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Durston X-Mid 1 Solid Tent Gossamer Gear The one Tent Trekking Pole Tents Ultra-Light Backpacking Gear Uncategorized

Trekking Pole Tents

Gossamer Gear’s The One and the Durston X-Mid 1 Solid: First Impressions

I’m not recommending trekking pole tents for winter or deep snow events. This review concerns ultra-light tent options for long-distance backpacking in the summer and fall and in moderate weather conditions.

In the last few years our winter hiking community has been doing more non-winter events—overnight coastal trips and section hiking the PCT, as well as other summer and fall trips not involving snow. We are in the process of learning more about ultra-light summer gear.

For these milder-weather events, trekking pole tents offer a significant weight reduction by eliminating tent poles and using trekking poles instead. Late summer and early fall are times when ultra-light backpacking methods work well. For this reason, I started looking into trekking pole tents that I could recommend to other hikers in our group. After researching available options, I reached out to Durston and Gossamer Gear to see if they would allow me to try out their tents. 

trekking pole tent review
In the winter most everyone is using a free-standing tent, but in the summer hikers are eager to switch to trekking pole tents to reduce weight.
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3-Season Tents 4-Season Tents Backpacking Backpacking Tents Expedition Tents Hammocks Tent Stakes Tents Ultra-Light Tents Wind Protection Gear Winter Backpacking Gear Winter camping Winter Tents X-frame design

3-Season vs. 4-Season Tents

Will a 3-season Tent Work in Pacific Northwest Winters?

The short answer is yes. I’m not going to do a detailed review of particular tents, but I want to mention a few models that I see often on our trips. I’ll also discuss a few pros and cons of using 3-season tents in the Pacific Northwest winter conditions and some of the best 4-season options available. In context, I’ll be referring to small and light tents for backpacking rather than tents that are used for basecamps and long stays in one location.