Review: Go! Outfitters - Landing Pad

A well made tarp is a crucial bit of kit that every outdoors expedition could benefit from, be it rain or wind shelter, shade or just a dry and prickle free place o picnic upon. Though at times a 9  x 12 tarp may be a bit too much, especially if you're just planning for a bit of a trail hike. Then there is your gear, be it packs, cook gear, bedding or even boots at the end of a long day. If like me you prefer a slung hammock to a ground tent there is the question of what to do with your gear, if whatever fly system you have doesn't cover it. The clever people at GO! Outfitters came up with something to fit that niche, the Landing Pad.   

It’s made from durable 70D polyester, with a 1000mm waterproof polyurethane coating on the bottom and a silicone coating on the top for extra protection and easy clean up. This makes the Landing Pad extremely waterproof. 

 The Landing Pad is 137cm (54") in diameter and has eight stake loops and four sets of drawstrings with cord locks around its outer edge. It comes with a set of steel hook-style tent stakes in a draw string bag to stake it down as needed. At 137cm in diameter, the circle is big enough that 4 people could sit on it back to back or three facing inwards, if legs can be managed. Certainly big enough for a trail-side picnic or to drop bags and boots on whilst hopping into your hammock. Stake it down under your hammock for a soft place to step onto once you swing your legs over but before you put your boots on. 

The four drawstrings around the edge of the Landing Pad allow for the lips to be drawn up into a low bathtub to keep damp ground run-off out. It also allows for the whole circle be drawn up like a purse to wrap your gear in a highly water proof bag. Obviously the opening isn't covered, so don't be throwing it in a pool or leaving it under a waterfall. By pulling two opposing drawstrings the landing Pad converts into a gear hammock,  stretching 2.4m (7'10") overall with a 1m (3') hammock space. Though it can be drawn tighter doing so reduces the capacity. I would use it as an along-side sling, rather than bunk-style to keep things in reaching distance and act as a buffer.

 This drawstring rim also enables the Landing Pad to be fitted over a backpack to shelter it from the weather and could supplement a poncho to keep both you AND your gear dry.  I found it big enough to be able to wear it like a turtle-back poncho, covering my back, butt arms and back. Its even big enough that I could shelter under it like an umbrella when couched, staying totally covered. 

I found that the tan/brown material made for quite the unobtrusive "hide" when crouched down under it when just off-trail. It occurs to me that with an expanded hiking stick or appropriately padded branch you could make a small single pole shelter with the Landing  Pad, properly staked out.The Landing Pad, with stakes and stuff-sack weighs 285g (10oz) and by itself 15g (5.3oz) and packs down to a pocket sized 4cm X 13cm X 18cm (1.5" X 5" X 7").

More than compact enough to stuff in a pocket or day-pack when going for a hike to provide a clean dry spot to break on. I have two  ( one brown one charcoal grey) and they make for an easy addition to any adventure without adding excessive gear load.

Review: Great Outdoors Silver Grande 9L tent

Having an ultralight bivy tent is all good and well for a bit of  a solo over-nighter off the trail when ounces mean pounds, but there is also a time and a place for a big tent that will fit the whole family, and gear. Sometimes you need to go big, and one such biggness is the Great Outdoors Silver Grande 9L a four room, 9 person tent.We jokingly refer to this beast as the Tent Mahal. All told this huge tent weighs 29.7Kg (65.5 lbs) so its definitely more suited to back yard or drive-in camp sites, though i have carted it in to a couple of sites in a trolley and/or hand wagon. 

This rather palatial tent with measures 6.4m (21') in overall length (2.1 x 2.2 x 2.1) and 3m (10') wide in the middle, 2.15m at the end rooms. The front room adds another 2.1m to the width to a total of 4.3m (14'). The side rooms are a little bit shorter than the main central room, which tops out at a very respectable 2m15m (7') tall enough for me to stand and stretch in nay room, quite a luxury. Each room has a door out wide zippering allows for good clearance around the bathtub bottom of the tent. The three off-rooms all open onto the central room with a low-trip edge of similar width as the external doors for ease of access. 

The internal doors are made of the same lightweight and breathable fabric as the inner walls of the tent, and self-stow in fabric pockets beside each door.  Each outside door features a flyscreen outer, with the opaque option as an in-set. these all wrap up with their self-storing toggle and loop attachments. The interior is really very spacious and airy. The walls are at a high angle, so you maximize the available space, which is often lost in lower dome tents. The internal walls are all a very light, breathable material, and well fitted. 

Each of the off-rooms have window panels on the sides which can be rolled up to add airflow and views. Structure is provided by two sets of colour coded fiber-glass poles, and each is designed to slot into sleeves built into the inner shell, and mount on captive pegs attached to split rings, attached to the base, in the corners of the main room. These also have clip-on stays to keep the inner walls taut. The off-rooms each have a similar system, forming an arch over the external doorway. Plenty of peg-loops around the edges provides for a well pegged-down base. 

Each room features clips in the corners to suspend a light or string a clothes line to air out what have you. The main room has two "window" panels in the roof and the fly has two clear PVC panels corresponding for light and ventilation. The windows throughout make for a very well lit and comfortable home away from home. 

The main room has two zippered ports in the bathtub floor wall to feed power or other cables in without exposing yourself to too many bugs and critters. Perfect if you have a powered site, a generator or the like. You might even feed an LPG hose to a cooker if in-tent cooking was your thing, though I wouldn't recommend it myself. There are also two sets of four mesh pocket sewn into the main room walls for all manner of small items; phones, sunglasses, tissues, spare socks, gloves, caps. This little touch helps organize personal effects that might otherwise vanish until pack-up time. (I once "lost" a wallet, went as far as cancelling all my cards only to find it under the tent when we packed up). The fly is silvered on the inside which adds significant protection from the sun, and radiant heat, and as previously mentioned has clear PVC panels matching the windows on the sides and top of the inner layer. 

The zippers are set under a lip for rain shedding and have a reflective cord loop for easy pulling at night. Numerous guy-lines are built in to strategic locations and the ground- reaching corners feature a heavy-duty shock-cord loops for pegging it down. The "front door" has a door-matt built in, perfect for keeping muddy feet out of your nice clean tent. The fly features a pop-out pavilion with two poles to form an annex that is billed as being able to join up with the back-cabin of a truck or van, for even more enclosed space, though i haven't had the ability to try that out. I have managed to set the whole thing up on my own, under good conditions, but it's easier with help. I have set the fly up the wrong way around several times, prompting me to write on the corners of the fly and tent ("tab A, slot B" type notes for next time I set it up. The tent nominally fits in a light nylon carry bag, with carry and drag straps, and a wheeled base, but I have had great trouble re-packing it every time. 

After use, I like to lay the fly out to dry, ( and the inner, too,inverted if possible) if space and time allows to have it dry for pack-down. In summary this is a great tent, spacious, roomy and airy, but its very large and heavy. With all the pegs in place, and well guy-lined down, the chain-of-domes structure is very stable in even quite high winds, and in the light rains I've had it up in we've had no leakage or seepage problems. Given its capacity, it could even do as a short to medium term bug-out home, once a suitable location has been scouted, whilst more permanent habitations are established. This was a second hand gift from a festival going friend of ours, and i probably wouldn't have bought one as large on my own. Looks like its no longer on the market, but if you have the need for a big tent, something like this would suit you well.