Wayfaring Shelter
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Wayfaring Shelters
If your Wayfaring journey will see you sleeping under the sky, you will need to bring a shelter with you. Warm and dry sleep is good sleep. Take shelter.
This sort of gear is expensive, but a b&b costs £75+ per night, so carrying your own home quickly becomes a bargain in comparison. And way more fun. Though heavier.
Shelter comes in a variety of forms. The most obvious is a tent. Tents are a very diverse range of structures, and can cost from £20 to £1500. The advantage of tents is that they (often) come with mosquito net and floor, and offer 360 degree privacy, allowing a ‘hideaway’ of sorts. And they are usually very good at shedding weather. A tent can be best if you are walking in a group, or with children or animals, in exposed and harsh conditions.
Be careful of the cheapest tents, they are often more like models of tents than actual tents, and will not function when wind and rain come a-knocking. A failed tent is a lot of useless litter to carry to a bin.
You have the choice of single skin vs double skin tents. What this means, is how much condensation do you want to feel when you touch the sides? In the UK, we have a damp climate, so single skin tents can suffer from condensation build-up. Choosing where you pitch is a lot to do with this. Sleeping beside water makes for a damp atmosphere. Wind flow helps. As does built-in ventilation, usually from the peak or the lower corners.
Tents are often far more visible than those inside might hope. Like a high-rise penthouse flat on the seafront, you get great views while everyone else gets a view of you. Inside a tent you can often enjoy the ostrich-like illusion of invisibility. This means that the noise of a beetle walking by can sound like a human marauder about to pounce. Tents tend to promote paranoia. So be sure to get one that is not lurid bright colours (unless you are only sleeping in campsites) as this will make you feel less creep-up-on-able.
Another disadvantage of (most) tents is that they weigh a lot, and (usually) require pegging into the ground to stand up, limiting their uses. If you are taking Sanctuary at a sensitive place, pegs in the ground can be inappropriate.
However, tents typically have room for a person (or 2/3/4) and their luggage, and come with built-in insect protection. Plus they give you space and privacy to get dressed without contortions in the morning, or read a book at night.
The main alternative to a tent is a bivy bag and tarp. A bivy (bivvi/bivi/bivouac) is a sleeping bag cover (usually waterproof, sometimes with mosquito netting built in). And a tarp is a sheet of waterproof material you can rig into a roof (and/or floor & walls). This modular approach to shelter can offer more varieties of appropriate use. It can also allow a sense of greater immersion in the environment.
Please note - this is all generalisation. Some tents are basically tarps, and some have multiple opem doors. Also, some bivys are heavier than tents. It’s a mixed up marketplace…
What is usually true is that all this gear is expensive, so first of all, look to what you already have available.
Ask friends and family if you can borrow something. Look to eBay for secondhand. Whatever you have, practice setting it up in a park or garden first. Consider re-proofing it - with fabsil for tents, and with a wash-in nikwax for bivys. And seam seal tarps if they need it.
There are many resources online reviewing tents, tarps and bivys. Outdoor Gear Lab are a good place to start. Backpackinglight are the most technically advanced reviewers I reckon. Both these sites are for US kit, but the language and tech they discuss applies to UK products too. America has a far bigger market, and consequently a much better small and mid-sized scene for backpacking kit manufacturers. There are more people making independent livings from it there, rather than being simply gear salespeople as the UK’s smaller scene seems to necessitate.
For this reason I would say that if you want the best Wayfaring shelter in the world, look to the USA. Mountain Laurel Designs make phenomenally good tarps and bivys. But they are pricey, and there is extra import tax on top. The best tents are also from USA, made by Z-Packs and TarpTent. Also, Hyperlite Mountain Gear. If you can afford the time and money, look to the USA.
In the UK, Alpkit offer a good range of tents and bivys. And some of the best European tents are made by Hilleberg. Another UK shelter manufacturer of note is Terra Nova. And Olpro have great value offerings too.
One-person Tents
DD Pyramid Tent - 1 person - 3 season - 460 grams - £97
This is a tarp tent, with no mosquito net or ground mat. So you’ll need to either use a bivy with it, or bring your own groundsheet, or buy the inner tent separately (550g - £70). It is a flexible and lightweight option, and pyramid designs are great at handling wind. This tent requires you to have your own pole (a hiking pole if you use them, or the right size staff!), or to use a static point above the tent to secure it - like a tree branch. This is basically an enclosed pre-shaped tarp, and a very light way to keep yourself protected from weather. This means that it is single-skinned, but the pitch angle and space should mean less problem in terms of condensation.
