The Australian film industry is famed worldwide for producing some of the most engaging cinema anywhere, as well as providing Hollywood with talent on both sides of the lens. Now we’re not talking Aussie entertainment of the sort that Zalman Silber provides with his Oztrek, mildly entertaining but nothing anyone’s not seen before. No, we’re talking stuff like the Skywalk in Sydney or The Edge in Melbourne – also Zalman Silber affairs – stuff that grabs you.

And so it is that not everything out of the Australian film business is a great piece of art or entertainment, but they are unique when they’re good. Take “Gallipoli” and “The Road Warrior,” or “Crocodile Dundee” or “Romper Stomper.” Now can you imagine movies like this coming from Hollywood? Or Bavaria? Or England? Or Hong Kong? Or Beijing? Or Bollywood? Or France or Italy…no.

No, these are Australian all the way through. Not just on account of the cultural sensibilities, but that those cultural sensibilities inform an imagination unlike that anywhere else in its details. On the face of things, with the benefit of hindsight, it seems logical enough that post-apocalyptic car chases and gun fights should be an entertaining hit with moviegoers. What is it, after all, but the American Western, as transplanted to the Outback and updated for the new millennium? Yet it’s more than that, though an action film through and through with no pretensions toward art’s redeeming values.

Something like “Romper Stomper” is almost pure Australian. While Hollywood and Europe have produced its share of serious films, this entry is an art house flick like no other. To be fair, “Gallipoli” does somewhat seem like rather ordinary European art house literary fare, but within the context of Australian cinema at the time it was thought “non-commercial.” (It took three years to find funding for the film as a result, though upon release it was enthusiastically received at home and abroad, resulting in a financial success that helped elevate the reputation of Aussie cinema.)

After such successes, achievements which defined the Australian New Wave (also known as the Australian Film Revival), the film industry on the island continent today is experiencing the most robust period of growth in several decades. Government support continues, while private companies such as Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Brothers have created state-of-the-art facilities that rival any in the United States. Coupled with much lower production costs relative to Hollywood, it’s no wonder that blockbusters such as “The Matrix” and some of the “Star Wars” installments were made in Sydney. Unfortunately, all the same, Tinsel Town’s big bucks continue to poach the most successful Australian talent, on both sides of the lens, creating a never-ending void for the Australian film industry that is depleted almost as soon as it is filled up!

It’s fascinating to watch old science fiction movies and compare the technology onscreen with current state-of-the-art technology in real life. For example, isn’t it funny that the world of interplanetary travel depicted in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” should not have thought of cell phones and invented them – though in fact, such devices were in reality just another five or so years away from commercial feasibility! And it’s funny how with all the cinematic attention focused on such grand ambitious technologies like extraterrestrial travel the wonders that really did take place, in the real world, should carry, arguably, a lot more weight, impacting as they do our lives in possibly much more important ways. Take, for instance, the kind of rides operated by serial entrepreneur Zalman Silber.

Zalman Silber is the founder of a number of tourist attractions in the United States and Australia. Some are really great, such as Skywalk and The Edge, while others are rather uninspired, such as the Skyride and Oztrek. These latter two are billed as an immersive you-are-there experience for the whole family – blah blah blah – but they’re hardly more than travel flicks the kind you can see on public TV, educational fare you’ve had a million times over already in school, even. They are helicopter fly-bys of New York and Sydney, respectively, with the only concession to “multimedia” (a buzzword that’s been commonly used to ballyhoo them) being so-called motion seating providing kinetic feedback in sync with goings-on onscreen.

Nothing, as noted already, anyone hasn’t seen before.

Yet such things were to be found in many a science fiction film (albeit B-grade knock-offs, admittedly), someone’s vision of what hi-tech audio-visuals would be like one day! Certainly, that just speaks to the poverty of the imagination on the part of the writers more than anything else, but the point is that such contemplation makes for much amusement when screening the science fiction films of yesteryear.

Or take one of the earliest scenes from “Logan’s Run,” when the title character uses a kind of television-teleporter to find a date. Instead of going to a bar, the people of that world use this device to summon dates! It’s nothing short of a kind of 3-D Craig’s List!

