I loved the classic novel of the same name about the ‘Mountain Men’ of the American West by A.B.Guthrie, and I love the tent! You can download the ebook here: https://archive.org/details/TheBigSky_epub but you will have to buy the ultralight tent. Their ‘Wisp’ model recently fell into my hands so I could have a closer look […]
Or welded fabric construction. You too may not have encountered this newish method. My new shoes, the Topo Terraventure are made this way, and let me say they are excellent. There is not a seam in them to come undone or fray. I have by now walked several hundred kilometres in them (as has Della
My new 375 gram tent, the Siligloo: Oh, come with old Khayyám, and leave the Wise To talk; one thing is certain, that Life flies; One thing is certain, and the Rest is Lies; The Flower that once has blown for ever dies… Khayyam too was a tentmaker from Naishapur Iran in the C12th. I
David Gardner over at Backpackinglight has these excellent instructions for building a see through tent from polycryo window insulation film which is freely and cheaply available for winterising your home. It is such a great idea. I hope he does not mind my sharing it here. The complete instructions are available here: https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/how-to-make-a-polycryo-a-frame-tarp/ It may
How to make your raincoat into a shelter. I hope you realise how this is important as every year people die because they keep on wearing their raincoat instead of sheltering under it. I know when you are out in the cold pouring rain probably the last thing you are going to think is, ‘Must
I have completed my poncho tent in 1.3 oz/yd2 silnylon. It weighs a mere 185 grams – as you can see, and fits in my pocket – as the name suggests and the pictures show! In Ripstopbytheroll’s .77 ozyd2 Mountain silnylon it will weigh 109 grams. This may be the smallest tent in the world
As you can see I have completed the first prototype of this project which I have long threatened. I learned a lot in the process, so that there will be substantial changes between where it is at now and the completed project. Still, you can see that it works. I created four ‘sleeves’ along the
Today my waterproof zippers arrived so I sewed them on (and they work a treat!) I also made up the small extra piece which can be used to close the tent up completely. This piece will weigh just less than 30 grams in silnylon on the completed tent bringing its total weight to approx 180
As you can see this pamphlet dates back to 1924 which gives some idea of how long people have been grappling with the idea of lightening their load on the trail: http://www.outdoors.org/articles/amc-outdoors/the-dawn-of-ultralight-backpacking/ The Whelen Forester Tents I talked about here http://www.theultralighthiker.com/col-townsend-whelens-forester-tent/ and here http://www.theultralighthiker.com/new-tyvek-forestertent-design/ date from about the same time. I must come back to that design (like so
This is going to be a 160 gram poncho which is also an excellent single person tent. It doesn’t get much better than that. This is my second prototype of this wonderful piece of equipment. I have altered the dimensions slightly and changed the taper so it is long enough to lie out in without
