Thoughts on this shelter?

http://www.bugoutbagz.com/proddetail.php?prod=OSP032

Apologies for using a retail link.

At first glance, this appears to be a bit gimmick-y. A regular tarp could do the same. But then, I notice it's a "polyester" fabric and that the price/weight is actually not atrocious. I wonder if it's sturdy enough to use as a light weight tent in temperate climes. Certainly seems to fit the gap between a full tent and a bivy bag.

Has anyone used this?

The lightweight backpacking crowd has developed several tents which are equivalent to this. Typically they are made of silnylon, which provides great water resistance and require trekking poles to erect a fully independent structure. The description for this product says nothing about any kind of coating to protect against water, a real drawback.

i agree, a simple tarp would do everything this can accomplish. If I were to go all out, I would get a Gatewood Cape, a lightweight and sophisticated tent/poncho design weighing 11 oz. It looks like a better shelter, is water resistant, and can be worn as a poncho as well. Cost is $135, however.

Hikermor, did we read the same description?

• Designed with a floor that stakes down to keep you off the ground.
• Set up as a 'lean-to' wedge, as a pup style tent, as a tarp, or simply as a canopy.
• Side wedge prevents the wind from getting in at the head of the unit .
• Roof ties to the nearby vegetation to keep off the rain, wind, and snow.
• Waterproof polyester fabric
Bold emphasis is mine. I'm not sure if this is the same as the coating you mentioned but it might be worth exploring a bit more. Is polyester already a waterproof fabric? Does it need an additional waterproof coating as well? Am I missing something else?

Oops! It is early in the morning here. I totally missed the key word "waterproof"....

Are the seams sealed? If not, this or any shelter will leak copiously. This is easily remedied by hand sealing by the owner, preferably before use.

I wonder a little bit about "polyester fabric," since silnylon is so commonly used for these kinds of things. I would think polyester would be strong enough for occasional use.

Excuse me while I go and get some caffeine in my system.

No worries hikermor. I am fairly ignorant about this kind of stuff so I wasn't sure if I might have missed something important in the description. Still taking notes, still learning, still a loooooong way to go.

Silnylon is siliconized nylon fabric, with the silicon embedded in the fabric. Nylon is flame-resistant.

Waterproofed polyester is probably just regular polyester (no natural water repellency that I've ever heard of, but it doesn't absorb moisture) coated with ScotchGuard or something similar. Some polyesters have built-in fire retardants, but I don't know if all of them do.

On the design of this particular shelter, it doesn't seem conducive to use with a fire/reflector. One might think that a person who carried a shelter would also have firemaking ability.

OTOH, I just looked and the site is based in Tempe, AZ. Shade, rather than heat, might be the biggest need there.

Sue

And of course - blaze orange is the only colour of choice for a survival situation if you want to be seen.

Thanks for the thoughts. It does come in other not-so-bright colors.

I was curious about the material too - I noticed not silnylon, but that stuff is pretty steep in price.

It might be worth buying one just for kicks and seeing how it holds up. Some of the pics show it as a tent, others with a fold in the top to make a pup-tent/A-frame profile. Without window screens I wouldn't take it around any lakes/streams in the summer, but in spring or fall, it might be OK.

It is an interesting design. Bug screening would make it more so. Please let us know if you get some hands-on experience.

I find it interesting, but mainly for the price; it's almost cheap enough that I'd buy one just to toss in my hiking bag. What sets it apart from other emergency (or ultralight hiking) shelters is the floor; most are tarps that lack them.

I don't know if I'd buy something without mosquito netting. In floorless designs, I think I'd still prefer a Zpacks hexamid or Six Moon Designs wild oasis. The only floored shelters I can think of in that size & weight range might be something made by Tarptent or Six Moon Designs. But, I haven't bought any of these shelters "just in case" because of the cost...

In some ways a step up from a tarp. Tarps lack floors, a bathtub edge to keep puddles out, and walls to keep wind out. Yes, all these can be provided other ways, a watertight ground cloth can be formed with 'mattress corners' on stakes to be a bathtub floor. A tarp can be rigged low and on down to the ground to keep wind out while providing ventilation.

Polyester has some good points. Polyester is much more resistant to UV than nylon. Polyester also doesn't stretch so much, so the geometry doesn't change, allowing sag or flapping, and it doesn't lose strength about (15%) when wet like nylon does.