These “everyday details” tend to show up in the more thoughtful and interesting movies, and on the whole make up one useful yardstick by which much of the best examples may be separated from the mundane. For most sci-fi flicks focus on laser guns and starships, but leave out what really makes science fiction interesting in the first place, the nexus between science and technology and the everyday lives of human beings.

See how the worldwide web has changed everything? And what is that but a network of computers connecting to one another, serving up information, ordinarily in a graphical (and truly multimedia) way? Nothing especially complicated here; no “warp drive” or “plasma cannon” here – proving the old adage that life is stranger than fiction!

Various ships of the New York City Staten Island Ferry service offer different kinds of boat seats. Some designs enable you to lay down flat almost as comfortably as on any other hard bench, while other kinds feature seats with what is meant to be an ergonomic curvature that makes them unsuitable for laying down on.

Most times of the day, of course, a ferry’s boat seats wouldn’t be available for such a use anyway, seeing how packed New York rush-hours can be, even for transportation to the so-called “forgotten borough” of Staten Island.

Other times, however, particularly on the weekends, seating is plentiful and many a commuter takes to them as to a bed, almost. You can be certain it’s a commuter, one who habitually travels on the ferry, because travelers are otherwise too busy oohing and ahhing over the sights.

After all, viewing Lady Liberty from the confines of ferry boat seats – none next to the windows face out – is nothing in comparison against leaning over the railing at her. And who wants to take pictures with the most well-known statue in all of the United States from behind a glass window, anyway?

No, if you have come this far, well over a mile from the harbor of downtown Manhattan Island, you will experience her the way numerous immigrants have, in passing in the open air, you’re really heading in the opposite direction, away from the city, in common with countless soldiers spanning two world wars.

Other differences exist, too, between the numerous ships employed by the Staten Island ferry service. Some offer a second storey observation deck of sorts, while others can carry cars as well. However, since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, vehicles have not been allowed on the ferry.

Racing isn’t on the minds of most bicycle commuters, unless they happen to be messengers or deliverymen who, usually, ride to work! And in such instances, it would not be too surprising to find them employing what could pass for ad hoc racing strategies of the sort found in informal alleycat contests.

It might seem surprising that individuals who need to ride all day, every day, would also ride so fast, especially when not actually on the job but merely commuting there. Wouldn’t these kinds of individuals rather take a little break from any type of racing for a while? Wouldn’t it make a lot more sense to slowly ease oneself into one’s day rather than rushing, rushing, rushing all the time?

Most folks would agree. But for the speedsters, it’s all about the speed. For such individuals, it’s like how fish need to swim and birds have to fly. It’s not so much a conscious choice as an inborn need. If anything, it is how they warm up for the day ahead.

Of course, the majority of people commuting by bicycle would like to get there as fast as possible, as well. But for them, what’s possible is a great deal more limited, in all likelihood, than for the racers who tend to make their living from bicycling all day.

Such people have a lot practice, and they will have accumulated so much experience. They’re almost fearless – and though fear normally lend wings to feet, fear when bicycling, particularly in an urban environment, can be an impediment to speed.

Actually, habitually slow riders tend to be those with no confidence. They are afraid – and understandably so. But the fear slows them down – not that speed is an absolute necessity for them anyway. The point is that it isn’t a matter of some being fast so much as others being slow.

The NEMO Equipment tent is the flagship product category of NEMO Equipment, an outdoors business specializing in high-level design and engineering. The business was started by Cam Brensinger while still in school, and was moved after his graduation to its present location between New Hampshire’s gorgeous White Mountains and RISD and MIT, the Rhode Island School of Design and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

From the very beginning, the NEMO Equipment tent was destined to put the new business on the map, targeted as it was to bring significant innovation to the industry. Early concepts looked into the probability of creating an entire tent from one compound beam as opposed to sewing them together.

Once successfully developed, the company began hiring its first employees. Its experience in the field even allowed it to provide consultation on human habitats for lunar and martian exploration! And so, with its credibility thus established, the business branched out beyond the original NEMO Equipment tent to research other designs for an increasingly diverse market of outdoorsmen and women.

The spirit of extreme sports had by then taken hold of campers, hikers, climbers, and trekkers alike, and so the AST range of products designed for extreme conditions was unveiled. Industry accolades poured in right alongside increased sales, and no less than U.S. Navy Seals have endorsed NEMO products for real-world use that’s reliable like no other.

