What kind of tent should we get?

TaDa

I don't know anything about camping, but we're a family of four and will be going on camping trips with the Boy and Girl Scouts. What kind of tent should we get? What style? (Idiot-proof set-up would be good.) What's a good brand? (We're in Texas, so we're more likely to be camping when it's hot not cold.) Thanks!

Answer
For car-camping I always advise families to get a separate three-man, three-season, nylon dome tent for each two or three people. Maybe some families enjoy a slumber party atmosphere the first night, but by the second night I'll bet most people would prefer a little privacy.

Some people see one of those big two or three room "cabin" tents and think that's the answer, but those things are overkill, often too large for the campsite.

Even though you're camping in the summer, a dome tent with full rain fly is essential in case of a freak storm. If it's hot you can take it off, unlike a cabin tent which is usually just one layer. Some dome tents have more mesh screen rather than nylon on the inner layer and those would be the coolest.

REI http://www.rei.com/ has many good quality tents, including their own brand which are a great deal. http://www.rei.com/product/745955

If there's any chance the Scouts might be going on a backpacking trip sometime in the future, and are required to bring a tent, you might want to think about the weight of that second "kids" tent and instead try to buy the lightest 2 man, 3 season tent. This one is reasonably light for two people to share carrying it. http://www.rei.com/product/705525

I just remembered, after all that, that I also always advise people never to buy tents, sleeping bags, backpacks, etc. for their first camping trip(s) and instead to borrow or rent the more expensive gear to give yourselves a chance to learn what your personal preferences are without spending big bucks. REI also rents tents, sleeping bags, pads, backpacks and camp stoves. They have six stores in TX: http://www.rei.com/FindStores?state=TX&radius=900

what is the largest family camping tent? we have 6 kids.. people plus gear..?

ian t

i want the biggest tent possible. to fit our bags as well..

Answer
You can get tents in any size you want to pay for.
But the bigger it is the heavier it is and takes up more room, both in the car as well as the camp site.

You will only be using it for sleeping and some storage, EXCEPT for food and other smellables!
You don't want furry visitors in the tent.

Get a 3 room rectangle dome type.

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About Camping tents for backyard or backyard porch?

mamac

Hey I Am Almost 19 years old i am looking for a camping tent to set up in the backyard or on back porch just for me to sleep in what kind of tent would be best for me to get and to use to sleep in i need one that has enough room for me to sleep in only i got a sleeping bag but need a tent that fits me like a medium size or large but don't know witch one would be best for me to get at walmart

Answer
if its just for you to use a typical 7x7 foot dome tent would be plenty roomy and quick to set up, there about $20 to $30 at walmarts, i still have one of them i got there over 10 years ago and use it a few times every summer on camping trips and its great. a tent will last a long time if you follow a few simple rules, dont ever put them away wet or they will rot, and dont leave it set up for weeks at a time in bright sunlight, it will become brittle and fall apart. dome tents are great because they can be set up anywhere, they dont have to be staked into the ground to hold there form and stay up, my younger nephew loves it when he comes over to spend the weekend and i pop it up in the living room for him to sleep in. 7x7 is about the smallest i would go with but im 6 foot tall and its annoying if youre feet are touching the end, and if things come to it 3 people can sleep comfortably in a tent that size without having to be touching. you can get the little 3x7 foot pup tents even cheaper but there good for kids and thats about it, and they have to be staked in the ground to stay up. if youve got some extra cash the self setting tents are awesome. just throw them in the air and they land fully set up, about $50+ for a 7x7 size but there priceless if you ever get caught in a rain storm and dont want to spend 5 minutes putting up a tent while youre getting soaked. happy camping to you, even if it is on the back porch. you can get a really nice 16x9 foot tent at walmart here for $80, i got one last summer but there not worth all the hassle to put up unless youre having alot of other people staying over. and they have to be moved every 3 or 4 days or it will kill the grass. ive had many tents over the years and if its just for you or 2 people i wouldnt go with anything too big. if you start getting serious into hardcore camping you might consider getting a nice 3 or 4 season tent, but youre going to be getting into hundreds of $$$. if youre just out in youre yard you could always run an extension cord to plug in a heater and stay reasonably warm even in very cold weather, dont ever use propane in a closed tent, the exhaust fumes can kill you. i do use my coleman dual catalytic propane in my tent with no problems but i keep a window cracked for fresh air and would surely never leave it on while sleeping. a friend of mine uses the cans of sterno to heat his tent even without any windows open, it hasnt killed him but i wouldnt suggest it. also a cheap tarp is a good idea to throw on the ground before putting up youre tent to prevent a sharp rock from making a tear and to protect against moisture from the ground. nothing like being in a tent when its pouring rain and notice that tiny hole in the floor is leaking and youre sleeping bag is soaked.

