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21st Century Baker's Tent

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151–160 of 172 posts

Re: 21st Century Baker's Tent

#151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't call that unreasonable, but it's not physically possible for a tent to even slow a bear down if it wants to get in. In my town, bears have gotten into houses and garages by tearing the front doors off their hinges, and by tearing through a house's siding and sheathing. I recommend car camping in bear country.

If people are interested look up bear proof trash cans - they’re basically tanks. Anything less doesn’t slow down a bear.

We have bear-proof Toters. They're really nice, but they're kind of a pain for the trash collectors; the mechanism to open them is fiddly and impossible to use with gloves, and because they latch, the truck's robot arm can't empty them unless the guys dismount the truck and open them first.

You would probably be safe hiding inside one of them. Toter's website has videos of testing they did with a brown bear (possibly a grizzly). He fucks it up pretty good but doesn't manage to open it.

Re: 21st Century Baker's Tent

#152

Modern backpacking tents have achieved an exquisite pinnacle of engineering and usability perfection. I am a UX baby (constant whining about almost every tool/service/product I interact with, sorry to everyone who has to be around me) and I love my tent. It is magical the degree to which it has been thoughtfully optimized in so many little ways. DIY tents like this one are interesting and fun if you are into geeking…

>I am a UX baby

me too, but I think that has been caused by my increasing familiarity with the subject. The more you know the more upset you get when someone does something stupid.

Re: 21st Century Baker's Tent

#153
post #41

That's going to be a condensation fest in there. Pretty sure The Outdoor Gear Review did a real world test of something very similar. They 'work' in that they do heat up, but they're a lot of work and get extremely sweaty when made from those non-breathable plastic survival sheets. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJwvH90g3Yw For a more in depth look at using more 'appropriate' modern materials, 'Simon, A Bloke in the…

Furthermore, there are a lot of places where you can't even have an open fire and/or there isn't a lot of wood. Cool experiment but tents and other sleeping arrangements like hammocks are a pretty well-trod area where real innovations are mostly through using new materials--one disadvantage of which is that super-light gear in my experience is increasingly fragile.

There are a lot of places with plenty of deadfall and fires are fine too. They usually are lower traffic, and the season when you'd want this, fire and condensation are both non issues. For those other places my UL buddy ( both he and his gear are UL) uses a home made tyvek bivy for every trip. His half pad is a therma-rest, but he likes that bivy better than anything he can buy.

Re: 21st Century Baker's Tent

#154
post #24
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Those emergency blankets don’t work like normal blankets - by trapping air and preventing it from moving - but by reflecting heat and keeping it in. This reads as if to imply emergency blankets vent air freely, that's obviously not true.

Thermal insulation, whether we're talking about a blanket, a winter jacket, or the foam stuff in your walls, generally involves a layer of some thickness within which there are many tiny spaces full of trapped air. It's difficult for heat to propagate across those spaces. The author's point is that mylar emergency blankets do not provide this thick layer of "trapped air". It's true that they prevent air from crossing…

You'd be surprised how hot surrounding oneself with mylar gets. I've been inside a grow tent lined with mylar, and even though it was open on one side, it felt like a sauna within minutes!

Re: 21st Century Baker's Tent

#155
post #87
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, please! Also curious about preferences for other related equipment - backpacks etc.

There is no best car, hence there is no best backpack. As a rule of thumb: It is easy to buy a backpack that is too big. It is nearly impossible to buy one that is too small. The experience of a traveler is in an anti-proportional relationship with the size of his or her backpack. This being said, the best back pack I ever had was from Burton. I and I am still heart-broken that it got stolen. It is not produced anymo…

Hej... no offense taken but generalizations don’t help. My 95L Dana designs terraplane LTW has been to the patagonia Icefield with enough food and climbing gear to make it above 35 kg. In that case you want a big, supportive backpack.

Re: 21st Century Baker's Tent

#156
post #145
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. But I often travel, only have the need for a tent for a few days and buy a "throw-away"-tent. And trust me, drunken vikings (speak Iceland) are pretty good in breaking your tent.

during Verslunarmannahelgi ?

ROTFL. Yes. And I went there TWICE. And a f... drunken Viking broke my tent each time.

Second time, there was a guy leaving, left his tent behind. I run after him and asked him if I can have his tent, since mine was broken. He said sure. But even better he told me. There is a second, unused tent in the tent. This is what I call a professional. A guy with a backup plan.

Re: 21st Century Baker's Tent

#157
post #147
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Furthermore, there are a lot of places where you can't even have an open fire and/or there isn't a lot of wood. Cool experiment but tents and other sleeping arrangements like hammocks are a pretty well-trod area where real innovations are mostly through using new materials--one disadvantage of which is that super-light gear in my experience is increasingly fragile.

I think this experiment offers a glimpse into an area that might deserve looking into. For example, a breathable weave of that reflective coating on the inside of a tent might make it warmer rather you use a campfire or not and reduce condensation when compared to my garage built proof of concept made with off the shelf materials. As to places where you can't have a campfire, I addressed that at the end of the post.…

Bubblewrap is an interesting idea. It's also pretty robust and even if you get a puncture, you just affect one bubble. At the end of the day, I'm not really that interested in a lot of hardcore ultralight although my gear, for those occasions when I use it, is pretty light.

Re: 21st Century Baker's Tent

#158
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I had one of the super light and compact sleeping pads develop a leak after literally about three days. Therm-a-Rests are a dependable brand in this regard, as while a leak may happen from time to time (I have had two punctures in about one year of sleeping outdoors), it is usually very easy to find the hole and patch it yourself, just like you do with a bicycle inner tube. I think Therm-a-Rest even includes the pa…

This was Synmat. Should probably have had a repair kit with me but as I recall there were multiple leaks. And have several older Thermarest products. But there are definitely tradeoffs between weight and durability.

[deleted]

Re: 21st Century Baker's Tent

#159
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was Synmat. Should probably have had a repair kit with me but as I recall there were multiple leaks. And have several older Thermarest products. But there are definitely tradeoffs between weight and durability.

In my experience the repair kits are of marginal utility because the leaks always develop along the seams. Making a successful patch on a seam is near impossible.

lol. I used a Thermarest patch on my North Face down sleeping bag during a two-day backpacking trip—-very handy.

Re: 21st Century Baker's Tent

#160
post #32
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Better take something that could be used inside the tent and makes no smoke. So that you could make some tea or noodles while it rains outside. And no mosquitoes. Believe me, been there.

Looks like a carbon monoxide death trap if you close it up and light up inside ...

Nope, it looks like you're getting a hot tea and a warm meal. And the guy that's got only a smoky woodchip burner gonna have a cold water and the dry noodles :D
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