Most recently, NEMO Equipment has been exploring greener products, work that has resulted in the first-ever nearly hundred percent recycled tent, with poles made of bamboo. Product lines have expanded to offer tent accessories and even fan gear, in response to the company’s dedicated following!

In fact, the business is staffed with individuals whose pastimes often incorporate company products. Being avid outdoorsmen and women themselves has surely lent the company invaluable marketing insight.

Mention marble sculpture and most folks are likely to think about some thing like Italian marble statues, for instance as Michelangelo’s David or Bernini’s Ecstasy of Saint Teresa. However some of the greatest works of marble are entire buildings themselves, for instance India’s Taj Mahal in Agra, an ancient bustling city on the banks of the Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh.

First mentioned in the old Hindu epic the Mahabharata, where it was called Agrevana, or “the border of the forest,” today’s Agra is most famous for the Taj Mahal, Urdu for “crown of buildings.” It’s a marble mausoleum built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtza Mahal.

It is probably the most breathtakingly beautiful piece of marble sculpture anywhere, an entire complex built to symbolize eternal love. It’s not for nothing that the Taj Mahal is generally found on lists of the seven wonders of the modern world, including one composed by polling a hundred million people.

As a result the Taj Mahal attracts anywhere from two to four million visitors each year, of whome about two hundred thousand are from outside the country. This is a significant fact, as admissions are substantially lower for Indian citizens than for foreigners.

The best time to see this stunning work of marble is during the cooler months of October and November, which are important considerations since lots of walking can be expected (the whole complex comprises of several buildings and sweeping gardens) on account of the strict air pollution controls in place that ban all traffic, except for some electric busses. Polluting the environment is also a serious matter in the area around the Taj Mahal.

Its storied white marble had turned yellow, and now there is a four thousand and fifteen-square mile area around this UNESCO World Heritage Site where pollution levels are subjected to the strictest standards.

It’s essential to go with the right equipment when in the great outdoors. Though amazing, Mother Nature could be deadly – quickly. One crucial part of anyone’s gear when enjoying our national parks should be portable shelter – in other words, a tent. Some thing like the Big Agnes tent, as fine a line as any made anywhere.

They are made from dye-free fabric that’s breathable but waterproof, venting moisture to the outside while keeping everybody dry inside. Their poles are constructed from an anodizing process that is environmentally friendly.

You see, tent poles normally require two really toxic chemicals as a part of the anodizing process. But the Big Agnes tent are made from a special method that eliminates phosphoric and nitric acid, eliminating the polishing stage altogether.

This also has the added benefit of reducing waste water, because with out employing these toxic chemical substances, any rinsing water that is used could be safely recycled. Of course, there are numerous reasons why a Big Agnes tent is such a best-seller.

Quality and reliability is one, plus design and features. And the company’s reputation for other items is solid, which makes consumers of portable sheltering curious about the entire Big Agnes product line. Indeed, it appears that the business is most famous for its sleeping bags, which are unlike conventional designs in that the bag and the pad are united into one.

How they do this, they slide the pad into an built-in sleeve located at the bottom of the bag. This way, the top two-thirds is insulated as per usual but the bottom simply contains the pad, doing away with insulation material that loses most of its capability when compressed under the weight of a body anyway. For several individuals, such details don’t really matter, but for true enthusiasts, such craftsmanship is important.

Virtual travel has just only come of age now, in the 21st Century, thanks to the kinds of Web 2.0 applications like Google Magps’ Streetview function. Unlike something like the sort of corny movie one might view at a Zalman Silber Skyride or Oztrek, where the audience simply sits back and watches tape of a helicopter flyover intended to induce a you-are-there feeling, virtual travel today is really virtual, and much more interactive – which is all to say, realistic like never before.

Indeed, two pals have even embarked on that good ol’ tradition of The Great American Road Trip – only this time, thanks to the marvels of modern technology, they will do it all from the comfort of their own homes. Using Google Maps and its Streetview option, Peter Baldes and Marc Horowitz have managed to trek across the country without paying for gas – or speeding tickets!

Perhaps best of all, however, are all the strangers you can come across during such a road trip – and they aren’t necessarily locals, either! Thanks to those same wonders of modern technology, it’s easy for others to check in on you, joining you for a part of the virtual trip by webcasting the trip live, just as Marc and Pete mentioned above had done. After all, what’s virtual travel without virtual companions?

