Comments on: Lightweight v. Ultra-lightweight — Is there a point at which kit becomes unsafe?

By: Richard

Richard — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:49:38 +0000

Hi Laura, glad you had an insect free journey.

Daddy-Long-Legs, the most uncordinated insect known to man, they don’t fly in through open windows or doors, they fall in……

By: Laura

Laura — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:03:42 +0000

Hi Richard – maybe you can just see them more clearly on the lighter colour? I haven’t had any problems – didn’t get any ticks on my crossing, and no midgies or even daddy-long-legs (shudders!).

By: Richard

Richard — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:35:49 +0000

Hi Laura, no offence intended re.the Colour of the Hubba. A question if you don’t mind, I noticed that my Orange Hike Lite attracts insects more so than any of my green tents, I noticed the same things with my Quasar, as soon as the inner (yellow) was pitched insects made a beeline (groan) for it before the fly was on and Bill Masons in his Book ‘Song/Path of the Paddle’ recommends avoiding yellow canoes due to the way insects are attracted to yellow, have you noticed insects being drawn to the Hubba more so than less colourful tents?

By: peewiglet

peewiglet — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:15:22 +0000

Hi Laura,

Have a gin and tonic! You’ll need one if you’ve just ploughed your way through that lot! *g*

Your Hubba sounds lovely. I’ll go and look it up.

I tried myself to find a way to post a picture in a thread on here last week, but for some reason I couldn’t work it out. In the end I just had to put it up elsewhere and link to it here. I’m sure there must be a way to do it, though. If I can work it out I’ll let you know!

By: Laura

Laura — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:55:48 +0000

Hi Shirley – just ploughed my way through all the above. Interesting!
My only comment is about the MSR Hubba – MY tent – the lovely (!) yellow colour keeps the inside of the tent sunny whatever the weather! There were no problems with condensation and no rain found its way in.
Maybe not so bomb-proof as the ubiquitous Akto but it cost a lot less and I like it!
I’ve got a great picture of it but can’t see a way to add it here.

By: backpackbrewer

backpackbrewer — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:37:49 +0000

wow. what a thread of discussion!
I have just spent 2 hours reading through all of it. I feel like I need a holiday now.
I have been lightening my load for the past 25 years ever since the sadistic DofE nearly crippled me in my teens!
A couple of swift observations
I love tarps and believe that the bivvy/tarp combo is a really excellent multi season shelter that can be used in the UK. My current bivvy/tarp combo weighs 500g. If the weather is really severe, the tarp can be shed or dropped onto the bivvy as a close ground shelter
I have a laser comp too and have had this in 70mph winds and its is a stern little tent. I have also had an akto and at the risk of upsetting people think it is a tad overrated. Its a good allround shelter to be sure but it is difficult to pitch correctly (taut and wrinkle free), is a bit heavy at 1.5kg (for me!) and doesnt do heavy snow loading
I love lightweight backpacking as it does let me go further and quicker than ever before and the good thing is, you can occasionally drop in the luxury items without breaking the camels back
excellent blog by the way

By: andy

andy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:07:11 +0000

Aha! That makes sense, Shirley, thanks for explaining that. I had been scratching my head for quite a while over that neat little bug net. That’s beyond my sewing skills, I’m afraid. I’d better find a seamstress willing to experiment… [uh, that didn’t come out quite the way I meant it…)
Ta.

By: Richard

Richard — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:41:12 +0000

Interesting that the subject of ‘Cottage Industry’ should come up. IMO there are a variety of resons why it won’t/can’t succeed in the UK in the same way as it has in the USA. For one thing there simply isn’t the ‘Make it Yourself’ ethos in the UK as there’s too much demand for ‘Brand Name’ goods, also the required skills aren’t as common (my wife is a qualified seamstress and you wouldn’t believe how many people will ask if she could shorten a pair of trousers!!)

The Americans are a nation of 5th generation pioneers many of whom are still prepared to make their own gear or support those who do, once manufacture is shipped out to the Far East it’s no longer cottage industry, it’s simply small scale manufacture and as Bob has correctly pointed out the volume required to keep the cost down may well be more than can be sustained through sales. The other disadvantage in needing to order 500 units of a product is that it’s too difficult to alter the design. Look at Tinny of Minibull Design, his latest stove (Voodoo) is on it’s 3rd update already, that would require him to have sold over 1000 units of versions 1 & 2 prior to ordering 500 units of version 3.

In addition it’s virtually impossible to have items made in the UK in small quantities, the only way is to actually make them yourself but that requires investment in tools and time, time not only to actually produce the item but to learn how to use the required tools.

For someone wanting to produce an item they need to be able to design, manufacture, market, sell and ship the product and that brings with it a variety of problems. The amount of time required to actually produce the goods means that the worst nightmare is that you end up with orders that you can’t fill but the flipside is that if you can’t sell enough then you can’t work at it full time so it’s a vicious circle.

By: peewiglet

peewiglet — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:26:49 +0000

Hi Andy,

Hi Colin,

I checked the Winwood site but the entry for the Equinox Mummy bivi for £39.99 has no mention of a bug net!

Colin will confirm, but I think he sewed the bug net in himself. By coincidence, I have the same little bivvy.

By: andy

andy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:24:41 +0000

Hi Colin,

I checked the Winwood site but the entry for the Equinox Mummy bivi for £39.99 has no mention of a bug net!