This can be vital. You don’t want to sit in the hot sun all day or sleep with the rain falling on you. The ability to hole up with some cover can do wonders for morale at least, and it can save your life. Even the personal kits can carry one of those mylar plastic «survival blankets.» They are not very durable, they make lots of noise, but they are much better than nothing. If you are contemplating having to leave in winter circumstances, adding a tent to the car gear can make all the difference. Just be sure to get a good-quality backpacking tent — it can cost some bucks, but it’s lighter and more durable than the $30 Sport City special. Be sure to seal all seams, and add a ground cloth. Usually a piece of thick plastic tarp, cut it to be slightly undersize. You want the tarp to prevent things like gravel from destroying the floor of your tent (which is one reason you never wear boots in a tent.) You want it slightly undersize because I don’t care what waterproofing they put on the bottom, a tent is not a boat. Even two inches oversize will collect enough rain to pool water under the tent, which will seep through and get things on the floor (like sleeping bags) wet.
A further note about tents — There are «3-season» and «4-season» tents, which are the step up from «bivvy sacks» (more later.) Three season tents are lighter, have rain flies that are great for cold weather as well as rain, and are generally, in my opinion, far the best choice. Four season tents are bomb-shelters -designed to survive 100+ mph winds followed by burial in snow — literally. You see tents like this on K2, McKinley, and Everest. They also tend to be hotter — sometimes much hotter — in summer and the strength adds weight. A good 3-season tent like a Sierra Designs Sphinx 2 was not cheap (~$230,) but, properly guyed and oriented, can withstand 40-50 mph winds. A good 4 season tent, if you insist, is the North Face VE 25 or the SD Tiros 1, and there are others just as good or better. Sierra Designs, North Face, REI, and even Eureka have good three season tents. The Absolute Top of the Line, No Holds Barred tents, which are both stronger and lighter than any «stock» tent, are either Bibler or Stevenson -and they cost like it, too ($500 +, for a two person tent.) I’ll stick with SD, thanks.
One problem with cheap tents is ventilation — they don’t have it. Not only do you cook in summer, it just so happens you give up about one pint of water every night from respiration. In cool weather, this will condense on the tent wall and rain on you, especially if it is humid outside. Makers like Sierra Designs, North Face, REI, and so on use what’s called «double wall design.» The bottom and the lowest 6 or so inches of the sides are waterproof fabric, but the rest of the tent is light weight mesh. When it gets cold or rainy you put on the rain fly, a cover of impermeable fabric. Condensation tends to form on the fly and drip outside the tent proper. Bibler and Stevenson tents are the «dreaded» single wall design because that’s lighter, but they paid serious attention to adequate ventilation.
One more point about tents, you have the choice of «free-standing» or not same. Free standing tents, like most dome designs, don’t have to be staked out to work. You can install the poles, then pick the tent up as a unit and move it about (so can the wind, so be careful,) shake out dirt and leaves, etc. Very handy. Not-free standing tents are lighter, but have to be staked out to work at all. In forest areas, no sweat, but unless you want to carry the 16 oz. hammer to drive the toughened stakes, avoid this at most tent pad sites, and good luck on solid rock. Also, pitching such a tent in the rain is no fun.
Yet another point about tents, unless it has a sizable vestibule (a covered area provided by the rain fly but outside the tent proper,) de-rate the accommodation rating by 1 to allow for reality. I’m sorry, but my Sphinx 2 is a 2-person tent in name only. The vestibule is vestigial, and I like my gear near me. I suppose if I was with someone I really liked I could take it for a while, but two people confined in such a tent for any period of time is torture — basically, you would have the space allocated by your sleeping bag, no more.
Vestibules can be nice in snow or rainy weather, if they’re big enough to allow cooking, and some are that large. Mine on the Sphinx is useless for that with an MSR stove (I have no intention of torching the tent and its contents as a burnt offering to anybody,) but it could work, WITH PROPER PRECAUTIONS, and only if necessary, with (drum roll please,) Hexamine tablets or the US Army surplus Trioxane fuel. The flame is not that large, the area affected actually quite small. If you’re stuck in cold weather for days on end, this kind of compromise may be necessary, but DO NOT TRY THIS WITH ANY TENT UNLESS IT IS NECESSARY. And that’s not just boilerplate for the lawyers, either. In areas where winter or malaria are significant survival considerations, jeopardizing your tent is jeopardizing your life, not to mention the fact plastic fires are nasty regardless of the season. A stove fired up in a tent is a disaster waiting to happen, be it fire or carbon monoxide poisoning.
Now about bivvy sacks. This is, bar none, the lightest tent concept about. It holds you, your sleeping bag and pad, and a water bottle, but not much (if anything) else. It will have a hoop to keep the net away from your head, but it will have to be staked out to work. Better than nothing, and probably a very good idea for soloists, but you have to be Houdini to dress yourself in one.
Try to pitch any tent or bivvy sack in the shade if you pitch during the day. The UV in direct sunlight will attack the nylon fabric and, over time, it will start to fray. This isn’t a one month thing, more like six months to a year in desert conditions, but it’s advisable to think long term.
The first place to set up either a tent or a bivvy is in the back yard or, if it’s free standing, maybe in the living room. Yes, I have set up a tent in total darkness at five in the morning with hands half numb with cold, but I learned to do it on a pleasant afternoon. It’s always nice to have a good idea of what goes where and how it works when you have the instructions and the phone for customer service in hand, before it becomes a problem at the camp site.
Tent stakes seem a kind of «why bother» subject, but the aluminum wire stakes normally supplied with new tents, even good ones, tend to be (a) weak, so they tend to bend easily in rocky ground, and (b) have indifferent holding ability in soft soils, which is important in high winds. The plastic stakes are reputed to self-destruct easily, but the ten inch nail stakes survive rocky ground (and park tent pads) well, while there is an aluminum stake shaped like a quarter moon, available from REI, that is stronger than the standard stake and holds well in soft soil. Be careful here, though, and be sure the stakes fit the stake loops on your tent loosely. If they fit tight, over time they will cut the stake loop, rendering it useless. About 2-4 nail stakes (they are heavy) plus some of the quarter moon stakes (for putting out guy lines for windy conditions) seems the best choice.