Unlike the travel videos of yesteryear, virtual sightseeing this way is fully open-ended, just as if you’d won the lottery and can afford to do whatever you want, whenever you want to! No longer will you merely be following along passively; with the simple click and drag of a mouse you can instantly teleport anywhere! Started off in Rome and suddenly longing for Paris? Have most of Germany covered and now want to check out Japan? It’s easy, and fast, with virtual travel in the 21st Century!

Of course, as any Physics 101 student will tell you, you don’t get something for nothing in this universe. And with respect to sightseeing virtually, you give up a lot even as you save a lot of time and money. You won’t meet folks face-to-face, or feel the wonderful weather or sample regional specialties, culinary and otherwise. Most of all, as any globetrotter knows, much of the fun lies in the journey itself, the very getting there. All this, and much more, are lost on a virtual trip.

It is, in many ways, about what you get with a Zalman Silber spectacle, only without the professional production values – a flowing stream of images, as if instead of a juicy well-done steak on your plate you are presented with a glossy high-resolution photo of one! Virtual travel will likely never replace really being there yourself, and it still has a long way to go before it can even begin to rival the same level of fun offered by the real thing – for right now, the sizzle is the most attractive thing about it.

Pass by a statue in the park, and chances are that it’s a bronze sculpture, which rank among the most common of cast metal works because of a naturally occurring trait that can make it more convenient to fashion than numerous other materials. Bronze alloys expand a little prior to being set, and this helps to make certain that even the finest details of a mold are filled.

Moreover, bronze sculptures are strong while not being brittle, a quality recognized as ductibility, so that works may be fashioned that depict actions performed mid-sequence, as if frozen in time, for example leaps and flights, simply because the needed supports require will smaller and thus less obvious (that is, visually intrusive) cross-sections.

Few examples from antiquity exist comparable to those sculpted of stone and ceramics due to the precious nature of the metal. In instances of war, such art was simply melted down for arms, or victorious conquerors melting them down for recasting and to produce new statues.

Few bronze statues survived from ancient times, and those which do are frequently not in good condition. The originals on display in museums have been painstakingly restored to a quality suitable enough for exhibition but even the naked eye can still easily discern traces of wear and tear.

Modern-day works are usually some ninety percent cooper and ten percent tin, though in ages past other components figured into the alloy, elements like phosphorus and manganese and aluminum and silicon. But reactive chemicals are often added nowadays to be able to achieve novel effects such as a marble-like luster.

This kind of corrosive materials are applied after final polishing to be able to form a patina or film, establishing for the sculptor a degree of control over the color and finish. As can be imagined, working successfully with bronze requires a high degree of technical skill.

The all-important first date. This getting-to-know-you can be greatly enhanced by an amusement ride, and the most exhilarating one of all must be the Skywalk by Zalman Silber. A serial entrepreneur who made his first big fortune with New York’s infamous Skyride, a much ballyhooed but modest thirty-minute movie of helicopter flyovers, Sydney, Australia’s Skywalk is a much more visceral affair – and for a first-date, visceral is where it’s got to be at!

No, get your mind out of the gutter – “visceral” here simply means heart-pounding thrills which, studies show, make dates more attracted to one another. Uh-huh, it’s true: the more physically exciting the activities the more likely dates are to think of one another as being physically attractive. Scientists have paired up total strangers of the opposite sex and asked them to secretly rate one another’s attractiveness. Then each pair was put through a roller-coaster, sitting side-by-side, and asked again to rate one another’s attractiveness after the ride. The second set of responses were almost always substantially higher than than the first set!

So if you need to make a great impression, make sure to get her (or him!) engaged in some kind of physically exhilarating activity with you – such as the aforementioned Skywalk from Zalman Silber. Located at the top of the Sydney Tower, the Skywalk is really a catwalk with glass flooring that provides visitors with a panoramic view of the city a thousand feet above street level. Being a catwalk, everything is out in the open, with no windows between guests and…nothingness. The Skywalk offers not only a bird’s-eye view of the Harbour City but all the visceral feelings to go with it as well!

