In my previous post I showed my new inner net pitched on it’s own in garden. It was my intention to have a night out in the hills of Snowdonia last weekend, to try it out in anger, but for one reason or another that was not possible but I did spend a bit of time trying the inner in various positions under my Trailstar.
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Snowdon at dawn from Moel Siabod
In my Trailstar I have tended to sleep with either my feet or my head by the door. If you look into the Trailstar from outside then my bed is on the left hand side if I am sleeping with my feet by the door and on the right hand side if I am sleeping with my head by the door. I tried the inner in these two positions and also across the back, opposite the door, which is another possibility.
In all three positions it was easy enough to raise the netting by clipping the bungee cord at the ends either straight to one of the Trailstar hooks on the inside or by rigging up some dyneema from which to suspend the inner from.
Feet by the door
The inner by the feet is suspended from one of the Trailstar side clips and at the head end I rigged up a bit of dyneema to attach the shock cord of the inner to. The dyneema went form the hook in the apex of the Trailstar to one of the side hooks with a loop part way up to attach the shock cord to. I thought I would need the height but in hindsight I could just as easily take the dyneema from the side hook to the centre pole and the inner net shock cord will hang from that.
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Across the back
This was straightforward, the inner simply attached to the Trailstar side hooks without any need to some fancy rigging, simple. One photo shows the inner without the feet end being suspended showing that there is not really the need to suspend the feet end!
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Head by the door
Lastly, these photos show the inner positioned with my head near the door. I tied some dyneema from an inner hook to the door pole and suspended the inner from that. this worked fine but with the possibility that in the event of rain some water may find it’s way along the dyneema and so onto the inner net! The last photo shows me inside the inner net for scale, I am 5 foot 9 inches tall and of slim build.
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Conclusion
Even though I have not actually slept inside this inner yet I can honestly say that it seems as though it will do the job nicely and I will be able to keep the midges and ticks (and locusts!) at bay while sleeping comfortably in a bit of space. I am very happy with this inner so far and will take it on the TGO Challenge as it is without any modifications. One problem I did come across was that with the shock cord at the head end being internally adjustable, if you had too much shock cord inside then it is going to dangle in your face so the thing to do is to have as little inside as possible to start with and then tension it from the inside a small amount if need be.
As usual the work looks top-drawer. I would find this too restrictive but that is the beauty of custom works – you make the stuff to suit you.
Trailstars really are massive inside – these are some of the best ‘scale’ photos I have seen.
Cheers Bryan.
Very minimalist that, and light too.
I forgot to read last post first. I assume that is one of Seans custom jobs.
Top stuff.
I am extremely chuffed with my Oookstar :)
Hi Carl and Andrew. Interesting to hear your comments about it being restrictive and minimalist. Yes, it is both, but the idea, and hope, is that I don’t actually need to get inside it! I don’t actually want an inner tent, and have not used one so far with my TS, and this is really insurance against midges (and ticks if I start feeling paranoid and vulnerable) and I hope to just use it as a groundsheet. I view the Trailstar as a sturdy tarp rather than a large tent! However, after 15 nights under my Trailstar I hope I don’t start to wish I had an OookStar!! ;)
Yes, good quality work from Sean at OookWorks and great to be able to get custom gear like this in this country.
Hi Bryan,
I like the look of this. Thanks for explaining the set up under the Trailstar.
I had my MLD Bug bivy rigged up in a similar fashion over the weekend.
What may be an idea – but it adds a bit of weight – is to add a hoop to clip the head end to. I tried this with a couple of plastic tubes in an A configuration. It worked, but, a hoop with the corners of the bivy attached and a line out from the head end (easier that it sounds) should get a good taught pull out without putting tension on the Trailstar sides.
I’m getting a lightweight hoop made up by Hamptons and should have this for the TGO next week.
It will be good to compare experiences with the different inner set-ups with you and Andrew.
PS – just ordered the lightweight hoop from Hamptonworks. It’ll be 100 cm across the bottom and between 55 – 65 cms high and in 5 shock corded sections. £17.19. With me by Friday.
Interesting Gordon, I look forward to hearing / seeing how that goes. Will you be camping at Tarfside or Montrose?
Hi Bryan,
Tarfside on the Monday and Montrose on the Wednesday.
I had a good chat with Sean, this morning, and want to come back to him after the TGO to talk through some ideas.