Am I Packing My Fears?
Ben
Affiliate link to our tent of choice: https://amzn.to/49NAvw2
Origional Post on The Trek blog: Am I Packing My Fears? - The Trek
Introduction
I fear this may be a little window into my mind and thought process (or lack there of) when planning a hike. My tendency to over think most decisions then regret them after the fact. Its usually something pretty small but I think its the way many people, usually those of us who are less experienced, tend to think. If you've read my little bio, you'll know I, with my girlfriend Miranda, am hiking the Iceland Traverse in July, and if you hadn't read it, you know now! Planning is in full swing and proving to throw the odd curve ball with some decisions to be made and logistical issues to overcome, but that's for another post. The reason for all this waffle is, what tent do we take?
Our Fjallraven and Durston Tent
My Research
Iceland is a near arctic island with little vegetation and little protection from our main concern, the wind! The Iceland Traverse is a fairly little travelled trail compared to many long distance hikes hence there is very little information about it. Those few posts are useful to an extent but go into no great detail about the weather or topography. They also gave such wild variations in gear recommendations. So, what I gathered was that the wind in Iceland is brutal. Not always, but we saw very few instances of long term trips without 40mph + winds, with gusts far exceeding that. Those who have been caught in the sand deserts of the north east have had to pull out due to lightweight tents being destroyed. We finally managed to get in contact with someone that had done this hike having come from an ultralight background and one phrase trumped all, 'we recommend a 4 season tent.'
Durston X-mid 2 on the GDT
That was not really the answer I was hoping for as we are usually Durston tent people. We love the gear and have trusted it on many hikes long and short. We are somewhat used to wind, starting our hiking 'career' wild camping on the peaks of Snowdonia National park year round, which has some pretty horrific weather. Our X-mid survived that, just. But Iceland seems to be on another level. Less gusts more consistent battering winds.
Tents, Tents and more Tents!
We started looking at tents and scoured forums for advice in hoping we would hear the X-mid would suit. But along with the wind, it turns out deep loose sand deserts are equally problematic for non free standing tents. Most recommendations where for either semi-freestanding or fully-freestanding tents. Big Agnes, Fjallraven, MSR, Hilliberg and Terra-Nova were all names thrown up into consideration. But I still wanted the Durston. We love it and clearly so do so many other hikers. It ticks all the boxes as far as I'm concerned and most of all, its super light. However, after further research we decided to air on the side of caution. We would look towards 4 season tents with more standability to high winds yet unfortunately significantly heavier.
So we narrowed it down. Hilliberg Nallo, too heavy and rather expensive, despite my love for these tents. Probabaly the best made tents on the market. Terra-Nova Voyager, too heavy and fly first pitch. MSR Access 2, well, reports of bent poles under high winds. I have no doubt these are fantastic tents but one or two of these reviews were enough to make me uneasy. Big Agnes copper Spur, not really a 4 season tent but it did well for friends of ours who visited Iceland. But at this point we wanted to go 4 season. Fjallraven Abisko lite 2. BINGO!
Our Fjallraven Abisko Lite 2
Our Choice
So we chose the Fjallraven Abisko Lite 2 because it was probably the lightest 4 season tent. We got it at a reasonable price and it was the best suited to us. It weighs just under 2kg without the bags and is a tunnel shaped, semi-freestanding tent. Its rated for 4 season use but is far lighter than most of its competitors. Also, we will be splitting the weight between us which again lessens the burden!
Conclusion
I'm sure I'm not the only person that over thinks things like this, but its okay if you do! Maybe I have over thought this and our choice will be overkill but you know what, I like new gear, and if you're reading this, I'm pretty sure you do too. It will be interesting to see how this fends off the winds of northern and interior Iceland and we will follow this up with thoughts afterwards. But so far we are pleased.
So what really was the point of all this waffle. Well it gives you an insight into the way I think and also that its okay to not always be sure what to do. Whether that be what you need for a hike or what exact route to take, or even whether you want to do the hike at all. So long as you're safe, you can always change your mind. Pull out, change your gear and change your route. Do what suits you best and I think that's the choice we have made here.
Not packing your fears is one of the top considerations when you're trying to reach an ultralight base weight and maybe we are packing our fears on this trip. A 4 season tent for one potential storm the tent we already have would most likely stand up to. Only time will tell but I feel safer with the choice we've made and that will always be priority number 1. Safety!
