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| My Trailstar and Oooknest in use in 2014 on the Wales Coastal Path |
After much agonising I have decided to sell my Mountain Laurel Designs Trailstar and custom built Oookworks 'Oookstar' single inner. Both have had very little use. The Trailstar has only been out 10 nights; the Oookstar just 7.
Why am I selling this sought after combination, and why is it so little used? Quite simply, despite its justified popularity I am 6 foot 3 inches tall and have a recurrent lower back problem. I think the Trailstar / Oookstar combination is ideal for anyone up to about six foot or someone younger and more flexible than me! I have two other shelters which I find more comfortable for my height.
Details:
Mountain Laurel
Designs Trail Star in silnylon.
This shelter will need no introduction. I purchased it new
in Summer 2012. For anyone 6 foot or below
it is absolutely superb. MLD describes the colour as grey. To me it looks a grey-green colour. That too is a problem as it doesn’t go well with my steely
blue eyes. A bonus point for the puchaser is that it is seam sealed and I’ll throw this in for
free (!!!). Guys also included but not pegs.
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| My Trailstar in Glen Tilt, 2012 |
Oookstar (single)
for the above. Purchased new in Spring 2013. Almost as legendary as
the Trailstar, and now apparently unobtainable new.
This has a black chikara floor (less slippy than silnylon). The walls are a combination of mesh, white cuben fibre, and yellow rip stop nylon. This allows good ventilation whilst helping keeping draughts off you. The top part of the nest is mesh. The lower c40 cm of the door side (T Zip) is cuben fibre. The lower c 55 cm of the opposite wall is in cuben fibre too. The lower c55 cm of both end walls is in ripstop. This was chosen because it is more breathable than cuben fibre and, thus, less likely to make the end of your sleeping bag damp if condensation is ever present. On my kitchen scales it weighs in at 375 gr.
NB. The mesh got attacked by a cat on the day it was delivered to me when I was trying it out in the garden. Said cat made two tiny holes in the mesh (it also scared me witless as it was dark and I was asleep in it at the time and couldn't work out what was happening). One hole is about 2cm by 3mm; the other about 3mm diameter. I have repaired these with
clear tenancious tape patches of approx. 5 cm by 5 cm. I also put a small tenatious tape (about 5cm by 2cm) patch on a piece of mesh which I thought might have a small snag so it didn't start to run. The cat is still living and is very fortunate to be in my opinion. She is certainly down to eight lives.
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| The Oooknest hanging from my kitchen ceiling. Ok I didn't have a picture of it in action but you'll get the drift. Photo taken when I was practicing to use it as a hanging bivi on an attempted free climb over several days of the legendary V Diff. 'Little Chamonix' on Shepherd's Crag, Borrowdale |
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| You can just about make out the two patches over the repaired holes in the mesh on this photo. |
