LONDON, UK (Team Geared Up) - Eoin & myself took my London flatmate out for a jaunt in Wicklow (Ireland) 3 weeks ago to give him a first taste of the mountains. We also took the opportunity to wind-test the Mountain 25 by The North Face. This tent has been everywhere with me, but not out of place in a photo of Everest South Col it has never yet maxed out in European ranges - this was the closest test it would face.

We left the carpark in Glendalough at 10pm in dry gusty conditions and pitched in the most exposed place possible on the very summit of Camaderry in gale force conditions at 1am with nothing but a very low peat hag to shelter the stove behind. Unfortunately most of the photos are from the morning but that night we got absolutely battered, shaken, pelted-apon, and the sky pretty much fell on us. The wind really hit the tent to a point where it was questioned would the poles potentially snap.

Nope. The tent held fast like a limpet to the ground. It never lost its shape. Above my head on the seam where the wind was driving the rain through in, I had a drip fall, but nothing much to worry about considering the conditions outside. I expect the silicon fly on the 2007 model would not have experienced this.

What a fantastic tent! Apart from getting this gear test in, the other advantages of sleeping on the summit of a mountain are the morning photos you can snap from the tent door!

You can view the Mountain 25 specs here, also note, a new 2007 model is available.

We also past some Irish MTB riders coming flying down off the Spink boardwalk at about 2pm on Sunday, I got some quick snaps - is this you? do you know them? Looked like a whole lot of fun!

(Photo Credits: All by the author, full Flickr gallery available)

A two person, double-skin mountaineering tent designed for all terrains, climates and weather conditions.

Review of Crux X2 Bomb Tent
Rated as 4/5 on May 29 2007 by robinb

It’s a RAB Survival Zone and I know many other happy owners!

This lightweight sleeping bag cover is waterproof, breathable, and with a weight of only 400g can be carried for both planned nights out and emergency use. The Survival Zone has gained many fans over the years with its small packsize and minimal weight. The tapered shape fits your Rab bag without leaving excess fabric to flap in the wind, and the 2.3 meter length allows you to sit up while offering protection to your head. Can be drawcord sealed against the elements down to a 2cm breathing hole.

Fabric: coated Pertex
Total Weight: 400 g

Photos tell the story well - here’s a selection submitted to one of my websites FindMeATent.com, thanks to the various photographers:

And finally - the author, not so happy to be rained off-route, but dry!

View all photos:

-Robin-

LONDON (Team Geared Up) - Mountain Hardware have a Flickr stream worth subscribing to. Check out these photos they posted today of their Trango tent pitched in a trailer park during a storm. Look at how it’s standing strong while the trailers have been flipped upside down in the background. Marvellous!

The wind picked up on Tuesday (last week) and rocked my trailer more than usual. I finally decided to jump ship and looked out the window to find carnage in the RV park. My trailer was unhurt along with a Mountain Hardwear tent that braved the microburst, but several trailers were totaled and several more were moved up to 15′ from their original position. Most trailers lost skirting, anything left outside (including 2 ATVs), satellite dishes, etc. Luckily, nobody was hurt in the storm. The moral of the story is batten down the hatches (or buy a Mountain Hardwear tent!)

So I thought I’d better do some content features of the best bits.

The North Face Tadpole 23 Photo (Morning @ Mt.Dulang-dulang peak, Philippines)

Crux X2 Bomb Photo (what happens when 80+mph wind hit you side on)

Blacks High Altitude Mountain Photo

Eureka K2 XT Photo (Basecamp Jebel Mgoun, Morocco)

Force Ten Vortex Photo (Wet and windy Glen Etive 2006….Hussar!)

We need more!! Send us your Tent Photos & Experiences!

WHISTLER, BC (Geared Up Blog) - Ubergizmo has reported on Eurekas N!ergy tent range that uses their E! Power System.

The E! Power System integrates three factory-installed 12-volt outlets inside the N!ergy tent with Eureka!’s exclusive E! Power Pak, a portable & rechargeable battery, to power your favourite 12-volt accessories right inside your tent for the ultimate in camping comfort!

In this modern age, power is a necessity to keep all your mobile phones, laptops and iPods ticking over. This is Hi-Tech camping at its best! The tent and system will cost you about $300 (€230) and is currently only in three of their family range of tents. The tent has a concealed wiring system and glowing outlets which can double as night lights!

So is it cheating? Power and electronics while camping? I suppose it is ideal for those who want to have the best of both worlds. Who hasn’t brought their Battery Charger, Hair Dryer, Air Bed Compressor, Vacuum or Weather Station with them camping?

The Eureka E! Power System.

Staying in a tent might not be the Grand Canyon lodging you have in mind if you’re going to be taking Grand Canyon helicopter tours or any other major excursion into or over the Grand Canyon. You don’t have to stay at a hotel if you see the Grand Canyon but keeping your options open is often a good idea.

LONDON (Geared Up Blog) - We’re pleased to launch the first of our new sub-domains sell.TeamGearedUp.com.

We hope to allow you to fund your next adventure by using our site as a marketplace. It’s all free of course - so get in there and post up all your gear for sale.

It gets better - all listings are mirrored around the world on other sites. So don’t worry - we’ll sell it for you! Apart from that - anything really good for sale, we’ll feature here on the homepage! Lots of attention for you.

There’s a ‘Wanted’ section too: so do give it a shot. You may even pick up a bargain. I’ve a lovely new -17c RAB Down Bag this winter through a similar listings site.

Get going, post your kit up sell.TeamGearedUp.com.

Would you like to sell something? Click here to add a listing.

Nice idea, and thanks to James for sending the link to Quechua Tents. The TV commercials are worth a look for a demo of the ‘throw to pitch’ idea.

Trango 3.1

By KH: Winter Camping in Sweden

Force Ten Spin Drift

By Zladan

Hilleberg Nallo 2

By Digger

Helsport Rondane 3

By Digger

FMAT user ’ssames’ has added an experience for the Vango TBS Equinox 350…

This is a brilliant tent. It is a very robust tent ideal for taking young people into the mountains for duke of edinburgh’s award. It claims to be a 3 person tent. However, it can easily fit 4. It has a MASSIVE porch area which is ideal for rucksacks and the safest option for bad weather cooking I have ever seen. In bad weather it is really strong. Even though it is a tunnel tent it does have the patented TBS system to give it extra strength. This means that when side winds start to bow the poles you can tighten the straps and give them extra support. It can be pitched quickly with practice, although it has a lot of straps everywhere. They tend to get a bit tangled, this is annoying when the rain is pouring down and you just want to get it pitched and dinner going. It is a heavy tent, but it is well worth it for reliability.