Interesting survey - AT tents and shelters

[billconner]

I found this quite interesting. Feels like real world experience. Not entirely applicable to canoe treks.

Top Tents and Shelters on the Appalachian Trail: 2022 Thru-Hiker Survey - The Trek

ach year here at The Trek, we survey long-distance hikers on the Appalachian Trail (AT) about the shelter systems they use. In this post we’ll cover the trends from the AT Class of 2022. We’ll cover types of shelters used, satisfaction, size, and last but not least, the top brands and models...

thetrek.co

 

[clemency]

Kind of surprised by the number of free standing tents. Thought trekking pole tents would be much more prevalent due to weight. Huh.

 

[ppine]

The East is wet. It can be really wet. A tent is a good idea, but there are lots of shelters around if you don't mind crowds and mice.
In the West I use a tarp.
This fall while trucking camping we had the an intense 24 hour rain storm. I was in a large Cabela's tent big enough to stand in and have a cot. It was only marginal and did not shed rain well around the doors. I would get a better tent, except that these episodes are unusual.

 

[billconner]

Reading, it seems many would opt for more rain protection: tents instead of tarps, double wall tents instead of single, and bigger. I second all those (but never had a real problem with my single wall Eureka Zeus).

 

[Odyssey]

This is an interesting survey, perhaps with similar trends to canoe tripping.
Three significant trends were mentioned; a) increasingly, tent dwellers choosing 2-person over 1-person, b) more pole-tents being chosen, c) and fewer tarp only hikers. There is so much more context which may've been lost in the mix, or maybe just lost on me, such as choice changes made by returning hikers, gear failure influencing further choices, prices, hiking/gear experience, sample sizes...
Shelter technology sure has come a long way in a hurry, especially for those unhurried travelers.

 

[billconner]

I have generally enjoyed thetrek.co . Inspiring actually.

 

[clemency]

This is an interesting survey, perhaps with similar trends to canoe tripping.
Three significant trends were mentioned; a) increasingly, tent dwellers choosing 2-person over 1-person, b) more pole-tents being chosen, c) and fewer tarp only hikers. There is so much more context which may've been lost in the mix, or maybe just lost on me, such as choice changes made by returning hikers, gear failure influencing further choices, prices, hiking/gear experience, sample sizes...
Shelter technology sure has come a long way in a hurry, especially for those unhurried travelers.

There's a link early in that survey to the associated demographic data. I'm surprised at the number of folks with very limited hiking experience.

 

[billconner]

Yes. 63% previously had back packed a max of 7 nights. I'll fit right in (with 12).

I was surprised by the ages. I always thought the long distance hikers were at max just out of college OR retired. I should look for older surveys - curious if the pandemic changed the distribution.