Making an inflatable tarp Tent Type thing

[dlovett]

After seeing the Zelter on Stu's blog, I was wondering how light you could make an inflatable tarp tent.

I was thinking about having a go at making my own a very simple take on one, made out of four triangles of material.

A triangle shaped floor 2m x 1m, two triangle sides and a triangle door, giving 1m height. A single inflatable chamber running down the ridgeline and then down the side/door join. A simple zip on the door piece running from the top to bottom.

What is the best light weight material you would recommend for the floor piece, what hydrostatic head would be best and the same question about for the two sides and door?

I'm interested in working out what It might weight to see it it is worth trying.

Cheers

d

[dlovett]

Looks like this ticks all of the boxes, but at a serious cost.
https://www.nemoequipment.com/product/gogo-elite/

[Bearbonesnorm]

The GoGo doesn't tend to breath or vent well and is prone to condensation. If I were making a shelter, I'd think hard about air flow to minimise condensation issues ... cold air in to expel warm / damp air.

[dlovett]

So mesh in the tail with a pop up flap to keep and rain off, and more mesh on the door, would hopefully get air through, I guess.

[Bearbonesnorm]

That sort of thing Duncan. Air in low and out high

[redefined_cycles]

The GoGo doesn't tend to breath or vent well and is prone to condensation. If I were making a shelter, I'd think hard about air flow to minimise condensation issues ... cold air in to expel warm / damp air.

Stu... why is it such big/expensive/so called elite companies can't think of such simple solutions?? Just thinking out loud thats all!

[Bearbonesnorm]

My own thinking is that many companies hail from the US, a lot of the US doesn't share out 'interesting' climate which is a breeding ground for condensation. Perhaps some don't want to add further complication to what might otherwise be quite a simple product and maybe some rely too heavily on the breathability of fabric?

[firestarter]

A velcro in 20 inch inner tube at the bottom covered in mesh and a 29er one at the top to wriggle into with a vent/flap , you can use your pump to put it up and possibly pinch the tube in an emergency;)

[Bearbonesnorm]

Inner tube will deform too much and produce a very floppy / unstable shelter. The air chamber needs to be something which won't expand once it's gained its shape.

[firestarter]

Shouldn't if its fastened into a proper holder for it, my air tent had a sewn in zipper that meant it kept shape, I say had as during a storm last week it blew out of the holder and ballooned out so it's now binned :( though the holder for the tube might make it heavier than another method tbh
And then again your probably right lol

[Bearbonesnorm]

Shouldn't if its fastened into a proper holder for it, my air tent had a sewn in zipper that meant it kept shape, I say had as during a storm last week it blew out of the holder and ballooned out so it's now binned

Yes but in the case of your tent, the holder is the thing preventing the expansion of the air chamber. Obviously you could do something similar on a DIY model but it'll ad weight and complxity. My thinking is, a non-expandable air chamber will give more scope to making something lighter / simpler.

[ScotRoutes]

With my inflatable awning, the air tubes are held in a (relatively heavy) nylon tube. Of course, the air tubes themselves aren't as stretchy as a normal inner tube. It did occur to me that the Tubolito tubes might be a better starting point, though they'd still need to be encased in something else.