Over on The Outdoor Station site Bob and Rose Cartwright have put together six interesting podcasts on this years Friedrichshafen OutDoor show that are well worth listening to by anyone interested in new outdoor gear. Included in the fifth podcast is a short interview with John Manning and me, made when we met Bob in one of the big "Tent City" halls. I admire Bob and Rose's stamina in putting these podcasts together. It's hard enough work just prowling the stands and talking to people without recording them as well.
The photo shows Terra Nova's new tarp with netting inner. The photo shows Terra Nova's new tarp with netting inner. Photo info: Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF-S 18-55 mm IS@18 mm, f3.5@1/60, ISO 200, raw file converted to JPEG in DxO Optics Pro.
Thanks for the pic, Chris.
ReplyDeleteWhat did you think of the new Terra Nova tarp? I keep my copy of your Backpackers' Handbook in the loo (for consultation purposes, btw; not as loo roll), and I've been re-reading the chapter on tents and tarps recently. Did you say that you tend to think of a tarp with any sort of inner as more of a tent than a tarp?
Whatever the label, though, it's an interesting idea. I don't suppose the mesh is small enough to keep the wee nasty ticks out, though...?
p.s. Do you know how much the new tarp weighs, btw?
ReplyDeleteTa, Guru :)
Well said Chris - Bob n Rose's efforts go largely unrecognised whilst their podcast downloads get ever more popular
ReplyDeletePeewiglet, if I remember rightly the tarp with inner weighs 730 grams.
ReplyDeleteI think that once you add an inner that can only be pitched in configuration then a unit is no longer truly a tarp. To my mind a tarp should be able to be pitched in many different ways. Of course you could have a separate inner that could be pitched under a tarp however the latter was pitched but this doesn't look the case with this new Terra Nova model. In fact it looks like a small ridge tent with a very small flysheet.
The size would put me off using it in Britain except on very sheltered sites. I like a tarp that can be pitched down to the ground with enough room to sit up inside. As pitched at Friedrichshafen the Terra Nova tarp would repel vertical rain but not the wind blown angled or even horizontal rain not uncommon in Britain.
I like the idea of the Backpacker's Handbook being kept for reference in the loo!
That tarp design begs the question do the Terra Nova design team actually use their tents in the hills?. If they did they would redo the pole cover on the Laser range as they would get fed up with it, and would not have made that stupid little thing called a tarp. Spot on when you point out attaching a inner is making something more than a tarp. Why don't other TGO writers not get that?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Chris. Lots of v. useful info there.
ReplyDeleteAnd Martin, I couldn't agree more about the pole cover on the Laser tents (a Competition in my case).