tent and supplies for camping, across america w/2 dogs?

pilgrim

I am looking to pack my small SUV up with myself,basic supplies and two dogs, 40lb mutt and 80lb german shepherd, from New York to California in August. I have not yet considered how long this will take. First off, any suggestions on tents, there's so many to choose from and an abundance of add-ons, I would love some feedback from the public on their experience,

What is significant: space,the dogs will sleep in there with me, quick and easy set up and take down, lack of fiddly lines and tie downs, Im planning on taking the northern path cross country so suitability for all temperatures and environments, ventilation, two dogs and me generate a lot of heat.
What is not significant: weight, it will be in the car and I wont be carrying it far, price, I will want to keep this for a long time and use it again.

Any decent links to camping reviews, packing lists etc are appreciated, also, if anyone has done this before with dogs, tips and hints and recommendations for places dog friendly along the way would be wonderful, thanks in advance!
great advice from all, and the safety of my dogs is the great priority here, dont worry, were making some re-con trips over the next few weeks in preparation,
GPS: check!!
Veterinary locations: check,
Emergency veterinary care kit: check, thanks again!

Answer
When I take my puppy (10 year-old, 85-Lb shepherd mix) camping and am solo, a two person tent is more than sufficient for her, my gear and me. I wouldn't have any trouble fitting a second, smaller dog in as well. So I think that any 2-person tent or larger would be fine. If you plan on sleeping on a double- or queen-sized air mattress, then you'd need to go with a 4-person or larger tent unless your dogs sleep in bed with you. With tents, each person is allocated about 26" width, so a queen-size mattress will take up as much space as 2.5 "persons."

There's so many different tents to choose from it's hard to make a recommendation. I've always had good luck with Eureka, and the aforementioned 2-person tent is more than 15 years old and is still in wonderful shape, despite being used at least 500 nights. Since weight is not a concern, you'll be doing mostly short stays by yourself with two dogs, I'd suggest a 4-person dome tent. Don't go much larger, or else you'll have trouble setting-up alone. You should pick out a tent in-person at a camping/outdoors store such as REI, EMS, Campmor (if you're nearby) or similar. Look for a good brand name (Eureka, Kelty, Marmot, North Face) and then features like:

* Bathtub Floor -- floor material wraps up the sides before joining the wall
. material so the seams are less likely to leak
* Full Coverage Fly -- better wind and rain protection
* Clip or Sleeve/Clip setup -- faster and easier setup (try to get spare clips
. in case one breaks or gets lost).
* Vents/Doors -- Look for cross-ventilation and easy access for you and
. your dogs.
* Pre-Sealed or Taped Seams -- better rain protection.
* Material thickness -- different models use different weights/weaves of nylon.
. Heavier weight is more durable, particularly on the floor panel where sharp
. dog nails might be an issue.

Any tent you get will need to be staked-down against the wind. I can't tell you how many time's I've retrieved tents for neighbors who thought they could get by without staking. Most dome tents use two or three straight poles that are all shock-corded together, so there's little to get confused over when setting-up and minimal time and effort. The fly is optional and, depending on the tent design, only needed when it rains or to cut the wind. I'd avoid cabin tents or modified domes that have angled poles and other fiddly bits to deal with, even if they are typically taller and more spacious.

