Reviews - Tents, Tarps and other Shelters
Written by Garrett Lucas Thursday, 15 April 2010 08:27
So, the night has ended or the rain has stopped and the sun is shining brightly on the world. You can't stay in your tent all the time because you'll miss all the fun, but it's nice to have a retreat area where you can relax throughout the day when things slow down just a bit. That's exactly what the Kelty Shadehouse provides to help make your camping trip just a bit more comfortable.
Reviews - Tents, Tarps and other Shelters
Written by Garrett Lucas Tuesday, 13 April 2010 08:06
During my usual camp outings, I usually have a fairly simply approach to my shelter--especially during the spring, summer, and fall. I typically use a thin, silicone impregnated tarp for my shelter needs. But, this year at our annual Practice What You Preach (PWYP) gathering, I took a big step toward luxurious living with Kelty's Palisade 4 tent.
Reviews - Tents, Tarps and other Shelters
Written by Garrett Lucas Sunday, 22 November 2009 16:43
A leading manufacturer of high end shelter designs, Integral Designs offers a wide range of solo options for the individual adventurer. Today, we look at their Silshelter--a quick and easy shelter for those times that it really hits the fan!
Reviews - Tents, Tarps and other Shelters
Written by Joe Flowers Sunday, 18 October 2009 17:58
It was during the electrical thunderstorm with hail and pounding rain outside, that I came to appreciate the canvas tent versus the “nylon cocoon”. There was a point that I reached in camping when I realized I was a little bit beyond the “hobby” camper.
Update! In addition to the written review, we've also posted two videos as well so you can get a real-time feel for the tent and hear Joe tell a little about its construction.
Reviews - Tents, Tarps and other Shelters
Written by Scott Wickham Sunday, 05 July 2009 20:01
Continuing with our series of simple shelters to be used outdoors, Woods Monkey takes a look at MSR's E-House. Our tester Scott (from www.scottsknots.net) gives us an overview of this new system.
Reviews - Tents, Tarps and other Shelters
Written by Simon Frez-Albrecht Wednesday, 03 June 2009 17:59
Editor's Note: At our recent Practice What You Preach outdoors gathering, we had several different companies send in gear for testing and evaluation by the participants. One of those was Cascade Designs. Doug Ritter of Equipped To Survive coordinated the efforts to obtain items from MSR and Platypus, both of which are divisions of Cascade Designs. We'd like to thank Doug for helping facilitate the acquisition of the different products, and Cascade Designs for sending those items for all of the attendes to use during the week-long outing.
Bivouac bags, or bivies, are somewhat controversial among outdoors-people. Designed for the military, they were originally marketed commercially towards climbers and adventure racers, and they have gained popularity with the bushcraft crowd. The original intention of the bivouac bag was to provide emergency shelter in case of an injury or if it would be unsafe to continue due to inclement weather. They became the ultralight shelter of the light-n-fast crowd, providing protection from the rain in lieu of a more traditional tent. Bushcrafters, often fond of a tarp or primitive natural shelters, found bivouac bags useful to protect their sleeping bag and add some extra warmth in cold conditions.
Reviews - Tents, Tarps and other Shelters
Written by Kevin Estela Sunday, 22 February 2009 09:51
Editor's note: Kevin Estela is a Survival Instructor for the Wilderness Learning Center in Chateaugay, New York.
98.6 degrees. It is the average body temperature of a person and the temperature the human body must remain around to survive. When a person becomes too cold or too hot by only a couple degrees, he or she will start to feel the effects of hypo or hyperthermia. During extended winter stays in the outdoors, it seems like there are few places to escape the cold other than outside by a fire or in a shelter in your sleeping bag. For years I never considered for more than a heartbeat bringing a fire into a nylon shelter, that is, until now. I recently contacted DJ Leavitt at Titanium Goat in Ogden, UT about his company’s Vertex 6.5 tent with titanium collapsible stove.
Reviews - Tents, Tarps and other Shelters
Written by Garrett Lucas Sunday, 27 July 2008 20:52
Three hours without shelter, three days without water, and three weeks without food. That's the basic rule of thumb when you find your self in a hostile enviornment in the great outdoors. Whether it's a summer thunderstorm, a cold autumn rain, or even a winter snow storm, one your first priorities has to be setting up an adequate shelter when faced with an emergency. Now, most of the time, an individual is able to plan their outings and that plan can include a 1-2 man tent built for 3 or 4 seasons. That works well when gearing up for a week long expedition and there's a 6500 cubic inch pack available. No problem. But, the perspective I'm writing this article from is having an emergency shelter that's compact and that will fit into my emergency pack with other essential gear. One thing to keep in mind about my emergency pack is that it's only about 3800 cubic inches. So, it's not an expedition pack that you can stock with all the luxury gear you want to last you for ten days. Instead, it's a smaller, more portable pack that forces me to focus on the necessary gear I'll need if a true emergency comes down the pike. My focus on the gear in this bag is to have items that can provide for my needs for a long-term situation, even if the gear takes a little more skill. For instance, instead of a gas stove that will last about a week, I'll use a stainless steel can to hang over a fire to boil my water and cook my food. You get the idea.
