I wanted to try to make a lighter tent then the 45lb monster that I own. It really sucks to hike it a mile into the woods.
So I made a tarp tent. Out of space blankets. So I now have a space-tent?
I used two cheap 52.5 x 82.5 aluminized polyester blankets I finally found in stock locally. I taped them together with some clear 3M UV resistant duct tape I split lengthwise. (3M #2120)
I twisted lengths of the tape together to form the tie down loops.
The stress points got a bit of tape reinforcement.
I had to flour the tape loops so they didn’t stick to the sheets so much.
The final product is very light and rolls up very small.
I think I need to try it out soon. I also will let my 2-year-old play with it to stress test it.
The inspiration for this tent came from http://www.csm.ornl.gov/~geist/Philmont/2-man-shelter.pdf .
Wow, that’s a great idea. How has this thing worked out for you? Is it large enough to be useful? What about durability? Did your two year old destroy it?
It’s terribly noisy. So noisy that I don’t use it unless I need to, which has only been once.
The tape loops work so well I made another one out of clear window insulation film which I have used a couple of times. A different space blanket tarp loop pull the corner of the blanket right off, so the tape holds on well.
It is MUCH better than that massive tent I have – when I need to carry it more than 10 feet from car.