Tale of Two Alphamid's ~ MYOG ~ U-L & SUL

Subject: Tale of Two Alphamid's ~ MYOG ~ U-L & SUL - PART 1
Posted: 03/21/2006 00:20:44 MST by Bill Fornshell (bfornshell)

Tale of Two Alphamid's(TM) ~ MYOG ~ U-L & SUL - Part 1

"Acknowledgment: Alphamid (TM) http://www.owareusa.com/ - used by permission."


I am calling this MYOG Project "Tale of Two Alphamid's - Ultra-Light / Super Ultra Light because I am making two Alphamid's.

The first or Ultra-Light Alphmid will be made out of 1.1 oz per sq yard (true weight as high as 1.3 oz per sq yard) Silnylon 2nds sold by Quest Outfitters or anyone of the other fabric suppliers at $5 to $6 a yard. I want to make this one for several reasons.

1. to see/show that a basic Silnylon Alphamid can be made to weigh less than 7.5 oz.

2. to see/show that it can be a MYOG project for a cost of $50 or less.

The second or SUL Alphamid's will be made out of my lightest Cuben Material. This one will be made to be as light as possible. The cost for this one should be $125 or less.

The size of my two Alphamids will be a little smaller than the BMW version to reduce the sq yardage and bring the weight under 7.5oz for the silnylon version and bring the weight of the Cuben version to under 3 oz. I believe the total weight of the Cuben version will be a big surprise to most when it is finished.

The first useable prototype will be 36" x 90" and 48" high. I will make this one out of some $3 a yard .5 oz spinnaker (kite store) material I have. The true weight of this stuff is about 1.14 oz a sq yard and to heavy for me to use now that I can get Cuben Fiber. This prototype will give me something to set-up in my backyard and sleep in a few nights testing it for size, etc. After testing I will make any adjustments and make the final two Alphamids.

Some question:
- How small is to small?
- Will it work as a solo shelter for a winter SOBO - AT Hike?
- Will it work as a solo shelter for a spring NOBO - AT Hike ?
Others questions as they come up.


Subject: Re: Tale of Two Alphamid's ~ MYOG ~ U-L & SUL
Posted: 03/21/2006 07:04:08 MST by Jay Ham (jham)

Bill, I really like how you introduce your projects. And this project sounds like fun to me. First a question, then a comment or two.

As far as I know, BMW doesn't make an alphamid. Did you mean one similar to the Oware Alphamid we tested?

Oware's silnylon alphamid is 19 oz without stakes, poles, or guylines; with dimensions of 60"w x 120"l x 60"h. It's really not much larger than your proposed alphamid. Your goal weight of under 8 oz seems remarkable. How will you do it??

I often travel with my two daughters (10 and 7) and we always take our 4-person pyramid tent (homemade with perimeter bug netting and floor, 2.5lbs), so I have some experience with living in this shape. The only concern I would have in regards to size, is head room at the edges. As the apex gets lower and the sides narrower, your headroom is going to shrink dramatically. Barring a bit of claustifobia, you need to worry about a condensation laden canopy coming in contact with your sleeping bag. We usually stick the kids on the edges. :)

IMO, You should definately add a top vent to thwart condensation. Body heat is going to rise and take your condensation with it. If you don't give it a way out, it will collect on the inside surface of the alphamid. The alphamid tarp we reviewed had some problems with condensation. None of the top vented pyramids I've used have this problem. You could add a small hood to the zipper side, where the pole inserts, and cut off the very top of the door fabric above the zipper leaving a triangular hole.

Jay
MYOG



Robert Miller
(procab - M)
SUBJECT Re: Tale of Two Alphamid's ~ MYOG ~ U-L & SUL ON 03/21/2006 08:40:39 MST
 

Bill,

Like Jay I too have some pyramid tarp experience. The usable floor space is more circular than one would think on first glance.


Fornshell Concept 36" x. 90" x 48" high
BMW . . . . . . . 44" x. 90" x 49"
Alphamid (small). 54" x 108" x 65"
half a Megalight. 52" x 104" x 66" pole


Why don't you layout your idea with string defining the edges of the panels in your backyard? It will help you visualize the idea in full scale.

One of the unexpected pleasures of a pyramid is you can transition from laying to sitting without having to crawl to the high end of the tarp for clearance.

Regards,
Robert

Edited by procab at 03/21/2006 08:44:05 MST.




Robert Miller
(procab - M)
SUBJECT Re: Tale of Two Alphamid's ~ MYOG ~ U-L & SUL ON 03/21/2006 08:40:39 MST
 

Bill,

Like Jay I too have some pyramid tarp experience. The usable floor space is more circular than one would think on first glance.


Fornshell Concept 36" x. 90" x 48" high
BMW . . . . . . . 44" x. 90" x 49"
Alphamid (small). 54" x 108" x 65"
half a Megalight. 52" x 104" x 66" pole


Why don't you layout your idea with string defining the edges of the panels in your backyard? It will help you visualize the idea in full scale.

One of the unexpected pleasures of a pyramid is you can transition from laying to sitting without having to crawl to the high end of the tarp for clearance.

Regards,
Robert

Edited by procab at 03/21/2006 08:44:05 MST.


Robert and Jay, Thanks for the comments.

This is a winter tent design I was working on in the Summer of 2004. I even made a full size prototype and then changed the design to one that was more like a very small wall tent. This gave me more head and foot room. The Hunter Orange 1.1 Silnylon was going to be used for the new version of the tent. Making the tent was put on a medical hold.









The Alphamid design has sparked new interest in a small winter tent/tarp. With the Cuben Fiber now available a really SUL Alphamid is possible. I have made several paper models and have laid out the footprint of these on my floor. I am going with the 36" x 90" and 48" high for the first prototype. The small tent from 2004 had a 36" x 84" footprint so the 36" width is one I know can live with. The extra 6" length will give me a little more head and foot room. Once I get the SUL Alphamid like I want it I will work on some accessories for it.

I am about to start cutting material.






26 March 2006
I have finished my first Alphamid (TM) prototype. It is the smallest size I had made a paper model of (36" x 90" x 48") and needs 5.58 yards of material. This amount does not count seam allowance etc. I wasn't sure the small size would work so I made this one out of some $1 a yard stuff from Wal Mart.

As you can see from the pictures I don't have a lot of room. Enough but not much to spare. Could I use something this small on say an AT Thru-Hike, yes. If I ran into really bad weather I could always "bail" to a shelter. I would probably do that even with a bigger tarp. With a Hyper-Light to SUL gear list moving quick when necessary should be easy.

I am starting to think about a version for winter / snow and my "for planning" size will be 48" x 90" and 66" tall. This might change and I have a lot of time to work on the final size.

Next will be a Cuben version of the prototype in the following pictures. I expect it to be well under 3 oz. I will try and do some trail testing of this one toward the end of summer or early fall. Some add-ons will be some kind of bug netting and maybe a floor that I can put in and take out as necessary (bug necessary).