Of course, seems overkill on a cycling trip due to weight and bulk, but wonder what people thinks about? My thoughts are that it can be a good idea for base-camp, especially for the available room inside, though for that weight and bulk one could carry an even bigger family tent? They say this model has an R-value of 4, which sounds very good (is the insulation value of a good winter-grade sleeping mat), but I'm thinking about condensation when 3 people are staying in for long time.
It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are...
well I had a look at the website - ah yes USA? Ah yes is old fashioned cotton/polycotton so is in Force 10 territory - ah yes the spec dont say the weight. Very nice version of the Wendy House type tent but is for the US market where a trip to the woods means using your off road 4 by 4 taking full range grill and tv and satelite dish ? I would never never take my Conquest polycotton Force 10 aancestor again on bike - goodness knows that one must weight atleast twice that so atleast 17kg probably 24kg.
For anything that's going to be light I suspect the overhead in insulating the whole space, as opposed to just the bodies of those inhabiting it who will have personal warm ear with them in any case, has generally been the deal-breaker.
My guess is that extending airbeam technology by making something like Neo-Air structural walls would be the way to go for something the realm of light and portable. And then, as with current tents, you can hang a breathable inner and condensation becomes an out-of-sight, out of mind problem.
Bear in mind that insulation doesn't create heat; it just slows down the escape of heat to a colder outside.
Furthermore, note than the surface area of that tent, though which heat can escape, is going to be something like 15 or 20 times the surface area of a sleeping bag. If you were to rely on just the tent insulation, to get the same sleeping temperature, you would need the tent to have 15 or 20 times the R value of a sleeping bag. R-values for sleeping bags aren't normally quoted, but going by downmat values, I'd guess that a decent sleeping bag has an R-value of maybe 8. So, rather than the tent having 15 times the insulation of the sleeping bag, it's got half. It will therefore lose heat 30 times as fast as the sleeping bag for the same inside/outside temperature difference, or, alternatively, maintain 1/30 of the temperature difference between inside and outside. It's a big tent, and you could sleep 4 people in it, which would give 4/30 compared to sleeping bags - call it 4° warmer than an uninsulated tent, at the temperatures you would want an insulated tent at ( about -10°).
Running a Tilley lamp or two inside could make it quite comfortable, but you couldn't do that overnight - it's the way to kill yourself through CO poisoning.
pjclinch wrote:For anything that's going to be light I suspect the overhead in insulating the whole space, as opposed to just the bodies of those inhabiting it who will have personal warm ear with them in any case, has generally been the deal-breaker.
+1. A tent plays a significant role in keeping you warm, but adding a layer to yourself (or using a warmer sleeping bag) is always going to be lighter (and more effective) than adding to the tent.
Also make the tent smaller - less space to heat with your body warmth, and less weight to carry.
so atleast 17kg probably 24kg.
