Ultra Lite Tarp and Down bag questions...

It's been a while since I've posted, so hello to everyone.



My first questions if about my down bag. I have a Western Mountaineering ultra lite thats doesnt seem to be doing the job anymore.

I used it to thru hike the AT, then left it in its stuff sack for a year and half. Then I took it with me to attempt a thru of the PCT ("only" got 2400 done). It slept cold and I washed it once along the trip.

It appeared to spring up a little after the washing, but never felt warm. After I got home I went on a weekend hike with my friend who has the same bag. Hers had about 2X the loft as mine.

So I have washed it again. dryed it until I was certain it was dry and the loft is better. But...I dont think its back to normal. Is it done? Has poor care ruined it? Can it be revived? I mean, I got my moneys worth for sure, over 4600 miles of hiking on it. I just hate to spend the 300+ for a new one if I dont have to.

Just wondering what life expectancy or revival tips you guys might have.



The next question is about a tarp. I've gotten lighter each year it seems. I hiked the PCT with Henry Shires Contrail. A horrible product, but thats another story.

I ended up sleeping under the stars more than I was in the tarp tent. Of course I had 5 months with only 3 or 4 brief rain spells. What product, products should I look at for a lighter shelter? Something sub one pound? I carry trekking poles.


Thanks for feedback


RobA

That equals murder.

I knew not to do it, but I went sailing and was going to bring it, Decided the salt air for months wouldn't do it justice, so handed it off to a friend to store.

And thats the short version.

You might be able to get some of the loft back by putting it in the dryer and running it for several hours on moderate heat. Put an old pair of tennis shoes (that aren't too dirty) in it to knock the down around a bit.

Another option would be to send it to WM and have them give it some TLC. Call them first.

I can't offer much advice on the bag, other than calling WM, but I'd be curious on why you didn't like the contrail. I was thinking of getting one and most reviews have been very good.

I've never been able to get the warm fuzzies with a tarptent product, either. (Mostly personal preference; the ones I tried worked OK, but just nothing I ever developed a warm attachment to like I have with my Hubba.)

You might want to look at the Silshelter. I've used it during my tarp-and-bivy phases and was always fairly pleased with it. It usually gets decent reviews.

A quick bit of feedback about my contrail since someone is interested.


I used it for 2300 miles of the PCT (shared a zoid 2 with another hiker for a while).


I want to say I met around 20 hikers using the contrail on the PCT last year. With my frustrations with my own, I would always ask them how they liked it as soon as I saw one. The majority of responses started with cursing. I kid you not.

So I shouldn't really speak for all the hikers I met, but I can tell you all but one were not happy with their contrail.

This thing fell down more than it stayed up. On the calm nights at best it would be sagging by morning. I haven't thought out a good review post for this, just bits of info coming to mind. On a windy night....forget it. One night I slept under a bridge in a sand storm. Me and my buddy both had them, and we simply used them like blankets to keep the sand off and the large rats out. Neither tent would hold in the sandy soil. But, I found even in what I would call good holding, the tent had issues.

The biggest problem is that the design is so it needs a LOT of pressure to be taught. If you don't keep the guy lines under pressure you end up with a very saggy tent. This holds water and only allows further sagging/pooling.

What I found is with most of the terrain on the PCT I could never pull the tent tight enough without pulling out the stakes. I tried different stakes. I had ones I burried sideways etc. I think I tried 5 types total, of various lengths.

Henry Shires made an adjustment to it at the kick off that I couldn't understand, but I am guessing it was due to feedback from others. It didn't seem to do much, but I had only hiked 150 miles at that point.

Anyway, this shelter was there for when I "needed" it. No AT shelters to count on etc. And to me after having so many problems with it staying up in any kind of wind I was not very comfortable relying on it. In fact I said to several other hikers I thought "we" deserved a refund it was so bad. I have heard lots of good things about Henry and I have to admit I didnt even contact him or try to return it. I slept out under the stars more nights than not and just carried it hoping it would do its job if I needed it. (the first 750 miles I set it up every night and I bet 3/4 of those mornings it was laying on me when I woke up- I stopped getting up at 1am to fix it)


If you set this thing up in an area that takes a sledge hammer to drive stakes in I bet it will do great. Of course put rocks on all the little poles because the down pressure will drive the poles in the ground and cause the tent to sag by 2am.

I tried putting large rocks over my stakes and tying off to trees when I could.

I would have no problem saying I suck and couldn't set it up right...it was my thoughts at first. Until I met so many hikers who hated the contrail and all had the same problems.

