I may or may not be indecisive (I’m not sure… haven’t decided yet). And saying that I am not a fan of shopping is an understatement. Combine the two, and can begin to imagine the difficulties I faced when trying to buy the equipment for this trip. Well, mostly just the tent. You see, the extremely helpful employees at Sun & Ski Sports presented me with two options: The Easton Kilo and the Marmot Aura. And they should have only given me one. So I bought the Aura, then a week later, went back and bought the Kilo, and now I can’t decide. Well, that’s a lie. I can, and have decided. The real problem is that every morning I wake up and decide something different.
Let me break it down for you, and hopefully, come closer to making a decision.
BACKGROUND INFO:
I need a 2 person (apparently my bag counts as a separate person), freestanding tent. I might not be able to stake the tent down all of the time because I might be sleeping on concrete or on a surface that is too hard (aka. desert). I have NO idea how many nights I will be spending in this tent because in some countries, I will be staying with a host family, or in a hostel, or in a church, or a random assortment of other places, or I might be staying in the tent. However, I do know that I will have to carry the tent with me wherever I go, and it will have to fit in my backpack along with my mattress pad, pillow, sleeping bag, anti-malaria pills, and everything else that I’m going to need for an entire year. So, that being said, allow me to introduce you to the tents.
THE EASTON KILO (The one on the left in all the photos):
Pros: EXTREMELY small. (about 2.2 pounds).
Cons: Smaller on the inside, and the corners are technically supposed to be staked down (you can see this problem in some of the photos below). However, if I put something heavy in the corners, they’ll stay down.
THE MARMOT AURA 2P (The orange one):
Pros: Bigger and and spacier (I’m fairly confident there’s a difference between the two) on the inside. More sturdy, as the poles go to the corners so the entire tent is stretched out completely.
Cons: Much larger and heavier when packed. (about 4.8 pounds).
PHOTOS:
Yes, I did set the both up in the living room. And I may or may not have inflated my sleeping pad and took a nap in the Kilo.
So there’s my dilemma. Suggestions anyone?
