Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Current Gear List: The Shelter Blog

There are currently three big names in the Ultralight Floorless Shelter world.  Kifaru, Titanium Goat, and Seek Outside.  I currently own two of them and have owned all three at one point or another.

Current: Titanium Goat Vertex 5, and Seek Outside(SO) 6.  The SO is the old model not the new one.

The Vertex 5 has been reviewed here at a surface level, and will be further later after a few more field uses.  It will be exactly what I was looking for in a solo/duo shelter.

The SO 6 is a great addition to the family, and will be what my wife and I use on our excursions to the back-country and the not so back-country.  I have set it up three times now and there is more than enough space for 2-3 people and a LOT of gear.  It would even be possible to fit 4 and SOME gear, but not nearly as much, especially if used with a packable wood burning stove.

In comparing the TiGoat to the SO I would say they both have some different qualities worth noting.  First the TiGoat is a much more basic shelter, but functions well for what it is.  All of the tie outs are double stitched and the cordura is round in shape.  The SO uses a triangular shape that has singular stitching on the cordura, but is doubled on the actual attachment point for the loops.  Having not tested them both in extreme conditions yet... there isn't really an edge to give to either, just note that they are different.

The SO has more features internally such as the sod skirt which will be nice, and can easily be used with a nest that has internal guy out points.  The new models will have different levels of what features you can buy to say customize it to a singular person's needs.  The stove jack came installed, and the only thing left to do is buy the actual stove.  The TiGoat needs to be sent in to have the stove jack installed.

Past: Kifaru Paratarp/Annex-  The problem was that it was just too small for me even as a solo shelter.  I ended up selling it because it was not going to serve the purpose that I intended for it.  I will be honest, the tie outs didn't seem to have as much thought as what my TiGoat and SO both have.  Maybe I am comparing apples to oranges here based on relative sizes of the shelters, but it just felt like there was potential for issues with the Paratarp.

The pros to the entire package was how small and packable it was, the ability to make it cooler during warm weather conditions by not bringing the annex, and the ability to use trekking poles to put it up.

I suppose, if necessary you could get two guys in there, if you had to and wanted to be really crowded.  For me it just wasn't going to cut it.  Hence the sale and purchase of the TiGoat Vertex 5.  The Vertex 5 will still be close quarters with two guys, but not nearly as close as just one.

Update:  After one trip with the SO Six, I can say that I am very pleased.  It endured some solid wind conditions, and was easy to set up as well.  I am looking forward to several more trips with it in the coming month.



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