Aside from the tent you'll need a ground sheet to help protect the floor. Best option here is to get some heavy polypro painter's drop sheets from your local home improvement store and then cut about about 3"/side wider/longer than the floor of your tent. This extra material gets folded up and tucked under the tent to prevent water from accumulating under the floor.

Next thing is what will you sleep on. I assume you'll bring temperature-appropriate sleeping bag for you. If space isn't a concern, I'd suggest a folding camp cot with a foam pad on top for comfort and insulation, otherwise a thick foam mat. As for the dogs, except in the coldest weather, your shepherd won't need any extra insulation, (mine won't sleep inside her cut-down sleeping bag unless it's below 10 degrees), I don't know about your other dog. My shepherd is also content to sleep on the ground, but happier when I bring her own foam mat along.

No issues with dog supplies, except to have an air-tight container for dog food storage and treat it like any other food in regards to wildlife (particularly bears and raccoons): keep away from your tent, locked in your car or bear lockers where provided. Skip those overpriced, folding dog bowls at the pet store, just bring your regular bowls from home and a collapsible food storage bowl (about $6) for water on the trail.

Having up-to-date rabies vaccinations with written certificate from your vet and dog licenses is essential. Most campgrounds won't accept you without these items. Of course other vaccinations should be up-to-date as well, for your dogs' health. Bring a copy of both your and your dogs' major medical information with you in case of emergency. Veterinarian access is usually as simple as looking through a local phone book, or you can use the Pet Travel Center's website's search function at http://www.pettravelcenter.com/veterinarians. Don't forget flea/tick drops, leashes, dog run wire or rope, and favorite play toys. Oh, get an ID tag made with your cell phone number and home address for each dog, in case they somehow get lost (it does happen).

Bring a good first aid kit, it should cover the essentials for you and your dogs. Nail trimmers and a grooming brush (for the dogs -- I'll assume you already were bringing your own!). If you or your dogs take prescription meds, take along a fresh prescription with you in case you run out or medicine gets lost or contaminated during your trip.

GPS: They're fine for finding out how to

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What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a tarp instead of a tent for camping?

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Ruby

My dad and I go backpacking a lot and while we were hiking a section of the Pacific Crest Trail we met some other hikers who were using a tarp for a shelter, instead of the usual tent. Using a tarp is not only lighter than a tent, but it is larger and easy to set up. We've been wondering if maybe using a tarp would be better.

Answer
Ultralight backpackers such as Ray Jardine have revolutionized backpacking with the popularization of using sil-nylon tarps instead of tents.

Tarps provide ventilation which tents do not, thus reducing condensation, which dampens everything inside your tent, especially your clothing and the insulation of your sleeping system, which, especially on long trips, will leave your gear heavier and colder every day, especially during inclement weather. Tarps are lighter and offer more coverage as you've already mentioned. Tarps require no poles and can be pitched between two trees or using two branches or a combination of the two. And tarps are actually stronger than tents by weight, contrary to ignorant assumptions, because they can be pitched low into high winds, and ideally have multiple guy lines that can be staked or tied out. And there are no poles to bend or break. It's utterly laughable for anyone to state that tent poles are stronger than a couple of stout poles found in the woods: You're doing it wrong.

A couple years ago I sewed my own tarp and net tent, which hangs underneath the tarp as protection from mosquitoes, and replaces the need for a ground cloth, using Ray Jardine's tarp and net tent kit and Tarp Book, which includes all the instructions you need.

Since then my wife, daughter and I have successfully and comfortably camped under our tarp tent inside our net tent several times in the Sierras, strangely often in high winds. I have had a corner stake pull out during the night but on our last trip to Winnemucca Lake in Mokelumne Wilderness the winds were just as strong but the tarp required no adjustment during the night.

My tarp is 17.6 ounces with its stow-bag. 8 anodized aluminum stakes plus stow-bag weighs 4.5 oz. And the net tent its stow-bag weigh 11.9 oz. For a total of 2 lbs, 2 oz. for a shelter for 2 1/2, half the weight of the 2 man REI Quarter Dome with stakes. Like I said, no ground sheet needed because the net tent has a sil-nylon floor which hasn't shown much sign of wear.

