I have owned the earlier heavier version of this (Chinese copy) Trailstar tent for several years. It weighed close to 800 grams with pegs etc though I have been very happy with it. I decided to give this lighter version a try. It is available from Aliexpress from around A$80 including shipping. Hard to beat. […]
This device boosts the electrical output of my solar panels by approximately several times (and weighs approx 28 grams). Its output is only limited by the input circuitry on the USB outlet of the solar panel. The wonders of Tyvek once again! Tyvek reflectivity is just about as good as it gets: 97% eg as
This is a Chinese version of a two-pole A-frame design which has been around for a few years since at least 2016 – before the X-Mid anyway, I believe. Other examples of it are the Sierra Designs High Route, the Black Diamond Beta Light and the Durston X-Mid to name a few. I have read
This is a great App I have just discovered. It opens Pdf Maps and many other types. If you are tired of Avenza’s version of Pdf Maps only allowing you to open three maps before you hand over cash to them every year – and taking forever to open every map into the bargain (I
A tent that is also a tarp and a hammock shelter. This tent has been evolving in my head for a number of years and I realise that some of you are impatient that you have not been able to buy one or other of its iterations. However your wait might soon be over. Be
I have completed sewing a silnylon version of my 10 x 10 tent (actually 3 x 3 metres) out of some 1.25 0oz/yd2 (43 gsm) silnylon I sourced from China for US$2.50/metre. The key to understanding how it works is where to put the tie-outs. The photos below show it erected as a tent (for
As I have said many times, you don’t have to break the bank to go hiking. I have been eyeing off various Dyneema packs on eg Aliexpress for years but recently (it was my birthday – 76. Who’d have thought?) I decided to buy yet another unnecessary pack. The ‘choice’ was between a ‘conventional’ (ie
I made a sub one ounce hand saw for this purpose, but this is even easier than sawing a branch to length: You can cut approx 10″ (25 cm) of 1″ (25mm) poly pipe to join two hiking poles like this. I used standard ‘rural C’ grade poly pipe because we have it lying around
The Toothbrush Spoon was not my original idea but had been patented way back in 1934 as I discovered when I re-invented it back in 2020. Still Della and I were both very pleased with it/them and have been using them ever since. I realise now that I could have drilled a hole in it
I have hunted sambar deer for over 50 years in the Gippsland mountains (and elsewhere other deer). Mostly I did it because it was fun and an excuse for a day out in the bush which I love. I still prefer lamb, and having been a sheep farmer for just as long, I always had
