Happy Camper

" I got into an argument with a girlfriend inside of a tent. That's a bad place for an argument, because then I tried to walk out and slam the flap. How are you suppose to express your anger in this situation? Zipper it up really quick?" - Mitch Hedberg

I'm not your typical camper, maybe my lack of camping until i got to the age of 21 has something to do with this. The first time I stepped foot inside a tent was at a music festival in the UK. I remember turning up in a group of 6 with our borrowed 2 person tents, standing in a field in the English countryside and not one of us had a clue as to how to put them up. We tried for several hours and finally some other helpful (helpful because we bribed them with beer) festival goers saw our dilemma and erected out tents for us. Phew thank god otherwise I fear we may have slept out with the cows in the field all weekend. Since then I still haven't managed to get my mind around pitching a tent however recently there has been a new movement in redesigning the basic structure of a tent and these look like a challenge to me. I might have to start getting my backpack out and heading off into the back and beyond just so i have an excuse to try and pitch one of these.

A designer who is using his sculpture skills to create some amazing structures is Dré Wapenaar who operates a design studio in Rotterdam/ Netherlands. He is has come up with some genius ideas, some more ascetically pleasing than practical but it's about pushing the boundaries of our perception of how we use a tent. A tent was a nomadic persons first house, when to survive you travelled for food, you had tents only for shelter when all your processions would fit on your back. Since then the basic structure hasn't changed too much, some modern comforting factors have come into play but basically it is still the same concept of water repellant material pinned on poles and stretched out with rope. However because we haven't really moved that far away from this it doesn't mean we shouldn't and Dre Wapennarr has tested some of that by placing tents in tree's and elevating structures above ground although the basic principles of what hold a tent up are still in play.

Another would be Markus Michalsky and his Piilo indoor tent, making a design which is to 'create an interior as a private secret retreat'. This is just preliminary concept of a design so the ways in which this could be developed is endless. The skill involved in to putting this up is also minimal and the idea of that is pleasing, it does literally go in a bag over your shoulder and folds out for use and as Markus states it 'encourages personal spontaneity and flexibility'.

However one tent already in production and which would have helped me with my first experience of camping is the Quechua 2 Second Tent. You literally throw it up in the air and it falls down already erect and ready to go.