New Rule on Ultralight Tents

New rule: don't stuff your ultralight tents any more. You've got to fold 'em or roll 'em. 

I've come to this conclusion after a few seasons of endless tent repair on my BD Hilight, a single wall.

Dainty ultralights (made from fabrics lighter than 10 denier) have their appeal, but toughness isn't one of them. The micro holes seem to be caused by abrasion inside the pack. This is being confirmed all over the web by other ultralight tent testers. And it's something that none of us can fully prevent.

It spells good news, though, for pricey footprint sales. Buy one for all your ultralights, then wrap them up inside like burritos for travel. You've got a backup in your tent floor, after all, in case the footprint tears on a rock or a root.

Don't be wet. Just buy a footprint.

This season I'm comparing two double-wall 2P tents with double doors: the Copper Spur UL from Big Agnes and the Nemo Hornet. I'll let you know how it goes.

New Ultralight Summer Sleeping Bags

Global warming means I never know what season I'm in any more.

But I can say this for sure: summer is when you're only willing to carry a 500 gram sleeping bag.


This year I've been sleeping better with an ultralight wrapped around me. It's the down Siren from Nemo Equipment. It's as pretty as a backless dress and designed like one too.

At 530 grams of 850-fill power down, it's rated below freezing if you cinch it up completely. The bag has a wide temperature range if you drape it loosely like a duvet and layer up or down underneath.

I tested this versatility recently on the AT, on nights ushered in by warm winds, followed by cold storms that cleared 'round midnight. Near dawn, it started to rain again.

At bedtime I slipped my insulated Exped DownMat into the foot of the bag and drew in the drawstring beneath the sleeping pad to wrap it loosely around the sleeping pad. I snuggled into a Thermax liner and wiggled in, drawing my covers up loosely around my chest. During the night, there were always plenty of covers to burrow beneath.

The Siren is luxuriously quiet. Its wraparound design meant that I never once slid off the pad. The quilt concept offers near boudoir-quality freedom of movement. I drifted awake almost certain I was in a bed, not in a tent.

Western Mountaineering makes an even lighter summer quilt (411 grams), rated to 40F, that practically disappears in your pack or pannier bag and unzips fully for hostel use. It's not as pretty, not as soft and not as quiet as Nemo's Siren. What is? But the Western will be my low-elevation summer bedmate after May day.

Down insulation: still warmest for its weight.
Still the most packable. Still the most comfortable.
Pricey and high maintenance, but worth it.
I wish all manufacturers certified their down like Patagonia does....

Pet Peeve Since 2015

I know it's been a couple years since my last post (!) but...

When will trusty Nikwax redesign its bottle caps?

Base Wash holds up to competitors and Base Fresh is by far the best deoderizer in its class. I'm fussy about my laundry and I love this stuff.

But it's impossible to measure detergent from the cap, as directed, without residue leaking all over when you try to screw it back on the bottle.

Almost all Nikwax products suffer from this problem. Maybe you'll have better luck than I in convincing the company to rethink their package design. Or else stick to their sandal wash, where there's only scrubbing to do, no pouring.

Your travel mates will thank you.