Earlier this month we completed nine months of exposure testing for three kind of shelters on a hilltop in western Virginia.  The test period ran from mid-Dec 07 to mid-August 08 and included fairly mild winter snows, fairly strong spring thunderstorms with estimated 60 mph winds, and summer heat/heavy rains.  The testing was

• Successful
  • Unifolds proved exceptionally resilient, and the unit that was displayed last year at NDU and the Pentagon and then spent nine months on the hillside will be used again in this October's Fort McNair demos.  The only damage appears to be a small bear bite, but an inspection for UV impact needs to be done (the Unifolds can be ordered with several different layers of UV protection).
  • Yurt-domes suffered some damage to the PVC framing pipes (perhaps from bears sitting on them), but the PVC was easily replaced and the shelter was operational again in under an hour.  It also will be re-used in Oct.
• Interesting
  • The hexayurts made of Tuff-R-Boards were also resilient, but bears liked to chew on them and claw them for some reason.  However, despite heavy damage from bear attacks, the hexayurts were easily repaired by replacing damaged boards (the 8' variants were easier to fix than the 12' ones).  Also, several hexayurts have been set up and broken down multiple times, and moved to different venues with good results.
  • This brings up the question of large animal barriers for future camps.  Not sure what the answer is.
• Useful
  • The structural tape had delaminated significantly by the six month point due to UV.  However, those tape samples that had been covered with reflective tape or spray paint survived much better.

Look forward to the next phase of analysis and testing.

Lin