Saturday, April 5, 2014

where to take my kids on a Saturday?




Danielle


We live in Albuquerque, NM and we are bored. Its very windy outside My kids are too young to care about museums, the aquarium here isn't all the great, and I have run out of ideas. Does anyone have any ideas on what we can do? We have cabin fever!


Answer
Build a tent in the living room floor and "camp out," watch movies, have popcorn, make a fake campfire with flashlights and twigs from outside, make s'mores in the microwave...

Buy some Terra cotta pots (super cheap), some paints, put down newspaper and let your kids create some beautiful keepsakes for you! Then you can plant flowers in them. My kids spent at least an hour painting some small pots that came in a kit. They loved it - and they're 4 years old.

Do you have any kiddie gyms there in your town? We have some places locally that have inflatables where kids can just run and play and jump until they're worn out!

Which tent should I choose?




kjetit


I am looking for a 2-3 person 3 Season backpacking tent.
It should be high quality, water proof, noiseless, no condensate and sturdy against wind. I would also like it to be comfortable for 2 persons, functional to use and not too heavy.
I will use it mostly when hiking on mountains.

I have been looking on
-MSR Hubba Hubba HP Tent
-Sierra Designs ASP 2 Tent
-The North Face Roadrunner 33 Tent
-Sierra Designs Antares 3 Tent
-???other sugestiond??

I was thinking of investing +-$400 to get a long lasting tent.
Please help me. Which tent should i choose?
If you know a good place to buy it, it would be great also.

thanks.



Answer
The basic criteria for a good three season backpacking tent include: dual walls with full rain fly that reaches the ground OR single wall waterproof/breathable with vents, carbon fiber or aluminum DAC poles, a method of securing the poles to the rain fly (often Velcro), plenty of screens, and a bathtub floor. Other considerations are that a tent with only two poles is obviously lighter than three or more, and lighter materials make for a much better time backpacking.

Of those four tents, I'd dismiss the North Face tent immediately as I've been prejudiced against their products due to their popularity and its reputed effect on quality control. The MSR Hubba Hubba has won awards and is the lightest of the four, but I consider it overpriced in comparison to the Sierra Designs tents, which would be my choice, and is, because I sometimes carry a Sierra Designs Lightning tent which is similar to the Sierra Designs ASP 2 tent, although about a pound lighter, which is my answer to your question. The SD Antares weighs over 7 lbs and thus isn't suitable for backpacking in my opinion.

Comparing the Lightning 2 and the ASP 2:
http://sierradesigns.com/tents.display.php?id=716
http://sierradesigns.com/tents.display.php?id=47

The ASP 2 is larger than the Lightning 2, both the interior and the vestibule, but for me 4 lbs is the absolute maximum weight for couples UL backpacking, and when my kids are older I plan to switch permanently to use my silnylon tarp or sew a Ray Jardine tarp with mosquito netting. Still, I carry the tent, fly, guy lines, and stakes myself and my wife carries only the poles included her 11 lbs FSO (from skin out) BP weight.
http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___20069
http://www.rayjardine.com/ray-way/Tarp-Kit/index.htm

Other options include various UL tents such as those made by Henry Shires: http://www.tarptent.com/ or some kind of pyramid tent such as those made by Titanium Goat: http://www.titaniumgoat.com/vertex5.html or a pair of hammocks from Hennesy: http://hennessyhammock.com/

REI carries the Lightning 2 and ASP 2 tents, both of which are are sale right now, which is my answer to the last part of your question as well: http://www.rei.com/product/763152
http://www.rei.com/product/763148




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