Comment: New Swag & Packing Started for Maralinga Trip

Good question - we actually did have our OzTent (RV4) with us but didn't use it. We could put the kids 2 swags in there if necessary but we'd still have to sleep out in our swag (under the awning perhaps). We have done this before when we'd wanted to keep the surface of the swags dry - but on our last night we actually setup a tarp over our swags - running it off the car and putting up a couple of poles - I will add that pic to the last day's blog (#16) in just a minute.

The new swag has some major advantages but also some drawbacks.
Pros
1. feeling of more space both in width (shoulder to shoulder) and height. Being consistent height from top to bottom removes any feelings of clostrophobia too.

2.I intended to change at night into bedtime thermals inside the swag and change back again into next day's clothes inside the swag (after using H2No) and this worked well. Plenty of room to leave things in the swag while sleeping without getting in the way.

3. Plenty of room to read at night.

4. Brand new 75mm thick foam mattress was very comfortable.

5. Very easy to setup and quick, also easy to pack up BUT.... major con here was it didn't come with a bag to give it any extra protection when on the roof racks so we used our AOS one which was just a bit too tight and we broke it. It was such a struggle to fit the roll into the bag it almost defeated the whole purpose of the ease of swags!

Cons
1. Not convinced the canvas is as good as the AOS (Bradmill). Had to "season" it and had trouble getting it to stop leaking. Didn't have any wet nights so never found out if it was watertight. Considering spraying waterproofing spray on it.

2. Biggest problem is both sides are not opening, unlike our AOS swag but there is a head opening. I didn't find this head opening practical so never used it. David and I often get up together if we need to get out at night so that's not so much the problem but not being able to modify my side of the canvas flap over the mesh was very inconvenient - as I find night-time temps fluctuate, as does the moonlight, and sometimes you want the canvas flap down to stop rain showers coming in.

4. Putting the large swag up on the roof was very heavy and required me to execute a clean and jerk to get it up off the ground on its end to push it up for David to reach when standing on the roof rack. The whole roof rack pack up is difficult for him recovering from a herniated disk.

Hope that helps,
Michelle