Single skin Tents in British climate/weather ?
- Thread starter FOX160
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Franco Darioli
Ultralighter
It depends....
The real difference between a single and a double wall skin is that when the fly gets wet on the underside, from condensation, with a double wall you rub against the inner wall and hopefully that is still dry, if you do that in the single skin tent you rub against the wet wall.
In really bad conditions, that condensation can drip on you.
If inside a single skin tent you could wipe that off ( I use a kitchen cloth) or just moan about it, inside a double wall the inner may absorb/repel those drips but sometime they do come through particularly with a mesh inner.
When the inner drips on you there is not much you can do if you can't un-clip it from under the fly (integral pitch tents allow you to do that)
I have, on several occasions, walked out of a single skin tent warm and dry only to find folk in nearby double skin tents complaining they had a cold night.
Yes cold from being all zipped up producing a lot of condensation that gets trapped inside the fully sealed tent.
BTW, I am in Australia but contrary to popular belief it does rain here too (just not at home right now that we need it) and getting up with everything around wet after a non rainy night is not all that unusual.
oh, and we get snow too...
The real difference between a single and a double wall skin is that when the fly gets wet on the underside, from condensation, with a double wall you rub against the inner wall and hopefully that is still dry, if you do that in the single skin tent you rub against the wet wall.
In really bad conditions, that condensation can drip on you.
If inside a single skin tent you could wipe that off ( I use a kitchen cloth) or just moan about it, inside a double wall the inner may absorb/repel those drips but sometime they do come through particularly with a mesh inner.
When the inner drips on you there is not much you can do if you can't un-clip it from under the fly (integral pitch tents allow you to do that)
I have, on several occasions, walked out of a single skin tent warm and dry only to find folk in nearby double skin tents complaining they had a cold night.
Yes cold from being all zipped up producing a lot of condensation that gets trapped inside the fully sealed tent.
BTW, I am in Australia but contrary to popular belief it does rain here too (just not at home right now that we need it) and getting up with everything around wet after a non rainy night is not all that unusual.
oh, and we get snow too...
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Teepee
Thru Hiker
I haven't used a double wall tent in 20 years.
They can't be that bad.
Wherever possible, ventilation is the key to keeping as dry as can be. Unless it's raining in or blowing a hoolie, the doors are wide open.
The vast majority of times, I'm under a tarp or in a bivy bag. They all get condensation at most times in use. I prefer to use a cover over my bag than an inner personally.
They can't be that bad.
Wherever possible, ventilation is the key to keeping as dry as can be. Unless it's raining in or blowing a hoolie, the doors are wide open.
The vast majority of times, I'm under a tarp or in a bivy bag. They all get condensation at most times in use. I prefer to use a cover over my bag than an inner personally.
Graham
Thru Hiker
Like @Franco Darioli says, any condensation is manageable. I take a small microfiber towel, it wrings out well. One way of looking at this is that with a 2 layer tent you're also going to get condensation. Now the ones I've had usually have the inner and fly joined by Velcro or the inner to the pole set or some similar setup. In my experience you cannot separate them without getting the inner wet to some extent. Providing you resist the urge to 'ping' the fly sheet the condensation of a single layer shelter will either run down like @Munro277 says or just stay there. Like @Teepee I also use a bivvy under my 'established' shelters (TrailStar and DuoMid) or sometimes a mesh inner. Can't recall a time when that got wet in the last x years.
Graham
Thru Hiker
I'll take the extra insulation of a bivy
It'll be more efficient by weight than an inner.
gixer
Thru Hiker
Depends on the tent.
With a steep walled, well ventilated tent even if it's single walled it's rarely noticeable, never mind enough to be a problem.
Size of the tent makes a difference as well, if you're scrunched up near the sides then it's more likely to be noticeable then if you're spread out well away from them.
Only time i've had a problem with condensation is with a double wall tent, the outer stretched enough for the inner to touch it, then during the night the inner got absolutely soaked (capillary action), the condensation was literally dripping off the inner.
Oddly enough if i'd pitched without a inner then it wouldn't have been a problem.
With a steep walled, well ventilated tent even if it's single walled it's rarely noticeable, never mind enough to be a problem.
Size of the tent makes a difference as well, if you're scrunched up near the sides then it's more likely to be noticeable then if you're spread out well away from them.
