Backpacking - tents, bags, and 4x5's.

[Ash]

Ah just searched and seen other people mentioned bivvy's already. Mine cost £40 from army surplus.

I've not yet used the netted hammock I also bought, but though again I'd mention it if no one else has. They are extremely light and durable. If you don't sleep in it, at least you have something above-ground for your bag. Can always double up as roof of a shelter (with a tarp).

[jeroldharter]

I have a very nice Gore-Tex bivy from Outdoor Research but never use it anymore. They are handy as an emergency shelter, but they are miserable in bad weather. They get very damp inside when it rain and if it snows the weight (and cold) of the snow press down on you.

For warm weather with available trees, it is hard to beat a Hennessey Hammock for comfort, weight, and sleeping quality. For other situations (especially cold), my vote would be for a tarp shelter with a quality tarp. My favorite is a sil-nylon lean to by Cooke Custom Sewing. These are of the highest quality, made in the USA, well designed, and very pleasant to use for shelter. They are also lightweight:

http://www.cookecustomsewing.com/leans.htm

I have the Lean3 which is a bit large for one guy with a camera. The Lean2 would be huge relative to a tent and vastly superior to a bivy for comfort. They do take some know-how to setup and knowledge of a couple of knots such as a trucker's hitch, quick release half-hitch and sheet bend, and clove hitch. All are easy knots to learn and can work minor miracles with the Lean2.

[Rakesh Malik]

Rakesh - a steep-sided pyramid will obviously shed snow, just like a steep-roofed building. But high winds are another matter completely. There's just too much profile
to them, with no way to internally buttress. I guess you could say that I've already
been through the school of hard knocks, and learned all this the hard way. I rarely set
up a tent, but have myself been cozy in storms where other people in the same storm died due to substandard gear. Even a "gentle wilderness" like the Sierra Nevada catches a few people each year off guard.

I suspect that "gentle wilderness" is an oxymoron. At least, that's how I think of it after the August snowstorm last year

I've heard the large profile consideration about the 'mids also, particularly one of the truncated models. Supposedly the extra side tieouts help with the buttressing part, and a few folks pointed out that the inverted-V pole configuration improves stability by doing the same thing by pushing the poles up against the long sides of the rectangular versions.

I don't know how harsh the storms they've weathered in those have been though, and since I have only 3rd party info to go on, I won't disagree with you

Besides, I have a tunnel-style 4-season tent anyway, the only catch with it is that it's close to 3 pounds. I guess that's the tradeoff for a sturdier tent -- though mine's not, I think, designed for high-end mountaineering... but as far as I can tell, the OP isn't planning on doing that right now anyway

[Drew Wiley]

Rakesh - I was with a friend who had one of those mids last summer. We were camped
right around timberline in good weather. I didn't even unpack my tent, but his was fine
for keeping out mosquitoes, privacy, and would have tolerated a mild rain. Can't imagine using it in a real storm, however; and the next trip he brought along a Bibler too. I never even owned a tent for years, but was in remarkable shape and knew how
to construct a survivable shelter using just a poncho or snow igloo. But I certainly
wasn't comfortable. Now that I'm sixty and have survived not only that era but the
outright failure of several mid-priced tents and bivy sacks, I decided I deserved some
comfort and security. Remember, rain will enter at the bottom of any tent which does
not have an integral floor. For me, the crucial distinction between a real tent and some
simple shelter like a tarp or tube tent is whether or not I'm going to be above timberline. Soggy spring snow is also a very different thing from skiable winter snow.

[Rakesh Malik]

Rakesh - I was with a friend who had one of those mids last summer. We were camped
right around timberline in good weather. I didn't even unpack my tent, but his was fine
for keeping out mosquitoes, privacy, and would have tolerated a mild rain. Can't imagine using it in a real storm, however; and the next trip he brought along a Bibler too. I never even owned a tent for years, but was in remarkable shape and knew how
to construct a survivable shelter using just a poncho or snow igloo. But I certainly
wasn't comfortable.

I favor comfort as well, since I figure the more comfortable and better fed I am, the more quickly I'll recover and the more fun I'll have, both of which will lead to more energy for photography

Now that I'm sixty and have survived not only that era but the
outright failure of several mid-priced tents and bivy sacks, I decided I deserved some
comfort and security. Remember, rain will enter at the bottom of any tent which does
not have an integral floor. For me, the crucial distinction between a real tent and some
simple shelter like a tarp or tube tent is whether or not I'm going to be above timberline. Soggy spring snow is also a very different thing from skiable winter snow.

Snow is another thing that I don't plan on dealing with camping in right away.

A floor is also one of the reasons that I use an inner tent with my tarp, that way it's more like a double-wall tent than a tarp + bivy combination. I suppose a bivy might turn out to be warmer and a little lighter, but I prefer the comfort of a tent. And if the weather's decent and it's not buggy, I don't HAVE to pitch the inner tent, and if the weather's nice and it's buggy I can pitch the inner tent without the tarp.

My inner net is a net tent with a silnylon floor, so it's waterproof. The only thing I have to worry about in relation to water under the tarp is keeping my gear dry, for which I can use the polycro groundsheets -- I figure I can use them for my pad if I don't use the tent, so the one ounce is probably worth it to keep stuff dry.

Although I would trust this shelter setup I have in nasty weather, I wouldn't try using it in nasty weather above the treeline -- I'd head back into the forest. I know it's not well suited to mountaineering, but for now the weight savings is worth it, and I'll eventually get a more suitable shelter for that sort of climate... so I like to get feedback from folks who've done it before.

[goamules]

For a light, but roomy tent, I loved my Sierra Designs - Meteor Light. It has a ton of mesh, but a floor and fly if it does rain. I had mine for about 20 years, before it fell off the back of one of my mules on an elk hunt and got lost. If it's summer backpack camping like the OP posted, again, I say go very light, but rainproof. To me that means a fly and floor. The Meteor Light is strong in the wind too. I suppose there are newer, lighter, more modern tents too.

[Drew Wiley]

The Sierra Designs facilities closed long ago down the street. The entire site has been
beautifully remodeled by a major law firm, complete with indoor/outdoor koi ponds, and
quite a few of my big color prints on the walls.

[John Kasaian]

The most useful piece of gear for backpacking with my 8x10 in the Sierras is a gentle pack mule

[Drew Wiley]

John - the last mule I worked with had a habit of laying down in streams. But that was
a long, long time ago. You probably know where the D&F pack station is at Badger Flat
just above Huntington. When I was a kid a different family owned it, and I worked there one summer. My own donkey was more of a pet, used as a colt in an rodeo act,
where it was pulled out of the baggy pants of a famous rodeo clown! When it got too
big for the act, we put it in our pasture. Again, back in the days when mentioning the
word "Fresno" at the Clovis rodeo was considered justifiable homicide.

[Darren H]

Backpaking with large format is almost a study in suffering.

You want to take a minimalistic kit in both camera and camping equipment or suffer a huge load. When I backpack for photography my major weight reduction is:

-to forego the stove and eat cold food like Cliff Bars

-to skip the tent and take a OR Gore-Tex bivysack

If rain/snow is a real threat I'd maybe add a lightweight sil-nylon tarp otherwise I'd be happy with the bivy.

I never go out for more than two nights like that but it works for me. Plus I am usually going out with a set photograph in mind rather just doing a backpacking trip that I happen to have a camera on.

If you want to go longer I think a llama would be the way to go as it would allow more comfort to be brought along.

Have fun and document the trips well!