>>2629193Here are your options at a glance
>hammockBest for the summertime IMO, not great to have out west in areas with very few trees, they can be very lightweight as long as you tie your own knots and dont bring along all sorts of straps and carbiners, those will make your whole shelter setup heavier than some tents. Not good in the winter as you will be very very cold, some people swear by using underquilts but I have seen this backfire many times. I have had personal success using what I call the "baked potato method" where I put a space blanket under me in the hammock to reflect body head and almost completely block the wind but I would only use this down to about the high 40s with any confidence, but most people dont like to use hammocks if its colder than 55F.
>BivyVery simple and effective, lighter than most tents although there are ultralight solo tents that are basically the same weight, and there are bivies which can almost be classified as solo tents. These work very well in the snow, but many options arent good for heavy rain so a tarp might be neccesary in the worst of conditions, but the ones that are basically tents will work fine in those conditions.
>TentThis is most common. Ultralight options are all over the place but what the average joe has is going to be heavier than the other shelter options. These require less skill and experience to use.
>TarpThese are very good shelters and are the lightest possible option, however they require more skill and experience in order to use them in shitty weather conditions. You can likely get away with using one as a newbie, but I would do some learning first.
>Mexican campingEssentially you just put on a raincoat and rain paints and sit down and lean up against a tree. Works well out west where it doesnt really rain much, but it has its obvious disadvantages.
If I were you I would get something that I could use year round in most weather conditions without a low possibility for me to fuck up
