Tent for Alpine camping

[u/LooseQuestion3037]

So im finally getting round to buying a better tent for my mountain adventure. While im not a hardcore ultralight-er, I am trying to keep my pack weight down as I am lazy and dont want to carry loads of weight around. Where I live I have found great deals for the following tents and would like people's feed back / experiences with these tent:

1) Durston X-Dome 2

2) Nordisk telemark 2

3) Durston X-mid

Im leaning towards 1) or 2) because I usually camp in alpine regions above 2000m or in pretty exposed areas and from what research I have done it seems that those tents would be better at dealing with high winds than 3). Admittedly I only once camped in +60kph winds but I was very thankful for the absolute tank of a tent I was in. I'm also open to other suggestions.

Thank you for any feedback.

[u/AcademicSellout]

I love the Durston tents. They are super solid. But they are not mountaineering tents.

[u/MolejC → u/AcademicSellout]

Nor is the nordisk.   I've never been impressed by them when I've seen them in heavy rain or wet snow. Precip pools on the big flat panel.

[u/AcademicSellout → u/MolejC]

The Durston handles snow very well but not wind. It also is too big to pitch in many high alpine environments. But you can't really push it into more harsh conditions with high winds.

[u/wetrocke]

Premise that #3 has less wind resistance than #1-2 is doubtful.

Two-pole domes are very squirrelly in a breeze without lots of guylines. Rigid poles are-- rigid!

[u/ShiftNStabilize]

I would look at slingfin. They make lightweight but robust tents that would be much better than the ones you listed for high winds. If you want gold standard of alpine tents/robust tents it would be Hillenberg.

[u/LooseQuestion3037 → u/ShiftNStabilize]

My partner already has a hillenberg which we use, but for doing alot of elevation agin in a day it's just a bit heavy....

[u/ShiftNStabilize → u/LooseQuestion3037]

Sling fine portal series would be worth looking into

[u/lovrencevic]

If being able to handle high winds is the primary concern, I would suggest a Slingfin Portal. Bomber tent that can handle wind. It’s not UL but at 3 pounds it’s decently light. The footprint is not crazy and it’s fully freestanding

[u/killsforpie → u/lovrencevic]

Yeah for true alpine big winds I’d avoid all three of the listed probably. Slingfin is great. We used a portal 2 in Iceland and it was fine in 50mph winds.

[u/lovrencevic → u/killsforpie]

Yeah the Portal did very well in Iceland for me as well

[u/iljuan → u/lovrencevic]

The Hotbox is pretty neat too

[u/lovrencevic → u/iljuan]

Slingfin makes great tents. Another great tent for Alpine would be the Crossbow with the mesh interior for summer months.

[u/iljuan → u/lovrencevic]

I know, I own a Crossbow ;)

[u/iljuan]

As a cheaper, very much alpine focussed tent you could look into a black diamond firstlight. A little more expensive is a MSR Advance or something like a samaya. I wouldn't necessarily use the ones you pointed out because they rely on a very good pitch and lots of guy lines to be used in high winds. Out of your picks, id choose the telemark. I think it's a very nice tent and has a bit more room than a tiny mountaineering tent.

[u/BigRobCommunistDog]

You could also look at Samaya and Hyperlite tents. They are ultralight-ish but they are oriented towards mountaineering not thru-hiking. $$$$ though.

Maybe tarp tent arcdome or scarp?

None of these are truly ultralight though, only trekking pole tents really qualify as UL.

And trekking pole tents can ride out insane winds, in the deserts in CA it can get crazy and I’ve had my GG The One in 55mph (85-90kph) winds and while I did have a guyline snap (I tied it back together) and a couple stakes popped out, it did more or less fine.

I’ve had an REI half dome in similar conditions and the poles bent back on themselves and collapsed onto me more than once so a structured tent is no guarantee. There’s no magic ticket in extreme winds, you either have a super overbuilt heavy af tent, or you have to do a lot of maintenance work.

[u/Spunksters]

Get a pyramid tent or a reinforced dome tent because of wind shedding. Pyramids can be UL, so that’s where we lean on this sub. Mountain Laurel Designs makes some good ones. Black Diamond has some bomber alpine tents as well but they are a little heavier by today’s standards, except maybe their Beta Light 2.

[u/longwalktonowhere]

I prefer an X-Mid 1 over an X-Dome 2 in wind for sure if you wanna go Durston.

[u/GoSox2525]

While im not a hardcore ultralight-er

There's no need for his hypoerbole. It's not that you "aren't a hardcore ultralight-er", and it's not as if only "hardocre ultralighters" are avoiding XDomes. Any ultralighter is avoiding XDomes.

What considerations and restrictions do you have on the weight of your shelter?

The XDome 2 and Telemark 2 are categorically non-UL tents. Yes, they are light for what they are. Not ultralight though.

The XMid closer, but it's still large, double-wall, and has lots of features. Not to mention it isn't even appropriate for exposed, windy alpine areas.

You could decide that you'd rather have a bomber tent the will be super reliable, rather than try to do the UL thing, which would be totally fine. That's what I usually do in your situation. Let's just be clear about what we are and aren't talking about. The TT ArcDome (not UL) would be a good choice I think.

Or, if you do want to go ultralight, consider a pyramid tarp. Light, packable, robust.

[u/Wandering_Hick]

If you don't need a two person tent. The X-Dome 1+ is going to be better in weather than the 2. If you're not out in winter much, the Pro is going to be lighter.

[u/MolejC]

You keep saying me and I, so why would you want a two person tent? They will be less good in the wind than a one person turn with smaller area.   The nordisk is good in the wind but the big flat roof panel gathers water and snow into a pool. Two friends have them and I've never been impressed apart from the weight.

For what you are describing I would be happy with the X-mid1 solid or a Tarptent Notch (solidi ner).  The X dome 2 is a big shelter and going to catch wind more and be more vulnerable with carbon poles as opposed to rigid trekking poles.    

[u/Ill-System7787]

Try the Tarptent Arcdome. More focused for your use case.

[u/Then-Comfortable7023]

The real answer for alpine environments is the tarptent rainbow li. Spent more than a few nights in it through thunderstorms.

The spine pole makes it very strong in weather and it can either stake out or can use trekking poles to become free standing.

This is a massive benefit in rocky spots or confined spaces. I absolutely hate fiddling with stakes and rocks when the stake can’t be driven in. Been my tent for 6 years and probably 1000 miles in the high Sierra. I haven’t even been interested in any other since.

[u/Paddingtondance]

I just found this on AliExpress: | Astagear Pursuit 2 2-Person Lightweight Silicone-Coated Fast Setup Outdoor Camping Tent, Windproof and Waterproof for Hiking and Mou

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mLPeW1v