Eureka's Freedom Tent

Eureka's Freedom Tent

The only Wheelchair-Accessible Tent

2006 Da Vinci Award Winner

Rating:
***** 5 Stars

Full Review:
After setting up this tent over a dozen times my husband (T-12 paraplegic) and I have decreased the time to a matter of minutes to do so. With more than 25 days of camping in it over two years, this tent has proven to be a road warrior for people in wheelchairs. The advantages of this tent definitely outweigh the disadvantages, but let’s take a full look at Eureka’s Freedom Tent.

We continue to find this tent highly impressive. Worth first mention is its low price. At just $329 it’s a bargain; a normal tent of this size with these specialty features would easily cost $500. This is one of the best tents for the money on the market!

As for the features, the front vestibule’s size and versatility are what make this tent valuable for wheelchair users. We’ve used it for one wheelchair and a dog, but it’s wide enough for two wheelchairs, one additional person to sleep, all your excess gear, or to be used as a changing room.

The Freedom Tent also uses a unique rigid sliding front door design, which is something we’ve never seen on a tent before. This door makes entering the tent easier for all users, but especially for wheelchairs. The typical zip-doors collapse into a pile on one side and can make rolling over them difficult, so the sliding door is a much better design.

Another feature we found useful for all campers with disabilities, and especially their companions, are the two additional inside window-doors to this tent. If there is a wheelchair in the front vestibule and the companion needs to enter or exit the tent in the morning or during the night, these side doors provide easy access to do so. They also make for putting in the bedding easier, without having to go through the front door and make transferring from your wheelchair to a cot or raised airbed much easier, as most wheelchair-users find it easier to transfer to the side.

The final unique feature for campers with disabilities is the addition of large, loop-pull handles added to all zippers. These pull tabs are excellent for people with arthritis and other hand-mobility limitations. We think this would be a beneficial addition to all tents as it makes it much easier to pull open and closed in the dark or on the fly no matter what your ability.

Our main complaint is that the instructions were the hardest part of the setup. Once we figured out that the rounded poles should go in first, we felt we had mastered it! The claim of this tent is that anyone in a wheelchair can set it up alone due to the closed-end pole slots (avoiding the circling pole-to-hole laps around the tent you do for most setups), but we found that average arm and hand strength and hand mobility, as well as chair-to-ground reach are definitely needed to set up this tent if doing it alone. Although this claim is a noble attempt at independence for campers with disabilities, and is likely mastered with these abilities and practice, the set up of this tent is indeed much easier with help. In addition to set-up, pulling the poles back out of the sleeves for breaking it down requires help as well, as the elastic pole pieces pull apart and do not easily slide out of the sleeves. Having another person pushing on the closed-end side remedied this issue however, and again, once we practiced this technique, it wasn’t an issue.

In addition, the weight of the tent in its bag may be too heavy to carry for those with less than average arm strength. However, it does fit in on a lap well and so long as you’re not rolling long distances, this too is not an issue. Weight is at least worth mention for this group to know, the tent’s full package is 16 lbs.

Overall we found this tent to be very spacious, and we loved sleeping in it. There are many features that are standard on tents that this one also has, such as the huge sky-viewing roof, an easy-to-assemble rain fly, and rugged, durable materials. Even though the instructions are a little difficult to follow, upon additional use the set up and breakdown will come with ease; it’s always a little awkward figuring out a new tent for the first setup.

We highly recommend this tent to anyone with a disability, as well as those with arthritis or anyone in need of additional storage and added features (such as the side doors) in their tent design! Way to go Eureka and Blue Sky Designs!

Kevin Bramble Goodz Monoski ($5,000)

I have been riding the same Freedom Factory Revolution Pro Comp for eleven seasons and close to a thousand days. With the possibility that I might buy a new rig, and hardly any opportunities to test drive different monoskis, I couldn’t pass up this chance to test drive a brand new rig from Kevin Bramble Goodz.

Overall Rating: ***** 5 Stars

Pros:
No moveable parts, nothing to break

Very durable

Shock Absorber

Cons:
Not Adjustable

Heavy

Cost

Review:

Thanks to a friend from Scotland who stores his monoski here in Steamboat, I had this opportunity to ski the Bramble and see how I liked it. While the bucket wasn’t a perfect fit, I was still able to get a good idea how it performed and in several kinds of conditions. I skied heavy powder, a few moguls, and a couple of groomers to get a feel for it.

