Searching for a New Tent

The 'Mid pitched out in Loihuno, 1st night out on the Tour de Timor.

We were in our tent, just about to lie down to sleep when Laura said to me:

“Oh look, a scorpion.”

We have a BD Megamid, a tarp tent, which means it has no floor, and hence no bug protection. And so at 9 o’clock that night, on the second night of the Tour de Timor, we moved our tent from the edge of the brush out onto the middle of the dirt road, where we felt safe from scorpions and other creepy crawlies.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of ‘Mid tents. They are fast to set up, light, strong, and incredibly spacious for their weight. I’ve pitched them while climbing on the icy slopes of the Tetons and Mt. Rainier, backpacking in Yosemite, and trekking in the sweaty jungles of S.E. Asia.

Their weaknesses are:

1. No bug protection; and
2. Not freestanding.

MSR Hubba Hubba HP without fly.

My first tent was a Chouinard Pyramid, the predecessor to the BD Megamid, so I’m on my second ‘Mid. I seem to go in cycles, and seem to always come back to a ‘Mid for their bombproof simplicity. And so this cycle has me looking for a new ‘scorpion proof’ tent. At the moment, the front-runner is the MSR Hubba Hubba HP, which (as a weight weenie) I’ve worked out to be the same weight as my Megamid plus groundsheet.

Let me know if I’m the right track :o)

Subscribe to receive free email updates: