OSH '05 Comments

I agree with the above...
From my own personal experience, the Sierra Designs 3 season tents are
a good bet. I've already worn one out (after many years of camping).
When I worked for the National Park Service, they used North Face. We
used them on the north rim of Grand Canyon where any type of weather
could be encountered (including snow on June 6th one year!). My best
friend has a Moss that he likes very much.
Just my 2 cents, but I used to spend alot of time in tents (not as much
anymore).

Ryan

("Dave Butler" wrote)
This is my third year in a row at Osh and the second time I've had a
department store tent fail me. Never again.

I went to sleep with the lightning flashing and thunder crashing on Monday
night. There were (maybe) 10 drops of water inside the tent. I had spent
half a day with the tube of seam-sealer before leaving home, time well
spent.


1994 Dodge Grand Caravan. Foam padding strip in the window where the camping
extension cord enters - to connect to the power strip :-)

I put a board across the two front seat armrests. Mmm ...12" fan all night.
Dry all week too!

I was 2 miles south of the Ultralights on Old Knapp Rd. In the morning I
would swing by the ultralights for some 7 am viewing, then drive around to
the N40 for breakfast. Plenty of free parking up by the Super 8, Hilton,
Penny's, Friar Tuck's - but not in their lots!!

At night I'd hop in the minivan, get on 41, head south of the museum one
exit to N/26, go east 1/2 mile, then turn south one mile. Circle R
Campground. Nice, but they do need more than 3 showers!!!


Montblack

wrote:
I agree with the above...
From my own personal experience, the Sierra Designs 3 season tents are
a good bet. I've already worn one out (after many years of camping).
When I worked for the National Park Service, they used North Face. We
used them on the north rim of Grand Canyon where any type of weather
could be encountered (including snow on June 6th one year!). My best
friend has a Moss that he likes very much.

I used a North Face Roadrunner 22. On Monday night, the rain was
sufficiently heavy and the wind sufficiently strong to drive some rain
through the entry zippers of the fly, creating a small drip. I kept my
Packtowl handy and absorbed the small amount that leaked through.
The wind also managed to blow a small amount of rain between the tent
footprint and the tent floor. Tuesday morning, I removed the fly,
unstaked the tent, lifted it up and wiped the moisture away. I put
everything back the way it was and didn't have any further problems the
rest of the week

Moss was bought out by MSR several years ago. You will find some of the
Moss design characteristics still exist in their product line.

John has a great idea on OSH 06 camping tips. Probably a new thread
altogether.

I personally prefer the Mountain Hardware or North Face line, then
again I do more camping than just OSH, so it is more of an investment.

I agree with all the basic technical specs. Can't emphasize the full
rainfly enough. I have tried the single-wall, and don't like them one
bit. I would rather carry the extra weight on my back and pack in the
rainfly and ground sheet.

Another helpful hint for the inevitable thunderstorm at least one
evening: softie ear plugs and eye shades. I slept through every big
storm for the past 3 years, except when I had to get up to redeposit my
beer...

We have a 35-year old French ridge tent with a solid vinyl molded bottom.
We've had 2" of water running under the tent in a downpour and absolutely no
leaks. It has a separate rainfly that goes all the way to the ground. Not
high tech -- it's just waterproofed cotton, but we've never gotten wet. We
bought it in the UK in the early 70's and have camped all around the UK and
Europe and here in the US. OTOH, it's pretty heavy and bulky. We've since
bought a couple of different "high-tech" nylon dome tents with fiberglass
poles, but none of them measured up to that old tent. If we knew it was
likely to rain, we'd take that.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)


"john smith" wrote in message
. ..
After seeing others experience with tents at AirVenture '05, I am going to
write an article to post prior to AirVenture '06 about what to look for in
a tent that will keep you dry and stay where you place it.

However, since you are asking now, here are a few quick suggestions so you
may seek and purchase a tent at a discount this Fall when stores are
discounting this Summer's merchandise.

o Three season tent with full rain fly. Single wall tents are lighter, but
do not breath because they are coated to seal out the water. As I have
told others, in 25 years the only weather I have not yet seen at OSH is
snow.

o Look for a tent that has a full rain fly, not those little umbrella sun
shade things that some tents have. You want a rain fly that goes almost
all the way to the ground, completely covering the inner tent. You want a
fly that is factory seam sealed.

o Bathtub floor. The waterproof tent bottom that comes up the sides of the
tent six to eight inches.

o Ground cloth. I use TYVEK, the vapor barrior material that is wrapped
around new house construction. Find a scrap in the dumpster or ask the
construction crew to save you a piece. (Check with a local Boy Scout troop
to see if they have a roll that they will sell you a piece from.) Cut it
to the shape of your tent's footprint so it is two-inches from the edge
all around. If it is the same dimension or larger than your tent's
footprint, water draining off the fly can be caught on top of the ground
cloth and flow under your tent. Although the bathtub is waterproof, water
will still seep through microscopic holes and make the inside of your tent
wet.

