Maggiolina Reflective winter hood

[wardrow]

1. I have an extreme model and have been curious about these. Who has them and is there really room for it to be left in place with bed and sleeping bag inside? Any body have pics of one on an extreme?

2. Any body using the 4x4 model ladder. I just got a new lift and tires and don't think the original ladder will be tall enough.
thanks for everyones input.

 

[Mike S]

1. I have an extreme model and have been curious about these. Who has them and is there really room for it to be left in place with bed and sleeping bag inside? Any body have pics of one on an extreme?

2. Any body using the 4x4 model ladder. I just got a new lift and tires and don't think the original ladder will be tall enough.
thanks for everyones input.

The Winter Hood for the Maggiolina is a light, tightly woven nylon fabric with a resin bonded aluminum coating - sort of like a Space Blanket. It can be left in place when the tent is stowed, as it is very thin - but tough.

The 4X4 ladder extends out to over 100 inches. The only vehicle that we have had trouble with the 4X4 ladder is a high top Sprinter van. We have many customers with lifted vehicles, and it works well for them. In fact, we now supply the 4X4 ladder as standard with all our Columbus and Maggiolina models.

 

[adventurebuddies]

I own the winter hood but have never used it. The Maggiolinas are far warmer in the winter (and cooler in the summer) than a ground tent so we've never felt the need to use it. Granted, coldest temps we've slept in have been around freezing and we always sleep with sheets and blanket like at home - no sleeping bags. If you're out below freezing and don't want to have to use a sleeping bag, I think the winter hood is a good purchase.

 

[wardrow]

want to sell your hood?

 

[Mike S]

Desert Dude has a WInter Hood for sale. You might PM him?

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Are the winter hoods a 1 size fits all deal? I notice there is only one size seems available for the Mag? Does it cover the door as well?

 

[Mike S]

Are the winter hoods a 1 size fits all deal? I notice there is only one size seems available for the Mag? Does it cover the door as well?

The Winter Hood is not one-size-fits-all. It is available in small, medium, large, and Xl in small and medium. The stowage bag will be marked with the size and Maggiolina models that the hood will fit.

 

[Lemsteraak]

You really need to be going into some seriously nasty conditions to need the winter hood. If you look at the Maggiolina's fabric in the light, you will see that it is a very tight mesh. It breathes very well, in fact in high winds, you feel a little air coming through. The winter hood is made of a fabric I would term as waterproof as opposed to water repellant. Its first function is a windbreaker.

The hood is attaches to the fuzzy velcro strip on the fabric under the lip. It wraps around, but has only one door, and the windows and the other door still can work for ventilation. At the bottom, it wraps under the tent and has a drawstring. This way you can leave the hood attached to the top undo the drawstring and tuck the hood in with the fabric when you close up the tent. The water stays on the hood so the inside of the tent stays a little dryer and the hood will deploy when you open the tent again.

The reflective fabric is rather new, I've never used it but the idea is to reflect the sun in the morning so you can sleep a little longer when it is cool. This is a little something to help the folks crossing the Sahara. Might be useful in the Southwest too.

Rich H

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Doesn't the reflective coating work the other way in the winter? I used to have a tent with a reversible fly. You put it shiney side in in cold weather, to reflect heat back in. You put it shiney side out in the summer, to reflect heat back out ( and so your friends can say you sleep in a lunar lander )

All along I thought the winter hood was insulated to try and retain more heat that way.

 

[Mike S]

Rob

The Winter Hood creates a double wall with a dead air space. This is very effective insulation. Yes, it has a door.

 

[wardrow]

Anybody have any pictures to post, other than autohomes site?

 

[skysix]

Autohome Winter Hood

Mostly used for better light control when camping north of 60 (long days in summer) but also noticeably warmer. Plus a great rain-fly in driving windy rainstorms. In cold weather with dew point close to air temp can build up moisture on underside making it better to remove before packing tent (and reversing / airing or shaking 'dry') and replacement when making camp is fast.

Ramp is for 2 senior (spoiled) Huskies with hip problems who deserve their retirement in the south after 10 years of -30 or lower outdoor guard duty...

50+ year old Sopu tent (Finnish) in background - still going strong, recently lived fulltime in it for 3 months in a NW fall...

Yes that is a Yukon plate...

 

[07 Elephant]

I have a medium Maggiolina Grand Tour and I also have the medium winter hood. At least that's what the labling says. Mike and I are waiting on Italy to get back to us on a few measurements. Well I'm still waiting...

The problem I have with the winter hood is that it seems to large. I have around 6 to 8 inches of overlap at the door zipper area. And on the opposite side I have about 4 inches of overlap at the top velcro strip. I start by fitting the triangles at each end of the maggiolina and winterhood to match up and then move to the doors. And that's where the overlap is.

There is a chance I have a miss labled hood. Mike's offered to send me another medium winterhood to try. I haven't used this one but I'd like to. Until I figure out though if it's fitting correctly even with the overlap I don't want to take it out int the elements. And I don't want waste shipping dollars to find out that I have the right thing in the first place. Even if Mike's paying.

Before swapping out though I wanted to measure and see what I have and if it's right or not. Right now I don't have a reference hood and we're asking Italy what the medium should measure. I took pics and all so they can see what I'm dealing with.

Mine measures 268 inches long or about 681 cm. Does anyone have a medium winterhood for a grand tour and can you measure it and post up and also let me know how it fits. And a general question to others. Does your winterhood fit tight or do you have several inches of slack material?

these are some of the pics we sent to the mother ship.

 

[wardrow]

To change the subject a little bit...

My wife and I are going to start backpacking this year and will take our beloved doublewide King Solomon sleeping bag out of the Maggiolina Extreme. We will need to convert the Maggiolina back to a regular mattress with sheets, comforter, etc. We are considering adding a memory foam topper on top of the regular mattress as well.

Is anyone using a memory foam topper with an Extreme? If so, does it interfere with packing/storing the tent?

Do regular double fitted sheets fit the small mattress?

Any suggestions with regard to comforter choice?
:REOutCampFire03:

 

[Mike S]

To change the subject a little bit...

My wife and I are going to start backpacking this year and will take our beloved doublewide King Solomon sleeping bag out of the Maggiolina Extreme. We will need to convert the Maggiolina back to a regular mattress with sheets, comforter, etc. We are considering adding a memory foam topper on top of the regular mattress as well.

Is anyone using a memory foam topper with an Extreme? If so, does it interfere with packing/storing the tent?

Do regular double fitted sheets fit the small mattress?

Any suggestions with regard to comforter choice?
:REOutCampFire03:

A 1" thick memory foam topper is OK in terms of closing the tent - depending on what else you have inside, of course. The problem with memory foam is that it gets hard and unyielding in cold temperatures. I use a feather bed about 1-1/2" thick under a regular flat sheet with a down comforter (I have a couple in different fill weights) on top. Works very well, and compresses on closing.