Doing without a sewn-in inner

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Stuart

Section Hiker
I'm toying with cutting weight down by simply not taking the inner from my tent and just using some kind of waterproof fabric under my sleeping mat. This gives me a single skin tent weighing in at around 1.3kg which I'm probably only going to use in the UK in spring, summer or early autumn.

I know this is how people use more "technical" lightweight single skin shelters but my only experience of trying this left me covered in insect bites in the morning (at Upper Booth in Edale). So, I'm interested in how people have found this kind of arrangement in the UK.
 
cathyjc

cathyjc

Thru Hiker
After watching the midges (and squishing them :D) thru' the mesh inner of my 'tent' last night - you won't catch me in a single skin tent between May and Oct.
 
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Teepee

Teepee

Thru Hiker
I only ever use a bug net inner and that's only in the very worst of insect season in midgey places; mid june to end of aug.

I find it fine but I'm lucky and don't really get troubled with insect bites much. It's only midges that I find need a physical barrier.

The exception to that rule is Galloway in August when I wan't 3 inners, a space suit and a baseball bat.
 
edh

edh

Thru Hiker
I use an inner a lot as I am lonely and wish for the comfort of the womb...

Seriously; I hate bugs - inner anytime bugs threaten. I re(sus)pect those who claim that a head-net does the trick with overnight inner-less bivvies...

So cynical/inadequate....
 
ADz

ADz

Thru Hiker
Either a Borah Bivy or the bathtub inner for my Trailstar.

Most of year not needed. Depending where I go I'll probably just use Borah or if it's going to be swarming I'll take the full inner, gives more protected area to sit/relax in.
 
EM - paul

EM - paul

Thru Hiker
I never use an inner, i dont own one. tend to stick with a bivy bag in a single skin shelter or my hammock. works for me
 
EM - paul

EM - paul

Thru Hiker
edh said:
bbbbb...but.....buggy things?

Seriously - how do you cope? They drive me nuts!
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im in a bivy bag or a hammock so i dont struggle really. I dont go to scotland often and bug levels elsewhere are easily manageable.
 
edh

edh

Thru Hiker
Ah. This summer I'm hitting uber-buggy places (potentially - but hoping) and having an inner to dive into at an early camp is a must for me - horses for courses.
 
Teepee

Teepee

Thru Hiker
edh said:
bbbbb...but.....buggy things?

Seriously - how do you cope? They drive me nuts!
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I think of times when I've been in more discomfort and the annoyance fades. Galloway/ northern Sweden in August and filing tax returns usually do the trick. :)

Autan, Wilmas Nordic Summer, headnet/midge jacket take up the slack when I've gone all sissy or am bored of wiping squashed biteys round my face.

In the UK, they are only an annoyance and I don't react to bites very much. Abroad, it's a different story and use of some kind of inner or full net is a no-brainer.
 
edh

edh

Thru Hiker
:D

I've got the Wilmas (kind of getting addicted to the wet sooty forest smell), the headnet, a permethrin treated shirt - and will treat my troosers and calf sleeves with permethrin too; sadly mosquito's are a given in the Sierras :(
 
Teepee

Teepee

Thru Hiker
To me Ed, it smells divine. I adore the stuff. It's based on Beck oil which comes from birch tar and is the exact aroma of my tarp after a Scandinavian trip living round the green birch and pine fire.

It stirs glorious memories every time of the north. :)
 
EM - paul

EM - paul

Thru Hiker
Teepee said:
To me Ed, it smells divine. I adore the stuff. It's based on Beck oil which comes from birch tar and is the exact aroma of my tarp after a Scandinavian trip living round the green birch and pine fire.

It stirs glorious memories every time of the north. :)
Click to expand...

personally it reminds me of a Finnish barmaid who said i smelled really good after 10 days in the wilderness :D
 
Quixoticgeek

Quixoticgeek

Section Hiker
Since I started to forgo my tent with proper bug mesh, I've only really camped in Kent and the Benelux, I came home from one trip last summer unable to see out of my left eye as a bug bite under it had swollen up. I lay in my bivvi listening to the wine of the little blighters as they came close. I came home and ordered some mossie repellant (Stupidly simple stuff from someone on BCUK).

This week I bivvi'd by the local river. I used the mossie repellent on my face. I heard a couple of mossies get close, and managed to squash them, then fell asleep without being disturbed by them. I did pick up a couple of bites during the night, but neither seems to be a major issue. I'm pondering the idea of a mosquito headnet for when camping in a bivvi bag like this.

If I was going to somewhere like Sweden or Scotland, I'd want a tent with a proper bug net, no question.

J
 
S

Stuart

Section Hiker
I wouldn't dream of doing this somewhere very midgy I was more wondering how people found it with other types of insects and creatures. When I was bitten I don't think midges were the culprits.
 
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