I also love the option of pitching just the mesh without the rainfly in the desert when you're confident of the weather forecast. Great to (nearly) sleep under the stars without worrying about various creepy crawlies.
One of the reasons I purchased the semi freestanding REI Quarter Dome SL was for the ability to set it up in the rain using the rain fly and ground sheet. Then installing the mesh body under cover.
We own an HMG tarp and a ZPacks Triplex, both of which my husband loves. But for me, nothing compares to our Packs Duplex Flex. I love the freedom of knowing I will be able to easily set up our tent regardless of the conditions of our campsite, or the time we decide to stop hiking for the night.
Excellent video! There are definitely pros and cons to both. You're right about setting up in a storm. I've gotten caught multiple times trying to set up my tent in the rain, and having to set up the inner tent first always ended up in a wet floor that I needed to dry up with a towel. Great info!
It have a free standing tent. love it. You can move it to an area after you assemble it if you have to. Has a floor where little critters have a problem getting into tent.
One other small thing I prefer about free standing tents is that I can pick it up and shake out dirt or other debris that has managed to make its way inside.
Great vid man. Very well articulated. Personally I use both free and non free standing depending on the circumstances. I’m with you on the non free standing. Sometimes it’s harder to be comfortable because so much has been lost due to cutting weight. Hike on 👏
When I was a kid, seems like all the tents were either single wall or true double-wall, where the inner wall was all fabric, not mesh (similar to the Eureka Timberline). So when you pitched your tent in the rain, you never had to worry about rain on the inside. My preference right now is for a freestanding design. I recently bought a 1p and want to evaluate the pros and cons vs a 2p.
Russell Jolly interesting how things have changed. I didn’t talk about semi freestanding, but that has been a good option for me as I am not always carrying trekking poles. But my tipi is a favorite too.
I was under the impression that in the case of wet conditions you can setup the fly onto the foot print then put the tent underneath and set it up? That's one of the main reasons I'm getting that zion.
The versatility and "livability" of the freestanding tent allowing room and ability to use the mesh screen for star-gazing, makes it worth the "weight penalty." Although my 2p freestanding lightweight tent is sub 3 lb with how I carry it, it's hardly much of a weight penalty. As I find myself also pitching a tent in tight areas or in the desert where the ability to stake down a tent is nearly impossible, I have not really found a reason to switch. However, you make a valid point in the rain that I had never really though about with single-wall vs. double wall set up.
Miriam Midge Barno in the desert I almost exclusively use a freestanding or at least semi freestanding. Just makes life easier. Good thing it doesn’t rain a lot in the desert.
There are sime tent designs, that allow you to pitch the fly and then clip in the body underneath. Some are only designed to pitch the fly without the body, but some simple modifications will deal with that limitation.
Right? The REI quarter dome that I have allows you to pitch the tent with the footprint, poles and rain fly, and room to internally set up the body. However, my other freestanding tents do not allow this. Amazing engineering in some of these little tents!
@@MightyMidgey Thats good info on the quarter dome. I wasn't aware of that and have considered getting one. Do you know if its version specific, or are all of them like this?
Very informative video. Well done. I got an Marmot EOS 1P Tent in 2019 which is a free standing tent. It is light and I've had it in the rain multiple times without any leaks. It is a little tight and I don't think I'd like being stuck in it for multiple days in the rain. The quality is great. I wish Marmot would come out with a new version that was a little larger.
Just like i said on the other channel... If you're that serious about backpacking to consider all this, you'll probably own both....should own both. Freestanding seems more like a longer trip tent, non-free sounds better for peakbagging hot climate overnights.
My measuring stick for the two different tents boils down to location. I hammock camp when possible but have both a freestanding and a non freestanding tents to use when a hammock is out of the question. The freestanding tent is a universal tent I can use anywhere. The penalty for that ability is some additional weight but worth every ounce. I research the area I will be in and chose my shelter from that knowledge.
I have a Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL 1 freestanding tent. It can be pitched fly first in a storm which keeps the inner tent and your other gear dry. So, not all free standing tents are created equally.
I have both free and non, and lately my go-to has been the non, with a Six Moon Design Lunar Solo. Love the weight. That being said, if i knew there was a chance of rain (hopefully not while pitching, which would suck), I'd go with my free-standing. One other benefit of at least my Lunar Solo is the interior space, compared to my free standing (REI Quarter Dome 1P)... WAY more space. Keep up the great work Devin, and once again, a to-the-point overview. Very helpful.
You forgot seeing the sky or side views (since my tent does have a small solid at the top center). Most single wall tents have very limited mesh and it's at the door. I get it's pretty much a non issue for thru hikers who pretty much only sleep in their tent, but for the rest of us it's a bummer.
I’ve got well over 1500 miles with my Paria Bryce 2p and I still giggle at all those weight weenies that complain about ounces as my main pack is a Molle 2 medium which has been strapped to my back on multiple continents.
Nice video! I use freestanding tents about 5-10% of the time I hike, but I love to use them when they are needed. Som freestanding tent are designed to be set up fly first and/or fly and inner at the same time and still more of them can be simply redesigned to do so... including the one in your video. Simply tie some knots on a thin stringso they match the holes where the poles go in the inner tent floor, that way you can set up the poles in this simple harnes first, then the fly and last the inner tent. This is way more fiddly and time consuming, but in a heavy rain, the extra 2-3 minutes is well worth it to have a dry inner tent instead of a soggy mess. I have been using this trick several times, it work fine. It also allow for setting up the fly without the inner when and if you want.
Chris Adams yes, it will be a bit before I do, but I will. I can say that as a solo shelter and still having two doors/vestibules is awesome. Glad they didn’t just drop one of the doors and put a pull out on like the Nemo hornet 1P. The Zion is rad as a 1P.
How does the Paria Zion tent holding u? Looking to buy the 2p but concert the quality is not there compared to BA, msr or Nemo However I love the Paria price point
Between the two Paria tents, which one would you reccomend for a solid 2 person tent? It would be me and my 7 year old boy and possibly me doing solo trips
Andrew C assuming you’re asking between the Zion and Bryce. I would suggest the Zion, only because you’ve got two doors and more space to move around with two people. It would be a little heavy for a solo shelter, but would definitely work. The Bryce is a great shelter too, but has just the one door and with two people inside it can be awkward to get in and out, and the walls are not as vertical.
One of the drawbacks you mentioned was setting up in a downpour. I was watching this video yesterday, he was showing a freestanding setup without the bug-net body, that would lessen the downpour problem. That setup starts at approx 12:32. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4mH73AAE6Wk.html
Great tips Devin. I like my free standing tent but it’s so heavy. I’m with you on spots that you can’t use a non free standing tent. There’s a lot of times in the Red River Gorge that I want to stay on a bald rock but I can’t with the duplex unless I use rocks as stakes. And that never works well. Cool video and great tips. Now I’ll check out Huck video. Cool collaboration 👍
Backpacking With Jason thanks Jason! Using rocks can work but unless heavy enough I find they shift with the required tension for a non freestanding to pitch tight. Pros and cons to all of it. Where you live makes a difference too.
There are many double skinned non freestanding tents, almost all English and European tents are outer first pitch double walled tents Nobody wants a freestanding inner first tent in the pouring rain American tents tend to be freestanding inner first tents, and your view is skewed that way too
