Hexamid Rides Out the Storm

[Anonymous]

A

[Roger Caffin]

Why is it one never has a video of these events?
:-)

Cheers

[Nathan Stuart]

I've had my solo plus in a wild night/morning up on the Kosciusko main range in Australia. Worked well but I had good stake out points, even then they came loose a little but never all the way out. The tent shape bucks the wind well though as long as not too much gets under the tarp.

The key to this type of shelter is how good those stake out points are. As you found out this is the weak point in the chain……

Oh and a solid pole helps……

[Nick Gatel]

Mine has successfully weathered a couple good desert windstorms complete with rain. The supplied carbon pole flexes like crazy but it did not break or come loose. I finally bought a much sturdier pole from Ruta Locura, at around 2.8 ounces, almost as much weight as my Hexamid (3.3 ounces).

Joe used his prototype on a thru hike of the CDT.

Of course as with many cuben shelters, I am a little nervous about the guyline loop connections. So far, so good. But I keep my eye on them.

It is rather mind boggling that a shelter this light holds up to such windy conditions as I have encounter. I also have the poncho/ground sheet. The poncho works better than any other one I have owned, and the neat engineering turns it into a bath tub floor for the Hexamid. Pretty ingenious stuff.

On one desert trip I brought 2 Easton stakes and some SMC snow stake to handle loose desert soil, and the stakes weighed more than the shelter!!

[Tony Beasley]

Check this thread out on the Bushwalk.com forum, there is a photo and a report of a Hexamid in strong winds.
http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5810&p=130207&hilit=hexamid+tent#p130207

Tony

[Rod Lawlor]

Hi Tony,

Great bunch of reviews, but what really cracked me up is the last paragraph in the second review

"On the third night I used a friend's tent in calm conditions and then our trip got cut short after he stepped onto a snake while bush bashing. The snake bit him at the calf through this Outdoor research expedition croc gaiters and pants. Funny because he was walking behind me in my footsteps, but i only saw the snake slither away after it had bitten him."

There are another seventeen posts, and not once does this incident get mentioned. Everyone is too busy talking about their Hexamids!

[Nick Gatel]

Those are Australian hikers. They aren't afraid of snakes like many Americans, even though many of their snakes are more poisonous than what we would normally encounter.

[Daryl and Daryl]

Rod,

Good observation. Cracks me up too. Talk about focused gear heads!

Daryl

[Dale Wambaugh]

Right, Mate, you call that a snake bite? Now THERE'S a bloody snake bite! (falls over)

[Dustin Short]

But Nick…that's because their snakes just straight up kill you! It's an all or nothing game with aussie snakes. If they even do bite you (many prefer to flee unless you're actively harassing it) they usually won't inject venom. If, by some chance or act of stupidity, you are envenomated…well it's pretty much game over if you're in the backcountry.

In the US we have rattlers. While they can definitely kill, you're far more likely to survive a bite. Problem is rattler venom is both neurotoxic and hemotoxic, so if you do survive you'll probably suffer some severe muscle damage as the venom digests your flesh. On the bright side most US snakes will warn you first (even many non rattlers will shake their tale against a branch to make a fake "rattle" sound).

Now I have a question for you Nick. Do you use a bivy or inner tent to keep snakes from curling up next to you in the morning? It's something I've considered as of late even though all the rattlers I've ever seen have been east of the Ol' Miss and not here in the SW.

Then again I'm still more afraid of flash floods and lightening than any animal threat ;)

[Nick Gatel]

"Now I have a question for you Nick. Do you use a bivy or inner tent to keep snakes from curling up next to you in the morning? It's something I've considered as of late even though all the rattlers I've ever seen have been east of the Ol' Miss and not here in the SW."

When it comes to snakes (rattlers where I hike), to me it comes down to knowledge. I know they are not interested in me, and are actually afraid of me. I am not brave, just know the risk is minuscule. I worry about where my next water source is, not snakes.

I don't use a shelter or bivy if it is not going to rain. Here is my typical camp in the picture below. This was in the lower Colorado desert in March of this year, when rattlesnakes are typically active. Over the past few years on BPL I have posted many similar pictures with just a tarp or just a sleeping bag/quilt. Also in this picture I am close to the only large area of brush in the vicinity (needed a potential wind block), which could mean more snakes. The area was also very rocky, a favorite hang out for rattlers.