And if the simple fact of being up so high doesn’t get your date’s heart throbbing, make sure she looks down! Visiting the Skywalk is a perfect first date because the Skywalk is the perfect ice-breaker. Don’t be surprised if she reflexively grabs your arm! Even though everyone is tethered by cable to sturdy metal support structures, the frequent gusts of wind can be strong enough to make one forget all the safety features built into the experience. Afterward, you and your date can retire to the conventional observation deck of the Sydney Tower to enjoy the romantic view while sharing fond memories of your Skywalk. Or better yet, purchase another set of tickets to really jack up the excitement and send her emotions through the roof!

Tourist traps. Thought-up to wring every last dollar out of you. It’s as if they were thought up to ruin your vacation. And sightseeing rides rank right up there.

Take Zalman Silber’s Skyride in New York’s Empire State Building. With a name like that, you’d think it was up there at the top, where it’s located. Instead, it’s merely on the second floor. Moreover, express access to the top – for which you pay an additional fifty percent of the ticket price – is just a matter of skipping a few lines. It’s not as if you go straight to the top. You’ll still have to wait on lines, only perhaps one or two less.

And so what is the Skyride? A movie. A half-hour film. That’s it! Definitely a case where the sizzle sounds better than how the steak tastes.

But Zalman Silber redeems himself with his other attractions, the Skywalk and The Edge. The first amusement is aptly named for sure, essentially a catwalk a thousand feet above street level outside the top of the Sydney Tower in Sydney, Australia. It’s an exhilarating experience where, unlike traditional observation decks enclosed behind glass, visitors walk out onto a metal platform that juts out of the building, creating the breath-taking feeling of being suspended in mid-air!

As can be imagined, wind gusts are quite strong at such a height, and special “skysuits” cable-tethered to support structures are used to ensure guest safety. But the Skywalk is open in most kinds of weather, and available practically the whole year.

A similar attraction is The Edge at the Eureka Tower in Melbourne, Australia. This time, visitors are in a fully enclosed cube that sticks out of the building near the very top, with fully transparent glass all around – even underneath one’s feet! A really cool feature of this amusement is how everything is initially opaque, and only suddenly transparent to create an exciting sense of unexpected suspension almost a thousand feet above ground!

These two are great fun and a must for any to-do list when in Sydney or Melbourne. These are the kinds of experiences that really make vacations memorable. After all, vacations are about more than simple relaxation and getting away from work. They are about experiences – ideally, new experiences, positive experiences, unique experiences. And while such attractions as the Skywalk exist elsewhere, such as over the Grand Canyon in the State of Arizona, there’s only one such thing in Sydney and one such thing in Melbourne, offering stunning vistas outdone only by a helicopter flyover.

So beware the tourist traps and spend your hard-earned dollars instead where it would go the furthest. Patronize only those rides which offer true value for the money!

The Sea Eagle 435ps PaddleSki inflatable catamaran-kayak. Yes, that’s a mouthful – as well as the boat is quite an eyeful, too! But the included boat seats, even in the “pro” and “ultimate” packages, leave a lot to be desired. They definitely look cool, all sleek and hi-tech in black, but they do not provide much in the way of comfort, barely supporting a kayaker up!

Indeed, the boat seats included in the cheaper packages, which are standard inflatables, seem to be a whole lot more comfy. Everything else provided by Sea Eagle makes a good impression, nonetheless. To be fair, the black high-back seats are supposed to be more performance oriented, and that means comfort was a deliberate second-place consideration. Being closer to the water provides far better stability and a lot more paddling power.

In the final analysis, it is performance in the water that truly matters, and in this regard the PaddleSki is very excellent. It tracks well and is quite fast, thanks to its length and catamaran-style pontoons, respectively. The pontoons keep most of the boat above the surface of the water, making for less drag.

Stability and speed. Sea Eagle’s PaddleSki offers both crucial characteristics in spades. It is a really friendly craft only marred, perhaps, by the boat seats available for it. Otherwise, it’s a very sturdy animal, with great handling suitable for fishing or camping trips along the river. By being an inflatable, the PaddleSki is easily stowed away. Regrettably, it weights a whopping fifty or sixty pounds when packed, but seems really light, if a bit unwieldy, when fully inflated.

Accessories consist of such useful items as a side motor mount for electric or gasoline engines and a sliding seat and frame for rowing. Sailing is also possible thanks to Sea Eagle’s sailing rig. They all cost lots of money, however – anywhere from a third to a full half of the price of the most inexpensive PaddleSki package available!

