Question: Tent for the Andes

[Alaska Tim]

Hi all,

 

Two climbing partners and I are going to go climbing in the Andes from March through June. We plan on climbing in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and northern Chile. None of us has a 3-person tent and we are trying to choose between:

• 
  
• Black Diamond - Guiding Light - 47 sq ft - 6lbs 4oz
  
• Mountain Hardwear - Trango 3.1 - 48 sq ft - 10lbs 9oz
   
  

I already have a Trango 2 and a Lighthouse, so I am comfortable with the pros and cons of each design. However, I am not sure how bad things can get in South America, having never been there. Obviously, we won't intentionally climb in bad weather. But sometimes good intentions are not good enough.

 

Let me know if you've been to S. America , what tent you brought and\or if you have an opinion on the choice described above.

 

Thanks,

 

Tim

[suckbm]

single wall tents usually work well in s. America. weather is not as extreme as alaska and usually temps rise decently during the day helping to dry the tent out. Used a Integral Desings MK1 Lite and a Bibler Fitzroy both single wall both worked well.

[Alaska Tim]

Thanks for the reply!

 

Did you use a vestibule on either of those tents? If not, did you miss it?

 

Thanks again,

 

Tim

[rbw1966]

in some of those cited areas a tent wont be necessary as there are huts you can crash in.

 

with respect to tents have you considered a bibler bombshelter? lighter and roomier than either of the tents you mention.

 

I spent two weeks in the cordillera blanca in a bivvy sack and was fine.

 

 

[Alaska Tim]

Thanks for the reply!

 

About huts, I assume that in Ecuador we will be spending most of our time in "refugio." For Peru, Bolivia and certainly the Atacama, I'm planning we'll use a shelter of our own.

 

And yes, I did consider the Bombshelter, but it is out of our price range. We need to keep it under $400.

 

Your comment about the bivy is interesting. I've been hemming and hawing about this for awhile now: why not just bring, say, the Trango 2 and my BD Winter Bivy. In a pinch, everyone can just cram into the tent for the night. Otherwise, I can stay in the bivy outside. What makes me nervous is committing to this system for four months. My standards are Alaskan, recall. What do you think?

 

Thanks again!

[mtnhippy]

Both of the tents you list are more than $400. Unless I'm mistaken, the Trango 3.1 is $650 and Guiding Light w/ vesti is $700+. A bomber 4-season tent will be hard to come by for $400.

 

Here are a couple 3+ season tents. The Nemo Losi 3P lists for $385. Anybody have experience with Nemo tents? The Losi is made of lighter fabric than the 3.1 so it will have it's pros and cons.

 

Sierra Designs make the Alpha 3 which is less than $400. I've never been a fan of SD tent designs, though. Hope this helps.

[Hugh Conway]

Trekking I found a vestibule a nice place to stow stuff away from wandering eyes and arms; remember with the equatorial ~12 hr night you'll have alot of dark to spend in the tent, if that's how you roll.

[tlinn]

I've been down twice now.

 

The first time we spent one month in the Cordillera Blanca in Peru in my friend's double wall tent. It's an obscure Australian company, but it's nothing fancy...probably lesser quality then the tents you mention. We camped as high as 5600 meters and I noticed the flaws in the tent at that altitude because we had a lot of spindrift under the vestibule. It was a double wall tent and we still had some condensation. Other then that night, the tent held up just fine. You usually don't camp that high so it's not a problem. 95% of the time you could bivy.

 

The last time I went down I went down I took a Hilleberg Nallo 2 and I absolutely loved it. Very little condensation, very light, and very strong. I found it held up way better then my friend's tent and it's at least 2 pounds lighter. I imagine this tent still wouldn't be as strong as the ones you mention but I think it would be plenty strong for climbing in the Blanca. Having said that I have always had very good luck with the weather. I think we only had one day with precipitation the whole time I was there in 2005. This year we were in southern Peru near Ausangate and we only had one day of bad weather, but the tent held out really well in a strong wind. Maybe you want something a bit stronger just in case? Going with a lighter tent has a lot of advantages as well!

 

Sorry, just saw that you are going down as a group of 3 so my recommendation won't help much! I don't have experience with their 3 person tents but maybe you should check those out. Sometimes you can luck out by going to their factory in Redmond. They've been known to discount some of their display models (which is how I got mine).

Edited February 15, 2009 by tlinn

[Alaska Tim]

Thank for the reply.

 

I found the Guiding Light for $399 at Mountain Gear and saw the Trango 3.1 for $390 on sale somewhere too. I understand Mountain Hardwear has updated the Trango series, hence the low price on the older design.

Edited February 15, 2009 by Alaska Tim

[Alaska Tim]

Hi tlinn,

 

I've also heard great things about Nallos. I've never tried a tube tent, but would like to try it someday. It seems there are many people who swear by them, especially the Hillebergs.

 

Also, we will not be climbing during the traditional "dry" season. We are trying to hit the shoulder as much as possible, but this may not always be possible. We do have the luxury of time on our side, however, so should be able to wait out the worst weather. Still, I am glad to hear that generally weather is not too violent. This is always welcome.

 

Thanks for your input!

[Maxtrax]

I've never been to South America but I just wanted to chime in and second the Nallo and Hilleberg tents in general. I spent 10 1/2 days in a Nallo 3 in the Bugs in September this year and it performed flawlessly. The GT model was pretty sweet, we had a nice dry area to do our cooking, leave our boots, etc. when it was storming on us for multiple days in a row.

 

The only day we had any issues with condensation there was an inch thick solid crust of ice on the outer wall from a very cold night after a mixed rain/snow/ice/sleet storm.

[summerprophet]

I have climbed in the Cordillera Blanca, and found that most nights you can just sleep in your sleeping bag.

 

In the interest of cutting weight / maximizing heat, we used a Mountain hardware nightsky 2+ person for the three of us.

 

Perfect for sleeping in, and in the Peruvian Andes the weather is so stable, that is all you are going to use the tent for.

 

Trango 3's, and VE-25's were by far the most common seen down there. The Euros had a fair amount of floorless single vertical pole things.

 

[plexus]

For what it's worth, I plan on spending most of next year following the spine of the Andes from Chile up to Central America. From talking to some people who have spent extended time there, I'm just going to take my Clip Flashlight; roomie for a single person and I've never had a problem this last year from downpours to extremely windy conditions. If you get it staked out properly, I've found it can take over 60 mph gusts without even budging.

 

 

[Hugh Conway]

For what it's worth, I plan on spending most of next year following the spine of the Andes from Chile up to Central America. From talking to some people who have spent extended time there, I'm just going to take my Clip Flashlight; roomie for a single person and I've never had a problem this last year from downpours to extremely windy conditions. If you get it staked out properly, I've found it can take over 60 mph gusts without even budging.

 

It'll work - they are incredibly durable when well staked out.

 

But remember you've got 12hr nights, and you'll be spending alot of them in that tent, especially when it gets rainy in the evening and you need to cook. Something with more interior room, and/or a bigger vestibule would be much more enjoyable