Gear: Tiny Torso Bug Tent.
Weight: 35 grams/1.3 ounces
Dimensions: 54″ wide, 18″ tall, covers an apx. 3′ head-torso length section
Cost to make: $16. Comparable retail cost: $50-80. Savings: around $34-64 (300-500%)
Use: As a bug net/tent when cowboy camping or sleeping under a tarp
Will I use it?: Are there mosquitos or black flies? Absolutely.
Onto my third piece of ultralight gear: a tiny bug tent designed to fit over the head/torso only. Cowboy camping or camping under a tarp? Are mosquito’s trying to eat you alive? No worries, use this amazing and tiny bug tent and turn the torture tables on those mosquitos…
There are a few bug tents and bivies out there. Most are full body. Two or three on the market are head and torso only. They tend to be fairly expensive considering most of them are made with no-seeum netting which costs less than $10 per yard, while the tents retail for anywhere from $50 to $80 each. Lame.
This tiny tent is made with 1 yard of mesh no-seeum netting. Grosgrain ribbon, very thin 1.25 mm cord, and micro line loc adjusters comprise the tie-outs. An adjustable trekking pole serves as the tent pole.
The design is based on the mesh portion of Six Moon Designs Meteor Bivy, but scaled down in order to construct the tent with 1 yard of netting. Much of the cost is in the guy lines. Two of the 4 lines can and probably will be removed and replaced with stakes in order to get better ground contact and keep those pesky bugs from sneaking under.
The urban apartment test environment bodes well for outdoor successes. The tent should provide amazing bug shielding at a minimum size and cost.
Overall – third piece of ultralight gear making was a success!
Next on the horizon: 2 person tarp, bivy bag, and solo tarp/poncho…