Most modern waterproofed fabrics use a very thin urethane coating. This coating is subject to mechanical damage, aging/decomposition over the long term, and delamination on stretchy fabrics like nylon. Polyester doesn't help with the first two but can make a difference on the third count. The good news is that urethane coatings can be replaced and repaired with paint-on sealer. Sil-nylon is saturated with silicone and so highly water repellent. Until there is sil-polyester to get the same water repellent qualities it has to be treated. DWR or silicone will work but neither is permanent. But this might not be an issue for survival and disaster use under a month or two. Longer term you may need to re-treat.

Of course nylon's tendency to slowly degrade with exposure to UV means that any extended exposure might get iffy. Early nylon tents had no chemical UV blocker and the material got weak and brittle in a shockingly short time. Sometimes a month of tropical sun was all you could expect. A lot depends on the amount of UV blocker is included in the fabric and how much excess strength is built into the tent design.

I would like to get my grubby mitts on one to check out its build quality. My suspicious side says that corners may very well have been cut to get such an attractive price. And we all know that cut corners are not at all attractive on a tent.

I have used a "repaired" Eureka Timberline 4 RAINFLY from a youth camp I used to work for. I sewed a repair on the angered youth "rip" and have used it FOR years (like 14 years) and it works great except in bad mosquito and blackfly country when they are "in season", or perhaps WE are in season to them. I use my multi purpose hiking poles for the ends and viola.

Ironwood

Generally, as long as the basic materials are good, usually a good bet, you can take marginal canvas goods and make them as strong as expedition-grade stuff by adding reinforcements and extra stitching. Once you get the knack modifying and improving equipment can be an engaging, and profitable, hobby.

It's Nowhere near as versatile as,A vintage Military rubberized(vulcanized) poncho,It is quite a bit lighter though,I wouldn't abandon my poncho for it!

NOT to mention the PONCHO LINER!!!! I have had mine for about 25 years and it goes everywhere with me. I did sew a ykk zipper to it to make it into a sleeping bag. I will be CREAMATED in it, no joke. It has been with me everywhere from northern Canada to Southern Mexico, Peru, and everynight here at home. I used to spent 200+ nights a year in the backcountry.
Ironwood

Put your credit card aside for a few moments Izzy. T least until we've had a good chance to discuss it.

Judging from the picture, the angle of the roof is too shallow in my opinion. Heavy rain or even moderate snowfall will put quite a load on and might collapse the whole thing.

That is, unless there are other set up options or you have the luxury of being able to pick a good site to set one up.

-jh

2 Green and brown tarps for 10$ and a Bug net for 8$. 18$ and your set. Its no 200$ tent but its better then nothing at all. 70$ is just a bit much for me to consider "cheap".

Absolutely right, but are you seriously going to endure the weight of those tarps in your day pack on the off chance that you might need them? In so many items, there is a relationship between weight, cost, and utility. You can choose any two characteristics.

My personal preference is a SOL Thermal Bivy, usually listed for about $35, weighing about 6 ounces. It can be used virtually anywhere and will do better than a tent in retaining heat. I usually have a mylar blanket along which can be rigged as a tarp to keep additional rain off.

I also keep some blue tarps in my vehicle for possible shelter use. Weight is not an issue there.

You can find an assortment of bivy sacks, some of which are actually mini-tents, ranging in price up toward $200. Something for everyone.....

"Tents" are available very cheaply, often well under a hundred bucks. The ones I have seen are pretty much junk, useless and undependable once you leave your backyard, and heavy to boot.

I think given the choice, I would opt for a cheap pup tent as an emergency shelter. In my area, you need a floor and bug netting. This one sells for $18, weighs 3.4 pounds, but you could leave out the metal poles and stakes and make your own on site or hang it off a tree branch. Would get it down to about 2 pounds.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000P9E...ASIN=B000P9EZPW

I agree with Byrd_Hunter. Often the better option is the one that most often overlooked....and less expensive.

I have a small, cheap single man /12 dome tent that cost around $30.00 and I purchased it on sale for 1/2 price almost 4 years ago. This tent has turned out to be one of the better ROI I have made in recent years. For a cheap tent, it has held up markedly well with only a few stitches needed in a couple of stress points.

The tent weighs around 2-1/2 lbs with poles and goes with me on every hike where a bigger tent is not required.

Im talking flat out no tent using those primary. Also a 8x6 tarp Disappears in my pack. I dunno about the ounces and blah blah blah but What I do know for a definitive fact....I cant tell the difference if its in the pack or not, Which is what actually matters no? not the calculations and number crunching down to the ounces of what my pack may weight.