Ultralight gazebo – use as a mobile clinic

[Gert Jan Pieterse]

Hi there,

my first post in backpackinglight! Hopefully many will follow ;)

I’m logistician for a rapid response medical team. When we deployed to Mozambique a few months ago, following cyclone Idai, we realized we are missing some essential gear. Each day we were dropped off by a helicopter to different villages, to be picked up in the afternoon. We could take 15 kgs / 30 lbs per person; sometimes 4 people, sometimes 10 people. That’s what we could call lightweight!

Our equipment included medication, medical instruments, water / purification, etc. What we really lacked was a small clinic.

So therefore my question before we start making our own Dyneema Fiber / Titanium gazebo: does anyone know about lightweight gazebo’s?

~ 3 x 3 meters / 10 x 10 feet floor

~ 2 meters / 7 feet height

~ 5 – 7 kgs / 10 – 14 lbs max

~ selfstanding

Thanx!

[Sean P]

I used to do similar work in the (Australian) Army.

The lightest system is to use existing infrastructure – if you are inserted into a village use their power, water and shelter if they possess it (not always available in a natural disaster I realise).

Perhaps a lean-to might be the next best option? I recall working under a ‘hootchie’ ( a tarp) quite a bit – just to keep rain and sun off.   Dust and privacy is a problem though.

A tarp will allow you to secure it to existing infrastructure (there’s always something standing) and make a lean-to or use existing timber or metalwork (or bring lightweight poles) to raise one end and make a roof.

 

I recall from talking to helicopter loadmasters that weight really is of the essence – any weight allowance you spend on a shelter is less you can spend towards  IV fluids, instruments and medications.

 

 

 

[Greg Mihalik]

Not What You Asked For –       Welcome to BPL   ;-)

This is 7 pounds from MSR –  https://www.msrgear.com/tents/rendezvous-120-wing-and-200-wing-group-shelters.

An enclosed, 10×10, freestanding, weatherproof shelter leads quickly to a geodesic expedition tent at 60# and $6000.

So –

Are guylines for wind OK? Or lines to sand filled bags on the corners?

Net walls, Solid walls, or No walls?

Waterproof, as in tropical downpours?

The more you can clarify the more help you’ll get. We can hit a moving target.

 

 

 

 

[David Thomas]

Not as light as you wanted, but as a place to start:

Two of my daughter’s high school friends run a craft booth.  They make $500-$1200 a day at fairs in the summer selling nerd/geek-themed swag.  They use a 10’x10′ pop-up canopy.  It sets up quickly and breaks down into a box about 11″ x 11″ x 30″.  My guess was that it has a steel frame and weighs 40+ pounds and when I did a bit of web surfing, that was true.  But searching “pop up canopy aluminum” yielded this:

10′ x 10′, 72-82″ head clearance, US$200, 35 pounds total, 21 pound frame.

Certainly not as light as possible, but better than the steel frame ones, quick to set up by one person and cheap.

[Ben H.]

My thought is a 6-man tent set-up with just the poles and the rain fly.  Maybe something like this:

https://www.rei.com/product/128688/rei-co-op-grand-hut-6-tent

It looks like it could be set-up with just the rainfly and poles.  The whole tent is 16 pounds. You would probably drop 1/3 to 1/2 the weight leaving the tent body home.

If you don’t have REI in your neck of the woods, here is another option that is even lighter but it doesn’t close off on the ends:

https://www.rei.com/product/111812/big-agnes-big-house-6-deluxe-tent

however they do have a 3.5 lb vestibule that closes off the ends and increases floor space:

https://www.bigagnes.com/VESTIBULE-Big-House-6-DLX

 

 

[David Thomas]

Half the area, but MUCH lighter would be a Megamid at 86 x 86 x 57 in and only 1 kg.  $200 on Amazon.  Or use a pole you find locally, or set it up under a tree, having thrown a rope over a branch.

It’s been our favorite shelter in the Aleutian Islands (where it can really blow).  For more room under it, perhaps elevate the whole thing 6 feet off the ground, use 8 long guys lines out to stakes, and attach nylon taffeta or mosquito netting to the (former) bottom edge of the megamid.

If you wanted to rely on your own, taller pole, I’d aim for something of this configuration:

but with the verticals being short lengths of aluminum tent pole, the joints triangles of plywood, and skip the diagonals.

Not as much area as you wanted, but how about 2 or 3 of them?  You’d still be way under your weight target, have some redundancy, and more patient privacy / ID control.

There are probably a lot of other overlap between UL backpacking and your kind of remote medical work: lightweight shelters, warmth, water purification, UL refrigeration, etc.  (I’m a chemical and environmental engineer and my wife is an MD who’s done medical work in the Bolivian Andes, Zimbabwean bush and Bangladesh (and rural Alaska, but that’s home).

[Gert Jan Pieterse]

Thanx guys!

Yes, we are definitely considering tarps as well, but indeed dust and privacy can create problems. To add to my feature list: it would be awesome to have a frame strong enough to hang a medication bag from it; with small compartments for different medication / equipment. This might be hard with a tarp.

To give some extra requirements (or better ‘wishes’ at this point):

• Guy lines, use of sand bags: probably okay, although it is even more flexible without.
• yes, closed side walls due to privacy
• Tropical downpoor waterproof: please yes, we have been responding to hurricane areas before where (new) storms might bring a lot of rain
• That leaves us to the windproofiness of the shelter; it should withstand a small storm (e.g. 6 bft?), but a big hurricane like one is unreasonable I guess
• A shelter with lot of headroom would be great; so that you could stand / work everywhere, not only in the high middle.

The REI tent looks promising, I’ll have a look at it. Also the Megamid is interesting; indeed we would need multiple tents and I am a little worried about the headroom, but it does add redundancy as you say.

Very interesting other points you mention btw; especially water purification (including patient needs) and refrigeration are on the wishlist as well! But I better start new threads for those ;)

I actually found a few ‘inflatable shelters’, e.g. Kampa Air Shelter

and Berghaus Air Shelter.

They claim to be fairly lightweight (13 lbs / 22 lbs, not a megamid / tarp weight yet), but I don’t know if I could trust inflatables for durability… Any experiences on this?

[J-L]

I think a sun shade shelter would work:

https://www.rei.com/c/shade-shelters

Big Agnes Sugarloaf is 16lbs and meets most of  your requirements: https://www.rei.com/product/147166/big-agnes-sugarloaf-camp-shelter

This one is only about 7lbs, floorless, and has some accessory walls you can add for privacy: https://www.rei.com/product/128997/big-agnes-three-forks-shelter

 

 

[Gert Jan Pieterse]

We have tried the Kampa en Berghaus Air shelters, along a very lightweight and cheap gazebo bought locally and the Big Agnes Sugarloaf. So far, the Sugarloaf works best!

Biggest plusses are the relatively small packing size, relatively easiness to setup and flexibility with removable mesh innertent. However it is still not perfect so we’ll keep on looking for a definite solution.

One of the solutions I’ll definitely look at is the ‘raised Megamid’ style tent. I’ll let you guys know!

Thanx for all the suggestions :)

[John S.]

Thanks for the followup on your choice.

[Dale Wambaugh]

Self standing, no way. The Mountain Hardware Hoopster came to mind.

If there are existing structures with flat walls, rigging a tarp from a wall and two poles on the outboard side would be simple. You need to know their construction techniques so you know what hardware you might need to attach it— and the owner’s cooperation of course.

[Author]

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