Ultralight Tents AdviceUltralight tents are the lightest sort of tent available, and often weigh less than 2kg. Ultralight tents are now one of the most popular type of tent that CheapTents sells showing the value people place in lightweight outdoor gear.
Why choose an ultralight tent?Ultralighttents are increasingly popular, but why? People ask why people are prepared to spend extra on less, when it is not exactly a home-from-home. This is answered in the high-levels of research and technical innovation that goes into every aspect of these tents' design. The level of technological developments in ultralight tents shows true testament to the dedication of outdoor manufacturers such as The North Face, Terra Nova, Wild Country, MSR, Mountain Equipment, Vango and Vaude to make the best tents available.
Increasingly, people are enjoying the pleasures on the outdoors in more and more ways. This means their doing more outdoor sports and more styles of camping, which means they require different technologies. Ultralight tents are meeting these needs, by serving one fundamental need for several groups of people: 'if it's going on my back, I want it to be light!' Ultralight tents are perfect for mountain marathons, adventure racing, mountain biking, backpacking and more. They're the ideal combination of minimal weight and stability, allowing people to go 'higher, wilder, faster and further' than before. Ultralight Tent Design FeaturesUltralight tents have never been so technically advanced. Here is a break-down of features to look out for when shopping for your ultralight tent:
Ultralight Tent FittingsEvery item of an ultralight tent has extremely lightweight properties combined with strength. For instance all of 2007/2008 models of The North Face Flight Series tents utilise a proprietary MicroClip to secure the canopy to the poles. These strong, ultralight clips employ a camming action to lock onto the pole and hold it securely in place. The result is a lighter weight clip with improved strength and holding power. Flysheets Many ultralight tent flysheets use a rip-stop nylon inner and outer to sustain a variety of conditions. Rip-stop nylon is a light-weight nylon fabric with inter-woven ripstop reinforcement threads in a crosshatch pattern, so the material resists ripping or tearing. Tent Poles Ultralight tents and lightweight tents must consider the weight implications of every item that they use, although the better manufacturers will not skimp on other design features as a sacrifice. An example is if the use of lightweight tent poles, that naturally need to be lightweight but also need to be strong, flexible and have durable fittings. The point here is that simply because they are lightweight, you do not miss out on other important features.
Introduced in 2002, the new Featherlite SL Aluminium tent poles were designed with two main objectives: to offer a high strength-to-weight ratio and to be manufactured to slide quickly and easily through tight pole sleeves typical of lightweight and expedition tent construction. The result is an ultralight expedition tent pole that has an even higher strength-to-weight ratio than the original Featherlite pole, and one that works well with The North Face expedition tent sleeve construction. This new design includes an insert tube with a thinner wall than the main tube giving added strength to the sleeve joint. This construction detail eliminates excess weight and is balanced by a small strengthening tube at the joining position. DAC Featherlite Poles Found in some of our ultralight tents, DAC Featherlite poles are up to 15% lighter than aluminium poles of comparable strength. Additionally, Featherlite poles are less susceptible to failure because pole linkages are based on extrusion instead of glued-in inserts. Without the extra insert piece, there is less chance of breakage. Powerflex 7001-T6 alloy tent poles combine strength and flexibility and are often used too. Tent pegs Most lightweight tents come with lightweight alloy or aluminium tent pegs, which are often perfectly strong enough and light enough for most, but you can now buy titanium tent pegs for those people to shave every gram off their pack weight. Groundsheet protectors / Footprints Groundsheet protectors (aka footprints) are designed simply to protect the base of your tent. These are a great investment as it's certainly cheaper to buy a hardwearing footprint than buy a new tent because the groundsheet has split on a rock that you didn't see. They are often used by minimalist campers too, where they simply use the outer of their ultralight tent as an ultralight tarp and a footprint to sleep on. Click here for more weight saving tips! Lighter than ultralight?If your thinking ultra-minimalist and ultralight, then a lightweight Bivi Bag might be most suited to you. Or look at the lightweight advice page for more ideas on how to cut back your pack weight. |
