ShellTA

Many, many years ago I read that Don Whillans used a lightweight fabric tube to protect himself from a storm on Everest and that inspired my first mountain shelter. Years later I used a large group shelter for the first time on a week end away with the folks at Paramo and Nikwax. And later still, with Glossop Mountain Rescue Team, the group shelter (or clan tent) was often one of the first things out of the sack when we found a casualty. In fact, we used them a lot ourselves when awaiting to be re-tasked or while eating our sarnies.

The ShellTA is useful for lunch stops or bivis. It seats two and becomes a bivi bag for one… or use it as a poncho to improve any hard or soft shell system in extremely wet weather.

Some soft shell systems, like Buffalo, can cope with a reasonable amount of wet weather and waterproofs are rarely needed with that type of clothing. However, the ShellTA can provide extra protection (or alternative warm weather waterproofing) for those occasions when a softshell isn’t enough.

Experiments with various brands of hard shells have also shown why they suffer from condensation in wet weather. Thin, single layer waterproof breathable fabrics soon reach the dew point as the outer fabric saturates and becomes chilled. Condensation then quickly forms inside. This is why Keela developed their acclaimed dual layered waterproof system. Similarly, in the UK, most houses are constructed with a cavity wall. This prevents damp creeping in and was another inspiration behind the ShellTA. Think of it as the outer wall in a cavity wall construction, reducing damp inside inner layers, during persistent wet weather.

I’ve tried making the ShellTA in a wide range of fabrics with different weights and performances. The hydrophilic waterproof breathable fabric that was chosen has one major benefit over all the others: it pulls water off clothing worn beneath it, improving their drying times and breathability when used as a storm shelter, changing room or poncho.

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