Tents question Why did the Caddis fall out of favour?

[Moondog55]

I received this old Caddis in a PIF [ Thanx Drew ] and just playing with it today again

viewtopic.php?f=53&t=22315

I was wondering why the design has fallen out of favour?
It's roomy and really a palace for 2, relatively lightweight and the original Caddis Expedition was as strong as any other tent on the market at the time and if modified with the double pole and extra guys almost as strong as my Plateau
Despite the fly being in such poor condition I am going to try the proofing; I'll just do some quick sewing to patch and repair the seams where they have let go
I mixed up too much yesterday and it has to be used within a short space of time or it gells up in the bottle and of course between starting this thread and now it has started to rain

[andrewa]

It sort of got shrunk and "rebranded" as an Olympus, didn't it? Can't recall whether the Caddis had vestibules...?

A

[Moondog55]

XPD did the other not until the XPD was rationalised out of the range

[highercountry]

I've never really understood it.
One Planet did a Caddis in their industrial range too.
I have one. I also have an old Macpac Olympus.
They're almost identical in shape and size.
The Olympus has had it. The Caddis is still used for car camping.
A tad heavy but not bad really, 3 and a bit kilos for a spacious 2 man, very well constructed tent.
Someone else had a Caddis in their range too, can't remember.

[Moondog55]

Katmandu did once I think and Snowgum definitely until a couple of years ago
Caribee also but a really heavy version that was
Making a copy is the most sincere form of flattery.
3+ kilos looks absolutely lightweight when you are humping 6 kilos of Vango Mk3 which was smaller all around than the Caddis XPD

[highercountry]

What I don't get is who made the first Caddis and how come the name and design has been through so many separate companies.
Mine's over ten years old, well used as a base tent. Stood in the sun for probably months on end if I tallied it up.
Still a very good and I hope trustworthy tent. Waterproof, it rained the second last time I slept in it, but not sure how it'd handle a good blow.
Hasn't seemed to have faded so I think still strong. I recall reading that polyester, although heavier than nylon, has better UV resistance. But I'm not sure.
Been cruising on the bike with a Hilleberg Soulo for about five years now and miss the palatial space of the Caddis.

[Moondog55]

Eureka made the first Caddis
Way back in about 1975 I think
Maybe a little earlier or later
The Caddis is an evolution on the still made Timberline via the Alpine Meadow a tent that was only made for a couple of years

https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=i&rct= ... 1706761679

[highercountry]

Thanks for reminding me of the Caddis Moondog.
It won't be for a good while but next time I'm in the market for a tent I'll probably give the One Planet Industrial range another look-in.
Can't fault mine. Never understood why they aren't more popular. They are very tough and better value than most, IMHO.

[Moondog55]

OP stopped making their version this year it's now a tunnel with all poles the same and much smaller internally

[andrewa]

Having just looked at some images of it, it fell out of favour coz:

1) it had no vestibules, and that was an era when vestibules were starting to happen
2) it was made in awful brown and beige colouring.

In those days I had a Jansport Mountain Dome, complete with tunnel entrance, but no vestibule. It was brown/orange and beige, like the Caddis, but did what we needed from it, including being buried in 2' of snow at Blue Lake one winter - we measured how far down we had to dig to find the stuff we'd left outside....and, in those days, you could camp at Blue Lake

It was a hell of an improvement over the Timberland though.

It's interesting to think back to the Caddis era - I think that was when the Early Winters tunnel appeared, and was just so far in front of anything else.

A

[Moondog55]

But the XPD was the winter version and did have vestibules at each end, plus valances and heavier poles
I loved the way the brown and beige was so unobtrusive I really do not like paint pot polka dot tents in the bush
I prefer to think I'm out there on my own in the bush

[Moondog55]

I'm trying to clear out the shed.
Pulled the old Caddis out
I'm still thinking about taking this old tent from Drew and stretching it by adding in the central middle section.
Personal communication with Chezza indicates that I'll need to keep the unspported area to less than 900mm and most waterproof fabric is more than that so cutting something in half could make sense but also I could stretch it the full width of most fabrics and extend the centre by 1500mm and add one more pole
http://www.tiergear.com.au/11/online-sh ... -pu-coated
Using such a strong fabric makes sense in a large winter tent that will be used as a base camp shelter to me and the same fabric will get used in the floor also.
Difference in cost isn't the fabric, total fabric cost will be less than $100- for fly and inner no matter which fabric I choose as the price is similar for all of them.
As I see it the main cost will be new poles [ Drew the old poles were pretty badly beaten up as we knew and for winter I'd not trust them totally ] so 2 poles if I use a half width and 3 poles if I use full width.
Simon at Tiergear had 3 metres of the Sil 5300 left so I just added that to my shopping basket as well as 2 metres of the heavy weight flooring.
I'll use it as-is or cut it lenghtways to suit the final dimension choice unless a double thickness/seam in the middle will be stronger by a large factor
Original wand sections are 8.6mm and in winter most people I knew back then doubled up on at least the middle pole
So basically my question is what diameter poles should I order from TPT?

[Mark F]

The diameter of the bends in the Caddis is quite tight. The middle of the two person version is 1.8 m and would guess the end poles are 1.5 metres? Large diameter poles don't bend as tightly as smaller diameter poles - thus the reason for double poling for strength rather than using a larger diameter poles. Of course things like the alloy and temper of the particular poles will have some effect. You may get away with a larger diameter pole for the centre but I suspect not for the ends. Why not just get a 9mm pole set and double pole with the old poles? They must still have a reasonable amount of their strength left.

[Moondog55]

Yes it is a trade-off but a single 12.4mm pole [pre-bent]is cheaper than 2 * 9mm poles
Some of the old poles are split and a couple are so bent that I think the next stress put on them would break them at these points
The middle pole/poles are 5 * 660mm so 2 off equals $66- plus postage of ~$23- where-as a single 12.4mm pole is $45- plus ~$19- postage and as i'm intending to stretch it that number needs to be doubled or tripled.
Cost of poles is telling me that keeping the stretch below 900mm is the economical way to go, and keeping the 9mm poles to double up on the ends
It's obvious that Drews dad who originally owned this tent has replaced poles at some stage, end poles are 8.6mm and orange, centre pole is 9mm and yellow. End poles are the ones with strees signs and fractures