Gear talk vol. 1

As we're carrying all our gear for weeks, last 10 months have been an start of an new era for me, the traditional backbacker. I'we discovered a new world called "ultralight backbacking", or atleast "light". And what an endless project has it been :) All the time comes new and lighter gear to the market, and you have to consider how much money you're willing to spent in your gear and how far are you ready to go with lighter gear, as lighter is usually equal to less durable. So you want to find a good balance between light and durable gear.

First update I made was my tent. I was used to the Skandinavian "default", the tunnel tent. But you really can't go ultralight with 3kg tent. And you can't set up 4-5m long tunnel in mountains full of sharp stones and rocky terrain. So I put up a little mindstorm, what kind should my new tent be? Two person. Two doors, as nothing is as annoying as waking up in the middle of fantasy like dream when your friend stumbles on you. Two vestibules, for shoes, and preferably for backs. Under 2kg. Selfstanding would be great, but not essential. And it would be great if the structure was self standing, so it would be easy to move when once put up, but that's not a must.

My choice was Tarptent Double Rainbow. When the weight is 1200g with two extra stakes, repair part for the pole and some ducktape, that can't be too bad. :) And the tent fills all my requirements. Or now it does, when I updated my backback from 85 liter giant to 60 liter compact and light back, and now it fits nicely in the vestibule.

The tent seems to be great. As I have only used in my local short backpacking trips, and only in moderate rain I can't say nothing about how stormproof it is with it's single pole system, but for our "expedition" it will work great. I hope. Only thing that should be improved by Tarptent is that it should came allready seam sealed, as now the buyer has to do it himself ( or pay separetaly for it ).