In the how many bikes you got thread FLV said he got more shelters than bikes. I initially thought this was a lot but then I got thinking and guess what I have more shelters than bikes too!

So how many you got and what are they?

In my loft I curently have;
Vango 6berth family tent - Recent purchase now I have a little boy old enough to camp
Vango Event shelter - bought as a gathering place when carboot packing and whe I used to do 12/24hr races
Wild Country Voyger - Original backpacking tent had it for 25yrs and its still going strong (weighs a ton though)
BWD Cuben Lair - bought last year when I started on the slippery slope of obsessiving of the weight of my gear
AlpKit Rig7 (this is going) - bought when I started bikepacking

I would quite like a Trailstar or duomid for winter use too. I am comming to the conclusion though that the n*+1 formula used for the ideal number of bikes also applies to shelters, only they are easier to hide from the wife


*n = the number of bikes you already own[/size]

6 tents ranging from 6 berth family tents to a TN laser comp
4 hammocks
2 plain tarps
1 Coleman event shelter
and a Trailstar in a pear tree.

I am a tentaholic. :D

Ok, let's see.....not so much for me:

1 x SMD 'Skyscape Scout' tent.
1 x DD 'Travel Hammock' (and accompanying 3m x 3m DD Tarp).
1 x silnylon tarp (1.5m x 3.3m).

Not so many it turns out - maybe I need more?

I'd like some kind of tarp-tent next which will hopefully fill the gap between the tarp/bivi option and a full-on tent.

I don't use the hammock at all for bikepacking duties as it's heavier, less waterproof and less warm than my tent - seems daft. I still use it for backpacking though and love it for summer use.

I'm not sure we really need to go here but here goes

•BPWD Lair - lovely bit of kit, light, packable and pretty roomy.
•BPWD Lair - Extended beak and bug netting, given to me as a gift to 'play about with'.
•MLD Trailstar - Bought S/H from the US. Possibly the best shelter ever made for UK conditions (imo).
•Bozeman Mountain Works spinniker tarp - Bought S/H because it was cheap and oh so light.
•My first ever tarp, silnylon, 8' x5' 20 years ago everyone thought I was mad to spend £50 on it
•Massive DD XL tarp - gets used for group use ... 'tis a whopper.
•Force Ten Helium 100 - bought on impulse at F&T in Betwys a few years ago. It was very cheap and it's actually a superb tent.
•Force Ten Vitesse - Single skin, ridge type thing.
•SMD Lunar solo - again bought S/H, ideal for those moments when you want a tarp but need a tent.
•Vango Spirit 200+ - Massive porch but still (just) light enough to carry, ideal for dog camping.
•Jamet 4500 - underrated tent maker, think TN Lazer but more room and much cheaper.
•Worlds biggest Tipi - as seem at the WRT and BB 200.
•AlpKit Delta- in the the wokshop to play with/review.

There's also a couple of hammocks and various MYOG prototypes knocking about too.

It's a good job I don't drink or do drugs ... my slightly addictive character could get me into real bother. :D

Hmmm... not that many...

MSR Hubba Hubba HP... bought last year to replace my trusty Terra Nova Voyager that finally died...
Hilleberg Kaitum 3GT... for more base campy trips...
Integral Designs SilTarp2... newly purchased to work with my Hunka XL

Thats it

Mr Fishy/Stuart - WOW!

This must like therapy to you guys! - you're like a pair of ultra-lite outdoors Imelda Marcus'!

A very moderate -

Mountain Hardware Sprite - 1 man
Mountain Equipment Dragonly 2 xt - 2 man with porch luxury

I don't do car camping anymore, if I am away with the Mrs and dogs we just hire a cottage :D

Vango Orchy 500 family tent
Khyam Winnipeg 4 berth
Quechua seconds 4 for car touring
Eurohike backpacker 2 berth
Tarptent stratospire 2
Quechua tarp
Silnylon tarp

Until last year we had a Sprayway Valley 600 too. Absolutely huge tent with 2 bedrooms, walk in wardrobe and side annex!

A 2 bedroom family thing,
a 4 man dome,
a gelert solo,
a Terra Nova comp 1 tarp.

Currently have
Terra Nova Laser Comp, TN Voyager and a TN Apollo Bivi
Wild Country Mistral
Vango Equinox 200
Army Goretex bivi
Integral Designs Siltarp 1
Quecha Tarp
A 2man Bothy bag that would make a good shelter!

+ countless mats,sleeping bags, stoves and rucksacks and other associated equipment!!!

I really should get out more!

A Lichfield family ridge tent with A poles and porch that will be going this year.
A Vango Spirit 200+ an excellent base camp tent.
A Hilleberg Akto - was my favourite day by day moving on tent until I had to sit out a day in snow and I realised how confining it is - going for sale this year.
A Luxe Outdoor Mini Peak 2 that has replaced the Akto. I use either fly only with or without a bivi bag or with its inner in Summer. Twice the floor space of the Akto with just a few hundred grammes weight penalty.
A GoLite Hex bought second hand because I couldn't resist it. Lighter than the MP2 and roomier but I still prefer the MP2. May sell it this year.
TN Jupiter Bivi. Used once, gave me the shivers - reminded me of sliding corpses into the mortuary shelves. Probably ought to be sold.
Army bivi bag - nostalgia
Alpkit Hunka XL bivi bag
Home made hammock in double Pertex from plans by Sgt. Rock, I think. Only used in the garden where I found that the apple tree is a lot more firmly planted than the washing line pole
An Aussie army tarp as from Ray Mears - never used it
A large homemade silnylon tarp
A US Army poncho/tarp
A homemade mini shelter http://www.backpacking-lite.co.uk/diy/m ... -tarp.html which I did the Mk3 but am still not enamoured of it.

