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Trace: • Mobi Garden Guan Tu V (On The Road V) hot tent / gazebo
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Mobi Garden Guan Tu V (On The Road V) hot tent / gazebo

see also:

Introduction

  • this is a large floor-less single wall tent designed to be used with a wooden stove with tall chimney and a small 1-3P tent inside - or in winter, just a stretcher bed
  • large enough to drive a car into and can double as a mosquito-proof well ventilated shelter or as a hot tent with a wood stove and chimney.
  • large end doors open to awnings to give added shelter if needed
  • extremely versatile and can be set up with one person
  • lighter and more compact than most gazebos which have far less functionality
  • far more internal space and standing head room than a 4 or 5m diameter tipi tent but it does take much longer to set up and may not be as wind resistant

Specs

  • “Morning Mist white” 210T polyester 3000mmWH fabric
  • mesh is a very fine white mesh (looks like it would be No-See-Um) which provides excellent privacy but does impair the view out somewhat
  • Seiko zippers on both layers of the doors can be opened from top or bottom and are double sided
  • no floor;
  • able to be fully enclosed on all sides plus 3 large side mesh French windows on one side;
  • stove jack is a 3 layered design - waterproof layer, fireproof layer with central slits for a chimney and an internal mesh layer
  • dual 1.9m high and 3.1m wide doors with awning and mesh - can easily fit a car through!
  • 4 pole aluminium design plus 2x 4 piece awning poles supplied (you need to add two more to open both awnings up)
    • the two poles with black end segments are the ones which cross over the tent (but do not cross over each other) and meet at the same spigot point on each side
    • the other two poles with bent segments are the wall side poles and attach to the end spigots at the doorways
    • all poles pass through tunnel sleeves and are stabilised by spigots at the bottom
  • tension straps connect the two sides of the walls at floor level and add to its stability
  • 10 guy outs to further make it wind resistant
  • fly: sun blockout layered, waterproof 1.8×2.8m customized fly to cover central ceiling area only but needs to wrap around chimney
  • 4×3.8×2.15m high; 15 square metres floor area; theoretically could be used for 5-8 people but really designed for 1-2 people;
  • 13kg including poles and pegs
  • tent fabric alone weighs 6.7kg
  • poles (including 2 awning poles) and pegs weigh 6.3kg
  • packs to 62x30cm - each of the two storage bags weighs under 7kg
  • ~$AU760

Structural integrity

  • this is a free standing tent once all 4 poles are inserted into their sleeves and into the spigots at their ends
  • if only the two main cross poles are inserted, these will lie on top of each other on the ground - they will only raise the ceiling when at least one of the side poles are put in place
  • the tent can be easily moved by 2 people, each holding the bottom of the cross poles to ensure the spigots don't come out

strong winds

  • in strong winds there is a risk that uplift could theoretically result in the spigots coming out of the poles and this could result in collapse of the tent
    • for this reason as well as general tent protection, the top 4 guy ropes as a minimum should be well guyed out to reduce the risk of uplift
  • I am yet to test it in strong winds but I expect it should do well in winds at least to 60kph if appropriately sited and guyed out and doors and windows zipped up
    • perhaps don't have the fire going in such conditions though !

stove issues

  • water sealing of the chimney / stove jack
    • having a chimney in place means the fly cannot be fully applied to protect that part of the ceiling
    • there will be gaps around the chimney which will allow rain to drip through
    • this can be at least partly mitigated by tying the fireproof stove jack as tightly as possible around the chimney
  • tent wall touching a hot chimney
    • a triple shielded chimney section placed at the stove jack is imperative as this generally reduces temperatures to around 40degC
    • nevertheless, the inner mesh of the stove jack could potentially come loose (the ties are not that strong) and could touch the chimney below the triple shielding
      • recommend using clamps on the mesh to reduce this risk
    • the tent wall itself is unlikely to contact the hot parts of the chimney with the triple shield section in place as they are strongly clamped to the main external poles
      • there is a risk in strong winds that the tent could collapse and then it would touch the chimney and stove resulting in the tent melting or catching fire
      • in strong winds, ENSURE tent stability by using all the guy ropes securely anchored and if there are concerns, do not have the fire going in these conditions

watersealing

  • water sealing seems excellent
    • in my testing in 20-30mm downpour of rain overnight, the only water ingress was at the chimney / stove jack and this was minimal, plus some expected water ingress coming under the tent sides
    • during my test I did have the windows closed up as it is likely some rain will enter through the mesh and there is no awning over the windows to protect the mesh from rain

Privacy issues

  • tent has the ability to fully close all windows and doors for practically total privacy
    • as with any light coloured tent without a light Blockout layer, a very strong light such as a car head light could still create a silhouette when viewed from the opposite side
  • the white ultrafine mesh does seem to be more difficult to see through than dark mesh used in most other tents and this becomes important when the doors are used as awnings as all you have is the mesh layer
    • it is possible to see some detail through the mesh during day time or if there is a light on inside the tent but it does offer some discretion