The guy lines are set up so they put too much down force too close to the tent. The angle just doesnt seem right. I'm not a tent designer, but my man...I'd recommend you buy any product but this. I heard great things about the rainbow.

The mosquito netting (I had a floor) can allow rain to trickle in.

That’s good info RobA.

I guess it’s too bad Henry stopped selling the original Virga. That one seemed to take a licking well.
I just bought Barkeater’s Virga and I put it up in my backyard this week. Heavy rain, 35mph gusts, for 24 hours. Definitely no stakes pulled up and it stayed relatively taught. I did retighten 30 minutes after setup though. But some moisture got in: It blew in the back right side through the mesh. But it wasn’t very much compared to the amount of storm going on. I’m wondering how I can stop that spray back there since there’s a lot of exposed mesh.

This tent has never been seam sealed but the seams never leaked. Of course this is true with my Rainshadow, Cloudburst (sold), and GG Squall. However, my Double Rainbow needed major surgery seam sealing. I couldn’t get it right. I finally sent it to Henry and he did an excellent job to stop the leaks.



-Barry

My Contrail has worked quite well in sandy or rocky conditions. I've learned to do a few things when expecting wind:
1. Uew BOTH hiking poles in an A configuration in the front
2. Guy our every [email]d@mn[/email] line possible including sides and the front "beak" line (W/line outside of the "beak").
3. Use only MSR "Groundhog" stakes B/C their Y cross section holds well.
4. Lower the tent as much as possible to keep wind out.
5. Pray for calm weather as I retighten guy lines. Usually one re-do of the lines one hour after setting up is all I've needed.

That said I think a Cuben fabric Virga might be the best answer for those of us willing to pay the $$$.

About the netting letting the rain trickle in. Yes, I had this happen but only with the foot netting. I wrote Henry about it and the newer version Contrail foot re-design probably solved it. I did some judicious sewing & sealing to fix it.

Eric

I have had good luck with my SMD Gatewood cape (11 ozs.). It has room for 1 and gear. Ron just came out with a net tent that goes under the cape when it is a shelter; this makes it a double wall tent that weighs right at one pound. Plus it is a rain cape.

Not sure about the bag, but it may be most sincerely dead now. Call WM.

For shelter, have you thought about a poncho tarp kind of system? Seems like a good use of weight *given the conditions* on the PCT. If you only had 3-4 rainy periods on the whole trip, a 7-11 ounce p/t might work.

(Then again, it might never pitch properly in the soil conditions you encountered.)

I like to address some of the issues with the Contrail.
Some of those remind me of comments I have read about the Akto and the Stephenson's. ( I'll treat the Warmlites as one since they use the same design)
All three shelters have a fanatical following with folks raving about them , yet some had horrible experiences and got rid of them.
The Warmlites need a much greater tension than the Contrail to stand up correctly, some never manage to do that, others have used this shelter successfully for over 20 years .
The Akto, as indeed all tunnel tents and most non freestanding do , also needs a fair amount of tension not to sag, note that the ends of the Hilleberg are similar to the one in the Contrail.
Again many have used the Akto on the PCT and AT with great success.
As an aside, the Rainbow needs less tension but has come under some criticism for wind resistance and too much wind and sand getting inside the tent. In this respect, those complaints mirror the ones directed at the Hubba, also a shelter that most seem to like but some have hated.

There are some weak points in the Contrail, however they can be addressed.
When I get a new shelter I first play with it in my backyard. Unfortunately rain has been a bit scarce so at times I have set up a tent after I already went to sleep. (the tin roof on the back of the house wakes me up, I love that sound)
In spite of that, it was only during a particularly nasty late afternoon rainstorm by a seaside campsite that I realized that the rear end could do with some help. I fixed that by using the mid rear guyout point hooking it up to a fallen branch. Since then I added a mid rear pole, I don't mind the extra ounce.
The second problem is the guylines occasionally slipping through those Delrin tensioners. Changing the exit angle helps, but the easiest solution is to just use them fully extended.
Note the change in the 08 version.
As with all silnylon shelters, when the temperature drops and or humidity raises, you need to re-tighten the guylines. (obviously you know this)
You can do that from inside the Contrail by increasing the height of your pole. Just shove the tip inside your boots if you use a fix lengths pole.
Give it a try....
Franco
BTW I have had a lot less night than you inside the Contrail, but I have used it on grass, hard soil, rocky ground , compacted sand from a few meters above sea level to 3000m in Nepal under all night torrential rain and it has never fallen down on me. In fact in Nepal I was completely dry inside whilst the ones inside the heavy duty Nepalese tents were getting drips on them. (from condensation and water finding a way in from the pole ends)