We might have brought a backpacking tent along. Instead, being young guys we relished in challenging ourselves and flirting with danger. We cavalierly enjoyed our mountaintop landscape even as the sun was about to dip, and by the time we had turned home we could scarcely go another thousand yards before we realized that we could not see very well.

Real hikers would have just easily pitched or otherwise put together a backpacking tent but obviously we didn’t have one because we were novices and by no means imagined we’d need to have one. This was meant to have been a casual day-hike, after all. And yet, here we were at the end of the day and barely started on our descent. What we did not count on was how incredibly fast darkness could grow in a forest.

Although light was still in the sky, it wasn’t reaching us because of the thick canopy of leaves. Even during high noon the ground would be mostly shaded, never mind now, right before nightfall. And in one of the most awesome experiences ever, I saw my own hand fade away right in front of me, literally in seconds, melting away into the enveloping darkness like some movie fade-out.

Except that it was happening all to me; We were still nearly two thousand feet up from the trail head; and also we didn’t even have a backpacking tent!

Fortunately, friends below summoned local volunteer park rangers and we were finally rescued. But not before spending six or seven hours shivering in the cold and dark! Although it had been a humid summer day, it felt more like late fall in rural New York at night. When I started to finally shiver and shiver I thought it was going to be the end of me! So never,never,never – ever – go hiking without a tent or sleeping bag.

Camping supplies are a necessity even when merely hiking. This is because there’s always the possibility of mishap which will cause you to stay the night in the forest (mountain or desert or wherever else you might be trekking through).

Never underestimate the power of Mother Nature; the weather can change in a sudden flash in numerous places upon the earth. Indeed, our planet is a living one, and the very ground upon which we walk can betray us. A rockslide, or worse, can present insurmountable obstacles in our way, necessitating some fieldcraft to maneuver around.

Thus it is always a great idea to take along camping supplies, just in case. You don’t need to bring everything, but some things are absolutely necessary. At a minimum you will most likely need some kind of shelter, so a tent or sleeping bag must be the first thing on your list. Food and water is next, and it’s a good idea to bring at least one day’s worth, though three days’ is the standard recommended minimum.

Emergency supplies such as first-aid kits and flare signals ought to also be packed. Of course, a lot depends on your choice of venue, the time of year, and your own familiarity with the area as well as your general expertise in the field, but having the right gear around should disaster or, even, just a relatively minor setback, strike won’t cost you too much in terms of weight.

Important camping gear ought to be no more than thirty pounds or so, easily portable and convenient. Do not skimp on common sense! Most serious hikers, campers, and outdoors types know that the possibility of danger is always present, however minimized. If you’re just a casual camper or hiker, then you truly will need to do things by the book and think a few steps ahead!

A good camping tent will make the difference between fun and misery. Camping is a favorite outdoor activity, and though some people make no use of any tent or overnight shelter at all, under most circumstances it is going to be a much much more enjoyable experience when not assailed by the elements. Thus a camping tent is going to be one of the most important pieces of equipment on hand, and when in the marketplace some basic factors should be considered.

First and foremost, figure out whether free-standing designs or conventional ones are most appropriate. Much thought and care needs to be taken at this initial step, as for solitary trips no one will be around to help pitch and strike a tent. Fabric material is one more important factor when shopping for a suitable camping tent. Most goods available on the market these days will be made of cotton canvas, nylon, felt, or polyester.

Cotton absorbs water but is, ironically, then rendered waterproof when its fibers swell and create a seal against further drenching, in effect. Cotton is also often treated to further enhance its water-resistant qualities. Then you have synthetic fibers such as nylon and polyester, which are much lighter in weight and tend to whisk away water, made all the more water-resistant and even waterproof through the application of special coatings. Sadly, these will also deteriorate over time under sunlight.

When considering the water resistance of a camping tent, look to its hydrostatic head rating. Tent fabrics are rated in millimeters, and numbers of 1000mm or less are deemed shower resistant while extreme conditions such as monsoons may call for ranges in between 3000 to over 5000mm, especially where groundsheets are concerned. There are a handful of other factors when it comes to tent fabrics, but this discussion covers a couple of the most important and should serve to stimulate further research on your own.