Advice and Information for Tent Nomad

[Spaceman Spiff]

How do you get the rebar stakes out of the ground?

Does spinning them with a drill help?

 

[B and C]

I use a hammer (or my fence pliers) and strike the sides of the stake back and forth a couple of times. I have an antique pair of fence pliers that I grab them with and twist back and forth while pulling up. Works well.

 

[highdesertranger]

on my rebar stakes I welded a "TEE" on, a small piece of rebar at the top. then I simply stick a pick on the bottom of the
tee and step on the other side of the pick and they pop right out, 99% of the time. the other 1% there is a lot of cussing going on . highdesertranger

 

[B and C]

Wish I could weld. The few times I tried I got a big blob, not pretty or strong at all. I know, not enough current but when I turned it up I blew holes. Wait, that didn't sound right.

 

[Joe Dirt]

A small pipe wrench with a cheater pipe slipped over its handle can make quick work of twisting and levering a long rebar stake from the ground. 

Confucius say: "A small pipe wrench and a couple of different sized cheater pipes can be inexpensive yet valuable tools to have in one's toolbox"

 

[RoamerRV428]

Confucius say...….omg that is funny! had me smiling on that one LOL

 

[geogentry]

Quick update.

After 5 months of nothing but desert the Alaskan guide rain fly succumbed to the exposure to the UV and actually ripped across one of the stress areas over one of the poles.

Major panic. I called Cabela's. Their response shocked me. After a couple questions I was instructed to take my receipt and the tent to one of the stores. Preparing for major resistance I took a picture of the tear. Armed with picture, receipt, and the tent I went to the nearest Cabela's store. I should note that I bought the tent at a Bass Pro.

Approaching the CSR I showed her the picture and the receipt. Her response - OK leave the bad tent here and go get another one. No hassle.

Rather than get the same model I upgraded to the Instinct Outfitter. Why? They are designed to put a stove inside, along with several other positive features. I don't want to have to make a run for the South when it starts to get cold but I don't like being cold either.

Only having it one day there is not much to report. But one positive is that even having to stop and read the directions at every step it took me just 1.5 hours to do the setup. Half the time of the other model.


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[Zephyr]

Glowing praise for the Instinct Outfitter.

Thanks geogentry.

Truly, it should be a comfortable shelter and worth the investment. Looking forward to reading about your adventures with it. Carting it up wild roads to isolated spots with a 4x4 pickup would be my goal. But, it will also be a good home for work camping.

Smart keeping the Alaskan guide receipt.

 

[geogentry]

So far the features are vast improvements. I want to go up by Spokane. That's far enough North that cold nights can, and do, start early. Staying warm is a concern of mine. But I didn't want to take a heater into the other tent. Something happens and it would go up like tinder in a campfire and melt down around my ears. New tent is treated and certified flame retardant. I may burn a hole in it, but I will be alive to fix it. Spokane, hopefully, by August.

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[geogentry]

Smart keeping the Alaskan guide receipt.

Forgot this line. {Memory seems to get worse with age}

Didn't really need the receipt. Although I called Cabela's I had purchased the tent at Bass Pro. Somehow they're connected together now. Anyway the person I talk to at Cabela's she said that I could call Bass Pro and they would email me a copy of my receipt since I use the debit card they would have that record. But I'm still going to keep the receipt for the new tent.

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[Day Dreamer]

Forgot this line. {Memory seems to get worse with age}

Didn't really need the receipt. Although I called Cabela's I had purchased the tent at Bass Pro. Somehow they're connected together now. Anyway the person I talk to at Cabela's she said that I could call Bass Pro and they would email me a copy of my receipt since I use the debit card they would have that record. But I'm still going to keep the receipt for the new tent.

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Bass Pro bought Cabela's in 2017. Same company now.

 

[StarliteRambler]

Cabelas has always stood behind their stuff.

 

[Zephyr]

geogentry, I remember a thread where you asked if you could get hired as a workamper if you lived in a tent. It seems like some said it was possible at some places. So, I'm wondering how tent living works for you. With tent living advantages and disadvantages, how have you made it work for you? I assume you stay in one spot for awhile or as long as possible and move on. But wherever you go, it's not stealth. I remember in the seventies a brother of a friend was living in a teepee on Colorado National Forest land. It was hidden from the road but it's hard to hide tracks. One day he went to his home/teepee and it was gone.

My idea of an answer for simple, cheap (very important), and infinite ways-to-do-it housing is tent living. The wood tent stove in the Instinct Outfitter opens up a lot of camping in otherwise marginal areas. Plus it can handle winds and rain, you can stand up in it, and it's got 160 square feet of living space. Perfect solution for me and my old 4x4 pickup.

I'd appreciate some do's and don'ts, better ways to tent camp and live wisdom.

 

[geogentry]

I have yet to find a company that will allow me to be a camp host using a tent. I have applied to some and got no answer back. So I started calling them. I have been told repeatedly that I require a hard shell dwelling to be a camp host.

There are positives and negatives to tent camping. It's sometimes difficult to find a place to drop a tent. My current tent, the one I just got is only 10 ft x 10 ft. Plenty of room now that I'm alone. But that doesn't take into account the amount of space required to stake out the guy lines. Basically I'm looking at a footprint about 16 feet across and close to the same in length. This can be a problem in a lot of places because finding a flat clear place that size can get difficult. I plan on adding a small Coleman tent, which is about $60, to my equipment for those times when I can't find a place for my proper tent.

When I was boondocking in the Appalachians in North Carolina the Rangers there told me never to leave my camp with my tent and equipment setup. Besides coming back and finding everything gone, some people enjoy blasting it with firearms. Since that time if I drop a tent I don't leave the camp for any length of time.

I have discovered this is a favorite tent of hunters. I read an account by one Hunter who went hunting in Wyoming during the fall early winter. He said he experienced wind gusts up to 80 miles an hour while it was snowing. He described the tent as having no problems calling it bombproof. He also discussed the stove in the tent and said that he had no problem keeping warm even when the temperature dropped down near zero. I have every intention of getting a stove before the winter months. Having used most of my savings to upgrade it will take a little time.

I find this tent immeasurably easier to set up compared to the Alaskan Guide. It took me half the time to set up this tent and that was was having to stop and look at the directions every step of the way.

Although the tent floor appears very sturdy I still placed some old billboard vinyl on the inside floor to help reduce if not eliminate the wear on the floor from everyday use.

The biggest disadvantage is setting up and taking down. In vehicles such as a van when you're parked you're camped. The other disadvantage is that if it's raining you can't set up your tent, unless you want the inside of the tent thoroughly wet.

The advantage, I find, in using a tent is that I can stand up. Also the amount of space allows me to move around a little easier than if I was in a van. I should note that when I was boondocking in North Carolina I was in a van, but also used a small tent. Being six and a half feet tall meant I moved around inside the van bent over almost double. There are advantages and disadvantages to each. It will come down to personal choice as to what is more comfortable.

I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

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[Cammalu]

I was camping a few days at a campground at the host was in a tent. It was the Pine Ridge Recreation Area in the Mark Twain Forest in Missouri

 

[geogentry]

I was camping a few days at a campground at the host was in a tent. It was the Pine Ridge Recreation Area in the Mark Twain Forest in Missouri

Can't find one out here in the west. Shrug. Am doing ok on current income. Would be nice just to build up a good nest egg though.

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[RoamerRV428]

yea it is up to the park who is allowed to host and what vehicles etc are allowed but I don't have a clue what is a percentage of what that could be out there between county, city, state, federal etc cgs thru the good ol' USA

a company? mostly getting the above job is direct contact with park.
thing with private cgs, who knows what rules they got, way too varied

 

[geogentry]

From what i have experienced most of the federal are now overseen by private companies. But I do keep my eyes open.

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[Neal]

I've been in Bryce Canyon since April 1st. I bought a Kodiak tent and it's been through severe windstorms and has had 4 inches of snow on it twice. I car camp in my Prius but my tent is used for kicking back and keeping my supplies in in it for now. The one thing that is a common thread around here is you get what you pay for. Good luck!

 

[geogentry]

The one thing that is a common thread around here is you get what you pay for. Good luck!

Not always. The first tent I had, the Remington Big Horn, lasted one week before I head to repair it from wind damage. That one has a listed price of $300.

The current one I have is designed to be in snow and high winds. I read on one forum, that is primarily Hunters, of one man's experience during a fall winter Expedition. He experienced constant 30 to 50 mile an hour winds with gusts up to 80. In addition it snowed most of the time he was there.

The advantage of your tent is that it's canvas. The Instinct Outfitter is by far and away not a cheap tent, taking into consideration that I get what I pay for I should have no trouble.

And thanks for the good wishes on luck.

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