Setting up

  • choose a large enough tent site:
    • preferably with ground a little higher in the centre so any water will drain outwards from the tent rather than pool in the middle
    • preferably with any slope that will be under your sleeping area going from head to toe
    • if using a stove, choose the site so stove will sit as flat as possible so the chimney is vertical (otherwise you may need to level the legs manually)
    • remove any sharp objects on ground before laying out tent
  • lay out the tent on the ground
    • orientate the tent so that:
      • the 3 windows will look out over any view
      • allow sufficient room at the doorways to allow them to be used as awnings
      • you can back up your car into a doorway in case it rains and you wish to use the boot as a kitchen
  • stake the windy side well to avoid it blowing away
  • gently PUSH the 2 black poles through the cross-over sleeves and insert into the spigots, one pole at a time (otherwise the other pole will fall out without tension or someone holding it)
  • gently PUSH the 2 bent side poles one at a time carefully to avoid having the ends caught in the sleeve and then insert ends into their spigots
  • when you are happy with the position, peg the remainder of pegs in and peg the guy lines to ensure stability
  • optionally peg out the snow skirt
  • consider having a ground sheet or other flooring to place over the tension straps so they do not become a trip hazard (but avoid the stove area or cover with fireproof mat)
  • install your stove if you have one (you may need scissors to widen the slits to allow the chimney to pass through (highly recommend you use a triple shielded chimney segment to reduce risks to the tent)
  • optionally attach the fly sheet if rain is expected
    • tie the top hook onto the side pole sleeve
    • use the backpack buckle in the middle of the fly and fix it in place “where the tent is dug into the arc”
  • set up which ever sleeping gear you decide to use - stretcher or a 2p tent along the rear wall without the windows

Packing up

  • essentially just reverse the setting up procedure
  • you will need to PUSH the poles through the sleeves otherwise they will come apart within the sleeves and make it harder
  • stash tent into bag rather than repetitively folding at the same place each time as this weakens tents
  • ensure it is fully dry before storage

pros

  • large area of 15 square metres is larger than most 10 person tents which tend to be 6m x 2m (12 square metres) and these are usually much heavier and require 2 people to set up
  • no floor so lighter and no need to worry about having to dry it out or it getting damaged by rocky ground, twigs or the stove
  • nice design for a 2P tent to be used for added mosquito/sandfly/spider/snake protection
  • mesh on doorways has bottom third as fabric to reduce dust and sand from being blown in
  • snow skirts allow extra wind protection options
  • looks good and the French windows adds to this
  • partial fly has a Blockout layer to help on sunny days
  • advantages over a tipi tent:
    • extremely versatile and spacious - no centre pole!
    • freestanding
      • can be easily moved once set up although this requires two people - one on each side at the double spigots and it can lifted and carried to another site
    • lots of standing head room
    • reasonably mosquito proof even when doors and windows open (if you ensure the snow skirts are kept down well although there are gaps at ground level)
    • lots of ventilation and views if needed (most tipis don't have windows)
    • doorways have awnings and mesh
    • lots of amenity for coping with long rain periods
    • can be used as a gazebo
    • less hot in the upper part when using a wood stove as greater volume of air space at head level
  • advantages over most gazebos
    • much more compact and lighter than most of these
    • comes with all walls to allow full enclosure for wind and rain protection as well as keeping the warmth in
    • option of opening doors and windows and still have full mesh for ventilation, mosquito and fly protection
    • can be used as a hot tent with a wood stove
    • doors can be opened as awnings for extended shelter area
    • can be set up with one person easily

cons

  • relatively expensive
  • zippers can be annoying with their long strings which tend to get mixed up and also get caught in the zip
  • white fabric:
    • will get woken at sunrise
    • partly translucent so privacy issues with light on at night
    • may be hard to sleep in during sunny days
    • not very discrete (unless you camp in the snow)
  • no ground level ventilation or visibility to outside ground level without opening door and losing insect protection
  • white ultrafine mesh restricts views outwards (but does add privacy which is important if doors are used as awnings
    • viewing the stars would require fully opening a door and losing insect protection
  • ultrafine mesh reduce ventilation significantly and this could be too much on hot humid nights so may have to choose between being too hot or having mosquitoes on hot humid nights without much wind (just when the mozzies are out) or when using the stove
  • possible wind/storm issues as not aerodynamic but seems it should be strong enough for most situations
  • rain can drip down the stovejack when the chimney is in place
    • the supplied fly only partly reduced water ingress at chimney - you need to do some additional water sealing to reduce it further such as tying the fireproof fabric tightly around your shielded chimney
  • no floor potentially allows more wildlife in such as rodents, snakes, spiders and ants but none of these are really problematic if you have an inner mesh tent and you don't leave food around
  • 3 fixed transverse webbing stabiliser straps on the ground can be trip hazards
  • disadvantages compared with a tipi tent:
    • heavier, larger packed size
    • much larger area of fabric takes much longer to dry out and more difficult to hang
    • takes much longer to set up (4 poles to feed through sleeves instead of just one centre pole to push up)

photos

ae01.alicdn.com_kf_s0099bad2dc0b42b198744837cf1bb443v.jpg

potential inner tents

insulated inner tents

cdn.shopify.com_s_files_1_1582_3711_products_cruacullasolo1personinsulatedtentopen1st-min_900x.jpg

cdn.shopify.com_s_files_1_0708_8137_8589_products_mcoco1_900x.jpg

cdn.shopify.com_s_files_1_0711_7442_2845_products_cruacullamaxxinsulated3persontent-min_2048x.jpg

australia/mobigardenguantuv.txt · Last modified: 2023/05/09 21:56 by gary1
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