This tent is made for camping...

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rifraf
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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby rifraf » Wed Nov 23, 2011 3:16 pm

GJ_Coop wrote:
tmac100 wrote: No mattter, there is lots of Shellite available in Australia. If I can buy it in Borroloola and Domadgee, I can buy it anywhere :P
Not quite true. Shellite has pretty much disappeared from many of the camping shops and other places you used to be able to buy it, at least in WA out of the big cities.

I've switched to unleaded petrol which is quite a bit smokier but otherwise is a much cheaper replacement for my Whisperlite international. At least you can get that anywhere.
Suggest you consider change.
"LOTS" of nasties in petrol and I've been told the aromatics are nastier than the lead that used to be used.
I cant remember all the fine details but I did a stint in a servo in Whangarei many moons ago where it was drummed into us (scuse pun)
not to sell it for use in camping stoves.
Supposedly the confusion arose by people reading the instructions for camping stoves saying gasoline or unleaded petrol which
apparently is white spirits in Europe and not the stuff you put in the car/motorbike/lawnmower.
This has come up for me a few times over the years and in discussions with other campers and many are surprised at the confusion.
As far as I'm concerned its been confirmed me me many times and that using petrol is a real potential health hazard.
So too is using aviation kerosene because of the additives.
I've been told this many times by different people as well as when I worked in the Drum recycling industry in NZ.
Aromatics are very dangerous to health.
Not telling you what to do but just trying to palatibly inform you of what I've been told by numerous sources (right or wrong).
I've been told enough for myself not to use it despite the ease of supply.

Great to know of WA's lack of Shellite though - thank you for that info.
It'll make a great impact on any future stove purchase as WA is where I will be relocating too.
Last edited by rifraf on Wed Nov 23, 2011 4:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby rifraf » Wed Nov 23, 2011 3:32 pm

GJ_Coop wrote:
tmac100 wrote: No mattter, there is lots of Shellite available in Australia. If I can buy it in Borroloola and Domadgee, I can buy it anywhere :P
Not quite true. Shellite has pretty much disappeared from many of the camping shops and other places you used to be able to buy it, at least in WA out of the big cities.

I've switched to unleaded petrol which is quite a bit smokier but otherwise is a much cheaper replacement for my Whisperlite international. At least you can get that anywhere.
Just thought I'd add that the ease of shellite supply in my current locale in NSW is at hardware stores like Mitre 10.
Theres more places but right now I cant get the brain into gear and remember them.
I was in Mitre 10 the other week and saw bottles labeled both Shellite and Whitespirits.
It prompted me to make comments in a few posts here being surprised at the availability compared to NZ where I struggled to find it. :shock:
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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby GJ_Coop » Wed Nov 23, 2011 4:02 pm

Thanks for that. I am always out in the outdoors and don't breathe the vapours but I take your point.

You don't seem to find Shellite in the hardware stores in any place smaller than Albany in WA. I guess there's been too much sniffing.

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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby tmac100 » Fri Nov 25, 2011 6:44 am

i go with what I KNOW. Last June-August when I flew into AU and bicycled between Adelaide and Sydney we used "shellite" purchased in Sydney. Three 500 ml bottles lasted 2 of us for the entire trip. Next June when I fly into PER to bicycle to Adelaide, i expect to buy "shellite' in PER or near there and continue on to Adelaide, arriving there 6 or 7 weeks later. MMMV, but that is my expectation. I can bicycle without eating cooked food, or at least food cooked by myself.

That said, I don't listen to all of the advice I am given - especially if it is contrary to my practical experience. I live by the results of my own actions :D

In my case, I expect to buy "shellite" and use it while bicycling between Perth and Adelaide.

I also have 2 credit cards and 2 ATM cards - this is called "multiple redundancies". I will survive :lol:

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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby Tim » Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:13 pm

Back to the subject of tents. In the past I have been happy to lug around a 2 man tent even if sleeping alone. I have had an old Macpac Olympus, circa. 1986 and more recently (ten years) a One Planet Industrial range Caddis, which is almost identical to the Olympus but more ruggedly constructed, much cheaper and specifically designed for kids and hire groups. Both very good and reliable tents but definitely on the heavy side. Il Padrone mentioned the Exped Vela and as I am thinking of buying a new tent soon I like the look and sound it. Anyone had experience with this tent? My main concern is durability, UV resistance, light weight-but not necessarily Ultra light as I am prepared to sacrifice some weight advantages for long life/durability. I am however getting older and now think a one man tent is more desirable. If anyone has experience with similar one man durable tents I would be glad to hear their opinions. Thanks in advance.

