Tent recommendation

After the Petit Jean fly-in last year I realized that my current 2 person tent is too small and requires the kind of contortions to do anything (like get dressed) that get more difficult as you gracefully age. I still plan on aircraft camping on occasion and am therefore researching an upgraded and more comfortable solution for both the tent and the mattress (my inflatable burst and is now a duck blind at Petit Jean).
As I am 6' 3" I need some head height and so far I have found two tents that seem to fit the bill, the Kelty Trail Ridge and the Big Agnes Big House 4 or 6 and they get reasonable reviews. These tents seem to be in the 12lb weight range which is not too bad. Also thinking about a folding cot versus a self inflating or similar pad.
Interested in advice from the experienced campers out there.

opinions

While we're at it, would you also like an opinion about tri gear or tailwheel, slider or tipper, or build vs buy? JK.

I got a Coleman Stockton 8 for my "pack mule" trips with the family. Cheap but decent. I wouldn't want to carry it far, but you can stand up in it and fit 2 air mattresses and some misc stuff.

I can't speak to the two tents you mentioned. I've camped for about the last five years. I have a four person tent that I can stand up inside in the center. I also used two folding cots. With the cots, its a nice set up for two people. I would recommend splurging and getting an XL cot. I did and enjoy it significantly over the standard size cot that my wife uses. I still use a self inflating mattress on the cot for additional comfort.

I also put a plastic tarp over the tent as a rain fly. I've found that no matter how much I treat the tent's original fly with waterproofing, it still leaks that one night every year in which we get heavy rain. My tarp is orange, looks tacky, but is quite functional. I've never gotten wet in my tent.

Also, make sure your tent poles can handle a good deal of stress. I've have had the tent sway several feet in some of the strong winds I've experienced at OSH. Fortunately, it doesn't happen often. I've seen some of the inexpensive tents with fiberglass poles snap.

My LL Bean 5 man tent is about 8 years old and is a veteran of quite a few camping trips. It received its worst punishment last year at Oshkosh with the kids constantly going in and out, sometimes tripping over the the threshold of the tent. It and the rain fly got it biggest test on the Wednesday morning when the heavens opened and it rained. Not a single drop got in the tent. Even the bottom stayed dry on the inside. I am very impressed with it.

REI Hobitat 4

While I have no personal experience with this tent, I like the looks of it. It is a 4 person tent which means it would probably be well suited for 2-3 people. It appears to be tall enough to be able to stand up reasonably comfortably. It is 13 pounds unless you get the optional "garage".

Caveat: I'm a minimalist camper...

Most of my camping has been on river trips either with rafts or kayaks. Camping out of a kayak is akin to backpacking, really limited in what you can bring. Most of the time I just use an inflated pad and a bivy or tarp. A few of my favorite pieces of gear are:

• Kelty Noah's Tarp. Lightweight and tough! It has tie down loops placed conveniently and an overall good shape. I've used it as a ground cover, rain cover, and (in a pinch) bivy (think burrito wrap).
  
• North Face Cat's Meow sleeping bag. This synthetic bag is awesome! Keeping dry camping along a river in the rainy season is simply impossible which leaves down sleeping bags out. I've woken up perfectly warm laying in a puddle of water with this bag.
  
• Go-Kot. When it's a benefit to get up off the ground, these Cot's are the best. They pack small and are reasonably light (for a cot). You still need a sleeping pad unless you like an overly firm sleeping surface.
  
• Exped Downmat Sleeping Pad. If you ever camp anywhere cold this will add 10 degrees or more. Also, it's extremely comfortable. Skip the cot if you use this pad.

Hope that helps!

How about this?



Nice and comfy. Thinking of getting one for the next SNF.

Great input so far

JR

JDRhodes said:

While we're at it, would you also like an opinion about tri gear or tailwheel, slider or tipper, or build vs buy? JK.

Click to expand...

Tailwheel, Slider, Build

Lots of options

There are a lot of 4-6 person tents available. Shop around at places like Sears and Walmart. I bought a 6 person Hillary tent (Sears brand; about $90) about 15 years ago and it's been awesome. The only thing I would change are the fiberglass poles to aluminum. Fiberglass is much heavier, and they tend to split after a while. As for cots, I don't like them for one reason... they're noisy. Yep, they squeak and groan when you move around on them. You may not mind, but your partner might. As mentioned, you really need a pad on top of them to be comfortable anyway, so I prefer to just set-up on the ground.

I was backpacking in Olympic National Park a few years ago. The trail maintenance crews we met all had these very high end tents - and every one of them had a tarp strung over it.

For a ground cloth, I buy a piece of plastic and custom cut it so it's just a little smaller than the foot print of the tent. Any bit of ground tarp that sticks out of the bottom of the tent will collect water and direct it under your tent between the tent floor and the tarp - you don't want that.

Tom

Dave,

I have a Coleman Fast track.
7' x 7'6
One piece and goes together in about 1 minute.
4 stakes and done.

Love it.

Buying a tent is like picking an airplane--what is you mission? It only has to be very light if you are a backpacker. If you want a tent to last, skip the bargain basement stuff. I had one of those a few years ago at Oshkosh, and a wind came up as we were putting it up. The wind pulled the seams, and it leaked for the rest of the week. I was miserable, or at least as close as you can come at Oshkosh. It didn't make the trip home. I bought a Eureka Copper Canyon, not cheap, but better quality. They come in several sizes; mine is bigger than you probably need, a 1512 that will comfortably hold eight. There are pretty good prices on Amazon.

Some things to look for--"bathtub" floor, that is one that comes up the side for a distance so there are no seams at water level if it rains. Also, taped seams are far stronger, and water tight. These things don't add weight, but do add to the cost. Also, at 6'4", I can stand up in this tent, with headroom to spare.

Search on "tent reviews" and you will learn a lot. Remember that some of these people have never been in anything other than the one they are writing about, however. Put a tarp down under the tent and you stand a better chance of staying dry, also. Just don't let it stick out and catch the rain! Something else--put the tent up once to see that it is all there before you go on a trip. I brought a fellow to Oshkosh once who had a new, expensive tent. It was missing a part, and he had to make a trip to Walmart. Not a happy camper, in the literal sense.

Good luck. I consider a tent an investment. This year I will have the 1512, plus a new 12 X 20' tent. We have 14 people in our group and will have lots of room. That tent wasn't cheap either, but I expect it to last for at least ten years. IMHO, that makes it a good buy.

Bob

Bob

uk_figs said:

As I am 6' 3" I need some head height and so far I have found two tents that seem to fit the bill, the Kelty Trail Ridge and the Big Agnes Big House 4 or 6 and they get reasonable reviews.

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I have the Kelty Trail Ridge 2-person and it's an excellent, 3-season tent. We used it at SnF. I've never been disappointed in a Kelty product that I can remember. I know nothing about Big Agnes. But, then again. I have never had an interest in a 12# tent. Too big for small plane, backpacking, or cycling trips in my mind. But, I'm also a minimalist camper.

The other company I always check when I'm thinking about buying a tent is Sierra Design. I've always found their tents to be excellent.

Having many years of motorcycle camping under my belt from South Texas to Canada I would suggest that whatever tent you choose make sure it has some of the following features.
,
Bathtub design-a tent where the floor comes up the side several inches
Factory sealed floor seams
Aluminum frame poles series 7000
I like a free standing tent with a "clip" design. Easy to set up in the dark, and easy to take down solo. The sleeve tents I had were harder to thread the poles thru the sleeves in the dark.

I used a Eureka Backcountry 2 for about 10 years and it never failed me thru many a mountian rainstorm. Another point get a tent that is for one more person than will be camping. Ie if one person will be camping get a two person tent. Two person get a three and so on, unless you will be backpacking then get as small and light as you can afford.

Regarding air mattresses... Get a Thermarest. Your back will be happy you did.
My wife has an extremely bad back & said she'd never go camping again until I bought her a Thermarest.
All is good now.

Adding to the chorus... I'm reminded of something also said about airplanes (paraphrasing): the best 2 person tent is a 4 person tent. At least if you are using it for an activity where compactness and light weight isn't at a premium.

There are a lot of really nice tents on the market these days. If you want it to last, buy a major name brand, as others have pointed out.

REIoutlet.com often has great deals on tents. I have a tent fetish, in part due to too many hobbies, and I've found that all the major players have quality products. Add to that the ease of finding reviews online on just about any model you can think of...

Oh yeah, and REI house brand tents are often a good value. I have a few of them, the oldest being a gigantic "6 person" (really better suited for 4) dome tent that's almost 20 years old and refuses to die.

I have done a lot of camping and own four tents. My 15 year old LL Bean 6 man dome tent is stored in a storage locker in OSH and is used yearly. It has stood up to the worst punishment in the annual storms with no leaking or blowing over. There have been a few storms where my tent became the emergency shelter when others with cheap tents found out that you get what you pay for. It's always funny to see cheap tents in the dumpster in the North 40 after the storms. Other brands I own are Mountain Hardware (18 yr old)...excellent, Kelty (10 yr old).....very good, REI (6yr old)....very good. I've also owned a Eureka which I loved until my backpacking partner lost the poles 18 years ago. They all have specific purposes and as another poster said, know your mission. The one drawback on a larger tent is going to be weight. The reason the LL Bean tent resides at OSH is that it weighs around 30+lbs making it too heavy for my RV and expensive to ship every year, plus I share the cost of a storage locker with a bunch of people so it only costs me about $25/yr.

I learned a long time ago that when bad weather hits, that's not the time to wish you had spend a few extra bucks. If you want a tent that will last, keep you dry and not blow over in 60mph winds, stick with the manufacturers known for making good tents. Glad you are at least looking at the reviews, it is a great research step.

I've tried a couple of cots over the years but prefer an air mattress. I move around a lot while sleeping and just find it more comfortable. I never tried a self inflating pad and still use a foam pad for backpacking.

Years ago, on this forum, I recommended that someone go to http://www.campmor.com to shop. They have one of the largest selections of camping gear in the country and carry nearly every brand and generally have lower prices than the Box stores. If just for comparison shopping, it is a great site. You will find stuff there you didn't know existed.

At Petit Jean I recommend the King Suite in the Presidential Lodge. No sign of water leaks, it didn't blow over in the wind, and it has an indoor campfire

Thanks to all for the tips

Thanks for the great (and varied) inputs, my wife subscribes to the DanH approach and to her pitching a tent means throw it in the trash , so I need to make it comfortable on the basis that she may actually try it again (but it will be the Lodge for Petit Jean this year).
After a looking at the comments and a lot of time online looking at reviews, comparison, pricing, tent weight etc etc I decided on the Kelty Trail Ridge 6, 2 doors, 2 vestibules, aluminum poles, bathtub floor, taped and sealed seams, 10' X 8' floor with 6' interior height. Weighs 14lbs. Managed to find one at Sierra Trading Post for 58% off with a coupon.
I plan on getting the footprint as that seems to be a universal recommendation and next is to decide on the Cot versus pad, we have tried the inflatable mattress approach and it reminded us of the early days with a waterbed, have never tried the self inflating pads. The inflatable beds do weigh quite a bit and are chunky and I have to be careful on my -7 about baggage weight and volume, so I need light and small volume.

This is just like the build phase, choices > analysis > personal preferences > decision > Live with it

Self Inflating Pads

Dave,

I recommend the self inflating pads like the ones Thermarest sells. Like you said, the air mattress pads (although they're becoming popular again) are like sleeping on that raft you used to bring to the beach. Also, they're cold... even in the summer time if the temps get into the 50ies or 60ies. The Thermarest pads come in different thickness. I have a 1.5" thick pad that I find comfortable (6 foot 1, 200 lbs) even on frozen ground. I believe they're available up to 3" thick.

Have fun - sounds like a nice tent you got.

Tom

tent stakes

I also am in need for a tent for OSH this summer. I live in Arkansas where it is pretty rocky. From what I've read most stakes that come with new tents are not up to the task. Is there a preferred brand or type for all around use? I took Louise's advice and ordered a Kelty 2 person tent.

My .02

Below is my post on a related topic from a thread a while back on the EAA forums. http://eaaforums.org/showthread.php?1316-What-tents-for-Oshkosh&highlight=Tent

As someone who has been in the Outdoor industry for almost 20 years, it amazes me that aviation enthusiasts who spend thousands on annuals and parts measured in $1k increments are not willing to spend the money it takes to buy equipment that will ensure a comfortable camping experience. Having recently lost my job due to "downsizing," I have no loyalty to any specific company , but can hopefully shed some light on what to look for when buying a tent.

The comment regarding mountaineering-oriented tents is a good starting point, but what you need for something like Oshkosh is known as a 3-season backpacking tent. Non-negotiable features should include: aluminum poles, not fiberglass (although carbon fiber is on the horizon but will be expensive, of course); a full rain fly that extends almost to the ground; fully seam taped floor and rain fly; as much no-see-um mesh as possible for maximum ventilation in the humid climate.

Some other considerations: Unless weight is an absolute consideration, buy one size larger than you need, i.e. a 3-person for 2-person camping. It will add about a pound, but give you way more space to move around and keep your stuff dry in a downpour. A vestibule is nice - it adds space covered by the rain fly but outside the living space, perfect for wet shoes, or even cooking if necessary. Windows in the rain fly are nice but not critical. The rain fly is necessary even in clear weather due to dew in the humid climate of OSH.

When setting up, stake out the rain fly as much as possible to maximize air flow underneath. If its clear, you can leave the door open, but anything exposed will get wet from dew.

To address the other comments: unfortunately the skills and knowledge required to sew complex products has all but been lost in the US, at any price. Also, the high quality fabrics required for lightweight, truly waterproof tents are mostly produced in Taiwan, even for domestic production. However, the design, development, sourcing, marketing, customer service and distribution of outdoor products still supports a great deal of good paying US jobs... hopefully to soon include a new one for me so I don't have to sell my RV!


That was it from the quote, but also wanted to add that Thermarest pads are the bomb... Way more comfortable than a cot. Go for the thicker. I used a 1" think one for years of backpacking but updated to a 2" one for last years Oshkosh and it was MUCH better.

Spindrift said:

That was it from the quote, but also wanted to add that Thermarest pads are the bomb... Way more comfortable than a cot. Go for the thicker. I used a 1" think one for years of backpacking but updated to a 2" one for last years Oshkosh and it was MUCH better.

Click to expand...

I agree. I use one on top of my XL cot for ultimate comfort.

Hey Dave-

I was at Petit Jean with you last year (I'm the "doc.")
I used a coleman sundown which is inexpenseive but seemed to be adequate. My wife and I both slept in it and were comfortable
If you get it I would recommend using seam sealer and waterproofing it as well.
Again, inexpensive but seemed to be adequate.

Peter
RV9a-375 hrs

Cabelas self-inflating pads for all around use. Half the price of Therma-rest and all the comfort for a couple ounce penalty. Plus, you can use it as an excuse to fly to Sidney or your nearest Cabelas

Also looking for new tent...

We loved our Big Agnes, but... see story here. I think part of the problem with the Big Agnes was that it was a tall tent. Most of the tents that survived the "Big Gust" at OSH12 were lower profile.

Camping

I live in Alaska and hunt and fish a lot. Now, the conditions that I wind up in can be on the exteme side so I recommend pretty rugged gear. For the tent you can not go wrong with a Cabela's Alaska Guide model. They come in various sizes to fit your needs. Get the aluminum poles. As to sleeping get the "Go-Kot". This little unit folds up smaller than most inflatable pads. You can use it on a solid rock surface and sleep like a baby.

My preference

I have had great luck with the newish Nemo brand. Lots of small details that are nice.

Sierra Designs

I've been looking at the Sierra Designs Veranda 3 tent. It has a nice vestibule/screened porch. I think it weighs about 10#. Does anybody have any opinions about this tent or Sierra Designs tents in general?

Berchmans said:

... Get the aluminum poles. As to sleeping get the "Go-Kot". This little unit folds up smaller than most inflatable pads. You can use it on a solid rock surface and sleep like a baby.

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In all the hiking I have done, I have never run across a "Go-Kot". Very cool but at 8.5 to 10 lbs, that is 10% of a two seat RV's baggage capacity.

(For backpacking, that would be 25% of my max total pack weight.)

Something to think about

If you are concerned with weight you need to be looking at a trekking type tent, the type you would carry on your back. If you want a tent that can withstand serious rain and wind, then you need to be thinking serious quality of manufacture and design.

So... who makes some of the very best tents (and other serious trekking equipment) Try http://www.macpac.co.nz/ Oh and I should declare that I have absolutely no connection with them in any way shape or form. (and don?t be confused, I am an Ozzie not a Kiwi)

I used to do a lot of Serious hiking, where every part of a Kg (Lb) really mattered, if you wanted to take something with you had to carry it on your back, so weight was critical (bit like the payload in the aircraft). It was also essential that it did not get destroyed as you were often days away from help. I can highly recommend Macpac gear, it is designed to be as light as possible and yet as tough as possible. These tents have been used on Everest and in the Antarctic and are designed to stand up to cyclonic winds and deluge type downpours, and yet be portable. They are expensive! Make sure you are ready for the shock when you look at the web site, but they are very durable if you look after them. My 2 man tent has been used for nearly 25 years and it is still as sound and waterproof as the day I bought it, though it is a bit grubby now.

They are a New Zealand company. NZ designs and manufactures some of the best outdoor gear on earth. One plus you will have is that there is a very positive $US advantage compared to the $NZ.

Cheers

Jim

c177tx said:

....
Bathtub design-a tent where the floor comes up the side several inches
Factory sealed floor seams
Aluminum frame poles series 7000
I like a free standing tent with a "clip" design. Easy to set up in the dark, and easy to take down solo. The sleeve tents I had were harder to thread the poles thru the sleeves in the dark.

....Another point get a tent that is for one more person than will be camping. Ie if one person will be camping get a two person tent. Two person get a three and so on, unless you will be backpacking then get as small and light as you can afford.

Click to expand...

Good solid advice! All of it.

Dave