Bill,

Much impressed with your design. Don't know if I'll try it, but printed it out in case I get tempted (or do more hiking in cold weather and also decide to start building fires again -- haven't done it when I'm alone for a long time).

The design I'm familiar with, we called it a "Baker Pitch", though the ones I've been in were Egyptian cotton canvas, light colored but not reflective. We always had fire and usually something to reflect it (logs, canoe) but nothing as sophisticated (or effective) as discussed here, nor did we have a transparent front (some had a canvas awning that covered the cooking area and helped direct heat inside. It could be dropped and tied to make a loose front). But if the wind in the front wasn't too bad, they were pretty cosy. But they weighed about 20 pounds.

I've always liked that design, and frequently set up my poncho that way (except no ends, obviously). Yeah, the design is retro, but with your technological advances, it sounds great. I'm really impressed with the transparent front and the reflector, as well as the material itself and weight.

Only remaining problem is bugs (used one in Minnesota and it was hell -- skeeters gathered inside out of the breeze). But a couple of small hanging nets would probably fix that.

You got my attention. best, jcp