Self-Erecting Tent

One of the biggest hassles of camping is setting up that tricky tent–especially after a long day of backpacking and it happens to be windy or raining.  Adding to the frustration are complicated set-ups that are time consuming and, frankly, difficult to understand.  Sometimes I wish I could throw the whole contraption in the air and it would magical set up on its own.  Well, now it’s possible. 

The 2Second Tent, by Quechua does just that.  Throw it in the air and it assembles itself before hitting the ground.  The tent just won a Gold Medal at the 2006 Industrial Design Excellence Awards, so I’m not the only one impressed with it.  This baby is an engineering marvel. Or, as a buddy so eloquently put it, the tent is “the Viagra of camping gear . . . it erects itself and stays up all night.”  Remind me never to go camping with him again… 

The only downside of the tent appears to be its inability to fold down small enough to be practical for a backpacking trip.  In addition, the manufacture claims that folding it back up is a 15 second task.  I’ll bet it’s far more complicated than that. Probably more like folding up a road map in the wind. 

Nonetheless, very, very cool.  The cost is only £50 for a two-man tent (about $100) and £65 for three-man tent (which takes an additional one second to unfold).  Shipping to the United States is a £55-£65.