Bill Jeffrey
47 year old male, 6'4" (193 cm) tall, 225 pounds (90 kg)
San Diego County, California
Email: wjj2001 "at" yahoo "dot" com I have over 30 years backpacking experience, starting with Scouting as a youth. I am currently the High Adventure Leader for a Scout Troop. I try to get out once or twice a month, plus at least one week-long trek each year. My trips are of two types. First, I am hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in sections, and generally use a lightweight approach on these typically solo trips. Other trips involving family involve more traditional backpacking equipment. Terrain varies from sea level to 14,000 feet (4,300 m), desert to mountain, and trail to cross country, occasionally including snow travel.

This is the second of three reports of the Integral Designs Silshelter Bug Liner. The first report described the product in detail. The final report will discuss further experiences.

Product Description:

Integral Designs Silshelter Bug Liner
http://www.integraldesigns.com)
"This liner is designed to be in conjunction with the Silshelter, or as a stand-alone refuge from no-see-ums and bugs."
(The Silshelter itself was previously reviewed by BackpackGearTest in 2001.)
Received May 20, 2005
Includes stuff sack
MSRP US $100
Bathtub-style floor with 2 inch (5 cm) high side walls
"Lightweight 70 denier urethane-coated taffeta nylon" floor
Floor measures 84 inches (210 cm) long and a bit over 44 inches (110 cm) wide
Integral Designs says fits "1 - 2 people." It would be a bit cozy for two people my size.
Adjustable stake loops at each corner, can use same corner stakes as the Silshelter
Walls and roof of grey no-see-um netting
D-shaped zippered door
A single trekking pole (not included) fits into a reinforced pocket at the top front
Height 38 inches (97 cm), 16 inches (40 cm) high at the rear
Stated weight 17 ounces (485g)
Measured weight 19.7 ounces (559 g), without stuff sack and stakes, which are not provided.

Test Conditions

The field test was primarily conducted on a week-long backpack in the mountains of the Angeles National Forest in Southern California. Separate camps were made each night, including an 8,200-foot (2,500 m) ridge with brisk winds, camps on flats and in canyons around 5,500 feet ( m) with still air, ants and mosquitoes, and a park at 2,200 feet (700 m) with heavy dew and wet grass. The low temperature each night was between 35 and 40 degrees F (2 and 4 c).

Field Test

Set-up:

The manufacturer's instructions are quite concise:

Optimum setup, for use with the Silshelter, is with trekking pole adjusted to 38" (97 cm) high and the corner loops at 135 degrees outwards from the sides, with the ladderlocks almost fully extended. Silshelter apex pole cap fits over top of Bug Liner pole cap and main corner stake points can be shared with Bug Liner stake points."

I used the Bug Liner alone as often as possible, preferring to sleep in coolness under the stars. Set-up as a stand-alone bug shelter is quite simple: Stake it down and raise the center pole. In this configuration, the corner stake loops are far longer than needed, so I tightened them as much as possible before pitching the Bug Liner.

Pitching the Bug Liner under the Silshelter was annoying my first night on the trail. Part of this may be from a hot, waterless, 20-mile (32 km) ascent from the desert to the mountains, and was made more difficult by a brisk wind that threatened to blow everything off the mountain if not held securely. The Silshelter bent first one way and then the other, with the Bug Liner blowing away from me as I walked around outside to secure each corner loop to a stake. Finally, I gave up and crawled inside on top of the Bug Liner, laying down to secure the Bug Liner loops to stakes from inside, then walking around outside to tighten the ladder locks.

On another night, in a damp river valley on recently watered lawn in a commercial campground, set-up was very easy without the high winds. Here I was able to secure the corner loops from outside the shelter, minimizing the need to lay in the wet grass.

Ease of entry without letting bugs in. Because of the rather small door, and the presence of the trekking pole immediately in front of the center of the front wall, it took some practice to open the door, jump in, and close the door quickly. Making sure the wrist strap of my trekking pole faced the fixed mesh panel in front and not the door made this a little easier, helping to keep the zipper pull from being hidden by the grip of the trekking pole.

Stability in wind. On the windiest night, the shelter rustled and rattled with the wind, although the noise came mostly from the Silshelter and not the mostly-mesh Bug Liner. Still, it held affixed to the planet Earth.

Bugproofness. The mesh worked well to keep out flying mosquitoes and gnats, and the bathtub floor kept the big ants out as well. The mesh does droop a bit at the rear. There are three guy lines at the rear of the Bug Liner, which appear to work independently but might work as a system of adjustable loops. With the instructions simply saying "Three tie loops at th efoot end enable the foot end to be elevated," I simply wrap the center guy line around my second trekking pole before staking the line down, giving a bit more height at the rear, although there is still some sagging. Still, I found myself trying to avoid contact with the mesh to avoid allowing hovering mosquitoes a chance to bite me through it. If two hikers share this shelter, that might be difficult to avoid.

Waterproofness of the bathtub floor. I have not had the opportunity to test the Bug Liner in the rain. The best I could manage was tall wet grass and heavy dew, and I did stay dry inside the Bug Liner - Silshelter combination.

Durability. Construction quality is very high, as I have found on other Integral Designs products. The mesh shows no signs of snags or stretching. I used the Bug Liner without a footprint groundcloth, on surfaces ranging from grass to forest duff and sticks to sand, with no obvious wear on the floor. In fact, I would actually prefer a lighter mesh and a lighter floor to reduce weight.

Roominess. There is plenty of room inside the Bug Liner for one person and their gear, although I did brush against the mesh regularly when entering the shelter or sitting up. As previously mentioned, it would be a bit snug for two.

Summary. The Bug Liner is a very solid and simple solution to bug-free sleeping. When used with the Silshelter, it provides great flexibility in sleeping accommodations, with ease of set-up (after just a little practice). I would like to see Integral Designs make an ultralight version of the Silshelter and Bug Liner, with lighter fabric and mesh, to reduce the total weight from its 39 ounces (1,106 g, including the Silshelter and ten stakes).

Read more reviews of Integral Designs gear
Read more gear reviews by Bill Jeffrey

Field Report

All material on this site is the exclusive property of BackpackGearTest.org.
BackpackGearTest software copyright David Anderson