Does anyone out there know where I can get hold of any heat reflecting foil for my tent ??? I have just spent sauna like conditions in my tent this weekend at Glastonbury .. Or would pegging ordinary tin foil work , any advice please, Good, bad or indifferent :)) Does it work ??
You can get reflective car screen protectors in Halfords for £3 and they fold up really small. They're just the right size for under a single airbed, two for a double airbed obviously.
But you don't want it for insulation under your tent - you want it to stop the sun on top of your tent.....(should have read your post more carefully - most people are looking for reflective stuff for heat retention!)
So...
Two options. Get a tarp with eyelets in the corners and get some king poles and rig up a shelter over the top of your tent.
Or get a cotton canvas tent, the temperature is more regulated inside your tent, and not the sauna conditions of polyester.
It's preferable to have more than one door in a tent so that you can create some airflow too.
Canvas is a good way to go, you wont regret it. Green Outdoors will do you a hemp/cotton tipi for a good price
aluminuim foil would be too flimsy (well brittle actually, fatigue is a problem with aluminum), but radiator foil might work (try Wickes), or those aluminized polymer/mylar sheets athletes use - be fun trying. You can get silver heat refelcting tarps too
one thing with a tarp is setting it so the high side catches the wind and funnels the air through/over the tent, you can use wind breaks the same way to channel air in your favour. Trees are good too, unless it rains
sometimes you can unpeg the mudwall and open the tent but modern sig designs prevent that
we once had a French tent with nylon that was aluminized (a bit like sun shelters) and was actually habitable in hot weather - alas, it got destroyed in a Manx storm while we were in the pub, so great in France, rubbish in UK
I was also at Glastonbury, suffering under the same conditions!
I took a £1 'emergency shelter' (a sort of space blanket thing) from Poundland and cut it into one long strip, then pegged it to the tent.
It was still too hot in the tent, but it made it a little more manageable.
I think your answer is a non polyester tent (if you check out some of the dutch websites they do some really nice small, festival type tents in cotton. Something like this
However, you can also get bigger heat reflective blankets like these they are often aimed at dog owners.
Somewhere I've seen bigger reflective sheets ah ha like this and as said you could put one up tarp like above the tent.
Unfortunately the reality is that a small poly tent is gong to get very hot very quickly...
If you only have a small tent, then perhaps a couple of silver backed picnic blankets draped over the top would help during the day. ( silver side up )
Personally, I would do as already mentioned, and go for a cotton tent with an extra cotton fly sheet over the top.
------------- Canvas tent, paraffin light, petrol stove. Heaven
I'd rather be kayaking.
Spent up, not pent up, just had my new tent up.
I suppose it all depends on what you're going to be using the tent for?...
I certainly wouldn't be splashing out on a cotton tent,if you only do a few festivals through the summer!(...and even if you did do a lot of camping,I still don't think I'd be taking my "best tent" to a festival..).
For festivals I'd be going down the space blanket route..maybe gaffa taping several together..and using a few runs of tape the help strenghten it up..and if it did get torn/trashed/nicked at a festival it wouldn't be the end of the world.
A seperate tarp,with poles is good but may take up to much room at a festival(..I'm thinking of guy lines getting tripped over..).
I read in this months camping magazine that some people only bring a blanket and a groundsheet to glastonbury! I take it you sleep where ever you fall.....
When we had motor bikes we each took a bivvi bag to the Bike Grand Prix at Donnington and Le Mans. We carried everything round in a rucksack each and just slept where we dropped ! Lived on rat burgers and pop ! Ahhh happy days !
Sounds heavenly...except for the.....er.....rat burgers.
I'm now very food orientated, big lass that I am, but I do remember going to rallies and forgetting to eat for a few days....or going camping and not bring a stove for even a cuppa! I must have lived off crisps. The thing is, I can't remember - I was too busy having a great time!
Quote: Originally posted by frome on 02/7/2010I suppose alcohol has a high calorific value.
Here here! Cheers!
Don't forget that the foil blankets will also hold heat in, which could be a positive or a negative side effect.
My dome tent has a sort of aluminised inner side to it's fly sheet, similar to an old Khyam one touch I used to have, this used to help keep things cool in the Khyam, haven't actually used the Regatta in anger yet.
Thanks for all your posts peeps , I am thinking that the foil reflective blankets may be the best solution for a festival .....cheaper and not massively out of pocket if they get trashed etc !! Mind you with the cooler weather forecast I may have jinxed the weather :(( by posting my topic ....
^^^ I wondered where this rain was coming from! Let us know how they go, they may even be beneficial in the cooler weather too, by possibly reflecting or retaining heat back in the tent, & they can be bought for pennies. I did some voluntary work recently, involving homeless people, they were being handed out for free, so can't have cost much.
Run a marathon & you'll also get one!