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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby Tim » Sun Nov 27, 2011 8:00 pm

Sorry, reading rather than glancing at the thread answers most of my questions. But, generally speaking, what material offers the best UV stability. I'm looking at situations where the tent could be pitched in the one place for anything up to 4 weeks in mid-summer, full sun.
I now really like the look of the Hilleberg Soulo and Unna tents. Any opinions?

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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby }SkOrPn--7 » Sun Nov 27, 2011 8:30 pm

Tim I have always used Ferrino tents and they handle long stays in mid summer in direct sunlight but I guess most well known brands would.

http://www.ferrino.it/en/homepage/produ ... gh_lab_114

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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby il padrone » Sun Nov 27, 2011 8:32 pm

Polyester is more UV-stable than nylon, and doesn''t shrink tight under sun-light then go loose in the evening. The Exped tents and many other top-quality tents now use polyester flys.


Having said that, none of them are really designed for long-term use in full sun for weeks at a time. I take it you're not carrying the tent on your bike, more of a base camp use? Maybe get yourself an old classic canvas family tent. We've used ours for 2 weeks each summer for the past 20 years and it is still quite waterproof, if rather well faded :wink: .
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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby Tim » Sun Nov 27, 2011 9:27 pm

Thanks fellas.
The tent will be for kayak camping and touring on the Gippsland Lakes come February when most of the Christmas throng have gone back to school and work. Minimal weight is not a huge concern but I may also be doing a bit of walking up in the Nadgee/Croajingalong area fairly soon so a one man model is the go. Sooner or later I'd like to venture out on a touring bike, something I've never done before (other than the '89 GVBR), but for the time being I can't see another bike being greeted with much family approval (I plan on sneaking one into the neighbour's shed some time within the next 6-12 months though).
What really excites me is the Hilleberg site. Apparently they can ship from their home location and I am thinking that maybe the Soulo or Unna model (can't decide which), combined with one of their heavier duty polyester tarps over the top for UV protection might be the solution for extended stays on the one campsite.
By jimini its good fun planning these things.

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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby Aushiker » Sun Nov 27, 2011 9:32 pm

tmac100 wrote:i go with what I KNOW. Last June-August when I flew into AU and bicycled between Adelaide and Sydney we used "shellite" purchased in Sydney.
I guess what you KNOW is not that reliable after all :wink: :mrgreen:

Given GJ Coop's recent extensive touring of WA recently I personally would be taking is advice on board, I guess YMMV :)

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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby Tim » Sun Nov 27, 2011 9:54 pm

By the way. The old Olympus is a bit of a family classic. It stated life coloured a sort of sickly purple. I got it on special from a shop on either the Maroondah Hwy or Canterbury Rd, can't remember which,good shop but no wonder they couldn't sell it to anyone smarter than me. Indigo or ultra violet I think it was branded. Then it got folded up wet after one trip and wasn't unpacked and dried for a day or two. The water bleached "spew" patches all over it. Then I resealed the seams whilst it was standing, on a hot day. The seam sealer ran all down the sides, adding to the aesthetic appeal. I kept on using it and it faded even more to a sort of dirty white cotton sheet look, with horrible looking stains and runs everywhere, only to be voted the "Worst Looking Tent in Human History" by a mate on another trip. Lovely, but it still gets used on rare occasions camping with my brother and his kids, only in fine weather, but I don't sleep in it, the kids do, they're only little and don't seem to mind.

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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby Aushiker » Sun Nov 27, 2011 9:57 pm

Hi Tim, you might want to ask in the Bushwalk Australia forums. Lots of experience to be found there and no that is not a criticism of folks here, just that there is a much larger group of campers at Bushwalk Australia (not surprising really :)).

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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby rifraf » Sun Nov 27, 2011 10:07 pm

Tim wrote:By the way. The old Olympus is a bit of a family classic. It stated life coloured a sort of sickly purple. I got it on special from a shop on either the Maroondah Hwy or Canterbury Rd, can't remember which,good shop but no wonder they couldn't sell it to anyone smarter than me. Indigo or ultra violet I think it was branded. Then it got folded up wet after one trip and wasn't unpacked and dried for a day or two. The water bleached "spew" patches all over it. Then I resealed the seams whilst it was standing, on a hot day. The seam sealer ran all down the sides, adding to the aesthetic appeal. I kept on using it and it faded even more to a sort of dirty white cotton sheet look, with horrible looking stains and runs everywhere, only to be voted the "Worst Looking Tent in Human History" by a mate on another trip. Lovely, but it still gets used on rare occasions camping with my brother and his kids, only in fine weather, but I don't sleep in it, the kids do, they're only little and don't seem to mind.
Hi Tim,
I've been a huge fan of the Olympus for many years.
They were unfortunately out of my price bracket so I made do with its little brother the Macpac Minaret
and a Macpac bivybag.
If you consider another Olympus then keep your eyes peeled on the NZ local online auction.
They dont tend to use Ebay but their own www.trademe.co.nz and Olympus's come up from time to time.
I've picked up a bit of Macpac gear from trademe over the years so might be worth a squiz to you.
Cheers :D
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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby Tim » Sun Nov 27, 2011 10:16 pm

