pjclinch wrote:Gattonero wrote:pjclinch wrote:
Here is a Kaitum 3, with one of it's 18 (eighteen!) pegging possibilities...
We're comparing oranges to apples with this.
18 pegs for a 3 person tent with -gasp- 5.1sqm of floor space is not that bad. But 15 pegs for a small single-person tent tells me that it's not a good design as it does not put the fabric in tension, so a lot of pegs are required.
Fair comment with the Kaitum, but
not with the Spacepacker, which is a big for one/small for two single hoop with 10 pegs to pitch the outer properly and 4 more to get the inner in.
It was revolutionary when it was first introduced in the 80s and remains a great tent today (I'd replace mine with a Scarp if the Scarp had porches as big... but it doesn't).
Gattonero wrote:The less pegs you need, the less you need to fiddle with hard ground or need to find rocks to replace pegs that become useless in the sand, etc.
This is true, but it doesn't make a tent that needs more "not a good product". Were it not for the success of the Spacepacker the Tarptent Scarp probably wouldn't exist.
Pete.
Again, a spacious tent that needs 10 pegs to achieve lots of room, versus a small coffin that needs 50% more pegs.
Of course the Spacepacker was a good design, in fact could use less than 10 pegs in emergency, and still offer good space.
But seriously, 15 pegs for a small tent it really means that the design is not good: if the fabric was keep in tension, you will need 6 pegs at most; but because the simplified the design, the fabric lays flat and unsupported, hence the need for all those pegs.
If you looks at another clever design, the TarpTent Notch, it does use catenary-cuts so the fabric is always in tension (and when needs to, easily adjusted from inside the tent) and the water does not pool anywhere, nor the sides will bow too much when windy.
And it only uses four pegs
Of course, to achieve this it needs a better design and complicate stitching: making a french seam on the curve of the catenary-cuts it's not easy on Silnylon, it's a very slippery material to work with.