Contrail up in 58 seconds

Franco,

You are certainly a pokey butt. What is there that would cause you take a whole minute to set up the contrail. 20 secs to stake out the rear and another 10 secs to walk up front and and possibly another 20 stake out the front. These are very conservative estimates and you are trying to set the world record!? Come-on, lets get the lead out. I would like to see that video!

That Franco can finish setting up his tent in 58 seconds and then go collect firewood for the group — while I work on my double walled Seedhouse 2 SL with the nine requisite stakes. :)

Hi John,
If I could stake the rear in 20 sec I would be even happier

This could be the link, please let me know if it works.
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1430969
I'm on dial-up (yep, I'm the one) so it took me a while to figure out the right compression.
( I like that Yahoo has a "flag this if offensive" but have no NERD warning)
Sorry I have to go. The CNN crew is here.

Ben
A record attempt in almost ideal conditions ( a little cooler, less wind and earlier in the day could have taken at least 3 seconds off) is a bit different than in the bush. But yes, I could have a cup of coffee ready by the time you finish setting up your Seedy House.

Franco

You mean "But yes, I should have coffee ready for you by the time you finish setting up your Seedhouse".

Yes, now that I have discovered coffee bags, I will consider delivering a nice hot beverage to Ben at his house of ill repute.
Bernie at Practical Backpacking has the link working.
Franco

Grazie!

Now, house of ill repute? Is that nice?

(after dinner…)
You tell me. I don't have a Big Agnes in my Seedy House

I still have not seen a challenger
Franco

Off topic, but Franco's post brought back a 'fond' memory.
We were traveling (with Scouts) and drove past a billboard for an 'adult' store. Of course it had a giant XXX on it. As we drove past the sign my friend's dad said "Triple X, huh. They must have some big old girls in there." I still think about that every time I see one of those signs.
And also, the requisite University of Missouri-Rolla joke. "There are tons of girls in Rolla, there's just not a lot of them."
Enough about large women though, back to Franco's record!

Adam

BLIMMEY, Cobber!

I doubt if even Henry (Shires) could do it any faster, although I didn't notice you using your signature third rear pole in this video. Maybe my eyes missed it.

It's really just that simple, folks. And all for 26 ounces, seamsealing, stakes, and lines included, trekking pole excluded.

I tried to get up and get a beer while the video was playing and you had already finished when I got back! I just loved the sound of the airplane going by overhead… really added some "whoosh" to the whole effect! Or was that a lazy Sunday drone that gave a counterpoint to the speed of the tent-raising, thereby increasing the illusion of speed?

nm

I think it's wonderful that you can set up your tarptent so quickly — this will come in handy when you have to up and turn it when winds change directions and start blowing hard sideways at different times of the night!

My beloved Rainbow is pretty darn stable regardless of wind directions. The SMD Lunar throws off the wind whatever the direction! My Seedhouse is basically bombproof in most all three-season conditions. You only have to set these tents up once — so the need to train oneself for fast set up is simply not an issue.

*****

Note: Just bashing Franco here for his MAJORLY ANNOYING post about his "secret" to keeping condensation away from a single wall tent. I'm sure folks will understand. :)

As Ben so correctly points out, mountain winds are famous for changing direction on you, usually at the most inopportune times.

That's why I always add the two side guyout lines to my Contrail. Add another 10 seconds to Franco's video for that.

My Double Rainbow sheds wind even better than Bejamin's Rainbow, albeit at the cost of added weight and complexity of setup vs. my Contrail.

For their parts in this MAJORLY ANNOYING thread, both Franco and Benjamin are sentenced to one sudden, catastrophic tent failure during a mild but steady rainstorm on their next trek, the only caveat being that the air temperature must never drop below 75°F during the storm. (They'll both probably be in need of a bath by then anyways)

nm

Miguel, thank you for mentioning the sound. I did not have my speakers on when I played the clip back. The camera was a Fuji F10 (compact still camera with tiny mic) on top of a glass table about three meters away. It did pick up the noise of the plane, the other weird reverberating sound is from the waterfall in my pond.
My typical dodgy weather set-up, using the front and rear (with extra pole) guylines would indeed take longer, about 2 minutes with some fiddling, but the one in the clip is the standard 4 pegs version.
The point of the "condensation fix" thread was to see, (keeping in mind that the designer haven't), if someone else made the connection between the Ion Mask technology and tent fabric.
Franco
David
as for your suggestion to "sprint" , I am 52 years old, I only sprint at the end of the trail if there is beer within sight.

Looked like 3 secs went by before you started. I think you could do break your record. Your one trip around to set up was impressive.

I'm going to time myself setting up mine this weekend. It takes me about 3 – 4 minutes I think. I could video it for comedic value. It takes me several iterations circling around adjusting the corners. I'd like to be able to improve on that, at least, even if I don't reduce time of set up.

Thanks for the inspiration!