What I liked most about the Bramble was the shock system. With an adjustable, canister fed shock and almost 8 inches of travel, it was like stepping out of a 1986 Honda hatchback and into a 2010 Mercedes. And it handled everything from bumps to powder to groomers with no problems. And the feel of the ski under me felt indestructible and solid.

What I liked least about the Bramble coincidentally, was also the weight. While it does feel solid beneath you, it also feels somewhat cumbersome. If I didn’t have abdominal muscle control, I think it would be a tough rig to get used to and perform well in.

Overall, I would recommend the Bramble to advanced level skiers only. Since Kevin’s team will build your monoski to the exact specifications that took you many years of skiing to perfect, and the Bramble is no doubt the burliest rig on the market, this is the last monoski you will need to buy. Now while it was an incredibly comfortable ride, the jury is still out for me until I test drive a couple more models.

COMPARISON: Canon Powershot and Rebel Xsi

If there's one thing we do before buying anything or going anywhere, it's RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH. This is one of the main reasons we started our company, our guidebook series, and why we blog. Why reinvent the wheel each time? Why not share our hard work with our readers?

When we got our Canon Powershot S2 over 3 years ago, we spent several weeks combing over the options within our budget for a top-of-the-line "point-and-shoot" digital camera. Our 4 year old Nikon Coolpix had finally taken its last shot, and we were in need of something with professional quality at an amateur price. We found it all in the Powershot; which since 2005 has seen some great upgrades in megapixels (from 5 to 8 now), stability, and quality. Although larger in body, this little genius has some wonderful settings, a useful swiveling LCD, a super zoom, and high quality results that made most of our magazine editors happy.

We reviewed this product on February 22 last year; the results from that review:
Pros:
Extending lens with 12x zoom
Settings galore: panoramic, indoor, unlimited speed shutter to name a few!
Battery life
Video quality
Swivel viewfinder
Good flash, popup

Cons:
Heavier weight - 14.3 oz - and larger body
Complex settings require instructional reading
Off button is sometimes mistaken for the shutter button

Our research was so detailed and valuable, that several friends took our advice last to purchase this wonderful little camera!


All that said however, the Powershot's image quality is not quite professional-grade, and as our company grew and our editorial needs expanded, we began the search for an upgrade.

We found everything and more in the Canon Rebel XSi. Remember, our needs might be different from yours, so let us spell out what narrowed our search:

1. We needed a professional camera without the professional weight:
In testing a few Nikons out (that brand just happened to be what friends own), we noticed that the weight of a professional camera isn't that big of a deal when shooting non-sporting or off-snow events, but the bulk of our shooting IS on snow or on the run, and having something lightweight, manageable, and small enough to zip into our coats while skiing was a MUST.

2. We needed a Canon so our 35mm lenses could be used:
Since long before Access Anything began, Andy shot film on either a Pentax or Canon body when "professional" images were needed. We had two excellent lenses, tons of filters, and several other attachments for the Rebel 35mm's body that we didn't want to go to waste. Despite what the market projects, it isn't about megapixels, it's ALL about lenses! You have a good zoom and wide angle lens in your bag and you don't NEED more than 8 or 10 mps.

3. We wanted to spend less than $1000:
Even though there are professional camera bodies that range from $700 to $4000, we compared all of them. The major differences between the 3 professional grades of camera bodies in the Canon family are megapixels, ISO ("film" speed), and weight. When asked, our photographer friends said "you just can't explain the differences" between the Mark series and the Rebel. Our logic was for $2000, if it's unexplainable, perhaps we can do without it? So far, we think we were right.

After one month with the XSi, we're still in shock at the quality of photo, the shutter speed, and the manageable size of the body even with the large 80-300 lens. What we're missing out on (2500 vs 1600 ISO, 10 extra megapixels, and 10-15 extra oz of weight) is excusable; the photo quality has so far been high enough for stock and magazine agencies- the largest file we've taken is over 5mb!

We hope if you're looking for a camera, you'll consider our research valuable. Good luck!