I must start selling, I think. :)

The next one isn't going to be sporks, is it?

If we're counting bivi bags I can add another 3.
So that makes 13.

If we're counting bivi bags I can add another 3.
So that makes 13.

Oh I see, the rules have changed ... best add another 8 to my list then

Terra Nova laser comp
Terra Nova solar
Eurohike exp 2, similar to a terra nova voyager
DD Tarp, bought cheap to see if the idea of a bivvy and tarp appealed
Alpkit rig7
Backpacking Light duo tarp
Alpkit Hunka with 1/2 zip fitted, so much easier to get in and out of
Terra Nova laser large 2 for 2 plus 2 collies
Rab storm bivi bag ( my wifes ).
No name tarp off ebay 2m x 1.38m
Always seems better than still spending money on booze n fags
Rucksacks next ? :)

I'm a newbie here but good to know others are weird about tents too.
Terra Nova Ultra Quasar - Heavy but bombproof
TN Trisar. Knackered.
TN Explorer. Not as good as trisar.
TN Hooped bivvy. Heavy but wonderful.
Mountain Hardware Solitude. Nice window.
Saunders Three pole ridge - my first lightish weight tent. Flappy, leaky but kept for sentimental reasons.
DD Tarp large
Kathmandu trekking tarp.
Alpkit Hunka
2x DD hammocks
Huge roll of proofed canvas that will be a yurt (ger) one day as soon as I've learned how to use sewing machine (probably not for bikepacking:)
Have to buy ultra-ultralight stuff now I'm into bikerafting. Everything to excess, you can never have too many tents or bikes.

I guess it would be rude not to join in...

Terra Nova Laser Comp - Excellent.
MacPac Minaret - Brilliant 2 man tent.
Crux X2 Storm - Loved for about 10 years now, has holes in now though.
Vango Banshee 200 - Remarkably good tent.
Borah Tarp - Not quite arrived, does it count?
Borah Bivi - as above

I have been applying the same logic to my tents as bikes, so have been culling. Recently (like in the last 6 weeks) sold:
Rab Storm Hooped Bivi.
Force Ten Helium 100 ultralight thingie (the black one)
Macpac Microlight
Wild country 2 man of unknown name
MSR Hubba (had 2 of these at some point)

so 6 now, 11 recently...
I could get shut of the crux but its not worth very much as its a bit damaged. I need the others.

* Coleman 3 person for MrsB and myself to use as abase from the car.
* Vaude Hogan. On my own from car or one night with MrsB.
* TN Photon elite for bikepacking duties
* Vango Mk1 lw - bit of a coffin and was going to flog it. Intend to use it flysheet ony this year instead of a tarp.
* Siltarp 1. Not really got on with it or used it much. No grass in my garden to play around with it which is all it probably needs.

Adrian Brewster wrote:I'm a newbie here but good to know others are weird about tents too.
Terra Nova Ultra Quasar - Heavy but bombproof
TN Trisar. Knackered.
TN Explorer. Not as good as trisar.
TN Hooped bivvy. Heavy but wonderful.
Mountain Hardware Solitude. Nice window.
Saunders Three pole ridge - my first lightish weight tent. Flappy, leaky but kept for sentimental reasons.
DD Tarp large
Kathmandu trekking tarp.
Alpkit Hunka
2x DD hammocks
Huge roll of proofed canvas that will be a yurt (ger) one day as soon as I've learned how to use sewing machine (probably not for bikepacking:)
Have to buy ultra-ultralight stuff now I'm into bikerafting. Everything to excess, you can never have too many tents or bikes.

Ah Saunders the original lightweight tent. Friend used to have a spacepacker, stupid light for there time. Think it was round the 4lb mark which was unheard off. Mind you leaked like a sieve no matter how much seam sealer he applied and the transverse pole would flex and whack him in the face in anything above a mild breeze! It Got blown away in a storm on Tan Hill before he had chance to sell it

I definitely score more highly on shelters than I do on bikes:

Primus Bifrost Y6 (family tent)
Terra Nova Laser Photon
Z-packs Hexamid solo tarp
Siltarp 1
Home-made tarp
Alpkit hunka
Terra Nova Moonlight
Ruta Locura Wasatch bivvy

There's a subtle theme here too - they're all at the light end of their respective spectrums (spectra?). Even the family tent is lightweight for its 6-berth capacity

I don't think I should join in as, I think, it could be a close run thing with Stu and FF

I do have a Saunders Jetpacker tho, circa 1986. It's the one which you can set up as an A or single pole at the entrance. Kept me warm and dry in the 1996 floods in France on a campsite outside Chamonix. Happy days :D

Amazing... !

A few yrs ago I had 14 bikes in varying stages of use / completeness in my garage, plus a load of frames and forks etc. It got silly.. Down to a handful now. Never thought people had a complete tent-village at home..

I have a Rab bivi, 2 MYOG (not by me) tarps, a minimal one (150g) and a normal 1-man (300g?) and an fairly new, so far unused Easton Kilo 1-man tent. Prefer bivies or tarps so that saves me a few £ )

I definitely score more highly on shelters than I do on bikes:

Primus Bifrost Y6 (family tent)
Terra Nova Laser Photon
Z-packs Hexamid solo tarp
Siltarp 1
Home-made tarp
Alpkit hunka
Terra Nova Moonlight
Ruta Locura Wasatch bivvy

Where's the cuben Trailstar?

I need to add a spinnaker tarp and a new hammock that arrived yesterday.
15

a new hammock that arrived yesterday

Which is?

EDC.
I'll post a pic up shortly.