Hi all,
I'm a climber based in New Zealand and am looking to upgrade to a lightweight tent that I can use for a 4-season mountaineering but also at low elevation for long trans-alpine trips. I know this is a pretty big ask but ah well. So far I've got on OK without such a tent by using a bivy bag, snow cave, huts etc, but I'm going to be taking the next summer off here to do some long trips so feel like I need to bite the bullet. I'm also planning a climbing trip to the Peru and Bolivia next year so ideally it be able to handle higher altitude conditions as well. My main criteria are:
Lightweight: In NZ there's no option to have porters etc and it will be carried for week long or more trips with a lot of elevation gain.
Bug protection: This is an absolute must in NZ for camping in valley approaches and on trans alpine mixed hiking/mountaineering trips.
Enough venting for warm weather: Again a must for trans alpine trips. Seems to rule out most single wall tents.
Strong enough for high wind and waterproof. And not too expensive...
I know strong lightweight single wall tents seem to be the way to go for many people but I'm hesitant about how useable they would be at humid sandfly infested low elevations.
The options I'm looking at so far are:
Macpac Minaret: Classic, strong design that is very popular in NZ for everything from hiking to mountaineering. I would ideally like something a bit lighter (it's 2.4 kg). https://www.macpac.co.nz/minaret-tramping-tent.html
Some kind of pyramid shelter (e.g. BD Megalight): Strong and lightweight, yet fiddly and a bit heavy with bug netting inner.
Stephensons Warmlite 2R: Looks good but is extremely expensive and some reviews note shoddy build quality. https://www.warmlite.com/product/climbe ... rson-tent/
Tarptent Stratospire 2: Very lightweight and versatile, looks great for NZ conditions (apart from maybe wind resistance?). But am I crazy to consider using this in the Andes? https://www.tarptent.com/stratospire2.html
Tarptent Scarp 2: Pretty lightweight, looks strong enough with extra cross-poles. With cross-poles is almost as heavy as the more well-proven Macpac Minaret however... https://www.tarptent.com/scarp2.html
Any other recommendations or comments are very welcome. I know I'm asking a lot, basically for the perfect "goldilocks" tent!