Best tent for the rainforest?

[Nydex]

Hello my dear friends,

Since my departure to Peru is getting closer and closer, I am now thinking of gearing up properly for the humid rainforest climate near the peruvian jungles.

What would the more experienced with this type of climate people here suggest for a tent?

My budget it $300 at max. I will be traveling alone, but I want the tent to be spacious enough, as I am around 1.85m high and I don't like crammed tiny tents. Looking for the most durable and reliable for this climate recommendations.

Thank you all.

 

[Bdevall158]

Well there are many tents that would be suitable for handling the heavy rain of the amazon. You can go the one person tent route, but i highly suggest a 2 person even if you are alone. No matter how willing you are to rough it out, it pays off to have the extra leg room. Especially in countries like peru where you might not want to leave any belongings outside the tent. I use a Nemo 2 person tent $250 for tent and footprint. Has a great amount of room, as well as two entrances and two vestibules on both sides. (That's where the rain-fly stretches over the door and creates a dry space for storage outside your tent). There is probably loads of other great brands and products that can handle the rain. i suggest going to an REI and talking with them, or if you dont have the option then check the website and explore the reviews thoroughly. With that budget youll be very happy you spent the extra $$. also another option if you are visiting in heavy rain season is to do a hammock and mosquito net with a tarp over it. simple lightweight, and better breeze.( being inside a tent in the hot and humid tropics if just about the worst if you cant get airflow). Also if it happens to rain so hard that the ground is pooling up then tents can only do so much at that point.

Hope this helps! just remember Peru is pretty intense and hot so if you arent in a safe area that allows tent camping you may want to reconsider. Hostels are very affordable. if youre going into the andes/cusco region, thats a different story, cool comfortable temps, and so much beautiful nature to explore in those mountains. Highly suggest the Huaraz region! laguna 69 in huscaran national park was certainly the high light of my adventure. loads of one day or multi day treks in that area!

Safe travels Amigo!

 

[Bdevall158]

This is the one I use

 

[grollum]

It really depends how much you want to carry and what features you need.
There are tons of tents out there. One thing which might be really important in the wet climate is good ventilation.
Big Agnes, six moon design, Nemo, MSR, Tarptent are some brands you should have a look at. The are a bit more expensive but offer good quality and have lightweight options.

Do you plan to hike a lot? If yes I would try to stay under 1.5kg or even 1kg.

You could also think about a hammock and a tarp. The Hammock keeps you away from ground crawlers and muddy floors. And the tarp keeps away the rain. A tarp can be pitched like a tent as well. There are also hammocks with mosquito nets.

To many of the expensive tents there are cheap Chinese imitations which can be ordered via aliexpress.

One I like a lot would be the 3f Lanshan 2 person tent which has to be setup with hiking poles. It offers a good ventilation (can be opened on both sides) a decent size, is quite solid and you can get it for under 100$.

 

[Nicita]

I second the hammock and tarp.
In the rainforest, you can have all kinds of things on the ground that can make sleeping in a tent a real hassle. Lots of plants (some thorny), crawly things, mud, high humidity that'll make your tent a sauna and if you are in a bad spot, you can catch a sudden downpour and end up having the river flowing through your tent.

A hammock can easily be strung up almost everywhere and is much more comfortable than sleeping on the ground. You'll also need one if you travel on one of the big river boats. Everyone strings up their hammocks on the passenger deck and hangs there until the boat arrives.

I have a DD hammock with mosquito netting and tarp and I was very glad to have it with me in the jungle. When it's a bad mosquito day, it is such a relief to get in your hammock, close up behind you and have all of those nasty bloodsucker on the outside.

when you get high into the mountains, you'll probably need to sleep on the ground. Not many trees around in some higher altitude areas. you can make a tent out of your tarp though.

Have a good journey. What places do you plan to visit?

 

[grollum]

@Nicita is right.

If you have to sleep on the ground under the tarp you might want to use a superlight mosquito pyramid net. The nets are about 100g and can also been used in the hostel or elswhere.

 

[antares]

Hammock and tarp are the way to go. There are some very sophisticated ones available these days. Much more versatile and comfortable than tents.

 

[endlessness]

I'll also agree with the hammock.. This is the one I have and it's fantastic:

JUNGLE HAMMOCK - www.mosquitohammock.com

www.mosquitohammock.com

Though yeah, if you're going up the mountains in a place with no trees, might need a tent too... So research where you're going if trees will be easy to find or not.

 

[Nydex]

A hearthy thanks to everyone who responded with sound advice and examples, much appreciated!

I'll be staying near the rainforest, not high in the mountains, so I think a hammock is the best choice indeed (especially having in mind that I have entomophobia and the ground is swarmed with stuff that trigger it intensely...)

To be honest I believe Ayahuasca will help me deal with my phobia (given how many people report a very close visual encounter with insects during their journeys). I know it will be absolutely terrifying in the beginning, but I shall follow Terence McKenna's advice and be brave, hoping the abyss I'm going to hurl myself into turns out to be a feather bed.

I love you all. Be well.

 

[Bdevall158]

[quote}To be honest I believe Ayahuasca will help me deal with my phobia[/quote]

It just might! At my first retreat i met a grown man in his 30s with a life long fear of spiders. He had to get the retreat facilitators to get one off of his towel the first day. By the end of the week he was almost completely cured of that life long phobia, that is after a ceremony that involved visions of being covered in spiders! However it was amazing to see that immediate change, as well as how genuinely stoked he was to be freed of something he carried since a young kid from one traumatic experience with spiders.

 

[Nydex]

To be honest I believe Ayahuasca will help me deal with my phobia

It just might! At my first retreat i met a grown man in his 30s with a life long fear of spiders. He had to get the retreat facilitators to get one off of his towel the first day. By the end of the week he was almost completely cured of that life long phobia, that is after a ceremony that involved visions of being covered in spiders! However it was amazing to see that immediate change, as well as how genuinely stoked he was to be freed of something he carried since a young kid from one traumatic experience with spiders.

Yeah, my story is pretty much the same but with centipedes. Also that traumatic experience is one of the main components of the reason why I started stuttering as a kid, and it's still going strong 20 years later. This is the second reason I'm going there - to cure my stuttering.

 

[Intezam]

if you get a hammock, rather get the hammock and bugnet seperately, not integrated into the hammock. And get a large hammock, so you CAN lie on your side. also see shugemery channel.