My 3rd Silnylon Shelter
The siltent2 performed well enough and is a very versatile design. But that versatility does have it's drawbacks. It is somewhat complicated to setup. With practice it gets easier, but it needs lots of stakes and guy line to get it all tensioned the right way. I wanted to design a simpler shelter, along the line of the original Henry Shire's tarptent, to see if it would work any better for me. I kept the same opening/closing ends and dimensions of the siltent2, but got rid of the separate bugnet. What I eventually came up with resembled the 36/30 Moonbow tarptent:
same 5 x 7ft floor plan, but more interior volume without bugnet.
trimmed off the corners of the tarp - saves weight and needs less stakes.
mesh is sewn onto tarp- eliminates separate bugnet
requires 6 stakes minimum, add 2 more to secure the sides, 4 extra Ti stakes for floor.
~10oz lighter.
siltent = 30oz
12 stakes = 5oz (8x 0.5oz Al stakes, 4x 0.25oz Ti stakes)
guy lines = 1.5oz
4 carabiners = 1.5oz (2 minimum)
stuff sacks = 1oz
total weight = 39oz ( 2lb 7oz)
The design I drew up called for an 8'4" tarp width, but this prototype was constructed from an 8 x 12ft tarp I had made earlier. Dave "Uncle D" Broer took it out for a test drive in the Smokies. I was always skeptical of the ability of mesh to keep out rain splatter, but it held off a pretty good thunderstorm, and otherwise seemed to work out fine. No stargazing on clear nights, as is possible with the siltent2, but it still has plenty of ventilation, and is easier to setup. Basically, I sacrificed a little versatility to save some weight and ease of setup. I'm not yet sure which design I like better, this or the previous one. If the weather's gonna suck I'll bring this, but if it looks like it'll be clear I'll take the other one.
side views.
front views.
various beak setups.
siltent3 diagrams.