What's not to love about a tent

[Ken in Anaheim]

I've always thought that this : http://galaxybeing.com/galaxyhut/ in conjunction with a car/truck/van would be a great, reasonably priced and
* "Burning Man proved" combo......IMHO
KinA
*Burning Man= a gathering in the desert (like a west coast Woodstock/campout/freakfest) known for its DEVASTATINGLY HIGH WINDS

 

[highdesertranger]

well it's in the middle of a playa. just about the worse place to camp if you want to get out of the wind. highdesertranger

 

[RustNever]

This is the tent I currently have ..http://www.armytents.com/tents/tent-crew.html.. I got mine new for 100 US dollars at a nearby military base.It weighs 98 lbs with tent stakes and poles.
This is the tent I think I want, and no, 2500 is not too much for a good tent,my personal opinion.Time will tell. If ya are living in a tent you can haul it with most anything. I give a lot of weight to Bobs argument about security of your valuables.
The Safir 7 or even 5 might be an option, not for the price but the ability to pack it up and go higher up the road, where security from 2 legged preditors might not be such a concern.
Maybe I will end up pulling a livestock trailer with my pack llamas in it.
On non negotiable feature is a stove jack.

 

[RustNever]

Those Gamblers Blues
Dave Von Ronk From the early 70s i think ??

 

[66788]

What's not to love about a tent? Well, I just got back from camping on the north coast of CA and spend time in an eight man dome tent. It was a pain in the a** to erect and take down, and sleeping on the ground, even with an insulating pad, is awful. I hope to never ever sleep in another tent as long as I live. My memory foam mattress in my RV is heaven compared to what I endured.

 

[coolmom42]

This is what's not to love about a tent:

*setup and tear down time---which becomes infinite in a thunderstorm
*bears---every scrap of food has to be put up in a vehicle or bear box, every time you eat. EXTREMELY inconvenient.
*security for belongings---none
*security for people---none
*noise---in the wind, and from other people

I've spent a lot of time in very high-quality tents, like the Cabelas Alaska Guide series. Those tents do not leak & will stand up to a gale force wind when properly erected. But they are still TENTS.

 

[caseyc]

My sentiment exactly. Tent camping is strictly for teenagers and 20 something. Hah!

What's not to love about a tent? Well, I just got back from camping on the north coast of CA and spend time in an eight man dome tent. It was a pain in the a** to erect and take down, and sleeping on the ground, even with an insulating pad, is awful. I hope to never ever sleep in another tent as long as I live. My memory foam mattress in my RV is heaven compared to what I endured.

 

[Spirituallifetime]

Last summer when I was sleeping in my tent I used a cot with a 3" foam pad, it was very comfortable. The tent I use is quick to set up, the poles are attached to the tent and fold down. To set up pick the tent up at the top of the tent and lock the poles and stake down the corners, done in 2 minutes.

 

[offroad]

Tents are for rain, bugs, sleeping only. They are useless for 50 mph winds, mostly. Are useless for insulation against 30 degree cold. Are useless against noise pollution from neighbors.

Still they are great SUPPLEMENT to other camping accommodations.

 

[Simran]

When I was a young man (in my 20,s) I was doing some contract splicing work for Ma Bell in Rawlins, WY. I slid into town with my pickup and found a campground. This was when the oil & gas boom of the late 70's & early 80's was in full swing. I went to the office of the campground and asked the guy for a lot to set up a tent. He stopped mid stride and looked at me over his glasses and said,"If you're going to set up a tent HERE you better stake it down good." I told him I was aware of that and had plenty of stakes.
All went well and according to Hoyle for about 2 weeks. One day, like any other day, I got up fixed up some grub & went to work. we were splicing in dug pits doing buried splices in this location and about 10:30 the wind began to blow. It picked up speed until there was so much dirt blowing we had to quit work. I went back to the campground and what I seen wasn't pretty. My tent, at this point, more closely resembled a rag tag bunch of various sized flags blowing in the wind. But I still had the pieces. I took it to a canvas shop and for 45.00 they stitched & patched it back into one piece. I used it the rest of the summer and actually for many summers after that until the mice got to it one winter and chewed a bunch of holes in it.
I now have a Kodiak canvas tent I bought a few years ago. I used it to live in during the summer for a couple years before I bought my van. That tent is probably the best tent I've ever owned but it cost me close to 500 big ones. The money I saved living in that thing over motel rooms paid for it over & over again.

 

[Simran]

OMG! I would have done the same thing!! :s

Back in the 80's friends of mine were hitch hiking around the country and were lucky enough to have a driver invite them to stay on their living room floor. They gladly accepted since they had been living in a small tent for weeks. Everything went well until the lights went out and the living room floor turned into Cockroach Grand Central Station. My friends dealt with the situation and I wish I could have been there to see the homeowner discover a tent set up inside his house.

Guy

 

[Patrick46]

I have a buddy that lives in an old farmhouse next to a swamp in Northern Wisconsin. He got the place for next to nothing as the house was pretty old & in rough shape, and, well, there's this huge swamp next door! :s

That spring that he moved into the place and started doing his renovations. The mosquitoes were SO BAD, that they lived inside a tent in the living room until they finally got the place sealed back up again...3 years later!!

I helped him put a new roof on it.....the hell with that place!!!!

 

[akrvbob]

I've heard only good things about the Kodiak tent. Seems like they are the way to go.
Bob

 

[offroad]

Four season tents that can handle desert winds.

http://sectionhiker.com/what-is-a-4-season-tent/

 

[Vic.]

Good in a pinch. I always keep one handy.

 

[HarmonicaBruce]

When I was younger in the 1970's my girl friend and young son went tent camping. It was fine, until one morning it was raining. We sat in the tent for awhile, then we realized it wasn't going to stop raining all day. The only thing we could do was pack everything up wet and put it in the trunk. I knew then that tent camping was not for me. A van is the plan!