Tent Choice

Tent choice gets a special post. A backpacker's tent is his home away from home, the item that enables comfortable survival in the outdoors. Tent choice was my biggest decision in planning for the PCT. My first tent was a low level EMS back country model that frustrated me from day one. It wasn't built intuitively and it weighed 5lb. This was not a tent I wanted to spend 5 months in. When I began searching for a replacement, these were my main criteria:

Double walled (has a removable rain fly) - I wanted the option to sleep under the stars on clear nights, unencumbered by a fly, while being protected from bugs by mesh. I didn't choose to hike a 2,663 mile trail to shut myself into an enclosed tent every night.

Lightweight - Often my first criteria means that I'm settling for a bit more weight, but I felt that a 2lb max was reasonable.

I began my search with these two goals in mind, and I ended my search with this:


Yama Mountain Gear's Stratiform 1P paired with the Bug Shelter 1.0 - essentially the Stratiform 1 System. It's double walled and it weighs just 20.4oz including guylines and stuff sack.

Gen Shimizu, founder of Yama Mountain Gear, has a unique approach to back country shelter. Yama allows you to buy complete shelters or customize your own. You can buy a tarp and a bug net independently of each other, and most tarps are compatible with multiple bug nets. Yama also offers kits that enable hikers to make their own bug shelter and Cuben fiber stuff sacks. Speaking of Cuben fiber, Yama incorporates this cutting edge material into some of the models. There is an overarching emphasis on simplicity, lightweight material, and quality craftsmanship in all of the gear.

Gen heads a formal sponsorship program called mYAMAdventure in which he assists budding long distance backpackers in their first big adventure. This program will take several lucky recipients along Vermont's Long Trail this summer and in the process they will fund raise for the Green Mountain Club. I knew my PCT trip didn't quite fit the bill for the mYAMAdventure program but I inquired about possible sponsorship anyways. Gen was kind enough to donate a lightly used Stratiform 1 setup and I am extremely grateful for the support. I'll be providing updates and reviewing this setup so check back throughout the summer for more information.

3/23 - Below are a few pictures of the tarp setup. I packed down a few feet of fresh powder just to test it out. Staking into all that powder wasn't the easiest thing but I finally got the guylines tensioned enough to really see what the tarp could do. One of the features that attracted me to this tent setup was the tarp's versatility and it certainly didn't disappoint. The user can quickly adapt the tarp to various weather conditions using the trekking pole height and guyline length. It's nice to know that the tarp can ride well above the bug net for ventilation in nice weather and hug the ground in stormy weather. Speaking of the bug net, I didn't pitch it this time out because my stakes were popping out of the powdery snow constantly and I didn't feel like fighting with it more.

Storm mode - note how the edges can basically touch the ground. Ridge line is dipping a little, this picture was taken before I adjusted it.

Fair weather mode - much more head space - ridge line is high and taught.