One Tigris Backwoods Bungalow - 1 person - 3 season - 1.45kg - £97
This is another ‘tarp-tent’ - meaning it needs either a fixed point (two trees), or your own poles/sticks, to erect it. Having to find a fixed point in the environment adds to the joy of shelter, imo. This is a spacious and well coloured simple tent, with good visibility and ventilation, at a decent price. It includes a large mosquito net panel. It’s not exactly lightweight, but probably durable…
Wild Country Zepyros 1 - 1 person - 3 season - 1.4kg - £145
Not too light, not too heavy - a low profile tent designed for stealthy backpacking. You won’t be able to sit up in here, but you’ll have more head room than a bivy, and a small vestibule for shoes and gear. Inner and outer pitch up together, which is vital in UK weather! A good colour to hide in, and a relatively cheap option from a reputed manufacturer.
Terra Nova Laser Competition - 1 person - 4 season - 1kg - £375
A hugely expensive option, but very well-designed and with a great reputation. If you want one of the best UK branded tents, this is probably it. With a cheery yellow interior. Whether it’s worth the price is a call only your wallet can make…
Two person tents
An advantage of sharing a tent is that you half the weight carried. This is significant! However, be sure you are happy to share an intimately close space with your fellow Wayfarer, as every tummy rumble and dream-groan will be a shared song, and body smells and morning grumps will be unavoidable. Can you handle it?
Now, a lightweight 2/3 person tent can cost an awful lot. I’m not going to bother listing more than one top priced item, as if you’re super keen to spend £500+ on a tent, you can do your own deep research, and there are plenty of people happy to make their own suggestions. I would say that if you want to spend that kind of money, look to the USA makers recommended at the top of this page - particularly TarpTent.
Wild Country Coshee - 2 person - 3 season - 2 kg - £166
A decent price for two people, but not really spacious or lightweight. Better tents are a lot more expensive. Sorry.
Naturehike Cloud-up 2 - 3 season - 2 person - 1.7kg - £160
A Chinese tent that has good reviews and appears to compete with more well-reputed makers’ offerings. Spacious, and a good colour green, without costing the earth. Also can be free-standing, which helps if sleeping on rocky or sandy ground.
Another good value options include the Olpro Voyager (1.9kg - £100).
Bivy Bags (bivvi/bivi/bivouac)
A bivy bag works by protecting your sleeping bag and mat without covering a large space around you. This means bivys can be far lighter than a tent, and much lower profile. They do not need poles (though some use poles to lift the bivy off your head). Some bivys also include a mosquito net.
The nature of a bivy’s fabric is closer to a waterproof jacket than a tent fabric, so you will not get wet if your sleeping bag is in contact with the fabric. This is a serious advantage over tents, as if a tent pole breaks and the fabric comes in contact with you or your sleeping bag, it will be instant wetness. To ruin a bivy bag, you have to work harder!
In terms of waterproofness, bivys generally work well, even in direct rain. But it is an odd sensation to actually feel the rhythm and pressure of falling rain against your body while you try to sleep. Also, in terms of functionality, a bivy is not ideal in direct rain, because if you need to get up when it’s raining, opening the bivy will expose the interior of your shelter to the falling wet. You can mitigate this with an umbrella, but it’s fiddly.
As such, unless you are a hardcore lightweight Wayfarer, a bivy works best in foul weather when accompanied by a tarp. This allows you to make a small (or larger) dry bubble around your bivy, so you can get in and out of bed without water ingress. A tarp also provides a dry space outside your bivy for boots/bag etc, and for cooking supper.
When choosing a bivy bag, condensation is a consideration. Because bivys rely on ‘breathability’ within a nylon bag (like waterproof jackets), there will be more water vapour produced by the body than can be expelled through the fabric. This is especially true if you are breathing directly inside the bivy, if you fully ‘zip-up’. This can lead to waking up with a sheen of damp over your sleeping bag, which is a problem in the long term if you have a down sleeping bag (down hates water). And it’s never much fun to feel your intimate safe-space bedroom getting wet every night.
To solve this, choose a bivy with ventilation, which can solve the condensation problem. Also, choose one made of materials that offer increased ‘breathability’. Some bivys are simply plastic bags, and not breathable at all. Goretex and eVent are good for vapour permability (breathability). But ventilation is more important than fabric. Best of all, never fully zip up, and always keep your nose and mouth outside the bivy, to prevent build-up of mositure. This means using a tarp.
A bivy in semi-decent weather allows you to fall asleep watching the stars, feeling like you are part of the environment. Bivying gives a sense of closer belonging to the land. In uncertain weather, I like to set up a tarp, but only scott under it when rain falls hard.
