More and more people are jumping on the floorless shelter band wagon. Especially ultralight gear geeks and mountain hunters who appreciate the weight saving benefits more than the average backpacker or hiker. You would think that not having a floor would be pain, but I promise you it does have has it’s advantages… no more worrying about tearing your floor on rocks, sticks etc…. No more having to remove your footwear because you don’t want to get your delicate floor dirty, and now your soaking wet smelly dog can join you inside your shelter without worry about claws puncturing the floor and getting your tent messy. And it allows you to safely cook inside your shelter. Of course the biggest benefit is the weight savings. For example the Mountain Hardwear Hoopla weighs just over 2lbs with extra stakes and guy lines… incredibly light and has enough room to sleep 3 people. No not 4 people Mountain Hardwear. The 4 people you see in the diagram below are clearly children and not full grown dudes. With 2 people you have enough room to keep your gear inside and have plenty of room to move around, and cook inside as well. The Hoopla is pitched with a single 135cm trekking pole and set up is by far the easiest single pole pyramid style shelter to set up that I have ever seen or tried. I literally watched a guy set one up on youtube then went into my backyard and pitched it perfectly the 1st time. Awesome job MH… My biggest complaint about pyramid tents in the past was the difficult and painfull set up times. The single hoop pole is compact and takes up no room when packed up. The idea behind it is to allow for increased usable space, especially at head level, by keeping the walls more vertical. It also increases the strength of the shelter making it more rigid. Another thing that I absolutely loved about the Hoopla is that it goes back into it’s stuff sack effortlessly. I can’t stand trying to fit tents back into the factory stuff sacks that are too small and you are forced to fight with it every time you pack it up.
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As I type this I am trying not to sound like some Mountain Hardwear groupie and come up with some cons or anything negative at all about the Hoopla 4. I suppose that I could complain about having to seam seal around the hoop sleave, which was a pain in the ass, but almost all tents need sealing before use. Maybe after the season I will come up with something….
In conclusion:
The easy set up, the brilliant hoop or trussring support system, the wee room it takes up in your pack, and the ultralight materials used really sets the Mountain Hardwear Hoopla 4 apart from all the competition imo. Nice work Mountain Hardwear. www.mountainhardwear.ca
The Skylege 2.1 is plenty light enough to serve as a 1 person tent as well so keep that in mind if your in the market for a single person shelter. The only complaint I have is the durability of the fly material. I’ts very light and will tear if your not careful. However a thicker, more durable fly would add more weight to the tent… Overall I have been impressed with the Mountain Hardwear Skyledge 2.1 and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a lightweight backpacking tent for August and into September where there’s a chance of bad weather. 
Enter Soft Shell Technology…
About a 3hr hike from our base camp we find a large group of caribou, including a couple that we agreed were mature shooter bulls. As we made our way through a patch of sub alpine timber we heard a group of caribou coming toward us in a hurry! A couple of cows just about run us over followed by a bull who was in hot pursuite, desperately trying to herd the escaped cows back to his harem. As he ran by us at only 25yrds we quickly I.D the bull as one of the 2 potential shooters and Marty fired, dropping the bull in it’s tracks. Knowing there was at least one more good bull in the group we took a quick look at Marty’s bull then grabed our gear and headed towards where we last seen the rest of the herd. When we broke into the open alpine we were surounded by caribou. We watched them for quite some time trying to find the other shooter. We looked over a few that were close, including one bull that was very impressive with huge tops to go with his double shovels. He was already a high scoring bull but was young, and in a couple of years would be Boone & Crockett worthy, so we decided to pass on him. We were just about to call it a hunt when Marty spotted a different bull that was making his way down the mountain and putting the run on the other bulls in the group. While not a good scoring bull he was clearly old and past his prime with a beautifull cape and impressive main beams. We watched him chase his cows around for a while and enjoyed the show so much it was almost a shame to end it. However, we didn’t get dressed up for nothin, so a couple of quick shots from the Ruger and my bull was down
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