The centre trekking pole is set to 100cm giving a good low pitch and a low door. This set up was really stable.
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The centre trekking pole is set to 100cm giving a good low pitch and a low door. This set up was really stable.
That front pole looks a smidge wobbly Bryan, is it? Or does it just move a little each way naturally.
Seriously tempted to try a Trailstar or similar in the future. My concerns are that it might be awkward to enter, and that the weight saving of the tarp would be taken up by adding a nest / bivy.
What’s your view?
Sorry for taking ages to reply Carl, I had started to write a blog post on the Trailstar that you might have found interesting but I have not had time to finish it yet!
That front pole will just move a bit naturally and it doesn’t cause any problems and it doesn’t move the Trailstar around at all. It would wobble less if it was lower, i.e. if the front guy did not go up at such a steep angle. You vould use two guys from the pole and then it would not move at all. You would be carrying a few extra grams but the cord would come in handy in an emergency.
It can be awkward to enter when it is pitched this low but you only need to pitch it low when the wind is strong, much stonger than in this video because I was just experimenting. In some circumstances it is easier to get into than a tent because if it is chucking it down with rain then you dont have the problem of trying to squeeze yourself into the porch of your tent while trying to zip up the outer and trying to avoid getting the inner tent soaked.
I really like the Trailstar but I have come at it from using a tarp. Iike having that open door and being able to see straight out without unzipping anything and having my view resticted.
With a nest/bivvy you will be looking at about a total 1kg weight and there are good tents round for less than that these days. It is a different experience from a tent and so not necessarily directly comparible weight for weight. I will only use an inner or bivvy for midge protection when required and so generally my bomb proof Trailstar shelter only weighs 670g.
Bryan
As I said in an earlier post (but only 2 min ago), got mine at end of Feb, but only just got it seam sealed.
Shame I have to work, or I would get it out for a proper field test.
Although maybe I will wait for worse weather to give it a proper pre Challenge fields test.
Thanks for clearing that up – I must admit the shelter itself clearly doesn’t shift a millimetre. Was just concerned it might topple, but I guess that is still better than losing a pole on a tent – at least the TS would still be upstanding!