PITCHING A TENT

The Sierra Designs product development team is making life easier in the backcountry with several new innovations in tent design. The same company that created the first ultralight tent, the Clip Flashlight, has come up with a new, patent-pending pole design for its Meteor Light three-season backpacking tent.

The Meteor Light has been around the world and back in its twenty-year history and has always been known as a comfortable and spacious tent that was easy to set up due to its three equal length poles. It is one of the only pieces of equipment to win a Backpacker Magazine Gold Award.

This year, Sierra Designs has reconfigured the poles, essentially maintaining three-pole function without the third pole. This new design is called "Eye Pole Configuration," and it reduces the overall weight of the Meteor Light 2 by a full pound. In the world of backpacking, where weight reductions are measured in grams and ounces, this is a considerable improvement.

"The Meteor light has always been the tent of choice for the experienced backpacker," said Phil Mesdag, hardgoods product manager for Sierra Designs. "The new Eye Pole Configuration offers more usable interior space in a package that is significantly lighter than the former design."

Committed to its Green Effects� program, Sierra Designsi in-house green team is switching more tent materials to polyester for Spring 2009. Part of this program will include recycling tents, and since polyester recycles and nylon does not, it was a simple decision. Polyester also is unaffected by temperature swings onylon tends to sag in the cold and tighten in the heat. Polyester was once thought to be far weaker than nylon, but newer types offer equivalent strengths over the life of the tent. Sierra Designs will continue to use dye-free, optic white canopies and PVC-free seam tape in all of their tents, eliminating harmful chemicals from the production process.

SAND HOLLOW DEDICATION

The Sand Hollow State Park staff will celebrate the opening of a new small craft boat ramp and off-highway vehicle campground on Nov. 8.

Activities begin at 9 a.m. with boat and OHV rentals and demonstrations from local dealerships. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., enjoy an OHV poker run with prizes awarded to the top two finishers. A dedication of the new boat ramp and campground begins at 4:30 p.m. At 5:30 p.m., the second annual boat parade begins. Prizes are awarded for best decorated boat.

The new OHV campground has 30 sites, including six sites that offer electricity and water, and five sites that can accommodate large groups. The new boat ramp is for personal watercraft and smaller boats.