Some tent addons

I had some time to make a couple modifications on my tent. The Marmot Trailite 2P tent has served well the past 3 seasons and for the moment looks like it should well for the unforeseeable future. No fault there.

There are a couple additions that I have been hankering for quite sometime. These aren’t tent specific, just little addons to add versatility.

The first add on

Many a times along the rocky Finnish coast the ground is well, Hard! Granite tends to be that way. Even though the tent is self-supporting, it often needs to be anchored down, especially where its windy..  Short of having a diamond tipped drill bit and/or a power drill/jackhammer.. tying a tend down on a rock is next to impossible.

Many a times I’ve filled a plastic bag or an Ikea bag with rocks  to make anchors for the tent. Plastic bags don’t last that long and I don’t carry around 8 Ikea bags.. So clearly this wasn’t the solution to be.

A friend who had seen another friend using something that is apparently called in the mountain climbing circles a “parachute” ! A lightweight but sturdy fabric that can be  buried under snow and packed over with snow for guy lines for tents!!! These things aren’t very common in Finland, at least outdoors stores don’t advertise them at all.. so IF they were available in Finland, then I would surmise that a specialist product like the “parachute” would cost and arm and a leg plus your firstborn.

Bricks simulating rocks.. Rocks need to be BIG! Not sure if the fabric square is big enough (30 cm x 30cm)?
Bricks simulating rocks.. Rocks need to be BIG! Not sure if the fabric square is big enough (30 cm x 30cm)?

After seeing what these devices looked like I realized that they wouldn’t be too hard to fabricate ones self!

Here I must confess , despite initially planning to do the sewing work meself, I opted out to order the sewing work done by the seamstress students at the local vocational college. That was easy!

Following pictures hopefully are self explanatory:

Sturdy fabric squares (30 cm x30cm each). Tunnels for line sewn at two opposing sides of each square. 1 line /square, line length approx 150cm. 1 plastic snap shackle/square. I decided on 8 parachutes for my current tent..
Sturdy fabric squares (30 cm x30cm each). Tunnels for line sewn at two opposing sides of each square. 1 line /square, line length approx 150cm. 1 plastic snap shackle/square. I decided on 8 parachutes for my current tent..
Fabric used was some sort of nylon/cotton mix, workclotchs farbic, plenty sturdy, but might be a bit on the heavy sde, especially when it soaks up water. But beggars can't be choosers!
Fabric used was some sort of nylon/cotton mix, work cloths fabric, plenty sturdy, but might be a bit on the heavy sde, especially when it soaks up water. But beggars can’t be choosers!
To tie the line end together I decided to try the Reever hitch. It holds better than the typical square knot (on this slippery type of line) and is lower in profile, plus it was inneresting to learn to do! :)
To tie the line end together I decided to try the Reever hitch. It holds better than the typical square knot (on this slippery type of line) and is lower in profile, looks nice plus it was inneresting to learn to do! 🙂
After tying the line ends, I slid the knot into one of the tunnels.. to make appearances neat.
After tying the line ends, I slid the knot into one of the tunnels.. to make appearances neat.
The second add on

Keeping stuff organized in anyway at all inside a tent is /has and probably will always be mission impossible or the next best thing. Many a time I have wistfully gazed at neat and tidy tents at camp, usually someone else’s! What most of these neat tents had in common was a nifty organizer pocket hanging from the roof! Now just about most of the major brand names usually offer one of these organizer pocket doodads for the price of your second born…

Being  a stingy sort and once realizing I had some left over deck netting and some 2mm bungee cord I decided to make my own organizer pocket! Hah! That made me feel good for a bit! Time will tell how this mod works out?

Some stretchy deck netting, 2mm bungee cord and sgharp scissors!
Some stretchy deck netting, 2mm bungee cord and sharp scissors!
Voila! And there she is! Took less than 10 minutes to rig it up! Now its just a matter of testing how it works!
Voila! And there she is! Took less than 10 minutes to rig it up! Now its just a matter of testing how it works! A good place to store random items and dry those wet socks etc.

So.. If the above add ons work nicely this likely be the last post.. If they don’t then.. this likely be the last post on the subject matter! 😉

Author: paaso.fi

A wee bit touched on the head! Something , anything and pretty much everything that has to do with sea-kayaking has my undivided attention, adoration and possibly worse.. ;)