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scm007
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scm007
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PostMon Sep 18, 2006 10:27 pm 
I'm wondering if I could take a space bag rather than a tent if rain is unlikely? Also, what's the disadvantage to using a spacebag + lightweight sleeping bag to a heavier sleeping bag?

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jimmymac
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jimmymac
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PostTue Sep 19, 2006 12:51 am 
Space blankets (and bags) fail brittly. hammer a screw driver through a full length mirror. You've just seen a demo of what any sharp object can do to a space blanket. If punctured, the material shatters and tatters. Very unforgiving.

"Profound serenity is the product of unfaltering Trust and heightened vulnerability."
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Spotly
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PostTue Sep 19, 2006 5:38 am 
If you lay in it and there's anything at all under it, like a pebble or a twig, the chances are that it wil get a small tear, which will grow very quickly. They will keep you warm in a pinch but only if you get lucky and they hold together. Plus, as was said, condensation is a real problem. I carry one for an emergency but would never plan on using it intentionally.

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Stuart
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PostWed Sep 20, 2006 6:16 am 
If you're careful with the space blanket, you might get it to last through one night. Your better off with a silnylon tarp. It's a big price difference. But the tarp wont fail on you. Fold the space blanket in half and use it for a ground cloth. Neither one are going to give you noticable warmth. But you'll stay dry.

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sarbar
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sarbar
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PostWed Sep 20, 2006 8:05 am 
If you can do simple sewing, go to Seattle Fabrics on Auroa, and buy some sil nylon and make your own easy tarp smile.gif Great store, and the fabrics are very affordable there! (It is an all outdoors fabric shop) It is what I'd suggest. One night I was so cold I covered myself and the kid up with an E blanket (he had an accident, and his sleeping bag was useless, and we were sharing mine.) It kept us warm, but, you can never refold them!

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Dante
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PostWed Sep 20, 2006 10:17 am 
Once, on a snow camping trip, I tried using a space bag as a VBL in a too-light bag. I don't recall being cold, but I didn't sleep much either with that bag krinkling and crackling with every breath or move lol.gif Here is a better option: Western Mountaineering HotSac VBL.

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Slide Alder Slayer
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PostWed Sep 20, 2006 10:52 am 
Space bags/blankets don’t provide warmth per se; they slow down your own heat loss by reflecting up to 80% of your own heat back to you. In the past I have found space "blankets" to be very good ground cloths that easily lasted three or four backpacking trips. They are easy to clean and refold, weigh nothing, but need to approximate your tent footprint or sleeping surface. I carry a space “bag” as an emergency shelter if I camp low and will play high. I wish had one on my backpacking trip to the Golden Lakes Loop several years ago when in late June an overnight cold front moved in and dropped the temperature to ten degrees at Boiling Lake. It would have been nice to place the space blanket/bag inside my sleeping bag because my extra insulation just wasn’t cutting it.

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Dante
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PostWed Sep 20, 2006 11:08 am 
Space blankets reflect radiant heat and act as a vapor barrier. A few manufacturers have experimented with perforated space blanket material as breathable radiant heat barriers. Bristlecone Mountaineering used to make sleeping bags with perforated aluminized mylar between shingled synthetic insulation. I had one, but can't honestly tell you it was any warmer than a traditional synthetic bag. Stephenson also makes (or made) a shirt out of layers of perforated aluminized mylar and bug netting inside a ripstop shell. I had one of those, too. It was actually very warm for its minimal bulk. It didn't breathe very well, but Stephenson doesn't believe in that wink.gif

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Backpacker Joe
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PostWed Sep 20, 2006 4:19 pm 
I have a hot sack. It does work. Like anything else when a VBL is concerned. Wear clothes to offset the Panama like environment inside your bag.....

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
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