Last month I was on holidays and making the most of the unseasonal warm weather we did two camping trips. We had a total of 12 days bush camping with the TI, where everything, including water had to be carried on board . We base camped in a spot which was only accessible by boat and did day trips, but having the TI so close:
..was very handy for R&D of some mods I'm working on.
I was able to test out a new way of sleeping on board and even though I haven't tried it yet on an overnighter (we are in the middle of winter here), initial day testing was encouraging.
Whilst researching more comfortable camp chairs (we can now highly recommend the Helinox Chair One:
...but that's another story) I came across their Cot One stretcher.
This is a lightweight (< 2kg), compact, and very comfortable stretcher that is cleverly designed, easily assembled and tensioned. At around AU$300 it's not cheap but it is top quality. It was easy to set up a cot tent arrangement using conduit to support the tent poles on top of the Cot One.
After 16 nights spent sleeping on it so far, we can highly recommend this arrangement. You are up off the ground and it's easier getting into the tent. Thermarests on top of the tent floor add to the comfort and insulate against the cold.
As good as sleeping on the haka is I was wanting to simplify on board set up and get close to the land based arrangement we got used to above. Moving all the gear off the haka, centring them, setting up the tent then moving the gear back etc. takes time. You also need to carry an extra haka when soloing and two extra haka for two people just to enable getting around on board without getting wet.
After assembling the Cot One I could see that it wouldn't be difficult to attach it to the TI hull using 3 channels that span the hull.
I found these at my local hardware superstore which are light, strong and powder coated
Doubled up they are strong enough to support two people
The channel is attached to the hull using saddles and quick release pins
The 3 support legs of the stretcher drop into the channel
and are secured using cable clamps
The end result is a comfortable and secure sleeping platform
...that makes a great base for a tent:
I need to work on the conduit tent support but overall I'm very pleased with this new way to sleep onboard.
More to come ...when it warms up!
Helinox website here:
http://www.helinox.com.au/