Author Topic: Single skin tents  (Read 2409 times)

beefy

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Single skin tents
« on: 20:12:33, 29/06/20 »
If you are thinking of buying a single skin tent watch this video  ;D


https://youtu.be/BK57vewgfXg
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April

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Re: Single skin tents
« Reply #1 on: 20:28:08, 29/06/20 »
I like his pillow  :D

That was a lot of water inside the tent.
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gunwharfman

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Re: Single skin tents
« Reply #2 on: 21:17:34, 29/06/20 »
My Marmot Pulsar One is single skin, but with an inner tent mesh. I've camped in a fair amount in wet and stormy conditions and have had some condensation on the inner surface and have had condensation when the other weather conditions are right. Its never been a problem to me though, one or two drips a few times on some very bad condensation mornings but nothing more than that. The mesh separates me from the inner tent surface and it offers me a good through-flow of air which I think helps. Also, my outer tent doesn't actually touch the ground, which I also think helps with the airflow. I don't cook and just drink water when hiking, tea and coffee are only consumed in cafes, so the only heat source overnight in my tent is me.

I have a Wild Country Zephyros One as well and that performs well, I use this tent in the colder months.

As an older person, at some point soon I know I will come to the end of my hiking life, I'd like to have a few more years at it but, although I've looked at buying a new tent for some time I cannot decide on one. And I have a self imposed upper money limit as well, which doesn't help me either.

richardh1905

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Re: Single skin tents
« Reply #3 on: 21:50:17, 29/06/20 »
Thankfully I am not thinking of buying a single skin tent.  :D


Having said that, I'm intrigued by the Lightwave Sigma S10 - be interesting to see how the carbon coated single skin material stands the test of time.
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richardh1905

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Re: Single skin tents
« Reply #4 on: 07:47:45, 30/06/20 »
My Marmot Pulsar One is single skin, but with an inner tent mesh.


Then it is not really single skin, is it, gwm?  ;)


Although, to be fair, with a mesh inner, it might as well be.
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gunwharfman

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Re: Single skin tents
« Reply #5 on: 09:31:18, 30/06/20 »
Maybe I've never understood the term ''single skin' properly?

I've always judged that my Zepyros One is a double skin in that it has a permanent non-mesh inner all enclosed zipped living space whereas my Marmot Pulsar One's inner tent has an all in one zipped living space and its all mesh, except for the floor area.

Up until today, I've always thought of my Marmot as a single skin. So in terms of this subject, a single skin is a tent with nothing inside and not even a floor? I've always thought that such structures were just tarps or tarp variations?

Oh well, I'm happy to live and learn. I'll just have to personally re-define how I look at how I categorise the difference between 'tents,' 'tarps', and 'bivis' and 'single' and 'double skinned' structures.

richardh1905

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Re: Single skin tents
« Reply #6 on: 10:55:26, 30/06/20 »
I apologise for delving into semantics, but a single skin can have a floor, as in the tent featured in the video. :)
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gunwharfman

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Re: Single skin tents
« Reply #7 on: 11:04:57, 30/06/20 »
I can easily get into the same.

gunwharfman

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Re: Single skin tents
« Reply #8 on: 11:07:26, 30/06/20 »
 'but a single skin can have a floor, as in the tent featured in the video.'

I wouldn't buy one, adding a mesh inner would be my minimum requirement!

richardh1905

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Re: Single skin tents
« Reply #9 on: 11:11:28, 30/06/20 »
Neither would I!
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SteamyTea

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Re: Single skin tents
« Reply #10 on: 11:48:52, 30/06/20 »
May be okay to have a single skin in areas with low humidity i.e. up mountains or semi arid places.
UK has an odd climate, we are constantly close to the dew point temperature. So not going to stop condensation, just have to channel it to places that stop it becoming a problem.
I still think that a sealed double skin design is needed.
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astaman

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Re: Single skin tents
« Reply #11 on: 19:51:49, 30/06/20 »
The Lanshan tents do come with an instruction to seam seal them before  use and he said that he was using it straight out of the box. So, in addition to the condensation, his tent was probably leaking from the seams near the main pressure points around the top. Having said that, I might consider a tent with an mesh inner but not one with only an outer fly - especially for use in a country as dewy as ours. I  could be wrong about this but I believe that the original Lanshan 1 came with a full mesh inner and seemed to be quite favorably reviewed and had a bit of a following. I don't understand why they produced a single skin tent that saves only a few grams. Maybe I'm missing something.

richardh1905

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Re: Single skin tents
« Reply #12 on: 22:30:33, 30/06/20 »
I doubt that sealing the seams would have made much difference in the circumstances - the inside surface of the fly was awash with condensation!
Cooking inside can't have helped, mind.  ;D


PS - I've just got a new tent with a silnylon fly (and solid inner, I might add); this was supplied with unsealed seams and a recommendation to seal them. It rained steadily during my first camp in the garden - no drips from the unsealed seam along the apex. I left it up all the next day, during which time we had a torrential downpour during a thunderstorm - not a drop came through, as far as I could see.
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strawy

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Re: Single skin tents
« Reply #13 on: 22:33:00, 30/06/20 »
I've always judged that my Zepyros One is a double skin in that it has a permanent non-mesh inner all enclosed zipped living space
I also have a Zeph One,its the early model & i find it produces a fair bit of condensation,ive never got damp or wet though as its shape lets it run off well away from the "inner"

richardh1905

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Re: Single skin tents
« Reply #14 on: 07:45:57, 01/07/20 »
I also have a Zeph One,its the early model & i find it produces a fair bit of condensation,ive never got damp or wet though as its shape lets it run off well away from the "inner"


And that is the whole point - small synthetic tents get condensation to a greater or lesser extent, but the inner allows this to be managed and kept away from the occupant and their gear.


Also, when it is windy, or raining heavily, condensation gets shaken or knocked off the outer and is caught by the inner, rather than land on your sleeping bag and face! Happened when I was out in the rain the other night.
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