tent platforms

[the bluff]

Great forum

I haven't walked in Tassie for over 10 yrs so my local knowledge is a bit rusty.

It seems that tent platforms are now on most major tracks.

What size are they?

Is the size consistent?

How does one pitch a tunnel tent on a platform?

Regards

[corvus]

It is a good idea to take cup hooks/ screw eyes just in case the fitted anchor points dont suit you tent ,platforms vary in size just dont use the ones with no anchors especially those with an H on them.
corvus

[the bluff]

One of the reason's I'm asking is because I'm considering buying a Nallo 4 GT which is 4 meters long.

[Son of a Beach]

The sizes are not consistent, and neither are the shapes, but you'd fit a good sized tent on most of them. Not sure about a 4 metre Nallo, but I think it would be OK. I've pitched an Olympus on a few different platforms and usually have a little room to spare. I once had a platform that I needed to share with another tent so had to pitch it laterally instead of longitudinally on a smaller platform, and was able to pitch it with one vestibule right of the platform using nearby trees to attach it to.

Tunnel tents are not a problem on the platforms. You do have to be careful with your anchor point placement though. Most platforms have ropes/cables with clips to attach to, and these can easily be lengthened or shortened. They also often have nails along the edges that you can hook the cables around to effectively change where the anchor point comes over the edge of the platform (otherwise, large rocks can be useful - people tend to leave large rocks on the platforms for this, but you shouldn't go collecting them yourself, of course).

The only thing you really need to be careful of with a tunnel tent, is to make sure that your anchor points don't pull your doorway wider while it is open, making it difficult to zip closed again. This depends on if your doorway is front or side opening, but in the case of the front opening Olympus, it means that I need to aim to have the anchor points at roughly the same width as the doorway itself, which is easy to do.

[johnw]

Also some good info in this topic, including size illustrations for some platforms:

http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1544&hilit=+platforms

[Mickeymoo]

I did the Western Arthurs recently and was using a Macpac Olympus which is ~3.3m long, if you get a tent platform to yourself then you would generally be fine with a 4m tent but if sharing with someone then it may be a bit of a problem.

I was sharing a platform with another two from our party on the trip and they had quite a small tent luckily as the Olympus only just managed to squeeze on, usually with a little hanging over the edge though.

I found it fairly easy to secure the tent with the ropes provided but I wouldn't rely on all platfors to have sufficient tie down points and I always carry some cord/shoelaces to use.

[the bluff]

Thanks for the feedback and the link to a previous discussion.

Looks like there wouldn't normally be a problem.