What do the people WANT!?

A $300.00 pair of ultralight socks so you can Lord it over people that you are hiking in a $300.00 pair of highly tactical, super light, differential cut socks that make your feet feel light as clouds and airy as a meadow after a long hike.

A gasoline powered turtleneck sweater.

Then I thought of some dumb stuff too…………………

A cuben fiber Hammock Tent that is insulated on the bottom so you can eliminate the under quilt.

A down bag that can withstand being washed in a regular washing machine and a dryer that perfectly dries the down quickly without burning the nylon.

How about a couple of foam pads that when snapped, zipped, or put together fit in the tent floor perfectly like wall to wall carpet so you are always comfortable and won't fall off the pad. Might have to sale the pad and the tent that fits those pads together in a package deal.

Hammock under insulation could just be several layers of fabric, or better yet, aluminized fabric. If they were 1 inch apart you'de get maximum insulation. Maybe 3 or 4 layers?

You don't need down or synthetic to push out the fabric which is what you have to do on top of you.

"but also, someone mentioned that another problem was it was dark inside."

I don't think that would be a problem for most, most of the time as many seem to use the tent or tarp most for sleeping when it's dark.

Meanwhile, if you got the reflective part on the inside, a couple of little candles look really awesome. I made a tarp from a combo of polycryo and polyethylene reflective "heet sheet" type material–looked really cool at night in there.

Usually reflective material is reflective on both sides

Yeah, that would be cool to reflect candle or flashlight

I'm not saying it would disqualify having a reflective tarp, but it would have to be evaluated, may or may not be a major problem

I think it would reduce the minimum temperature you can sleep comfortably by 10 degrees F or so. Plus, it would have less condensation.

Bob,
13 inches wide, eh? That's like (sleep)walking a tightrope made of foam!

The 13 inches works since I am a side sleeper. If I roll onto my back, both elbows hit the ground, and that wakes me up.

–B.G.–

Not sure if I understand the theory right, but I wonder…

There's a temperature gradient between your skin and the sky. Somewhere along that gradient will be the "dew point" temperature, at which water condenses on that particular night. You would like that to happen far enough away to be outside your sleep system. Sleeping under things (clouds, trees) moves it away.

With a reflective tarp/tent, might you create a greater temperature change at that boundary, increasing the chance that the dew point is above your quilt/bag/bivy?

Again, I'm really not sure I understand the theory. But if I have it right, I could definitely put up with some darkness for reduced condensation.

If Cascade desigs offered a custom width and lenght cut to measure service for the xlite series I think that would be useful.

If I could get a three section durable, flic lock,adjustable Ultralight CF trekking pole that would be in stock on a regular basis and cost less than $75

If you have a reflective tent, then the radiation from your body will be reflected back to you. If you have a non reflective tent, it will be a little colder than the outside of your sleeping bag so will absorb a little of that radiation.

There is a boundary layer of air around you. That air acts as insulation. If you're covered by a non reflective tent, there will be maybe 5 degree F across this boundary layer. If you have a reflective tent, it will be maybe 10 degree F, because the outside of your sleeping bag isn't radiating so much heat away. Or maybe it's 10 F and 20 F. The minimum temperature you're comfortable at will be this much lower.

If you're under a clear sky, there will be no temperature difference across the boundary layer. If the sky is clear, the air around you can be 20 degree F colder. If you're in the trees, away from the clear meadow it can be 20 degrees warmer.

You probably can't tell the difference between 5 F and 10 F, so having a reflective tent is a small effect. You can tell the difference of 30 F, so sleeping in a sheltered area rather than a meadow is much more important.

About condensation, if the outer tent material is reflective, it won't radiate heat to the outside ambient, so it will be a little warmer. This will make dew condense on it a little less. This would be a pretty easy test – put out a piece of reflective material and a piece of non reflective and see if there's a difference in amount of dew.

Check out the Rab Boreas hoody. Highly breathable, good venting via deep chest zip, and great sun protection. Worked really well for warm and sunny days spring ski touring. Looking forward to using it this summer on the trail.

A usable chair that weights 8 oz or less. Probably not what many others want…

"I think there is probably a market for custom dimension insulated/uninsulated inflatable sleeping pads like Kooka Bay used to make."

Yup, want that too…

I mostly agree with Jerry on this. There did seem to be a slightly noticeable difference in warmth and condensation when i used the polycryo/heet sheet combo tarp. But since it was a tarp, and i couldn't get it very tight with less venting, probably wasn't ideal as far as temp increase. (What i'm curious about doing is adding a heet sheet inner liner to my cuben SoloMid tent [and adding some extra silnylon fabric to drape down for winter]. I suspect that if i get it nice and tight, and add a couple of beeswax candles, i could raise the temps in there at least 20 to 25*F above the ambient temps outside via a combo of double wall, IR reflective liner [there would be some gap between the liner and tent], my body heat with the candles. Haven't been too motivated since it's not winter anymore).

I would like to see Joe or yourselves continue R & D on the Zpack Hexadome. Except I'd like to see one side go almost all the way down and the other side have a zippered entrance. It'll need vents….really good vents.

http://jolly-green-giant.blogspot.com/2012/03/shhhhh-zpacks-hexadome-tent.html

Seems that most UL Hammock UQs & TQs are down. I'm not a down fan (long story). I'd like to see a really UL non-down UQ and TQ that doesn't break the bank.

A good windjacket with a high CFM and low weight. Right now, there's nothing on the market around 2-4oz that has high breathability (high CFM). Stoic used to have a 2.1oz windjacket that had high CFM – shoot for something like that?

Torso length, wide inflatable sleeping pads. Something around 10oz would be nice.

Mountains in Michigan :-)

For the times I do get into the Sierra Parks, a sub 1# ,7 days of food bear canister. I have to believe this can be done.

"Mountains in Michigan :-) "

Perhaps i'm being greedy in lieu of the above, but i want real mountains in VA (and a longer, colder winter would be nice).

If we are playing that game, I'd like a mountain in London ;)

Justin,
I have a sneaking suspicion that Stephen M. would gladly trade you some of his cold Michigan winter weather for some of your not quite "real" Virginia mountains! :)

You got that right Derek :-)

Ditto on a truly ultralight umbrella using reflective material (needs to not degrade due to UV) and carbon fiber. I'd love to cut my chrome dome weight in half.

Short wide mat with a decent R value.

"A sub 1# ,7 days of food bear canister."

I'm sure someone could take and Ursack like soft bag and incorporate a hard screw on top.
Think that's the only way to get to 1#.

Would love to see it work.