Registered: 01/16/13
Posts: 913
Loc: Nacogdoches, TX, USA
Oh okay, it's good to put a face with a name/screen-name. I'm really looking forward to reading that polycryo tarp thread as well. Thanks. And, thanks for helping to push homemade shelter materials and techniques forward.
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The journey is more important than the destination.
Oh okay, it's good to put a face with a name/screen-name. I'm really looking forward to reading that polycryo tarp thread as well. Thanks. And, thanks for helping to push homemade shelter materials and techniques forward.
MYOG is pretty fun. Just wish I got out more to use it! :P
Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
Quote:
No, I rarely make fires for LNT reasons.
Yeah, having a campfire has a lot to do with where you camp. You can have a fire here and LNT. The NFS does controlled burns every few years and it's really amazing how fast almost every trace is gone. I figured that since you're in the midwest you might have tried it out.
All you need is a small fire made with sticks, and that's easy to burn down to ash and scatter when you're done, then recover the spot with the same mulch you removed when preparing your spot and you've pretty much left no trace and what you have left will be untraceable after a rainstorm or two. You can't get away with that in most of the Sierras, but you can in the Ozarks.
You might want to try it in your backyard just for grins. If you make a clear plastic (visqueen) panel for the door, like your storm door, and pin the tarp down close to the ground it should work great as a "Super Shelter". I use bubble foil as a ground cloth in my campfire tent, but a heat sheet should work about as good.
I've been thinking of making one a lot like yours (I'm pretty sure I have watched your video before) because it's so much faster and easier to pitch, but the room in the Baker's Tent design is so sweet that I've not been impelled yet. (therein lies my real motivation for prodding you to try yours )
Rather than continuing to derail the OP's thread, I'll continue the LDPE/polycryo tent discussion on a more related thread for those that wish to follow it.
Bill - I have now tried the bubble wrap you sent me and it seems to work great, except if I put my weight on my elbow on the bubble wrap, the bubbles pop. The bubble wrap weighs a bit more than the REI blue foam, but it really packs down more compactly. I just used the bubble wrap this weekend at Pt Reyes. I had lots of condensation on top of the bubble wrap. This is coastal camping with heavy dew every morning, so I am not sure that this would not happen for most types of pads. I also use an x-small pro-lite on top of the bubble wrap because the bubble wrap is not cushy enough for my old hips.
Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
I'm glad you've got to try it a bit. I sent you "double bubble" and since then I've been using "single bubble". It's half as thick and half the weight, but it still works just as good for reflecting your body heat back at you. I use it under a neoair pad and for me that's a pretty sweet set-up. It's tough enough to protect the neoair on our rough ground here, which would shred one otherwise, and you can fold it for a sitting pad. It will provide a pretty good cushion like that and keep you warm. So I've found it to be pretty useful for backpacking.
That material does collect moisture though. My campfire tent, which is made of the same kind of stuff, was just about at the point where it would have been raining inside when I woke up the last time I used it. I was camping next to a creek and had it closed up pretty tight because it rained a lot that night, so I guess that was a worst case scenario, but had I bumped the walls I would have created a downburst.
I love this forum for the great info on DIY. I never would have thought to be more creative with my equipment, I guess I've been kind of "store-bound."
I used a prolite pad for about 8 years before I started to have real issues with it leaking/springing leaks. After it deflated on a snow camp I cashed it in, but I replaced it with a Z-lite pad and I'm very happy with it. I just stuff extra clothes under me if needed. Fortunately, I sleep well on the pad, even better than in a normal bed, where I get the firmest mattress I can.
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