Only time i've had a problem with condensation is with a double wall tent, the outer stretched enough for the inner to touch it, then during the night the inner got absolutely soaked (capillary action), the condensation was literally dripping off the inner.
Oddly enough if i'd pitched without a inner then it wouldn't have been a problem.
Mole
Thru Hiker
Depends on the nature of the trip.
I use both.
Both work. Just different experience.
I like single skins for space and simplicity and closeness to the outside.
IME a wet inner drys pretty quickly once tent is pitched again. I pack my Scarp or Laser down wet, all in one. The inner gets wet. Once pitched, its floor easily wiped down with a Jcloth. Done several multidays like this. No more of an issue than packing/repitching a wet single skin IME.
If cold, need more bedding with single skin
Bivis are OK - warm for sleeping , until you want to do anything in the tent. Then you get colder than in an inner. Need to dress up.
But if weather warmish, and bugs not a bother, single skin much nicer IMO.
An inner is significantly warmer. Even with part mesh. Just open the zip and stick your hand out the door into a porch to feel the difference.
I use both.
Both work. Just different experience.
I like single skins for space and simplicity and closeness to the outside.
IME a wet inner drys pretty quickly once tent is pitched again. I pack my Scarp or Laser down wet, all in one. The inner gets wet. Once pitched, its floor easily wiped down with a Jcloth. Done several multidays like this. No more of an issue than packing/repitching a wet single skin IME.
If cold, need more bedding with single skin
Bivis are OK - warm for sleeping , until you want to do anything in the tent. Then you get colder than in an inner. Need to dress up.
But if weather warmish, and bugs not a bother, single skin much nicer IMO.
An inner is significantly warmer. Even with part mesh. Just open the zip and stick your hand out the door into a porch to feel the difference.
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Graham
Thru Hiker
Hi @FOX160. As you can see opinion is divided
There will be members who only use one system (either 2L or 1L) and some who use both. 1L and 2L have been used in pretty much all weathers in the UK.
With a 1L system as @Mole suggests you'll maybe have to adapt a bit more. If there's windblown snow you'll need to take a little more care about site selection and blocking out the snow. In winter if you've gone down the bivvy route you may need to wear your insulated jacket, sitting in the bivvy. If bugs are a problem you may end up wearing your headnet inside a 1L if you want to move around freely.
It's a good question that's tough to answer. You probably need to try both yourself and find what suits you. Plenty of tents nowadays can be used in 1L or 2L. What happened on my journey was that about 6 years ago I started using my Hubba HP fly only with a bivvy. I preferred that in some regards but it highlighted that the Hubba fly while usable on its own wasn't ideal for the UK (didn't come close enough to the ground), so I started to look at better 1L designs that was my 'journey'...
There will be members who only use one system (either 2L or 1L) and some who use both. 1L and 2L have been used in pretty much all weathers in the UK.
With a 1L system as @Mole suggests you'll maybe have to adapt a bit more. If there's windblown snow you'll need to take a little more care about site selection and blocking out the snow. In winter if you've gone down the bivvy route you may need to wear your insulated jacket, sitting in the bivvy. If bugs are a problem you may end up wearing your headnet inside a 1L if you want to move around freely.
It's a good question that's tough to answer. You probably need to try both yourself and find what suits you. Plenty of tents nowadays can be used in 1L or 2L. What happened on my journey was that about 6 years ago I started using my Hubba HP fly only with a bivvy. I preferred that in some regards but it highlighted that the Hubba fly while usable on its own wasn't ideal for the UK (didn't come close enough to the ground), so I started to look at better 1L designs that was my 'journey'...
Graham
Thru Hiker
Hey young 'un. Our Scout tents were single skin canvas!Ive not used a double skin shelter since scouts
EM - paul
Thru Hiker
Graham
Thru Hiker
We were force 10s with inner. I now own a force 10 but not the inner for it
Let's put it this way, our tent poles were as thick as our arms and the tent pegs were made of wood. We might have been just plain backward though. We were once transported from t'North to Rugby for a barging holiday in the back of a cattle wagon.
Having lived in Canberra most of my life most of my winter camping was in the Brindabellas and down the ranges to the south so I'm quite familiar with Australian snow.
Most of my tents (including my beloved Big W a-frame) were single skinned and they worked fine.(yike but I've been living in the UK for 10 years as of yesterday.)