Bear spotted in Wales!

Sorry, that should say Bear Paw not Bear ... anyway. Living in the UK as most of us do it's easy to get slightly blinkered. As an example when you see or use the word shelter it tends to imply, sheltering from the weather, so rain, wind, cold and snow, etc. I think that at certain times of the year there are things to shelter from that are much, much worse than the British weather ... things that bite!

Midges are a curse, it seems that the nicer the place the more midges there'll be ... a kind of natural karma at work I suppose. The forests of Wales have their fair share of biting critters and at times it can be enough to make you leave the bivvy bag at home and pack a tent instead. That's a real shame though ... you're missing out on the best bivvy weather to be couped up inside a tent, just doesn't seem right, karma or no Karma! For me the solution is this.

It's made by a company in the States called, Bearpaw Wilderness Designs. They make all kinds of lightweight tents and shelters (inc' Cuben fibre stuff). This is the inner from their Pyro tent but can be used as a stand alone item. The ground sheet is sil nylon and the rest is very fine noseeum mesh ... so it keeps the nasty's out. You can either, string it from a tree branch, use a pole or stick or hang it inside a tarp. There's a nice big J shaped zip up entry (you can choose which side you'd like it on) and seven

pegging / tie points around the base.

This one is slightly different from the standard production model, I've had the height of the back and sides increased by 12" to keep any draughts out. That's one of the great things about Bearpaw, they'll happily custom make or alter designs to suit ... it's only your imagination which limits what they'll do. You might also have a pleasant surprise when you find out how much alterations and custom work costs. I won't quote weight / pack size with it not been standard but lets just say it weighs nothing and packs down to the same.

If you're on the look out for something to keep you from being eaten alive or even something to keep the weather off then pop over to http://www.bearpawwd.com/index.html and take a look.