Emergency shelters?

I might carry a mat if I might need to sleep on a hut floor. Always have an emergency blanket. Always monitor the forecasts before going anywhere. Always took a PLB on multi-day trips. The Club has a bothy bag or 2.

Yeah I use a thin foam mat in my pack as a bit of structure (I use a frameless pack for summer as my trips are generally short) so I always have it as back up - put it under my inflatable when camping. I’ve had a PLB for a few years. Still got another 5 on its battery. It’s registered for NZ again. I always check forecasts - don’t enjoy getting soaked anyway ;) So you just carry the emergency blanket? And a bothy bag on group trips?

I have experimented with tarps and bivvy bags but in the end always come back to a lightweight tent. For <1kg I can get something that will protect me in any environment in any weather. In a true emergency in off-track west coast of Fiordland the footprint of the tent may be an issue there being little or no flat dry ground. But I can jury-rig the fly using guy ropes if I cannot manage a pitch in bush country. I can drop that to 300-400g with a tarp / bivvy bag but I personally find tarps painful in sandfly country and hard to use on the tops unless you use trekking poles. If neither of those are an issue for you - then a tarp may be the way to go - many people do use them. And I personally can't stand the confines of a bivvy bag - though I know people for whom they work well. I would not go backcountry in NZ without one of the above options, despite the hut system. You just never now when you'll not make the hut.

Yeah my pyramid tarp is under 500g and my tent is under a kg (uses trekking poles). They’re both good for the reasons you mentioned. My thinking is that if I’m planning to use the huts, then there’s very little chance I’d need either - thus they’d be an emergency shelter if I got stuck on the tops, drastically miscalculated the time it would take me To get to a hut, or some kind of injury meant I needed to hold up somewhere for a night (if I needed to set off the PLB or was just going to take longer to tramp out). And I agree it wouldn’t be sensible to set off without some kind of shelter. But I also figure for emergency use my tarp or tent are probably heavier/bulkier than needed and perhaps less suited (thinking about ability to set up if injured). But maybe a tarp covers those needs.

It very much depends on your trip. What sort of country you're entering. What are your likely circumstances if things don't go to plan ?. I carry a SOL Survivl Blnket 152cm x 244cm (5 by 8 feet). That, plus whatever else is in my pack, should hold me over for a night.

you can get bivy bags put out by outdoor research with a hoop going width ways to help keep the fabric off the top of your sleeping bag. companies like RAB from memory that have more elaborate bivy's that keep the fabric away from the bag. https://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/equipment-c3/tents-shelters-c25/bivvy-bags-c41

I am probably a bit more relaxed than most with back up shelter for trips based around huts. If the trip involves a lot of tops/exposed travel then I will normally carry my solo tent (not light at 1.5kg). Otherwise I make do with an emergency blanket (or sometimes two) and whatever I can scrounge up to make a bivvy if caught short of my destination. Have come up short of huts at least half a dozen times, twice in bad weather, but has never been a problem to construct water tight shelter if in the bush. I find the emergency blankets are very versatile when constructing bivvys/unexpected sleeping spots. Have never had to use on for it's intended purpose but have used them multiple times as either part of a fly/roofing system or as thermal protection between the ground and I. I always carry a PLB so have that as a back up in case of significant injury and would back the quality of my gear to tide me over if I did need to wait it out for a bit.

@Madpom, what brand/model is your sub 1 kg solo tent that works well on the tops?

@ian_h - catching me out there for oversimplifying! The 1kg tent I had that worked well on the tops was Mountain Hardware's lightweight offering (no model name on it). Supposedly just under 1kg with original pegs, etc. However, there's nothing remotely like it on their website these days. The worst conditions I've had that pitched in was on Wharite in winds that the weather station reported as having gusted to >120kph overnight (though obviously I pitched it in a hollow). This was a real lightwieght bivvy tent designed for exposed tops - 2 skin, wedge shaped foot to head with <400m height at the feet and maybe 800mm at the head end. I still have it but cannot source a replacement aluminium pole segment to suit the sharp curve required at the feet end. It also stood up to a 300mm fiordland rainfall event on exposed tops with no issues. The tent I have now is an MSR NX 1 person which is spec'd at 1.12kg. And is nowhere near as good in the wind as the previous one. Very poor design for stability unless you can guy the sides out horizontally - I generally end up guying it over a planted ice-axe or stick to get the horizontal tension it requires if it's exposed and expecting wind. But it's usable on the tops if you get to choose your spot. However, you can sit up in it and turn round in it so it does provide comfort for long tent-based trips, which is the reason I accepted the higher weight.