Tarptent - ArcDome 2 Ultra

Also, to answer your 2nd question, I believe the lightest, intense storm-worthy, freestanding, double-wall tent is the Tarptent ArcDome Ultra. It’s a little over 3.5lbs all in, and can (apparently) withstand 60mph winds when fully guyed out.

If you’re in northern Scandinavia just go for a mid or a normal double wall tent, and here is the important part - with two metal poles that cross each other. Something like the Niak or the Tarptent arc dome. Forget hub systems and forget most composite poles. As someone with a 3.4kg baseweight, realize it’s only because I’m in the lower latitudes. If I’m much above the 50th parallel, I’m going to add in things to my system. It’s a generalization of course, but to me it makes sense, especially if you’re fjell camping.

Why are you focused on the ArcDome in SilPoly when the ArcDome 2 Ultra has been out for a while, and Tom Heaney in Ireland did a couple excellent videos on it?

I would use my tarptent arc dome 2 ultra for those conditions. I unclip parts of the inner to get a bigger vestibule for cooking. I haven’t had it out in any nasty weather yet I’m confident it can handle plenty wind and snow load. “Worst” was maybe 20-25mph wind and 10-15F. This was with the mesh inner. I have since purchased the solid inner. Packability isn’t great due to the ultra tnt material but they have a polyester version that probably packs down smaller.

I would get something that doesn’t soak up so much water as straight sil-nylon. My 1kg tent probably weighed 1.5kilos after a muggy few days in southern Norway last summer. I have the hornet osmo elite 1p but haven’t had it out in rain so I can’t comment on how much water the fly soaks up. My tarptent Arcdome ultra doesn’t soak up any water.

Just FYI, the Ultra version will not be coming back, at least in the current UltraTNT. We found that for a tent like the ArcDome, not being able to stuff it was a major drawback, as it is difficult to get a nice fold when packing up in high wind. There are some other stuffable UHMWPE fabrics we are looking at, but it will be a while before anything comes out in those, as we still have plenty of testing to do.