Again, I am not brave; just know it is highly unlikely that a snake is going to bite me. It is similar to folks who hike in Grizzly country. I have a high fear of them, but have never hiked in Grizzly country. With more knowledge and experience I might become as comfortable as those who often hike solo in Yellowstone or Alaska.

[John Myers]

I recently used a Hexamid duo for 10 nights at Philmont where we had a couple of nights of very gusty winds. I was also concerned about the tie outs, but mine survived very well and I had no issues. Well, one night my front pole fell over, but I reset it and it held fine the rest of the night. I really like that tent.

[Jason G]

John, where were you memorial day weekend? I was doing the rae lakes loop that weekend and it there were some snow flurrys friday night but it wasn't thaaat windy. I was in my hex as well it it did fine too. (completely iced over inside and out fri and sat night though)

[Anonymous]

Jason, I hiked along South Fork Creek to where the trail goes up the ridge into Cottonwood Lakes Basin. This was Thursday evening when the wind kicked up. "Strong wind" is an understatement. It blew all night and the the next morning all the way back to car. I left so you could say that I was "blown away."

[Roger Caffin]

> well it's pretty much game over if you're in the backcountry.
Well, not really.

First of all, I should explain that the number of Australian bushwalkers killed by snake bite in the last 20 years could probably be counted on the fingers of one hand, with spare fingers. I can't actually recall any myself.

But there are technical (psuedo-gear-head) reasons why it does not happen. Most venomous Australian snakes have a grooved tooth for the venom, rather than a 'hypodermic' tooth. Most of us wear good gaiters. When (if) a snake strikes (which is extremely rare anyhow), most of the venom is blocked or absorbed by the gaiter.

Well, it seems to work for us, anyhow…

Cheers

[Nathan Stuart]

That and most Aussies will carry a pressure bandage to slow the venom if you are bitten. Get bitten by an eastern brown and run off for help = dead. Use the pressure bandage and send a friend or use an epirb = alive.

Snakes are really not something I even think of before a bushwalk. They are just there and never really a threat. They are very keen on getting away, more so than attacking you. I think we scare then more than they scare us when we have an encounter.

I see a few but it's only normally a glance of a tail flashing into the grass next to the track.

LOL how the hexamid thread ended up here is ??? Still, kinda funny.

[John Coyle]

We have the Western Rattlesnake in the Gold Country of Northern California where I hike and backpack. They call it the Gold Country because it's where the gold rush of 1849 started. The Western Rattlesnake is not an aggressive species normally, but once I rounded a trail and encountered a fully aroused Western Rattler coiled, raised up, rattling up a storm, and staring straight at me. It's amazing how loud they are. A jogger had just passed me going the other way and I reckon he must have stepped on it or agitated it in some way. I watched it for a few minutes and eventually it slithered off into a Poison Oak bush, still rattling, and settled down.

Another time I was farther up in the foothills and heard a commotion up ahead of me in some tall Manzanita bushes. Three ladies had encountered a big fat Western Rattlesnake sunning itself right in the middle of the trail. Being the chivalrous type, I nudged it off the trail with a stick, and it sluggishly crawled off to the side, never rattling once.

It is very rare to hear of someone being bitten by a rattlesnake here, and when it happens they usually survive. In fact I consider Mountain Lions to be a bigger threat, as a female jogger was killed and partially consumed by one near Cool California (yes there is a small town called Cool California) about 10 years ago. You can search for an account of it on the internet if you are interested. There is a memorial bench along side the trail in her honor. Personally, I like rattlesnakes, and like to see them on my trips, but I would prefer they not be in the middle of the trail.

We are totally and completely off-topic here, but this pretty much says it all regarding snakes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_snake_bites_in_the_United_States#2010s

[Seth Brewer]

What I've learned now learned from this slightly drifted thread is that if I ever do have time to take my Hexamid out – It will survive a World Ending Hurricane – but I'll also probably wind up being killed by a rattlesnake in a religious service in West Virginia :-P Party on people !

[Remington Roth]

I noticed on your list of snakebites that two men by the name of Wolford were killed by snakes – both pastors handling snakes in religious services. One was in the 1980's and the other was quite recent. How bizarre a coincidence? Like father, like son, huh?

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