We haven't had too much rain yet, but after sewing and seam sealing my tarp I set it up in the backyard and rigged up a sprinkler to test it and I have no doubts I'd stay dry and comfortable in any weather short of a blizzard.

Of course tarps are three-season use only and in winter you'd want a single wall tent but why suffer the other three seasons because you can't afford two tents when your second tent can be an inexpensive tarp.

You can read about Ray Jardine's 2009 through-hike of the Appalachian Trail where he evaluates the performance of his own tarp and net tent here: http://www.rayjardine.com/adventures/2009-AT/index.htm

Before Ray designed his net tent he used the same tarp but to protect against swarms of mosquitoes he wore a set of uncoated nylon wind-shirt and wind-pants to bed along with homemade nylon mittens and of course a head net. The wind-pants and wind-shirt are dual use of course, keeping you warmer in the wind and drier in light rain while repelling mosquitoes.

Everyone in my family has a set of wind-pants, windbreaker and mosquito head net because you can't stay in the net tent forever, and I've gone without it, sleeping with mosquitoes buzzing around my head net in the evening, and would anyway to save weight, but my family likes the comfort of the net tent.

Of course if you don't want to sew your own sil-nylon tarp with "beaks" and other features you can buy plain square tarps of various materials and weights from coated nylon to sil-nylon. I used the $60 Campmor Sil-Nylon Tarp before Ray started making his kits but it's not the best, which is sewing your own.

Here's another article on the subject: http://www.the-ultralight-site.com/backpacking-tarps.html

If you're planning to camp above treeline it's a simple matter to pick up a couple of sticks along the way and keep or discard them as needed. Better than carrying poles ALL the time.

They also make tarp poles for the uninitiated.

Anyone who's sewn their own tent, sleeping quilts and backpacks for themselves and their family and used them successfully while backpacking solo and with a child from age four to six, all over the Sierra in all kinds of weather , please stand up, otherwise you don't have a leg to stand on nor any right to tell me what I've said isn't true and what I've written doesn't work. If you don't know how to pitch your tarp in the wind or don't have the wherewithal to move your camp to somewhere more sheltered if the weather becomes unbearable you don't belong in the wilderness.

Would it be possible to build a living shelter by tree fusion?

Obi Kemneb

When I was little, my dad took me out camping in the mountains multiple times a year. And no, it didn't involve an RV with a gas stove and minishower. We'd drive up the first half of the way in out suburban, then lock that down and ride the rest of the way on ATV's. One year in the late fall, we found a semi-permanent shelter in a stand of tall grasses, short trees, and wiry bushes. Most of the dead leaves and pine needles had fallen off or decayed, but the basic woven frame was still pretty much intact. Not one to "cheat" my dad stuck with the original plan, which was to make a couple tents with some tarps and bungee cords and sleep there. However, my interest drove me to beg, and so the next summer we went back with the intent of fixing it up and spending a week in a real survival shelter. I was (and still am, to a degree) amazed to find that some of the vertical beams had produces leaves. Apparently, the original creators had used live saplings for the vertical supports, and simply wove in dead/harvested branches for the horizontal beams. So now I have a burning curiosity.

I've seen people braid ficus and bonzai saplings together, and allow them to grow until they fused together into a single living tree. I've seen pine trees grow around chainlink fences that were built too close to them. I've heard that branches from completely different species of trees could be cut off and replaced with each other, so that one could in theory have a tree that produced both plums and peache.

Would it be possible to plant a ring of saplings, lash them together at the tops to make a sort of dome, intertwine their branches, and thereby create a living shelter that would eventually grow into a single tree with a shelter space inside? If so, what kind of tree would be best, and about how long would it take before they were unquestionably in a fused state?

What are the chances of seeing the wild horses while camping at Assateague Island?

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Simba

I plan on camping at Assateague Island for an extended weekend (3-4 days) and was wondering what the chances are I will see the wild horses. I friend of mine has camped there and she made is sound like they are running all over the place. So I was hoping I would see them. That is the main reason I want to go. Or are they a rare sight?

Answer
I think it depends a lot on what time of year and even day of the week that you go -- when it is more crowded with day tourists the horses will tend to shun the beach areas. I backpacked there many years ago in the very early Spring when it was still pretty chilly and few people were there. We hiked the 11 miles to the hiking only access camping area and stayed for 3 nights, exploring during the day. We spotted groups of horses several times by finding a dune where we could sit quietly for a while and watch for them. Bring binoculars to up your chance of spotting them.

The advise on bug spray is wise -- also try to bring a tent that pitches tautly and sheds wind well. The overnight winds there can be dreadful and will make your tent fly snap all night like a flag in a hurricane. In fact, if there is no rain predicted you are better off without a fly -- several people in our large group had the flies ripped completely off their tents overnight. I had an aerodynamic tent with an integral attached fly that went all the way to the ground -- I banked sand over the edge of it, pitched the tent with the ridgeline oriented to the wind and slept soundly. Be really sure to anchor the heck out of the tent. One of the guys in a dome tent had to chase his down the beach when he left the door open and the wind lifted it and blew it down the shore about 100 yards, with all his stuff spilling out of it. Regular tent stakes don't work in sand -- bring at least 4 small stuff sacks or even small plastic trash bags that you can fill with sand, tie off to your tent guy loops and bury in the sand as "dead man" anchors. You can also collect pieces of driftwood to tie to the guy lines (bring a hank of parachute cord for this.)

What qualities and features should I look for when shopping for a tent?

Mrs.Fine

I love to camp, but my poor old tent has worn out and it is time to purchase a new one. There are alot more features available now, and I want to know which ones are worth the extra money, and which ones just add more weight to my gear. It was a little overwhelming shopping at the Bass Pro shop last weekend.

Also, where is the best place to find a good deal on these tents? I only have a family of four, so an extra large tent is not needed. Just one that is relativley simple to set up.

Thanks for your input!

Answer
First, get a name brand tent. Almost everyone I know who has purchased a tent from a discount store has had problems with it very soon. Not only is this bad economics but can ruin a camping trip.

The tent that is right for you will depend on your own use and priorities. If you are car camping, you will likely accept weight and volume to have a comfortable tent. If you are bike touring, you probably want as small a tent as you can get.

Here's a few things to consider:

Self supporting - The more self supporting a tent is, the less you have to rely on stakes, but the more likely it is to have more poles and more weight. A classic pup-tent for example is simple, has only basic center poles, but needs good ground to steak it down.

Ventilation - Very important if you will be in warm weather especially. I find that having cross ventilation (two opposite doors for example) give much better ventilation than the percent of the tent body that is netting. ( I find that if the netting is completely surrounded by the fly, you won't get much wind movement anyways)

Mosquito netting - get the smaller no seeum netting. It's helpful if you can adjust this and the door rainflies without having to open the tent door (thus letting all the bugs in)

Zipper - get one with a substantial zipper on the doors. This is a point of failure on many bargain brand tents.

In my outdoor program I purchase Eureka Timberline Tents which are the mainstays of many outdoor programs. I think they are one of the best values you will find in a tent. They are well built, have good zippers, have excellent cross ventilation and are easy to set up with poles that are unlikely to break. You can adjust the ventilation from inside the tent. They are great for most general needs, but would not be my choice for activities where light weight is needed such as bike touring or light-weight backpacking. They will make more noise than a dome tent in a wind. A good source is Campmore. They also stock spare parts such as poles should you ever need them. Personally, I find myself using this tent most of the time unless I'm in the wind or snow I use a Eureka dome tent, and if I want to go light, I use a small
Sierra Designs hoop tent instead.

Help preserve your tent by shaking or sweeping out all the debris each morning when you take it down. This will make the floor last much longer. If you are not overly concerned about weight, cut a plastic ground cloth to fit, which you can always leave out if you don't want it. (Campmore sells these very cheaply to fit the timberline)

P.S. - the Timberline has a 4-person version, but it is room for sleeping only. If you are car camping for long periods of time, you may want something more roomy for a family of four.

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