Stellar Ridge 2 A$560
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Mont Bell Stellar Ridge 2-person tentThe Stellar Ridge is a mountaineering tent made from Ballistic lightweight fabrics and DAC Featherlite poles. Many of the material and design features of the tent are discussed at the bottom of this page in the general discussion on tents. There are four "haul loops" at mid-height on the inner tent that can be clipped with carabiners, slings and rope to make the tent extremely stable in high winds or for securing the tent on an exposed ridge. The walls of the tent are cut so that they have two modes of use. If there is limited ground space to pitch the tent (e.g., on an exposed ridge), the fly isn't pegged out and the material lies snug against the inner tent. If there is sufficient ground space, the fly walls are pegged out and a large air gap is created underneath the fly for maximum ventillation. In this case, weatherproofness is ensured by the high tub floor. In addition, warmth and ventillation can be adjusted by altering the extent to which the fly walls are pegged out. There is also a large tube vent in the back of the tent not visible in the picture. This is the tent that I use. It is so light that my climbing partner and I don't take bivy bags and take the tent instead on every climb. To the summit and back. That would be unimaginable if the tent was made of conventional materials. The fly can be pitched without the inner if using the optional footprint to make an ultralight shelter. Specs are:
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Chronos Dome 2 A$390
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Mont Bell Chronos Dome 2-person tentThe Chronos Dome is a hiking tent (not a mountaineering tent). Although it uses more conventional materials compared with the Stellar Ridge, it is still lightweight. The pole arrangement and vestibule are designed to give maximum living space and ventilation as illustrated below.
The fly can be pitched without the inner if using the optional footprint to make an ultralight-weight shelter. Specs are: |
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Ultralight Dome 2 A$495
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Mont Bell Ultralight Dome 2-person tentThe Ultralight Dome is a 2-person hiking tent weighing 865 grams, which is about the weight of my old bivy bag. The Ultralight Dome is a single-skin tent, meaning there is no inner tent. The tent is obviously designed to be light. That means no inner tent and no vestibule. The Ultralight Dome suits the solo trekker or two trekkers happy to cook and keep their packs outside. To protect the floor when on rough ground and to add further waterproofness when heading out in poor weather, the optional footprint is highly recommended. The tent is a 3-season hiking tent (which means it will withstand poor weather but not excessively strong mountain winds), yet despite its low weight, it is not a flimsy tent, having DAC Featherlite poles (see below for the nerdy discussion on tents). The tent does not come with pegs (not required) but has attachments if you wish to use some. Specs are: |
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Light Zelt A$140
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Mont Bell Light Zelt 1–2-person tentThe Light Zelt is the minimalist's tent, weighing only 370 grams. We are now looking at a tent that you could use in a game of catch when packed. It is typically used without tent poles (trees, trekking poles, skis or anything handy are used instead), and the tent poles are an optional purchase (another 250 grams). Obviously the Light Zelt is a tent best suited to pitching out of the wind. It accommodates one person nicely, and two if you really have to. It is particularly suited to those who are into running 4-day tracks with a day pack. The tent does not come with pegs but has attachments if you wish to use some. Specs are: |
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Ultralight sleeping bag cover |
Mont Bell Ultralight Sleeping Bag CoverThis is an alternative to a full-on bivy bag. Not everyone wants or needs the full thing. This cover is for those who are simply concerned about a leaky tent, dripping snowcave or dew/light rain. It can also be used for bivying in worse weather if the head is under shelter (e.g., in a small snow cave) and the body is exposed to the elements. The waterproof/breathable bag weighs only 235 grams. Having a lightweight 'bivy bag' also means that the weight of the material isn't preventing your down sleeping bag from fully lofting. |
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Mont Bell snow anchor NZ$15 |
Mont Bell Snow AnchorThese are used to pitch your tent on snow (instead of using your axes and stakes which you'll want to take with you when you leave the tent). |
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All About Tents
Tent weights - Ballistic nylon
The Mont Bell tents that use Ballistic nylon are extremely light. The weight of a two-person Mont Bell alpine tent can be no more than the weight of a couple of bivy bags.
Ballistic nylon is one and a half times more abrasion resistant than other similar weight fabrics and boasts three times the tear strength of nylons that are almost 20% heavier. Because of this, Mont Bell achieves a reduction in weight for many of its products by more than 50% without sacrificing durability or strength. Ballistic is created by the heating and stretching of nylon fibers. Much like the tensilising of steel, this process aligns the nylon molecules in each fibre, dramatically improving the strength and stamina of the fabric.
