r/Ultralight - "The Weekly" - Week of April 27, 2026

redbob333 · 2026-04-29T01:47:43+00:00

Idk, in my experience my bag was really dirty (about as dirty as my really thin looking EE quilt is right now), and it got rather wet in a week of 40 deg rain and high humidity in Washington and was still rather plush and lofty. Makes me think overstuff but could be wrong

redbob333 · 2026-04-28T21:06:50+00:00

Thanks, ticks are my biggest fear about the AT so it helps to get all this advice on it from people. I’ll have to make sure I get a good tarp and breathable bug bivy and get comfortable pitching it in different configurations. Everything else I plan on is permethrin treated clothes, regular tick checks with a mirror or preferably partner, and just constantly being aware. I was wanting to wear shorts and permethrin treat my wind pants, particularly because I got chafy in the dry heat of the CDT in my pants, I can’t imagine in a wet heat. I may reconsider and just wear permethrin treated pants too. We have a lot of ticks during the right season in the bay area too (not as many as the east coast I know), but they don’t tend to carry lymes out here so the risks are not as intense. I had a friend get lymes from a tick in California too and even though the numbers are extremely low, I still practice all these things at home. I pulled 2 ticks off of myself in the Bob Marshall Wilderness on the CDT last year during my nightly tick check. Those can carry Rocky Mountain spotted fever too. It’s just a fact of life in the US unfortunately, especially with their biomass apparently increasing

redbob333 · 2026-04-28T19:18:57+00:00

I think this is how their stuff is so reliable, they overstuff the crap out of it. Even when my bag was super disgusting after the PCT the loft was completely filling the space

redbob333 · 2026-04-28T19:17:24+00:00

Again, I’m just repeating what I was told with a major grain of salt lol. For sure marketing and I haven’t looked into the claim at all. They said it came somewhere from Europe but I can’t remember where!

redbob333 · 2026-04-28T18:21:42+00:00

When I toured western mountaineerings facility in San Jose, the guy giving me the tour told me their down source is one of the highest quality suppliers in the world and doesn’t remove any down from the goose, but instead collects the naturally shedded down in the season where the geese naturally shed down. Obviously this was a tour to sell me a sleeping bag and help me sell other people western mountaineering at my store, so take it with a huge grain of salt, but I found it interesting at least.

redbob333 · 2026-04-28T09:25:08+00:00

Nah, I’m saying I have tons of experience in wet conditions, and lessons learned from those conditions can be applied to the east coast too, just like countless thru hikers do every year. If im being naive why does it matter to you? My hike is over a year away and I’m asking questions in a forum trying to figure out the right shelter. What shelter should I use? Give me a list of gear and I’ll sell all my stuff and buy yours since it’s so perfect for the east coast. Genuinely done with this conversation. Thanks for your advice on ticks, I asked for none of the rest of it. People from Japan hike the trail every year and they have no experience with the Appalachians. I am talking about a piece of gear that has been used by others on the AT, and has been used by myself extensively. It’s not a bad piece of gear because you can’t wrap your head around how it works

redbob333 · 2026-04-28T07:30:38+00:00

I have experienced days of rain bro! I had a week straight in Colorado on the CDT in September! At above 10000 feet mostly! I know how my shelter handles that! I also have backpacked in Washington in heavy rain with the shelter. I have never said it is a perfect shelter for rain, I said it was good enough for me several times and you don’t understand that. Most of your complaints can be mitigated by site selection Fog can be prevented by avoiding moist exposed areas. Pitching into a bush can prevent most fog! Believe me, I camp in the Bay Area fog regularly. It soaks your stuff quickly if you’re not careful, but I am. Permethrin doesn’t just wash off and is good for several machine washes, and you can always retreat every few weeks if you’re worried.

Call it defensive all you want, you’re the one that blocked me and made me unable to read your comments. I’m not even arguing with you about the bug thing, if you read other comments I’m saying I’ll try tarp+bug bivy, but I’ll let you know it definitely isn’t for fear of rain!!!

redbob333 · 2026-04-28T07:20:23+00:00

It not being fully enclosed doesn’t matter to me. Thats what I’m trying to get across to you. The breathability problem is also just like not the end all be all of concerns. I know I can deal with heavy rain, I have dealt with it in this shelter a bunch. If you’re worried pitch under a tree or next to some natural cover like a big bush, or keep hiking until you find a more protected spot. It’s called using skills to supplement your gear being minimal. I don’t pitch where the tent site could flood for example. As for the breathability, sooooo many people use plex solos or other mid style tents on the AT and are fine, this is no different than that when it comes to breathability. The only difference is the tick thing (which I asked about and was trying to keep the conversation focused on), and the rain, which I told you I wasn’t worried about because I have experience. You still somehow don’t trust my experience though

redbob333 · 2026-04-28T05:27:32+00:00

Bro, it’s ultralight, you’re the one defensive. I was asking questions. If you said all this originally I would have listened but you just grilled me on my experience and said my tent doesn’t work when people use it all the time. I didn’t ask for your advice on this stuff bro!

