climbsonrocks

OK we disregard all the particular brands you pointed out in the first post (as it would, by your standards, be weird and pointless to regard what you point out there, by your own standards, so weird and pointlessly) and look at the practicality of the one-man, no-fly, cheepy, nylon tent and the practicality of the fly, more expensive, ultra-light, 2-3 man nylon tent. My conclusion: If I am going to pack a tent I prefer to get one that is worth packing and not a cheepy, one-man, no-fly tent that might be better if I cut it down the middle and used it for a tarp tent that has some bug netting attached to it.

A guy went solo there, without a permit, when I was leading a team out of Camp Muir (even after the Ranger there asked him where he was intending to go?, at the climbers cabin the evening before, to which he made a wiseguy crack with: "Where is anybody going?" and then told him he couldn't go higher without a permit). I seen him the next day when I was up on DC; he was doing a panic slide from above me down the glacier and hit the bottom of a 12 foot crevasse, just below me, doing about 120 mph (you know the rest).

You need a permit and you will need to carry (and know how to use or they would prefer you just stay off) the prerequisite gear: axe, screws, rope, stakes, and etc. (solo requires a special permit from the Park Super).

You are comparing apples to oranges (but I think I smell spam). The Ultra lights are two - three man tents. The Walmart tent is a one man tent. 2 man tents require a lot more fabric than a 1 man tent and therefore the 1 man Walmart tent will be able to have a similar overall weight as the Ultra light 2 man tent. Since the Walmart tent does not have a fly and the Ultra lights do that is also a lot less fabric that is used in the Walmart tent, which keeps its' weight down. Perhaps the biggest reason to have a tent is to keep you dry. A tent without a fly gets condensation on the inside when the temperature gets low enough (usually happens in the high country even in the summer) and it gets wet on the inside. If the Walmart tent were at least a two man tent you could stay far enough away from the sides and stay dry (not easy to do and you don't have to worry about that with a fly tent), but in a one man tent you can't and you will get wet.

ditto

Polypropelene undershirt Wool shirt Down jacket Gortex outer shell

Cheap: Shoo Goo Parsimonious: hot glue BTW: (even though I hate to say it and you hate to hear it) I am new here. climbsonrocks