DIY flurry

[NCPatrick]

I can't sew for beans - the seams aren't very straight, which is why there are no close ups
....
The only sewing was along the outer seam, and then I added some quilt loops to keep the insides from bunching up. Quick and dirty.

Great job. You've got a lot of good ideas there.

[Narwhalin]

I wouldn't sew for beans, either!

Really great stuff!You have some cool innovations like the semi rigid tube and the tree straps.

I think it would be cool to have a tube like that w/ a mesh section on top for stargazing and then a small rainfly on top that you could quickly install if need be. It would be like my GF's tent: Sierra Designs: Tents: Sirius 3 Perhaps you could use a poncho and tie it like a 'flying diamond' from the tree to one of the loops on top of the tube. Working on drawing this right now...

[Narwhalin]

Here are some drawings of this idea...Again, really nice looking gear!

[fin]

I had thought of putting a closable mesh section (ala the Clark Weathershield - dual layers of mesh/sil with a zipper) on the head end for stargazing, and just for being able to look around camp without pulling back the head end. Also, for condensation concerns (Griz also suggested this).

[fin]

With this idea of s62w23098's (how on earth do you pronounce that???)
Grizz

Not my trail name, but the name I can always use on a forum because nobody else has it. They are actually coordinates. My trail name is actually "FishinFinn", but I didn't think of using it when I signed up.

[fin]

You are right Grizz, there is a lot of middle ground where you can do things to effect condensation issues and it is wise to do them appropriately.

I was trying to make a point that I think folks with limited experiences miss. I've seen people say they got condensation so such and such won't work for them, and that they didn't get condensation another time with something else so that works. What they are missing is that they haven't necessarily experienced that equipment over a variety of conditions and understand how the conditions influenced their experiences.

Are you saying my camping experience is limited, or my knowledge?

Conditions the first night out were still, temp 34 degrees, scattered showers and frost on ground and tarp come morning. Conditions second night were 37, slight breeze and scattered showers. Vent on sock due to seperate tieout for bugnet on DD was about two inch wide by 12 inch high, and mostly above and behind my head. In a regular tent, I would most likely have experienced condensation on the first night, but not on the second due to the slight breeze and the slit venting around the drawstring opening.

[Youngblood]

That's a pretty good test for condensation issues. If it was a 'condensation trap' you would have seen it on those nights.

Did you have any issues with loose fabric flapping in the breeze and making noises?

These 'experience' issues always brings a smile to my face as I recall the first long distance backpacker I got to spend a few days on the trail with... Rotten Rodney. He would laugh at some of my gear and talk of 'combat conditions'. He was right and he was a great guy, he taught me that I didn't have everything figured out that I thought I did. Conditions vary so much and what works best in one set of conditions might not work very well in another set of conditions. That was the first and most important lesson. Another lesson was to always hold on to one end of the bear line when you throw it... I think he probably wet himself laughing over that one.

[fin]

Did you have any issues with loose fabric flapping in the breeze and making noises?

The day I set it up was 10-15 mph winds that died out as the sun set. When I was setting it up, the sock was flopping quite a bit, but as I cinched down the side tie outs and the ends, flap was almost non-existant. On a big breeze, maybe a little flap on the ends where the fabric gathered from the drawstrings, but it depended a lot on how tight I pulled out the head end. The body itself was pulled pretty tight. It would be even better if I could find a slightly more rigid tubing. Once I set up the tarp, there was no flap at all that I could detect.

One of the pictures I posted was of the side tie-out nearest my head area. I added a velcro cable cinch tie there, so that after I entered the hammock, I could cinch the tent/sock tighter on the head end.

There is some work to be done yet, to be sure. Now that I have version 1 done, I have some digital ripstop nylon that I'd like to redo this experiment with, and make it a little "stealthy". I had to do my proof of concept first. One of the pictures is of the little scale model I made when the idea popped into my head. Now I'm doing a scale model of my Clark tarp for the mods that I'm going to make to it.

[fin]

Hey hey, there are some really good ideas here. What are the weights of the underquilt and weather shield? Also, how compressible is the UQ? You will have to put out instructions on this stuff, especially the UQ. Looks like you didn't have a lot of sewing to do on it or am I wrong? Mule

Weather shield with ropes and rigid tubing = 22.4 oz.

Weight on the UQ is 41.6 oz - a bit heavy for gram weenies. I managed to stuff it into the following stuff sack: