Tent Buying Guide (long, print it out)

Time out, everyone!
As the founder of this thread, I will add a point in defense of cheap
tents (since I haven't as yet written the full AIRVENTURE TENT BUYERS
GUIDE).

Mike's points are all valid. He has quantified them and they are sound.
If you know what to look for, you can find inexpensive tents that will
do the job.

The information I posted is intended to educate the reader about what
features to look for and why. Armed with that information, you will find
a wide range of prices that may suit your needs.

Short story...
One of my neighbor/campers this year was using a 15 year old Eureka
Timberline 4. During the wind and rain, the fly ripped. The tent and fly
were faded and worn. My neighbor was lamenting that he was disappointed
in the tent. He had bought it because others had told him Eureka was a
good tent and would last a long time.
It did, he just had higher expectations.
He expressed that he would probably buy a cheap $40 tent because if it
only lasted a couple of years, he could purchase another and still be
money ahead instead of spending $160 for a new Timberline 4.
Is his logic flawed? Maybe. Maybe not. It all depends on the features
and materials he selects for his next purchase.

Personally, I have been experimenting with light/ultra-light camping
using just a 10x12 siltarp and a piece of 6'x8' TYVEK.
I am not quite ready for a week worth of AirVenture with it, but it has
potential.

john smith wrote:

Personally, I have been experimenting with light/ultra-light camping
using just a 10x12 siltarp and a piece of 6'x8' TYVEK.
I am not quite ready for a week worth of AirVenture with it, but it has
potential.

Back before I was aware that there was such a thing as money, I used to camp
with just a mil-surplus sleeping bag. I would take along the cheapest plastic
dropcloth I could find and a coil of clothesline. If it looked like rain, I
could string the line between a couple of trees, cut some dead wood for stakes,
and stay pretty dry. Of course, that was in an area where there *were* trees and
deadwood in plenty (GSMNP).

I still carry a cheap dropcloth and some clothesline in my emergency gear pack.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

"john smith" wrote in message
. ..
Personally, I have been experimenting with light/ultra-light camping using
just a 10x12 siltarp and a piece of 6'x8' TYVEK.
I am not quite ready for a week worth of AirVenture with it, but it has
potential.

The bugs will get you at OSH if you use a tarp!

Mike
bug hater

Mike Rapoport wrote:

The bugs will get you at OSH if you use a tarp!

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/searc...=search&k=deet

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

"George Patterson" wrote in message
news:4jsIe.45$zX3.30@trndny05...
Mike Rapoport wrote:

The bugs will get you at OSH if you use a tarp!

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/searc...=search&k=deet

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.

It doesn't stop them from buzzing around your head all night, keeping you
awake.

Mike
Bug Hater

("Mike Rapoport" wrote)
The bugs will get you at OSH if you use a tarp!


Not one mosquito this year, not any last year either - and I'm a mosquito
magnet.

There were an inordinate number of crickets this year. They were all over my
campsite, which was ok because they were being quiet ...and, you know, all
that good luck stuff. I was in a cornfield campground 2 miles south of the
ultralights.


Montblack

Glad to hear it. I wasn't there this year but was eaten alive several years
ago.

Mike
MU-2


"Montblack" wrote in message
...
("Mike Rapoport" wrote)
The bugs will get you at OSH if you use a tarp!


Not one mosquito this year, not any last year either - and I'm a mosquito
magnet.

There were an inordinate number of crickets this year. They were all over
my campsite, which was ok because they were being quiet ...and, you know,
all that good luck stuff. I was in a cornfield campground 2 miles south of
the ultralights.


Montblack

("Mike Rapoport" wrote)
The bugs will get you at OSH if you use a tarp!

Montblack wrote:
Not one mosquito this year, not any last year either - and I'm a
mosquito magnet.
There were an inordinate number of crickets this year. They were all
over my campsite, which was ok because they were being quiet ...and, you
know, all that good luck stuff. I was in a cornfield campground 2 miles
south of the ultralights.

Reminds me of the old joke about the guy to took the innocent young
thing to the drive in and parked in the back row. As the are sitting
there watching the beginning of the movie, the lass comments, "Oh,
listen to all the crickets!"
To which her date replies, "Them's not crickets, honey. They's zippers."

"Montblack" wrote


Not one mosquito this year, not any last year either - and I'm a mosquito
magnet.

There were an inordinate number of crickets this year. They were all over
my
campsite, which was ok because they were being quiet ...and, you know, all
that good luck stuff. I was in a cornfield campground 2 miles south of the
ultralights.

Ants were my problem, this year. They even figured out how to climb my
power strip cord, into my van.
--
Jim in NC

John wrote, "Personally, I have been experimenting with
light/ultra-light camping
using just a 10x12 siltarp and a piece of 6'x8' TYVEK. "

Reminds me of my younger years playing camping in the woods near our
house, we used trashbags cut open and tape.

Bryan "The Monk" Chaisone