Hey, folks. I just got back from a short 4 day family camping trip at Pettigrew State Park in North Carolina. An issue came to mind while there that I wanted to ask you folks about. Being a family trip, we went heavy. A full truck load and car load of gear, to include CD players, gameboys, three 55 Qt cooler.... the works. All this gear included a cheapo blue poly tarp measuring about 14'x11' or so, that was strung up over the campsite's picnic table. After dark, we had only one two mantle coleman propane lantern. It put out good light, but for the next family "so called camping" trip, I want to maximize it so that all 4 of us can read or whatever under the light. I should mention that with all the RVs, bicycles darting around, neighbors radios etc, screaming kids and crying babies, there was no point in a "lights out" camp suitable for enjoying nature. Anyway...... I'd like to add some silvery reflective material to the underside of the tarp to reflect the light back down to the picnic table. Would that work? What should I use? I was thinking of gluing a cheapo survival blanket to it. Has anybody done anything like that? Suggestions? Cautions? Tips/tricks? Other material to use rather than the blue poly tarp that is already reflective? Thanks a bunch. Rick *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Thu, 24 Apr 2003 12:04:26 -0400, Rick.Sylvia_at_ferguson.com wrote: >I'd like to add some silvery reflective material to the underside of the >tarp to reflect the light back down to the picnic table. Would that >work? What should I use? I was thinking of gluing a cheapo survival >blanket to it. Has anybody done anything like that? Suggestions? >Cautions? Tips/tricks? Other material to use rather than the blue poly >tarp that is already reflective? Rick, I have no idea how well it would work for your purpose but I once bought a poly-tarp at Walmart that was green on one side and silver on the other. --allan *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
The most likely solution might be to get Another lantern... Most lanterns that I have seen have an opaque cover on top, usually white in color which would reflect the light downward already. Little would go upward to where it would be reflected by the underside of the tarp, and that will have been dispersed over a broad area. I have seen circular reflectors for the Coleman lanterns that direct the light toward one side only rather than in a full circle. That might help... Why not try, as a first approximation, some aluminum foil arranged in that fashion, or over the top of the lantern. You dn't need to be camping to check this out.... Joe P. PS --With all those other campers darting around, how about reflective line for the tarp/tent lines? *************** >>After dark, we had only one two mantle coleman propane lantern. It put out good light, but for the next family "so called camping" trip, I want to maximize it so that all 4 of us can read or whatever under the light. I should mention that with all the RVs, bicycles darting around, neighbors radios etc, screaming kids and crying babies, there was no point in a "lights out" camp suitable for enjoying nature. Anyway...... I'd like to add some silvery reflective material to the underside of the tarp to reflect the light back down to the picnic table. Would that work? What should I use? I was thinking of gluing a cheapo survival blanket to it. Has anybody done anything like that? Suggestions? Cautions? Tips/tricks? Other material to use rather than the blue poly tarp that is already reflective? *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> The most likely solution might be to get Another lantern... > Most lanterns that I have seen have an opaque cover on top, usually white > in color which would reflect the light downward already. Little would go > upward to where it would be reflected by the underside of the tarp, and > that > will have been dispersed over a broad area. > I have seen circular reflectors for the Coleman lanterns that direct the > light toward one side only rather than in a full circle. That might > help... > Why not try, as a first approximation, some aluminum foil arranged in that > fashion, or over the top of the lantern. You dn't need to be camping to > check this out.... Joe, good points. Plus, I suppose I could wrap the lantern reflector (currently the coleman green color) with some aluminum foil as well. And/or, fashion a larger reflector from a sheet of tin flashing (or other material and cover it with aluminum foil). Thanks for helping to get the brain ticking! Rick *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Rick.Sylvia_at_ferguson.com wrote: > I'd like to add some silvery reflective material to the underside of > the tarp to reflect the light back down to the picnic table. Would > that work? What should I use? That should work - a mylar safety blanket & double-sided tape would do. If you look around, you might find those blue tarps sold in other colours. In particular, I've seen white in a few places (and have a really beat up one in the garage). White would be somewhat brighter than blue. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> Rick.Sylvia_at_ferguson.com wrote: > > > I'd like to add some silvery reflective material to the underside of > > the tarp to reflect the light back down to the picnic table. Would > > that work? What should I use? You may also try headlamps as a source of local/directional light, in addition to already suggested directional reflectors for Colemans. Get couple of lightweight LED models, like Petzl Tikka or Princeton Tec Aurora, about $25 each (Aurora is more waterproof). Combined with distant light of Coleman, it may provide enough light to read or do other works that need more light than just walking around. Some users say that Aurora allows to read on the lowest setting (of 3), without any other light around. They are so light, that you'll forget that you wear them (and forget to turrn them off when you don't need them :-). Although, even on the high setting it lasts about 50 hrs or so on 3 AAA batteries - enough for a week. As to the reflective underside of the tarp - it should help, but won't make a miracle. Coleman lantern emits most of the light in horizontal layer, due to vertically elongated source of light. So, tarp gets... let it be 20%. Even if you'll redirect 80% of it back down, you'll get only 16% of additional light. Makes more sense to get another Coleman lantern (100% light increase). Alex. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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