I almost hate myself for this. lol. I've used these, I've carried these. I know there's way better options....
And yet I'm still thinking about one for winter use. Mostly because they're crazy cheap for a completely enclosed canvas shelter and I really, really like to be warm. My winter BO drills have shown my what a pain in the ass this can be with a tarp and an open fire, and a floor-less tent with a stove has long struck me as the best way to go. The heat is contained, more efficient, and it'd be way easier to dry gear at the same time. Cooking would also be a simpler prospect I think. I'd love to get a kifaru paratipi, but that and a stove aren't in the budget for this year. The stove and this shelter would be roughly 1/5 the cost, and I could buy just the paratipi in the future after higher priorities are met. This is also half the cost of a 4 season tent, and will be warmer.
The downside with this is weight. Its significantly heavier than most other options out there. Considering the distance of one of my BO options this isn't good, but the ability to fully dry off/ warm up seems like a worthwhile trade-off to me, especially considering the shelter design allows me to offload half the weight to a buddy if I don't have to travel alone.
Anyway, I figured I'd open this up to group think and discussion before I make a final decision.
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