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bd guiding light on denali - thoughts?

PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2012 12:50 am
by rsf1961
i'd like to use a black diamond guiding light on the west buttress route mid-june. thoughts? comments on the vestibule?

thanks

Re: bd guiding light on denali - thoughts?

PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2012 7:33 am
by drpw
i love my guiding lite. do you have one and are asking about it's use on denali or are you asking about the tent itself?

Re: bd guiding light on denali - thoughts?

PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2012 10:53 am
by Damien Gildea
They seem good tents, but I think you would be unnecessarily cold. Single walls don't offer that layer of trapped air insulation that doubles do, and the BD 'light' tents have very thin walls.

As for strength, they're probably fine, but just because something has been used in the high Himalaya/Karakoram doesn't make it good for Alaska. Weight is more of an issue in the Himalaya so you take a few more risks, and generally you're not up high in storms. Not sure how the Guiding Light would go under a big dump of snow or truly high winds. Why did BD stop making them?

I've used a Firstlight in -25C cold and dry conditions, door 1/3 open, and got bad condensation buildup, but others say they're fine. I must breathe wrong.

Re: bd guiding light on denali - thoughts?

PostPosted: Tue May 08, 2012 2:21 am
by rsf1961
drpw wrote: do you have one and are asking about it's use on denali or are you asking about the tent itself?

asking about using the tent. buddy has one and being that it's half the weight of either of our 4 season expidition tents it sounds pretty attractive.

Re: bd guiding light on denali - thoughts?

PostPosted: Tue May 08, 2012 3:50 am
by ibndalight
Having climbed Denali twice i think you would regret it about 14K if not then at high camp for sure i would not use a single wall tent.

Re: bd guiding light on denali - thoughts?

PostPosted: Tue May 08, 2012 3:51 am
by ibndalight
One more thought we had 100 MPH winds for one day at 14K with blowing snow a double wall tent is the way to go