Could be of use

Interesting bit of kit provided you can keep it there in the winds of the summits LOL

Karl

I certainly was in situations where I wished I had one! Nevertheless, to imagine sitting in one of those on a summit and running a SOTA pile-up makes me uncomfortable. I would be afraid of being carried away in a straightjacket…

If running a radio on a summit would not raise curiosity enough.

73 Heinz, OE5EEP

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Never heard of these till now

so much better in our situation

Karl

I use a “Fishing Shelter” it’s smaller and lighter than the thing you linked to and probably much cheaper too, I think I paid 5 quid for mine on Ebay about 4 years ago and it’s still mostly okay (needs a re-proof, but I’ll probably just replace it).

http://tinyurl.com/pk7hah9

Colin

These things do work. But the photo on the site, showing the shelter apparently holding itself up in a neat square shape under the influence of some kind of anti-gravity, is perhaps a trifle misleading. Reality is more like this:

(though to be fair, this is with only one person inside as the other was taking the photo.

Popping in and out (e.g. to change links) can be a bit awkward, especially if it’s windy (which it usually is as we don’t usually find it worth the hassle of deploying the thing just for a bit of rain, especially as it makes it awkward to run two stations simultaneously.

Operating from inside is a very orange experience:

Martyn M1MAJ

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Thanks for sharing the experience with us I do believe an internal pole would help LOL.

Found this one do like this one as you can zip yourself in if need be.

http://www.sportsdirect.com/carp-kinetics-ultra-shelter-943346?colcode=94334699

Karl

And can be rather noisy in windy conditions, but still better than getting drenched when it rains. I have a Terra Nova (other makes available) bothy bag allegedly for 2 people but in reality just adequate for 1. They are remarkably warm inside even in harsh winter weather.

Victor GI4ONL

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I have never deployed my bothy bag in over 9 years of activating, preferring to use a plastic tarp for protection. My bag does have a loop which can be used to tether it in windy conditions, but being the shape it is, I wouldn’t trust it being in position when I got back from changing the dipole links. At least with a tarp I can peg it out at several points with it having eyelets around the edge. I often use it in conjunction with bungie cords which are useful to keep it in shape while allowing me to stick my head under to operate the kit.

I have come to the conclusion that there is no ideal shelter for activating. What suits the terrain on one summit, doesn’t suit another. I prefer the flexibility of a tarp - not pretty, but it usually does the job.

73, Gerald G4OIG

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