Thanks Andrew. Never checked that forum before but I will do.
Speaking of Shellite, I've been using my Optimus Svea for longer than I care to remember and have noticed the supermarkets around here aren't stocking it any more but it is still readily available in hardware stores. It hadn't occurred to me that "sniffing" might be the reason. I love the old "choofer" for its simplicity of design and function and its reliability, but it is heavy. No wonder my old canvas pack usually exceeds 20 kilos. It's about time I stepped into the twentieth, sorry twenty-first century and went at least a little bit UltraLight.

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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby Tim » Sun Nov 27, 2011 10:41 pm

G'day rifraf.
Yes, I'd love another Olympus but these days most of of the time I sleep alone in a tent, so a one man, lighter model is the plan. That, plus the fact that the Caddis has been every bit as reliable and less than half the price of the Macpac equivalent has steered me away from the Olympus.The Caddis has been an exceptionally good tent. They are still available from One Planet and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone that doesn't mind carrying a bit of extra weight. I considered buying another Caddis but as mentioned I need to try and reduce the load as I get older/softer. Also,rumour has it that Macpac are no longer the "bees knees" of outdoor gear since going Chinee (no offense intended), it may or may not be true, I don't know, but lighter weight, undoubted high quality and one man is the direction I am headed. Hilleberg are at the top of the list for tonight at least. Thanks.

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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby tmac100 » Mon Nov 28, 2011 2:04 am

Thanks Aushiker/Andrew for your cross-reference to my posting in the wwww.bikeforums.net forum.

As stated there (click in Andrew's hotbutton in his post), I am not interested in data that is from 2008. Mine is from (June-August) 2011. We all know that data is temporary,

As stated in my BF reply to you, I have written to a number of primary sources east of Norseman regarding shellite availability. I await their reply for currect availability info.

If all comes to naught/nought and there is indeed NO shellite available, I will use petrol/diesel/whatever... OR just find some wood, burn it down to coals and cook like I do in the desert. YES, there is wood in the desert!! At least there is in the deserts where I have travelled.. In Canada's arctic (which is a cold desert) I have lived with youngsters and served hot meals and tea without a stove of any kind. And No bicycle :D

But that was a lifetime ago in Canada's sub-arctic.

IMHO, shellite is the way to go. Otherwise, I just shift into plan B, or C or ... BUT, the bicycle trip will continue - even if I have to eat uncooked oatmeal with dried fruits and milk powder moistened with water. Let the journey continue :) Hot food is a non-issue, the journey is.

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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby tmac100 » Mon Nov 28, 2011 3:25 am

Thanks Andrew, I WILL re-read. I thought I saw 2008 in some dateline on his trip ...

Nevertheless, I await responses from the c.p.s and shire councils. If all else fails then just change jets and use unleaded/diesel/wood burned down to coals....

OR uncooked oatmeal, dried fruits, nuts and milk powder mixed with H2O :D

The journey is the thing, not the details :lol:

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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby il padrone » Mon Nov 28, 2011 5:19 pm

tmac100 wrote:Thanks Andrew, I WILL re-read. I thought I saw 2008 in some dateline on his trip ...
That info page about GJ Coop is dated 2008, but his first big tour began in Feb 2009 and he continued into late 2010 I think. He is now off on another exploratory zig-zag across Australia. Lucky b*$%>*d!!

Re. stoves, cooking and fuel, your frequent fuel may well be firewood. Once out on the roads away from towns campfires will be a fairly easy thing to use for cooking (and warmth). Save your shellite for when you really need to use it - town caravan parks, areas where campsite firewood is not available and 'fuel-stove only' national parks.
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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby RonK » Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:31 am

I've noticed that Sea to Summit are offering an ultralight Specialist tent.
Weighing just 625gms for the Solo and 846gms for the Duo, the Specialists are the lightest fully enclosable shelters in their class. Each Specialist comes with a set of 2 poles and 6 pegs made out of 7075 alloy for the best strength to weight ratio.
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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby Aushiker » Wed Dec 07, 2011 5:07 pm

RonK wrote:I've noticed that Sea to Summit are offering an ultralight Specialist tent.
Weighing just 625gms for the Solo and 846gms for the Duo, the Specialists are the lightest fully enclosable shelters in their class. Each Specialist comes with a set of 2 poles and 6 pegs made out of 7075 alloy for the best strength to weight ratio.
Extremely small going by the reports at BackpackingLight. By the sounds of it, these sub or close to 1 kg tents are very much on the small size.

