How much is your life worth? Is it worth laying out $80 and carrying 273 grams for example? This is the Outdoor Research Helium Emergency Bivy, a trimmed down version of their regular Helium Bivy (510 grams). If you carry a raincoat you could make a raincoat shelter for your head, and you could hold […]
You would think Himalayan trekkers would all carry something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al4UUSAd5yQ ‘Live and learn or you won’t live long’! http://www.lifesystems.co.uk/products/outdoor-survival/4-person-survival-shelter.html I am taking the two person model (350 grams) to EBC in November 2016. The new breathable ‘Escape Bivy’ (http://www.adventuremedicalkits.com/survival/survive-outdoors-longer-escape-litetm-bivvy-1.html) @ 157 grams is surely a must in your day pack along with (eg)
I recently had a chance to try out this very nice Waratah Quilt from Neve Gear. They are priced from A$419 (May 2024). I have had it for some time actually, but the weather has been too warm so I had to wait until I could go somewhere it was going to drop below freezing
In this post I thought I would pull together my ‘adventures’ with making my own tents/shelters over the years. My experience has evolved from utilising simple tarps/ponchos as shelters to creating a variety of tent ‘prototypes’ in Tyvek often followed by a lighter silnylon model (which I then take up the bush to try out).
I decided here to update the post The Complete Survival Guide (which you should still read) as it had become a little out-of-date in the three years since I wrote it and I had since written many other useful pieces of advice which I could incorporate in a new post, which this is. I might
A tent that is also a tarp and a hammock shelter. This tent has been evolving in my head for a number of years and I realise that some of you are impatient that you have not been able to buy one or other of its iterations. However your wait might soon be over. Be
It has been quite a while (over two years) since I first posted this. Time for an update. There are now over 179 ‘ideas’ to try out. Most will save you money or at least improve your outdoors experience; nearly all of them are my own ‘inventions’. Hope you find something useful to you. 181:
This is my 1300th post here at the Ultralight Hiker! That’s probably about a million and a half words (more than a dozen novels worth!) and over 25,000 photos. Quite an achievement in four years since May 2015 when I began this blog. It has been 200 posts since the 1100th post in May 2018
One of Sea to Summit’s ultra sil nano tarp ponchos which are 265 cm x 145 cm and weigh 230 grams (A$79.90 July 2019) as well as being excellent rain gear also provide all the shelter you need particularly if paired with an ultralight bivy bag of some sort. The US$16.99 Tyvek one I posted
or Ground Sheet. For those of you who can’t sew but don’t mind spending US$16.99, Flame’s Creed has this little beauty. It should keep your sleeping bag clean and dry (and only weighs 130 grams apparently). I bought a couple of their ultralight tents and found them to be very good value and quality. You
