I have had the IDsilshelter and its matching bug inner for a while. I had pitched it in the backyard a few times but when I used it in the field I was having mixed success. I felt I was not taking the same care and attention when I was pitching it in the field, so after my last trip I felt there must be a better way. Like most bushwalkers it was off to the internet. The ID web site provides a users guide for the sil-shelter but the information on pitching the bug inner together with the sil-shelter was lacking, in fact it was next to useless. So it was back to the drawing board.
I checked the measurements on the web and found them to be very similar to mine. So after working out the expected spacing between the inner and outer, I set the peg straps on the inner to 10 inches, pegged it out on the ground, at this point I checked that the distance between all 4 pegs matched the calculated values (which they did). I then placed the outer over the inner and the peg loops on the outer nicely lined up with the pegs for the inner. So far so good, but when I went to fit my walking pole (set to 44 inches) I found the inner (which I had centred in the outer) was too far forward to allow the pole to stand straight. Readjusting the peg loops on the inner to 13.5 inches front and tighten rear loops to take up the slack allowed the pole stand straight and resulted in the space between the inner and outer at the rear down from 5 inches to 1 inch. This distance at the rear was measured in a straight line, in practice it is greater as the centre rear peg out loop is pulled away from the inner rather than straight down.
Previously at the rear of the shelter I had used a second walking pole to lift the rear of the shelter externally, this time I used two different length poles internally. The wall height at the center of the back is 15inches so I selected a pole of 16.5” and 19.5” these two lengths are based I what I had laying around at home, and a desires to provide a few inches of air gap at the rear to help with air flow and therefore condensation. Whilst the photos don’t show the final pitch at the rear I was very happy with the results and will be sorting a light weight trial pole of around 19 inches for my next walk.
I checked the measurements on the web and found them to be very similar to mine. So after working out the expected spacing between the inner and outer, I set the peg straps on the inner to 10 inches, pegged it out on the ground, at this point I checked that the distance between all 4 pegs matched the calculated values (which they did). I then placed the outer over the inner and the peg loops on the outer nicely lined up with the pegs for the inner. So far so good, but when I went to fit my walking pole (set to 44 inches) I found the inner (which I had centred in the outer) was too far forward to allow the pole to stand straight. Readjusting the peg loops on the inner to 13.5 inches front and tighten rear loops to take up the slack allowed the pole stand straight and resulted in the space between the inner and outer at the rear down from 5 inches to 1 inch. This distance at the rear was measured in a straight line, in practice it is greater as the centre rear peg out loop is pulled away from the inner rather than straight down.
Previously at the rear of the shelter I had used a second walking pole to lift the rear of the shelter externally, this time I used two different length poles internally. The wall height at the center of the back is 15inches so I selected a pole of 16.5” and 19.5” these two lengths are based I what I had laying around at home, and a desires to provide a few inches of air gap at the rear to help with air flow and therefore condensation. Whilst the photos don’t show the final pitch at the rear I was very happy with the results and will be sorting a light weight trial pole of around 19 inches for my next walk.
General view showing the clearances when pitch higher at front by extending the outer (and inner) tie down loops.
This shows the air gap provided with a 49.5 inch pole.
The peg loops provided on the both the inner and outer do not lend themselves to pitching the outer a few inches off the ground (as suggested in the users guide). This height is to allow for increased air flow, as can be seen in the photos. I added loops of 8 inches to each peg out loop. This extra length allowed me to try two different pitches, one with the same height pole (44 inches) and a second with the pole adjusted to 49.5 inches. The higher pole certainly allow for better clearance from the ground but lower pole with the pegs pushed out further provided a more protected pitch.
The yellow 8 inch extension to the peg out loops
I will cover the bug inner and door in a later post.
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