Bushwalk Australia

Found this when web cruising yesterday
http://wildernessequipment.com.au/detai ... %20STATION

Personally I think it is far too small to be called a group shelter but it might have possibilities for mild conditions in a party of 4
What do the rest of you think?

Think they would have to be very good friends Ted .

I tend to agree.
Here's a copy of the email I just sent S2S

'In past emails you did allude to a possible tipi type shelter even if actually tipis were not going to be made by WE
I've just seen the Space Station [ you are aware that name is also being used by TNF?] and to be honest I am disappointed.
It really is too small for my needs, I was hoping for something I could stand up in to stretch and big enough to put my wood stove into and large enough for a good bakers dozen of my mates
I know it's a small market here but Hilleberg seem to do alright with their big tents and I was really hoping for some competition in this market from you
I could see this working in a hexagonal base taking some cues from the First Arrow and dual poles 900mm apart however

I used to find a tarp excellent for most group puposes.

However, if I were to buy a purpose built group shelter then I'd bee looking at a design similar to a Mountain HardWear Hoopla or an Aarn Pacer 6.

There are very few brands with similar designs

Pacer 6 is pretty small tho

I bet that the usable size of the Tarptent Hogback is about the same or better (apart from the mid height...) and with a much smaller footprint. It is lighter too if you remove the inner ( do you want a 3 season tent without bug protection ?) and has no poles in the sleeping areas. About the same price delivered.

There is a Scandinavian tent manufacturer that I once saw online that made a few tents like the Pacer 6. I think they were a little taller.

I also like the idea of a standard square based pyramid style will some vertical poles on the edge. They would only need to be 90cm tall. Could easily be walking poles.

Or something like the Six Moon Designs Lunar tent with supported corners.

Wiglo tent from Bergans.
https://www.bergans.com/catalog/tents/wiglo?

has some similarities to a Pacer 6

Gusto wrote:Or something like the Six Moon Designs Lunar tent with supported corners.

I recall having a discussion with Franco once about the possibility of a Scarp style shelter using trekking poles. From memory this is the niche the Double Moment sought to address.

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Group shelters need height more than area; but as the WE site says a tarp pitch isn't always possible or practicable and the Hoopla and Hoopster from Mountain Hardware are both discontinued and those from Hilleberg are simply too expensive for most of us

I understand the need for head space. for a group to sit down in.

For me the big question is how many people are you trying to accomodate.

A typical school group is 12-14 people. Children are used to being cramed closely together in tents, but the often tents have heavier duty materials .

So I guess a comprpmised size to fit 8 adults seated closely with space for stoces. Also at least two exits

School groups very rarely cook inside tents so they could all fit and shelter from the weather.



I still think that the Aarn 6 maybe ussful. As yet, there isn't enough information.

Except for the fabrics and cost I could see school groups using several Aarn 6's.

I don't see the Aarn Pacer 6 on sale anywhere, in fact I think that only prototypes have been made so far.

Golite made large 'shangri-la' shelters and this was about the best closed space ive used with its tight pitching catenary cut sides and ridge between poles with extra space in the ends. We had a 4 then a 6, sold with plans to buy their 8 but they were no longer available by the next summer season. A bit vulnerable to side winds but that's what you get with the height to walk around. And that's what i'd choose as a next step /over a tarp. Currently (until someone starts making a quality A frame again) OP's industrial tarp or Hillebergs XP is good enough (you can add in ends, we did try this). If weight isn't an issue, lots of cheaper bigger options are available.

So just a jumbo i-shadow, lots of wasted space under the edge.

We use tarps for our group shelters, and I'd never cook in cramped quarters like that unless everyone was really switched on. It just doesn't make sense to me to lug that much extra weight, when any other pitched fly does exactly the same thing, pitch the fly, make food, add the inner, go to sleep. maybe I'm missing something.

Missing the side on winds and the associated spindrift when camping above the snowline in the high country Gg.
3F - UL have some much better value shelters via China & Ali-Express
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3F-UL-G ... 4d77b832b9

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3F-UL-G ... 3e664284c9

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/base-te ... 4346bcc6e0

I'd like to see and feel the first and third 3F tent from that list.

So many tents.
So little money
No longer do enough camping and bushwalking to get a job as a tester either
I'd be interested in the winter version in the middle link but maybe with a spreader hoop in the centre
Sort of Quadruplets Brothers and Sisters

I think those Golite knock-offs all look a bit high & steep? (higher and steeper).

Nuts wrote:I think those Golite knock-offs all look a bit high & steep? (higher and steeper).

Which are you referring to?

If the A-Frame I think you'll find that Go-Lite didn't develop them It's an old standard shape that I remember from my own teens and in japara

yep, that's them, a lot of excess height. The Hilleberg Altai knockoff looks wrong too

I dunno Nuts, 2400 is about right for me. It's about the right size to enclose those big National Parks picnic tables too where-as the MSR Twin Brothers is too tight and low to the ground to do that and still leave room around to move.

I have the pole from our Golite shelter, it was an A frame of similar dimensions but the pole is around 1.9-2.0m. I can recall them being a handful in wind but if that wont be such an issue then the immense space would be very nice. I don't recall much drama using the outer floor area with that size pole but higher could only give more usable space.

Agreed strong side winds would be a nuisance, if I bought one I'd pack a LW wand for the centre to minimise that and add strength there

Anyone else tried a Hilleberg Altai? - mine is typically well-detailed and made. Decent group shelter for 8 - 10; stands up to real weather . . . . but there's a heck of a lot of guying-out involved . . . .

Not here
Big group shelter tents are a specialised sub-genre that very few groups use and not where I ski

I have an enormous tipi Moondog (5-6m across). It was a similar (cheaper) price from EU ebay. Sits on a 50mm diameter pole that comes down in sections. We pitched it over a picnic table in the park. It was always going to be too heavy to carry. I had considered offloading it but it has been handy for a couple of gatherings, and it does seem to handle the wind better than the two pole design. But even the altai (which is a good, efficient design) was too bulky/heavy/ cumbersome for walking carrying.. for us.. The humble tarps always seem to win out.

Nuts wrote: . . . . But even the altai (which is a good, efficient design) was too bulky/heavy/ cumbersome for walking carrying.. for us.. The humble tarps always seem to win out.

Yes.
But there's a special case here & likely elsewhere - up in the Hebrides, in sand among at best shallow dunes, looking out to a wild western Atlantic.
The Altai (with umpteen buried sandstakes) is a convincing shelter here, where a tarp is a great flappiness.
I have backpack'd one fair distances; but have left the carriage of food & so on to others . . . .

Got my usual email from Aliexpress this morning and this was in it

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1100G-C ... 6acafa95b2

While I'd not be wanting to use it in winter it does have possibilities for a medium sized group, especially if group members used walking poles