Twenty Years of Backpacking Adventures with Tarptent

Gear cupboard spring cleaning. A combination of culling, gifting, tidying, reminiscing, donating, restoring, “yeah-no, yeah-no……I’ll decide on that one later,” and more reminiscing.

During a recent shakeup, among the dusty MSR Whisperlite Stoves, indestructible Thermarest CCF mats, bombproof Macpac Pursuit backpacks, and ironically named Northface Superlight Sleeping Bag (it tipped the scales at a goose feather under 2 kg/4.4 lbs), I came across my first ever Tarptent shelter, the Squall.

One of my all-time favorite pieces of gear, I picked up the Squall in late 2003. Weighing in at just over two pounds (1 kg), this classic two-person tent accompanied me on many far-flung journeys for the remainder of the 2000s. It encapsulated the five qualities I’ve always looked for in my backpacking gear: simplicity, functionality, durability, lightweight, and value for money.

Since those days, I’ve carried other Tarptent models on a wide range of adventures, and alongside some equally worthy tarps and Mids from Mountain Laurel Designs, they’ve been a mainstay of my backpacking kit on everything from mellow overnighters to challenging multi-month thru-hikes.

Here are some of my favorite Tarptent images from the past twenty years.

Tarptent Squall – Cotopaxi Circuit, Ecuador, 2004.

Tarptent Squall – Camped on a misty Chiu Pass (5,224 m/17,139 ft), Ganden to Samye Monastery Trek, Tibet, 2006 (Featured in Wanderlust Himalaya).

Tarptent Squall – Erg Chebbi, Sahara Desert, Morocco, 2008.

Tarptent Squall – Overlooking Barphu Glacier – Rush Phari Trek, Karakoram Range, Pakistan, 2008.

Tarptent Squall – Jotunheimen Traverse, Norway 2009 (Featured in Wanderlust Nordics).

Tarptent Squall – Altai Tavan Bogd, Western Mongolia, 2009

Tarptent Squall – GR20, Corsica, 2009 (Featured in Wanderlust Mediterranean)

Tarptent Contrail (Discontinued) – Cape to Cape Track, Western Australia, 2010.

Prototype Testing – ProTrail & Aeon Li

After using Tarptent shelters for a decade, I had the pleasure of meeting Henry Shires – founder and co-owner of Tarptent – in person at PCT Kickoff (Lake Morena, CA) in 2014. In subsequent years, I tested a couple of Tarptent’s one-person shelters – namely the ProTrail (2014) and Aeon Li (2018/19). After many hikes in a diverse range of environments, both tents are still going strong.

Tarptent ProTrail meets “Dark Side of the Moon” | Cordillera Blanca Traverse, Peru, 2014.

Tarptent ProTrail – Cordillera Blanca Traverse, Peru, 2014.

Tarptent ProTrail | Cocuy Circuit, Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, Colombia, 2015.

Tarptent ProTrail – Arthurs Range Traverse, Tasmania, 2015 (w. MLD SoloMid in the bottom right)(Featured in Wanderlust: Hiking on Legendary Trails).

Tarptent Aeon Li – Australian Alpine Track, NSW & VIC, Australia, 2019

Tarptent Aeon Li – Alta Via 2, Dolomites, Italy, 2019.

Tarptent Stratospire 2

In preparation for an extended trip to Iceland and the Balkans region last year, I picked up a Tarptent Stratospire 2 (“Silpoly” model). Given the contrasting environments that we’d be experiencing, I was looking for an “all-rounder” type tent that was stormworthy, comfortable, relatively lightweight, packable, and value for money. The Stratospire 2 fit the bill and proved to be rock solid in the face of extended stretches of high winds and driving rain during the Iceland portion of the journey.

Tarptent Stratospire 2 – Hornstrandir Loop, Iceland, 2023.

Tarptent Stratospire 2 – Iceland Traverse, 2023 (Featured in Wanderlust Nordics).

Tarptent Stratospire 2 – Albania, Peaks of the Balkans Trail, 2023 (Featured in the soon-to-be-released Wanderlust Mediterranean).

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