Best Touring Tent

[kickingcones]

I think you're referring to the SUL contingent ("super-ultralight"). I don't know anyone who uses bubble wrap for their sleeping mat. Most UL's these days use things like the Exped Synmat UL 7... Pretty luxurious. As to tarps, a lot of it depends on your skills. Tarps can handle full-on tropical storms if you know how to pitch them. Most people today don't have those kinds of outdoor skills anymore. Most UL'ers don't want to deal with that level of learning, either, so they stick with shaped shelters and lightweight tents. Going UL is quite comfortable and not the extremist image that so many people imagine. We are not out there to suffer, but rather by going lightweight can go further and more comfortably at the same speed as before without the suffering. Of course bicycles can take a lot more weight, but bikepackers who go cross country are trying as much as possible to reduce their loads, hence the popularity of bikepacks made by Revelate Designs and Carousel Designs.

Out there in the wilds everyone has the same needs for safety and protection, so with experience and trial and error UL travelers have discovered what works and doesn't. The shelters I have mentioned work in most places. Perhaps not Everest or Denali, but the neither would the other tents mentioned here. I've sat out, in my UL shelters, typhoons in the mountains here in Japan, so though I didn't get much sleep, I can vouch for their effectiveness. (though I wouldn't recommend sitting out typhoons in most non-bomber tents).