A bivy works also when you are cave sleeping, or in an open-sided church porch, or anywhere there is a risk of blowing rain but you cannot put up a pegged tarp or tent.
The best (lightest/most breathable/best designed) bivy bags are from the USA - from Mountain Laurel Designs.
Alpkit also offer a good range of well-priced UK designed bivy bags. The Hunka XL is a great option. If you want a bivy with a hoop and built-in mosquito netting and ventilation (to allow full closure) the Elan is a decent choice.
If you want a really cheap option, look to military surplus. The British Army goretex bivy bag is reliable and bomb-resistant. They also perform brilliantly in terms of condensation. But these bivys are big (designed to keep your rifle inside), and quite heavy. And they only come with a draw-cord head opening, so no mosquito net or weather sealing with ventilation. Also be sure to get one that is not too old! New is better than used, and will only cost about £10 more. And always wash a surplus bivy in Nikwax to help it keep you dry.
Miltec Bivy - 230 cm x 90 cm - 960 g - £55
Well reputed and reliable, and big enough to fit your mat and thick sleeping bag inside. No frills, no mossie-net and no extra ventilation beyond an open hood. But solid and reliable for what it is. In DPM camo, if that is what you like.
Snugpak Stratosphere Bivy - 1.1kg - £125
A hooped bivy with a lot of headroom, and a large mosquito net ventilation panel at the back, to allow full closure without risk of condensation (or suffocation!) even during heavy rain. This is closer to a tiny tent rather than a bivy, but keeps the advantage of being low profile, and will still function even if a pole gets damaged - a tent’s great risk. But the Stratosphere is quite heavy for a bivy. Alpkit offer a cheaper and slightly lighter copy (the Elan), but it has less headroom.
Tarps
A tarp can be sufficient without a bivy, if it is set up well. But imo they go together really well to form a complete shelter system.
A tarp is one of the most simple yet flexible pieces of Wayfaring equipment. A tarp requires some cord and pegs. And you’ll need to learn how to set it up. There are umpteen videos on YT to help you. Andrew Skurka has some tips to offer.
Start with the simple A-Frame. It works. Be aware that when using a tarp, you need to take the weather into account - especially wind. Be sure to keep the open side of your shelter facing away from wind, which will chill you and may later carry rain. You’ll only need to get this wrong a couple of times before you learn better.
You can use fixed points in the landscape to set up your tarp. Trees work, as well as drainpipes, fences and walls. If you carry a staff, you can use this as a fixed points too.
You can buy tarps made of polyester, sil-nylon, and dyneema. The price difference can be staggering. Dyneema is the lightest and most waterproof with the least stretch. But it’s also the noisiest in heavy rain. Sil-nylon is cheap and light enough. You can buy ponchos that double as tarps, which work quite well, though they are generally very limited in size and space. I’ve gone a whole winter with one of these my only roof. You only need to tie up the hood hole each night. And you’ll still need another waterproof jacket, otherwise you get soaked while setting up.
I’m going to list just the DD range of sil-nylon tarps, because they are ubiquitous and well tested.
DD Superlight Small - 2.8m x 1.5m - 260g - £50
This is a small 1-person tarp, but set up right it can offer ample storm-proof space. You’ll need to tuck your gear in close to your body to keep it dry, but this tarp offers shelter for your bivy at minimum weight. It’s a good option! (a slightly heavier and cheaper - 430g - £35 - Standard DD Small tarp is also available.)
DD Superlight 3m x 2.9m - 460g - £69
A larger and more flexible option, this tarp will allow you to create shelters like ‘the cave’, which provide more complete protection from wind and rain. This is the gold standard of flexible shelters. At a squeeze, you could share this with another person. Again, a slightly heavier and thicker option is also available, the DD 3x3 Standard.
Tarp Accessories
You’ll need some pegs, and some cord too. Avoid ultralight titanium mini pegs, and ‘shepherd’ style ones, as they don’t offer the grip you need. Feeling uncertain about the security of your pitch does not lead to a good night’s sleep.
You can always whittle your own pegs, but they’ll be probably less secure, and often more hassle.
7075 Aluminium Tent Pegs (Y Shaped) - £14 for 12
A quality basic peg, in Y shape for extra ground grip. 7075 is higher grade aluminium for greater durability when hitting stones in the soil.
MSR Cyclone Stakes - £27 for 4
An expensive specialist peg for softer ground. 10”, and 33 g per stake. It may be worth carrying a few of these if you intend to sleep on sand.
Cord - 2.5 mm nylon - 15m - £7
You can simply use paracord if you like, or a dyneema twine that costs a lot more. I find this 2.5mm nylon is adequate for my needs. You may prefer cord without reflective built in?
