Darning done! Next – Trailstar Transformation!

backpacking, outdoors
All week I practiced my sewing skills. Measuring small bits of silnylon, cutting, and sewing seams on into the small hours. And discarding the results. Eventually I decided enough practice – time to commit. Seam sealer is adhesive – so I cut the patches to size and glued them in place with the seam sealer.
In my previous excursion gale force winds landed a branch on my tent piercing it in several places. The fabric is impregnated with silicon for proofing and requires some special handling. Silvent ‘seam sealer’ was the right stuff.
On the next day I sewed around the edges. and then seam sealed the stitching. Job done! I don’t remember why I put the patches on the outside. It seems wrong now, but at the time …

Yesterday I collected my bug protection from the post office. This inner from Oook in Cumbria turns a spartan piece of weather protection into a real luxury residence. I’ve spent one miserable night beset by midges and when I heard that they’re already in training for the influx of May visitors to Scotland I decided to take evasive action.

Oook make this with fine mesh on top of a silnylon bathtub style ground sheet. It is sized generously for one person and takes up about half the interior floor space of the MLD Trailstar. Once the Oook is set-up the Trailstar suddenly transforms – there’s a front and a back, a vestibule, and a sleeping area.

So do I still need my bivvy bag? I think not! But will the thin Silnylon floor really survive the rough ground? And what about emergencies?

Related posts:

  1. Gearing up to the TGO Challenge – an opinionate guide to backpacking essentials for Scotland The TGO Challenge – there’s lots of advice out there – so my small contribution may not add much. At least this catharsis will allow...
  2. TGOC 2015:diary notes #4 Great Glen to Lochcallater Lodge Wednesday 13th May Laggan Locks to Garva Bridge (note1: click on a picture to enlarge it  … Push and pull the map in the window...
  3. The Night Train to Corrour and not the Grey Corries unexpurgated   The 9.15 from Euston reaches this bit of wildness almost 12 hours later. The miracle at Corrour is that the train doesn’t sink beneath...

1 thought on “Darning done! Next – Trailstar Transformation!”

  1. Alan Sloman

    Your Trailstar now has proper Hill-cred. I had to sew up Wanda a few years back. She now feels like a proper mountain girl rather than a flashy virgin.
    Wanda has a sil-nylon floor and this will be her sixth Challenge – so I wouldn't worry about the floor. If you are really worried you could take a small piece of silnylon and the seam sealer.

    Reply

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *