[Dean]

For those who might be looking for something lighter and aren't interested in the Hennessy Hammock option or may want something to supplement the HH, I've been looking at the following: 1) Ron Moak, a guy from Beaverton Oregon (AT, PCT thru hiker) has designed a sweet looking tent that weighs in at 2lbs 4 oz. He decided to market his own product when he discovered that not all the tent solutions out there did the job. Kind of a cross between a Stephenson and a Go Lite: http://www.sixmoondesigns.com/products.asp 2) A Henry Shire's tarptent. Well received product that Henry went commercial with. He used his own homebuilt to do the PCT three years ago and I like what he has put together but I'm not a tarptent kind of guy but it'd be great for the Sierras and Eagle Cap areas. The attractive thing about the tarptent is it weighs in at 24 oz. Nice! http://www.tarptent.com/ I'm leaning toward the Ron Moak design personally. I guess I'm a hopeless gear addict.

[Dante]

I don't know if it's been posted before, but here's a pretty cool comparison page: http://bikerdave.crosswinds.net/shelterII.html

[Allison]

The 6 moons looks like it would have ventilation problems to me. The Tarptent looks better in that respect.

[Dante]

Yup--I think I'm going to trade my Integral Designs Sil Shelter in on a Henry Shires's Squall 23 oz. tarptent. I think you'd be hard pressed to get a better space-to-weight ratio. The custom version with a floor only weighs 1.7 lb

[Allison]

WEll, D, I'll be very interested to see what you think of it. It looks like a GREAT piece, and the floor is worth the ozs IMO!

[3fngrs]

Boy that BikerDave sure has done a good job of putting together a comparison site re. lightweight gear! Sure beats searching all over the web trying to remember facts, data and such.

[Dante]

Well, I'm in the process of selling my SilShelter so I placed an order for a Henry Shires Squall (the big one) from www.tarptent.com (for October delivery ). I wanted room for two. I'll post a review when I finally get to use it. It will probably end up being my Christmas present and will probably not get tested next spring. So far I'll definitely give Henry Shires a firm A+ for customer service, though. P.S. After corresponding with Henry Shires via e-mail I opted to order my Squall without the optional black SilNylong floor. It sounds to me like it's one of those options you offer to customers who insist on a feature you'd rather not include or in which you do not strongly believe.

[Allison]

I'm curious as to why he thinks it doesn't need a floor. Can you elaborate?

[Dante]

I deleted the mail I'll do my best to recount his rationalle from memory in a moment. First, you have to remember the Squall and Virga were designed as tarptents--tarps with bug protection. It's pretty clear the priorities were minimizing weight and maximizing pitching options. The floor was an afterthought. Henry Shires says the SilNylong floor is sewn into the "hole" in the netting along three sides (the foot and both sides). It is not a bathtub floor. The floor attaches to the canopy with webbing straps in the corners. This pulls the floor into the right shape. The benefit of this is the floor is not stretched, which may make it less prone to punctures. The downside is it still bunches and slips when the occupants move around. I can't remember exactly how Shire's described it, but he said he viewed the floor as an "satisfactory modification" or something to that effect, but that he does not view it as an integral part of the tarptent's design or system. We should probably not think of it as a tent, but as a really nice netted tarp with an available floor. I ordered mine without the optional floor. P.S. He probably doesn't think it needs a floor because the original Henry Shires design did not have one and was very popular. The Virga and Squall are just improvements on his original design.