD Hammocks Superlight tarp tent tonight (wife phoned to say it was delivered this afternoon. This day is soooooooooo long today
Testing it out in two weeks on an Injasuthi hike with my Alpine lIght bivvy very breathable with E-vent upper. If this works fine I'll be using this rather than my tent for the GT we are doing in April. Saves me about 1,2kg in weight.

Correction: a 3m x 3m tarp weighing about 450g is what I ordered, not a tarp tent.

Riaang wrote: If this works fine I'll be using this rather than my tent for the GT we are doing in April. Saves me about 1,2kg in weight.

Make sure you test it out thoroughly before the GT - saving 1.2kg is awesome, but your odds of finishing will decrease dramatically if you aren't getting a good night sleep, or if your sleeping gear fails (especially if your sleeping bag gets wet). Your odds of getting through a full GT without any bad weather is practically 0%

Is that the annual MBC GT you are doing? Hopefully you will be doing a long detailed writeup afterwards

Ghaz,

My bivy will be my main shelter, the tarp is just to provide cover in case of rain - no fun cooking in the rain and getting stuff wet.
The Rab Alpine bivvy is fully waterproof and very breathable with the E-Vent upper so I'm not particularly concerned about stuff getting wet. Then there are also caves on route if both the bivvies (main shelter) and Tarp (secondary shelter) fails.

But granted, this is a bit of a leap of faith for me as I've always taken my tent along. Which is why I'll be testing it on a 4 day hike in 2 weeks time.
Not part of any organised GT, doing it with my wife and 3 friends.

Looking forward to your report on how the tests go!

My Zpacks Triplex 3 person tent @ only 675g (Cuben Fiber). I dreamed/ planned/ saved for a very long time! Best amount of ludicrous money I ever spent on hiking gear. Go have a look at www.zpacks.com/shelters

Looks amazing! My kind of gear for sure...

conraddt wrote: My Zpacks Triplex 3 person tent @ only 675g (Cuben Fiber). I dreamed/ planned/ saved for a very long time! Best amount of ludicrous money I ever spent on hiking gear. Go have a look at www.zpacks.com/shelters

I have had my eye on this for a while.
Is it possible to give us a quick review on how it handled escarpment conditions if you have used it up there already?
#makemejealous

Grandeur wrote:

conraddt wrote: My Zpacks Triplex 3 person tent @ only 675g (Cuben Fiber). I dreamed/ planned/ saved for a very long time! Best amount of ludicrous money I ever spent on hiking gear. Go have a look at www.zpacks.com/shelters

I have had my eye on this for a while.
Is it possible to give us a quick review on how it handled escarpment conditions if you have used it up there already?
#makemejealous

I am going next week and will definitely report back