Originally Posted By beber
I'm sure this has been discussed before but I thought, a few people might be will to talk it over again.

I'm debating back and forth between single and double wall tents. I have an older Eureka Apex 2, which has served me well but is heavy. I like the idea of light weight single wall tents, the Big Agnes Scout and MSR Fast Stash have caught my eye. But I do worry about condensation. I also know there are a lot of double wall tents out there that are much lighter than my old tent, reduce my condensation worries, and are cheaper than the above mentioned single wall tents.

I'm not daring enough yet to jump into the world of tarps, so what are general opinions on single vs double wall tents. Note this will be used for weekend trips not through hiking.



Hike in humid weather? Get a double wall and thank me later. Big Agnes and Tarptent are great brands (I own both brands). Freestanding is pointless unless you set up it up un-staked to see how level the ground is, then you could move it around to get the right feel when you lay. It also kind of cool to lift the tent up freestanding to "shake" stuff out of and off of the tent before breaking it down. Otherwise I have not been turned off by lack of free standing mode for my Tarptent.

Edit: It's worth noting that an adequate ventilated double wall tent will receive its fair share of condensation if you camp on wet grass in wet weather.I tested this at home one night... However, the trick is to have good amount of space between tarp and bug net so water does not run down the net to get your sleeping bag wet, or yourself! I camped on hard frozen soil, not grass, this past December and had ZERO condensation in my double wall tent. There's been nights I had no condensation, but my single walled friend had some moisture build up inside. Site selection is key, but in humid weather I'd take a well ventilated double wall shelter any day. Hike your own hike! cool


Edited by ETSU Pride (02/17/15 02:23 PM)
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It is one of the blessings of wilderness life that it shows us how few things we need in order to be perfectly happy.-- Horace Kephart