crisped wheel – wouldn’t save that much and I value being warm and dry. I tend to go out into the highlands into remote corners where its a day or more walk to shelter. I once got caught in the rain for 60 hrs of downpour

convert – its doesn’t

winston dog – whos definition?

Is there a reason why geodesic as a format has to mean inner first – volume I guess.

hmmmm, i’m certainly no engineer, but “proper” geodesic designs seem to take their strength from the fact that the poles cross multiple times over the main body of the tent after being leveraged into position at each corner of the groundsheet. It would probably be quite tricky to get a fly anywhere near as rigid because there isn’t that same “solid” base to hold in place and balance out all the pressure from the multiple poles.

Although, having said that, it should be possible if you had straps joining all the sections of the fly together along the ground, holding the poles in position as the base of an inner tent would. Not sure how the strength and all round balance of strain would compare though.

Has winston_dog silenced TJ ?

edit- sorry, hes now arguing about physics.

Not arguing about physics – asking for clarification. It might be today is a school day again 🙂

Just interested in the definition because I have always heard 3 pole tents described as geodesic. The poles do only have 3 crossing points. It ain’t a tunnel tent so what is it?

Just interested in the definition because I have always heard 3 pole tents described as geodesic. The poles do only have 3 crossing points. It ain’t a tunnel tent so what is it?

It’s a semi-geodesic, same idea as geodesics, but less weight (and often a bigger porch) as a trade off against a bit less stability (you have to rely on guys more)

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

tisos desribe a 3 pole tent as semi geodesic but then this :-
This classic Terra Nova design has been revamped to fit with in the Wild Country range, but retains the three pole geodesic structure that makes it so stable

If you tell me it needs to be 4 pole to be truely geodesic then fine – every days a school day but to describe 3 pole tents as geodesic seems reasonably common

edit – crossed posts

tisos desribe a 3 pole tent as semi geodesic but then this :-
This classic Terra Nova design has been revamped to fit with in the Wild Country range, but retains the three pole geodesic structure that makes it so stable

If you tell me it needs to be 4 pole to be truely geodesic then fine – every days a school day but to describe 3 pole tents as geodesic seems reasonably common

I think the problem is that it’s common to use the word “geodesic” to describe any free standing tent which derives it’s strength primarily from pole construction rather than guying out.

Common misuse of language then?

well there you go – its a school day on stw again

yeah, i think so. that’s my experience anyway. I’m not sure that “semi-geodesic” is even a principle in physics/mathematics, it was probably invented by the tent manufacturing world to describe tents which did not adhere to strict geodeism (i would love it if that was actually a word 😀 ) but were based on the same principles.

BWD – I have a geodesic tent made of robust materials a similar size that is under 3 kgs. Its 3 pole not 4 but the footprint is similar and it has stood up to the worst of scottish weather for hundreds of nights out. When I do such things as sawing the handle of my toothbrush to save a few grammes than a kilo is a lot. My tent tensions by have multiple eyelets in the fiuxings

So you’re not comparing like with like whether you call it geodesic, semi-geosdesic or a wedding cake with tassles on the top and flying monkey’s tethered to the candles-desic…

You could probably save even more weight by going to something like a Hilleberg or Macpac tunnel, which would also pitch either all on one or fly first and still be pretty damn tough. There’s a school of thought that tunnels are actually better than ‘geodesic-type/flying monkey-desics’ in some conditions because they tend to deform more easily rather than fail catastrophically.

I think what you’re failing and flailing over is that Alpkit have basically built what they’ve designed as bomb-proof, fully geodesic mountain tents and while you seem reluctant to accept it, as you seem reluctant to accept anything other than your own opinion, the weight is pretty much what you’d expect for that.

Anyway… I’ll stick with my Minaret thanks. Everywhere from Scotland to the Andes without missing a beat 🙂

To be honest, with my very limited knowledge of spherical trigonometry, I don’t believe you could call many, if any, tents “geodesic”.
The shape is made up from criss crossing sections or whole great circles of a common sphere. This would mean the resulting shape to be pretty useless for small tents.

I am happy to be proved wrong – as TJ said every days a school day on STW.

Isn’t the Epcot Centre a geodesic building? If so, I’d quite like a tent like that!

What’s the deal with single skin tents, not something I’ve looked at, are they not suitable for UK conditions?. Presumably something like that will be the future.

too much condensation/ not enough insulation?

i’ve always wondered that. you tend to see lots of single skins for high altitude (and dry) camping, where an outer layer isn’t really needed. so i thought that meant they would be of little use in damp conditions, but the blurb always says they are for use in all conditions (and the price seems to suggest that too!).

can’t see how it would work though re chucking it down outside + condensation from 3 people breathing inside?

Single skin tents just don’t breathe well enough for the UK’s high humidity conditions. Just like waterproof jackets, they breathe best in cold dry environments. Once the outer ‘wets-out’ they become condensation traps. The best designs have lots of ventilation options… Also they are not much (if any) lighter than double skin designs (admittedly they are less faff though).

Straight from the horse’s mouth on the Alpkit tent front – covers some of the questions folk were asking about their mountain tents. Might be useful for anyone debating buying one.

Singleskin tents, ace at 5000 metres in the Andes where it’s very cold and dry and minimal weight is a priority, less clever in the moistness of the UK where condensation becomes an issue unless things are really well vented, in which case you tend to get cold… they do work sometimes, when conditions are right, but in general, yuk.