Fair enough; if it's cheap enough to be disposable, give it a try. But please try it in your yard, not on a multi-day trip.

Based on my experience (solo backpacking in the Canadian Rockies for a couple of decades) a single-walled, waterproof tent just about guarantees a wet, cold, miserable trip. Basically, you can duplicate the same thing with $5.00 of plastic sheeting or a bunch of oversize trash bags; just wrap them loosely around your sleeping bag.

The advice given by Am_Fear_Liath_Mor above is solid stuff. There are two kinds of moisture that a tent/shelter must manage: moisture from outside (rain, snow, dew) and moisture generated by you (moisture you expel with every breath, plus insensible perspiration from every pore in your body). A waterproof shelter keeps most of your "expelled moisture" inside the tent with you, where it condenses from vapour to water, thus killing the effectiveness of your insulation. At about four in the morning, you will wake up and realize all is not well.

The good news: it doesn't cost much to get it right. I went the budget route for about ten years, when starting out, since money was tight. The system that really worked, in 3-1/2 seasons, was a largish tarp of waterproof nylon, with a small netting enclosure inside (handmade), and a cheap woven poly tarp as a groundsheet underneath. The whole rig can be put together for about the same price, for about the same weight, and will serve you for years. Added bonus: you get to look out and see the night, which is often worth seeing.

Hope this long post is somewhat helpful. Good luck!



Edited by dougwalkabout (10/17/07 04:10 AM)