Mountaineering tents
What sets all mountaineering tents apart from other tents is that they can withstand (very) strong winds. First, a mountaineering tent must be a free-standing rather than a tunnel design. Supporters of tunnel tents will claim they are aerodynamic and thus can withstand strong winds but 1) they need to have very secure ground anchor points (since this is what keeps the tent up), 2) if the wind direction changes during the night the tent will need to be repitched, and 3) if the ridge on which the tent is pitched is facing the wrong way with respect to the wind then the entire mountain needs to be picked up and turned through 90 degrees.
So, lets only consider free-standing tents (i.e., tents that stand up by themselves except for pegging out the vestibule). A basic rule of thumb is that the more pole crossovers there are, the more stable the tent. This means the tent on the right is stronger in wind than the tent on the left is, all else being equal.
Both designs are in fact used for mountaineering tents. The left tent is a typical design for a light-weight "assault tent" that would be carried by alpinists pushing for the summit and the right tent is a heavier tent that would be used, for example, on a plateau as a climbing base. We sell the Mont Bell version of the assault design because 1) it is lighter and 2) there are four attachment points ("haul loops") at mid-height that can be anchored to the mountain using cord, rope and carabiners (in the case of the Stellar Ridge tent, the loops on the inner tent are clipped from the outside through weatherproof slits in the fly). This second point means the tent can be stabilised at mid height and thus be as stable, if not more so, than the tent shown on right. In addition, the tent can be secured to an adjacent bluff when pitched on an exposed ridge.
It is important to know how a tent is destroyed during a storm. First, one of the tent poles will break. Then, the broken pole shreds the tent fly. Hence the tent poles are very important. To begin with, we should note that if the poles are thread through a sleeve when pitching (left tent) then the force of the wind is distributed evenly along the poles. If the inner tent is clipped to the poles (right tent) then the forces are acting on specific points and the poles are more liable to break. Furthermore, depending on the material, a sleeve may prevent a broken pole from shredding the fly.
Turning our attention to the poles themselves, a tent designed for strong winds must use DAC Featherlite (or similar) poles. Sorry we don't have a good picture, but here is a description. Each segment of these poles taper to fit into the next segment. That is, each segment is only one piece of metal; there are no metal inserts for joining the poles. Inserts are the weakness of most tent pole designs, largely because the pole is prevented from flexing at its segment joints. As the wind forces become too much for a tent to handle, a pole with inserts will break at a joint. Hence DAC Featherlite poles can withstand stronger winds. If the wind becomes too strong for a DAC Featherlite pole it is more likely to bend out of shape rather than snap, and hence the tent fly is in less danger of being torn. Mont Bell mountaineering tents such as the Mighty Dome and Stellar Ridge tents use DAC Featherlite poles.
We'll very briefly mention two other attributes of mountaineering tents. First, the inner tent must be a solid fabric rather than mesh so as to block spindrift. Second, the floor plan should be as compact as possible. This is because a platform may need to be cut out of the snow or ice to pitch the tent on or the tent may need to be pitched on a ridge. Thus the vestibule should be big enough to cook in but isn't really for stashing a huge amount of gear. Likewise, the fly should attach close to the base of the inner tent (ideally attach to the base of the inner tent) rather than extending out from the tent.
Waterproofness
Understandably climbers are concerned about the waterproofness of tents. However, there are several aspects to tent waterproofness that require clarification. First, we need to explain hydrostatic head (hsh), which is the measurement unit for waterproofness. If a material is rated 1500mm hsh then it would require a column of water 1.5m high for the weight to produce enough pressure for water to start seeping through the fabric.
The modern fly with seam sealing has no waterproof issues. The materials used are typically rated 1500mm to 5000mm hsh and they are all fine because wind and rain do not produce such high pressures. This may be surprising because we have all been damp in tents before. However, such moisture is almost always condensation, not water entering from the outside.
The part of the tent that needs to be the most waterproof is the floor since the occupant's weight can produce enough pressure to drive water up through the floor. A trekker pitching a tent in flooded tussock will want a floor rated 10,000mm hsh whereas a climber pitching a tent on dry snow can get away with anything. The Mont Bell tents we stock have light-weight floors rated 2000mm hsh and there are optional footprints (300g) that sit under the tent and are rated 10,000mm hsh. The idea is that 1) you can go lightweight if expecting dry conditions and take the footprint if expecting wet conditions and 2) the footprint protects the tent floor from rough ground. In practice the footprint is light enough to be taken on all trips anyway. Also, the footprint can be used to pitch the fly without the inner tent as an ultralight-weight shelter.
Condentsation is an issue for all tents. Simply put, a tent fly does not breathe. The only way for moisture to escape is through ventilation under the fly and through (hopefully large and easily adjustable) vents.