Tarp Tent Squall 2
I've been beating the heat by staying inside , but figured I'd shake out , and clean out my favorite tent. I did some research before buying the Squall 2. It's a non-freestanding single wall tent. Non-freestanding tents have a disadvantage of needing a place to stake. Sand , rocks , and hard dirt present challenges. I've used large rocks , logs , and burying my stakes sides-ways in the snow to get a taught pitch. It's advantage is weight.
This thing is light , 2lbs 6 oz's with seam sealing , and silicone beading on the floor to prevent slippage. I choose to seam seal it myself , but they'll do it at the factory for a nominal fee. I recommend using the same seam sealing mixture of 50/50 white gas and GE silicone 2 on the floor (recommended by the manufacturer). If you pitch this tent at an angle , you'll find yourself scooting down to the lowest point without it. I used a a tic-tac-toe pattern to accommodate vertical and horizontal baffled pads.
Handing 70 mph gusts , the Squall 2 is a little shaky but held it's ground. To be honest , if I wasn't more worried about logs blowing down and killing me, I'd of fretted more. This isn't a 4 season bomber and it wouldn't handle a snow load. I've never had it in a driving rainstorm , but imagine, and have heard the tent has an issue with misting. I can't say for sure , but I suspect this has to do with it's phenomenal ventilation. Having ventilation all the way around; humidity and condensation shouldn't be a problem , unlike most single wall tents.
Packs down fairly small with the rear aluminum poles removed I can halve this size.
Front half requires 1 or 2 hiking poles. I prefer 1 for ease of entry . 2 is supposed increase stability , but requires yoga skills I don't possess. Their is a carbon fiber strut between the front guylines. The beak is rolled up in this picture but extends out to the front.
Inside front. The bathtub floor un-clips for more space , clips up for weather protection.
Rear. This end should be placed into the wind for maximum strength.This isn't staked out and perfectly taught. In actual use I find it's nice to get it set up , let it stretch for an hour or so , then tweak it.
Check them out @ http://www.tarptent.com/products.html
Zaleski South Loop
Hiking the south loop with minimal gear. Nothing is really new to review , just putting old gear through the paces. The Tarp Tent Squall 2 did good job with 50 mph gusts. I plan on doing the whole north and south loop in 2 days sometime before the heat of summer. Total weight is 21.5 lbs , including food and water & 1 PBR.
Old charcoal furnace used in the production of iron during the civil war.
Swamp at the start of the south loop.
Backpack is taking a break in a cave.
Terry on top of a cliff.
Worlds best energy drink after an 8 mile hike.