Hey all
firstly I'm very new to this forum so hello everybody *waves*

I'm currently at the planning/saving stage of my next trip which will hopefully be to south America for about a year (more if my freelancing takes off). I'd like to take camping gear because I plan to hike and trek as much as possible and I don't want to have sub standard gear or have to return to the place I rented it from.

so my questions are:

has anybody used a modular sleeping bag system? e.g an inner 2 season down bag and an outer synthetic one?

can any body recommend an ultralight (2kg maximum really) two person tent?

has anybody bought, travelled on, and then sold a (mountain) bike in the south of the continent?

any tips?

edit: sorry I've managed to post this in the wrong place I thought I was posting in Southern America, also I suppose this could have been in gear too

Welcome to the boards!!

psykx wrote:has anybody used a modular sleeping bag system? e.g an inner 2 season down bag and an outer synthetic one?

Yes, and I didn't like it. It added lots of extra weight and only a bit of extra warmth. A better and more versatile option is:
- Three season down sleeping bag (around 15F or -9C)
- Lined with a silk sleeping bag liner. This will give you extra warmth, and also doubles as a sleep sheet, AND makes it easier to keep your sleeping bag clean.
- Inside the bag, if it gets really cold, you can wear a down "sweater" jacket. This is also very versatile because it can be worn in all conditions. Multi-purpose gear is always better.

psykx wrote:can any body recommend an ultralight (2kg maximum really) two person tent?

Considering the territory you're going to (as high as 20,000ft), you'll want a "four season" tent. There are a few good options in your ultralight range. But they'll cost you.
I like:

• Hilleburg Nallo 2
• TarpTent Scarp 2
• Mountain Hardwear EV2

Ok, the tents look good I hadn't found any of those in my previous research. Have you ever uesed the black diamond tents? they seemed to be reasonably high quality?

Also you mentioned a 3 season bag but a four season tent, I'm guessing this is intentional but why? surely a four season sleeping bag would be needed to spend a night up near 20,000 ft?

and I thought the idea behind a modular sleeping system was flexibility, unless there is no way I'll be trekking at lower altitudes and higher temps surely having two sleeping bags would allow you to be more comfortable?

You should look into the tarptent: http://www.tarptent.com

They are ultralight, sturdy and don't take up lots of space in your pack. The best ultralight backpacking gear is not made by big companies, but by small home-based manufacturers. These tents will hold up to anything you are likely to encounter.

As for sleeping bags, you are better off to take a lighter bag and wear extra clothes on the really cold nights. A down or synthetic jacket placed over you inside your bag can easily add 10-20 degrees F of comfort, and it can be used during the day also.

For the tent i'd go for a terra nova laser competition, easy to pitch, lightweight and double skinned. They are expensive unfortunatly. Look on ebay for a second hand one.

I looked at both the lazer photon and the laser competition, they seemed very flimsy, which is fine for mountain marathon runners, which they are designed for but it's not suitable for prolonged use. Also iirc the video of the tent being pitched showed you couldn't leave the inner attached to the fly which is a huge pain if you ever have to pitch in the rain. Lastly you can't fit two people in it (not with kit anyway) and I'd quite like the extra room and/or the ability to bring along somebody else if the opportunity arises.

Well i've had mine well over a year, which includes travelling over South America for 3 months, with no problems. You need to watch the video again as there is no need to remove the inner from the fly, I have never removed mine. It can be removed if you want. You are right that the tent isn't really big enough for two with kit, however I took it that you were going alone and wanted a 2 person for your kit.

that's good news then, maybe I can get away with a superlight tent. Can I ask what kind of trekking/mountaineering you did? how high you went in altitude and how often your tent was used? also which sleeping bag did you use and what are it's pros and cons?

I started off in la paz so altitude was all the way from 4000m to sea level, Cartagena in Columbia. The tent was used for about 40% of the time, I found it was really cheap to find accomadation a lot of the time.

For sleeping I used a silk inner from a company in New Zealand, they also sell the same on Ebay, my main bag was a snugfit travelpak extreme, you can get lighter and smaller than this which i would do next time however the bag was very good. I also used a thermarest prolite 4 sleeping mat, mine was full length but a 3/4 would be just as good.

oh cool, where you too hot/cold at any point during the night? up at 4000m what where the night time temps like?