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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby Aushiker » Fri Jan 20, 2012 6:38 pm

Another game changer, well maybe ... the Nemo Obi Elite 1P ... pretty close to around 1 kg.

The full review is at Backpacklight but you need to be a member/pay for access.

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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby il padrone » Fri Jan 20, 2012 6:55 pm

My new 2-man Exped, the Venus 2

Image

No lightweight (3.2kgs) but it is a very well put together tent in the style of Exped. Two entries, two vestibules, vertical doors sheltered by the fly, quick to pitch (all-in-one or can have fly and inner seperately pitched), free-standing, very hard-wearing floor, internal gear-loft and plenty of pockets. The fly is very well cut and runs down nice and close to the ground. When pitched with the four corner guys it is very stable in winds. It is able to stand with the vestibules wide open for max ventilation. It has plenty of high quality pegs (both regular and wider sand pegs), extra guys available in the accessory pocket (all guys come with their own little stuff bags that double as guy flags when in use), as well as repair patches (for floor, inner, mesh and fly), three sleeves for pole repair (two double as supports to hold the fly-vents open) and a spare zipper slider. Extremely comprehensive, but I have yet to make use of any spares on my Vela 1.

We have also got the Exped Synmats and they are wonderful - 3 weeks of sleeping on it and I slept every bit as comfortable as I do on my bed at home :D
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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby Slim » Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:05 pm

Love my Hilleberg Soulo (Apologies for the obstruction).
The attention to detail is impressive.
Absolutely no buyers remorse. Best tent I've ever owned.
I wanted a free standing tent and it fits the bill. Then saw this excellent vid. http://thetentsforcamping.com/hilleberg ... nt-review/
For whatever reason Hilleberg hasn't put much effort into setting up channels in Aus, so I used the strength of the AU$ and purchased from Moontrail in Texas. I had them ship FOC to a virtual address in LA and then forwarded via TNT with tracking all the way. Saved a bundle over buying locally and fast.

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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby RonK » Sun Jan 22, 2012 11:48 am

Slim wrote:For whatever reason Hilleberg hasn't put much effort into setting up channels in Aus, so I used the strength of the AU$ and purchased from Moontrail in Texas. I had them ship FOC to a virtual address in LA and then forwarded via TNT with tracking all the way. Saved a bundle over buying locally and fast.
No need to go to all that trouble - after Moontrail told me they couldn't ship a Soulo to Oz, I ordered direct from Hilleberg. Just choose the "USA and the rest of the world" site.

It actually cost me less than Moontrail's price because Hilleberg's shipping charges were less (even taking Moontrail's bonus points into account).

A few days after I ordered from Hilleberg, Moontrail contacted me and apologised for the misinformation - they could ship to Oz since Hilleberg has no channels here, and would I like to re-order.

Hilleberg's service was excellent and the Soulo arrived in less than a week. I'm delighted with it.
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Re: This tent is made for camping...

Postby Slim » Sun Jan 22, 2012 12:22 pm

RonK wrote:
Slim wrote:For whatever reason Hilleberg hasn't put much effort into setting up channels in Aus, so I used the strength of the AU$ and purchased from Moontrail in Texas. I had them ship FOC to a virtual address in LA and then forwarded via TNT with tracking all the way. Saved a bundle over buying locally and fast.
No need to go to all that trouble - after Moontrail told me they couldn't ship a Soulo to Oz, I ordered direct from Hilleberg. Just choose the "USA and the rest of the world" site.

It actually cost me less than Moontrail's price because Hilleberg's shipping charges were less (even taking Moontrail's bonus points into account).

A few days after I ordered from Hilleberg, Moontrail contacted me and apologised for the misinformation - they could ship to Oz since Hilleberg has no channels here, and would I like to re-order.

Hilleberg's service was excellent and the Soulo arrived in less than a week. I'm delighted with it.
It was actually very easy. I have bought quite a bit of gear off Moontrail and my default shipping address is in LA with this mob: http://www.shipito.com/. Took 3 minutes to set up and I use it whenever buying anything from the US: Amazon, Jensen, eBay or whatever. Most retailers etc will ship FOC to my US address.

The nice thing about Shipitto is that when they receive your parcel they automatically generate quotes from Fedex, UPS, TNT and others. Depending on size, weight, .... You then pick the one you want to go with and pay with PP. To date I've found TNT the cheapest and as you've experienced a lot cheaper than using Moontrail to ship direct. In the case of one large item purchased on eBay we saved over $500 in shipping from the US and it arrived on the doorstep within 5 days. That was immediately before Christmas.

Good to hear that you're enjoying the Soulo. :D

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