How many people will be sleeping in the tent?

Do you need/want a stand-up size or a crawl-into size?

Metal poles vice fiberglass poles? I prefer metal, but the most important
feature of the tent will be multiple lash points for guying. If you have
sufficient guys/tie-down points, it will withstand very strong wind.

Domes/A-frame/rectangular shape. Think airflow. How will the surface of
the tent deflect the wind and rain? Domes generally allow the greatest
interior volume and best wind/rain shedding.

Visit a backpacking store or good sporting goods store and try out the
different models. Read BACKPACKER magazine. Google "backpacking+gear
reviews" for websites and read what users have to say.

Onlines websites:
www.campmor.com
www.rei.com
www.northernmountain.com
www.sierratradingpost.com
(these are the ones I commonly check for sales)
there are many others, including the manufacturers websites.

Remember, this is a brief overview, there is lots to discuss.

Dave Butler wrote:

Tom McQuinn wrote:

This is my third year in a row at Osh and the second time I've had a
department store tent fail me. Never again. My 'C' brand tent with
its 'guarantee' to keep me dry is going to a yard sale and I don't
care if it sells for 75 cents. It isn't worth the closet space it
would otherwise take up. I am very interested in any brands of tent
that anyone could recommend. Because if I do this again I intend to
stay dry somehow. I did notice that some of the manufacturers make
rain flys that will keep water out as long as the tent is standing. I
gotta get me one of those!


Did you use seam-sealer on the department store tent before you used it?

I've had a couple of bad experiences with thunderstorms camping at
Oshkosh, and finally got this tent for this year:

http://www.arequip.com/Products/Blac...Lighthouse.htm

Caution: Black Diamond calls this a 2-person tent, but I wouldn't
recommend it for more than one person, even if the 2 people are very
good friends.

I went to sleep with the lightning flashing and thunder crashing on
Monday night. There were (maybe) 10 drops of water inside the tent. I
had spent half a day with the tube of seam-sealer before leaving home,
time well spent.

You can see it set up on the North 40 he

http://makeashorterlink.com/?B3B15378B

Dave

I have gone back packing for weeks at a time using a pup tent that
cost me $29.95. I did have to seal some seams near the top corners and
it didn't come with a fly. I use a military issue poncho for that. I
have been dry in it during thunderstorms and very heavy rains. It's also
lighter and packs smaller than any $300 tent I have ever been around. It
also is a 2 man tent, but unless you are relatively small, female and
sexy there's no way you get to share it with me.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

PPT33R wrote:

John has a great idea on OSH 06 camping tips. Probably a new thread
altogether.

I personally prefer the Mountain Hardware or North Face line, then
again I do more camping than just OSH, so it is more of an investment.

I agree with all the basic technical specs. Can't emphasize the full
rainfly enough. I have tried the single-wall, and don't like them one
bit. I would rather carry the extra weight on my back and pack in the
rainfly and ground sheet.

Another helpful hint for the inevitable thunderstorm at least one
evening: softie ear plugs and eye shades. I slept through every big
storm for the past 3 years, except when I had to get up to redeposit my
beer...

Thunderstorms put me to sleep even in my li'l pup tent. I even slept
through Hurricane Dennis. (OK, so I was in my bed, but still...)

For the uninitiated a close thunderstorm can be quite frightening if
you are in a tent.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

Tom McQuinn wrote:

This is my third year in a row at Osh and the second time I've had a
department store tent fail me. Never again. My 'C' brand tent with its
'guarantee' to keep me dry is going to a yard sale and I don't care if
it sells for 75 cents. It isn't worth the closet space it would
otherwise take up. I am very interested in any brands of tent that
anyone could recommend. Because if I do this again I intend to stay dry
somehow. I did notice that some of the manufacturers make rain flys
that will keep water out as long as the tent is standing. I gotta get
me one of those!

I have a Coleman Classic tent that is more than 20 years old now. I
don't know if Coleman even sells it, but it survived the storms of OSH
in 1995. It is an 8x10 and has something like 16 or 18 peg loops around
the bottom. I carry an ammo box with rail road spikes to use as tent
pegs. My friend teased me about carrying all of that weight to OSH (but
the Skylane was easily up to the task!), but he stopped teasing me when
my tent was one of the few that survived the thunderstorms intact and
even dry inside.

This isn't a lightweight tent and isn't made for backpacking, but it is
a robust tent that doesn't leak and has held up well during 20 some
years of use. I'm on the second fly as they don't hold up well due to
the tension on them, but the tent is still in decent shape.

Matt

"RST Engineering" wrote in message
...
Are you kidding? I'll bet upwards of $5mil was charged at Oshkosh last
week.

{;-)

Yep, and I added to that, also. ;-)

You will have to be careful now, Jim. I have quite a picture of your return
bike ride. g Out of shape? ;-)
--
Jim in NC

P.S.I'll get on that recipe we talked about, tomorrow.

Is this the summer of the dicount tent?