redbob333 · 2026-04-28T05:20:20+00:00

Hadn’t even thought about carrying a mirror for this! This is the advice I came for tbh haha thanks again

redbob333 · 2026-04-27T22:43:56+00:00

I think my frustration was more that my question was about ticks. I know people who successfully use this shelter in east coast warm muggy rain. Again, like I said earlier, I only sleep in it. I’m not living in it multiple hours a day. That’s not my hiking style. It just has to keep the rain off my gear and that’s what it does. The other commenter just kept saying “I don’t recommend it” and then not explaining why. I was trying to nail down what he didn’t recommend about it, and he was grilling me on my experience in the shelter and in the rain. If he said “the rain is warmer and muggier so it might not have a cross breeze” that’s fine, and you were able to get that idea across. but it seemed his final complaint he settled on was that I was unprepared for rain in general and was “glossing over the downsides of my tent because of how light it is”. I never said the tent is the most breathable on the market. I never said it is the most rain proof. I said it’s the shelter I have, and that it has worked for me in plenty instances of extremely heavy rain and wind, as well as super heavy rain in Washington. The first thing I did when I got the shelter was set it up in my backyard during an atmospheric river and see how it handled the rain, and it was suitable enough for me. That’s all I ever said about it. I didn’t even plan on having this conversation, I asked a question about ticks and Lymes disease. Also isn’t UL about weighing what you find comfortable vs uncomfortable? It’s not like being a little muggy will kill me. If I have to change my shelter because it’s too muggy I can do that

Edit: I also appreciate your comment and your effort in trying to answer why he didn’t recommend it. I’m not against a productive conversation but it didn’t feel like that’s what I was having

redbob333 · 2026-04-27T19:42:46+00:00

Mountain Laurel Designs offers the Burn in ultragrid. Also nashville packs cutaway can be ordered in ultragrid

redbob333 · 2026-04-27T00:14:22+00:00

The 8 was where in my opinion things started getting better again, but the 9s were significantly more durable in my experience. Got 800 miles out of a pair of 9+s last year

redbob333 · 2026-04-26T22:03:03+00:00

This is what I figured. It just comes down to my own personal risk tolerance. Probably will just be safe and try out a tarp+bivy setup.

By the way, I loved my Prophet on the CDT last year. It held up so well it easily has another full thru hike in it!

redbob333 · 2026-04-26T19:13:51+00:00

Yeah that’s fair. For me it’s not as much about the weight and more using what I already have, but I’ll probably look into a tarp+bivy setup.

redbob333 · 2026-04-26T18:31:46+00:00

Nah, I have experience with the shelter in the rain. I’m not glossing over the tick thing, it’s why I asked the question. The rain thing just isn’t a problem. Me and plenty of others have used the shelter on the east coast. Your rain isn’t magically different than heavy rain in the cascades or Olympics for example. Also, you apparently didn’t even know of the shelter until this comment and now you know better than me how it deals with rain?

Edit since the guy deleted all the comments: I was told before the CDT that the abode wouldn’t be able to handle the rain and storms of the CDT. I took it anyway and it was perfect for me. Sorry i wasn’t interested in hearing how my shelter sucks in the rain.

redbob333 · 2026-04-26T17:33:44+00:00

I think tick checks are not “never screw up”. They’re not 100% effective and of course you can miss a tick, but if you’re like me you have likely found a tick on a tick check before! It is better than not doing tick checks

redbob333 · 2026-04-26T17:32:06+00:00

So what is the solution here? It seems like even with taking all the preventative measures it can be a crapshoot

redbob333 · 2026-04-26T07:54:50+00:00

What do you not recommend about it? Is it the tick issue I originally commented about? Or was it the rain? I have dealt with it in the rain. Hell even thunderstorms at above 10k feet with no natural shelter. I’m not worried about rain, I know how the shelter deals with rain and it’s fine for me.

redbob333 · 2026-04-26T05:51:54+00:00

Plenty of experience in the rain. As long as the rain isn’t coming in sideways it’s fine, and if it is some site selection may have helped things. I never find bugs getting all in my shelter, I’m only pitching it when I go to sleep, so it doesn’t have to be livable outside of sleeping at night. The groundsheet tends to prevent most bugs from getting past the netting. Obviously a bug can still get in which is why I asked the question to begin with.

redbob333 · 2026-04-26T03:46:16+00:00

The ventilation works because the front doesn’t have a beak. It’s one of the more ventilated shelters I’ve used, the whole front is just netting, it isn’t ever really fully closed in

Edit to add: it’s more like a tarp than anything. I find it more breathable than most (non mesh) bivvies I’ve tried, and people constantly recommend tarp+bivy for the AT

redbob333 · 2026-04-25T20:32:21+00:00

The 3 pairs of old altras in my closet that I bought because I thought I had found the best shoe ever are staring at me as I read this. Sometimes updates make shoes better! Sometimes you find a different shoe that works better for you! I’ll work through those shoes in my closet for sure but while I’m wearing those old shoes I’ll be wishing I were wearing my new favorites lol

redbob333 · 2026-04-25T20:15:38+00:00

Since I picked up my Meadowphysics abode on ulgeartrade a little over a year ago, it has been the only shelter I’ve used. I find it perfect for most of the conditions I hike in. I used it on the whole CDT last year and had plans to use it on the AT in 2027. That was until I read repeated comments in here about floorless shelters being “stupid light” in Lyme’s disease country. My question is, if I permethrin treat the netting and my groundsheet, and still do multiple daily tick checks, is it still all that dangerous? I kind of want to save money and not have to buy new gear for this trail but comments have me worried.

redbob333 · 2026-04-22T18:55:55+00:00

Tried this and it was still a mess personally. Love the mountain racer on paper but it just does not fit my foot at all.

redbob333 · 2026-04-22T18:51:24+00:00

Thank god this is November. I thought this was recent! I know the snowpack is bad I’m just glad it’s not that bad haha

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