3 Ways Tarps Let You Down
A Gear failure in the wild can be detrimental. (see Jim's story below)
1) Open Ends.
Most tarps are wide open at the ends, which leaves you and your hammock completely vulnerable to rain.
2) Your Pack.
Most tarps completely forgot to offer your pack any protection, so you're left tossing it in the mud or hanging it from the end (see above).
3) Protected Space.
Most tarps may be able to offer some light, no wind, rain protection but it stops there, you won't have any insect protection.
Watch the video below to find out what we did different 👇
Curious to see how we stay dry?
Though they may look like sleek space age aircrafts, our shelters have one purpose in their prolonged adventurous life PROTECTION for you and your gear.
The #1 most vulnerable place on any hammock is its connection to the tree. Your suspension acts like a pipe funneling water from the tree to your hammock during a rainstorm. This will leave you and your insulation soaked!
Many hammock campers add shoestrings to their suspension to minimize this.
We went a different route, all of our Air Tents come with waterproof sleeves that seal around your suspension preventing water transfer and keeping your ends completely dry and protected ✅ (no ridiculous shoe strings needed)
Our packs are pricey and play an important role in our adventures so taking good care of them while camping just makes sense...doesn't it?
Ground dwellers shove them in an already cramped tent or vestibule, and hammock campers either hang them on a tree (see above on why that's a bad idea), their suspension (again see above), or on the ground under them (#mud).
We didn't like any of these options so we created the Gear Stash, it keeps your pack clean, dry, and easily accessible. Best part it's integrated right into our Shelters.
When choosing fabrics for rain protection there are many considerations, tear strength, tension strength, rip control, absorption, but probably the most important is waterproofing.
We skipped the standard 30Denier DWR/1200mmPU fabric and went straight to the good stuff.
Our fortified protection fabric is a high tenacity 15Denier Nylon 66 Rip-stop with dual silicone coatings on the exterior and a 1500mm PU coating for the interior. Oh yea, and we heat weld seal every single seam in the factory. Reference the below Boundary Waters story to see why that fabric + our design is so important.
We'd love to share one of our favorite stories with you. This came from a (now) customer.
"Hello,
My name is Jim Aexfor and I am from Minnesota. I recently returned from a trip with a friend to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota.
I have a Kammok hammock setup while my friend has your Nubé setup he purchased early this year.
During our trip we encountered a bad storm with 50+ mph winds. During the storm my Glider hammock shelter ripped in half. This happened on day 2 of our weeklong adventure. My friend's Nubé shelter withstood the winds and we ended up adding my hammock above his in the shelter so I had a place to sleep out of the rain. We had another night of rain later on in the trip and had to do the same.
I had to let you know how awesome your product is and what a trip-saver is was for us. Otherwise, the trip would have been pretty miserable for me.
I will be shouting from the mountaintops about the quality of your product and will be advising my relatives and friends to check into your products. Ever since I started hammock camping many of my relatives and friends have become interested in this great outdoor experience.
I will be selling my hammock and investing the money into one of your setups. I am a teacher and a volunteer EMT so during the upcoming winter months I will be saving up to purchase the entire Nubé system.
Thank you so much for your incredible products that saved our trip!
Jim"
Thanks for sharing Jim, and we're happy to say he's a proud owner of a Nubé now.
The Adventurous Richard Branson loves Sierra Madre gear too!
Sierra Madre is the sound of a revolution in the outdoor world. Whereas other corporate conglomerates are figuring out which colors to push next year, Sierra Madre creates real innovations that empower you in the wild.
That's why Sir Richard Branson (possibly one of the most adventurous people on the planet) backed Sierra Madre. He believes in disrupting the status quo with the best product and service and was thrilled to partner with Sierra Madre.
Sierra Madre gear is built to last a lifetime and only available on our website.
Sierra Madre gear was created to maximize your time in the wild, we've carefully developed a line up of accessories that help you adapt to every adventurous situation you find yourself in.
No two adventures look the same, No matter where adventure takes you, we've got your back.
Our founder, Richard Rhett, created Sierra Madre because of two epic gear failures he experienced in the wild. Both left him stranded and completely ruined his adventures. As a Mechanical Engineer turned Entrepreneur. After over 10 years of building gear, Richard has held fast to our two pillars of our gear design, 1) solve problems, and look good doing it 2) over build it with hyper quality.
“Sleeping in the wild should be restful and enjoyable, when you're not worried about getting wet or cold - it's so much easier to feel at peace in the wild”. Being comfortable, protected, and warm in the wild helps you feel at peace... Feels like home. "That's what it's all about."
What an REI employee said about us...
“I work for REI in the camping department and I also teach wilderness skills for the outdoor school. I have had plenty of experience with other camping gear but not until I tried sierra madre I was never satisfied. Sierra madre has worked the kinks out with their incredible innovation!” — Robert
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