New Tent Forum

[geothefisher]

We have been tent campers for years, but just got our first pup!  We are trying to get it ready to go for this weekend.  I will never give up my tents, (we have 2) because we are also into boating and fishing.  And if we go someplace where we will be boating, we need to take the tent.  If we are going kayaking, we can take the pup.  Our "big" tent for when the kids go along is from wally world, and people will walk by our site and stare.  It is a dome tent that is 13x21 with an almost 8' ceiling height.  It is the only one I have ever seen at wal mart.  We got it about 6 or 7 years ago on clearance for $60.  We also ended up with a 12x14 cabin tent form walmart because of the "big" tent.  We got to this campground where we had made reservations.  The tent site they had given us was not big enough for our tent, and they didn't have another space that they could put us on.  Off to wal mart for a smaller tent.  Now we ask how big the spaces are a take the appropriate tent.   

[ghacker]

I've done a fair amount of tenting the last 7 years and few times in the 70's, just car camping, never backpacking.
Owned 5 and probably used at least that many, still have 3 although one will probably be donated to the Scouts soon. From a 2 man, no fly, 2 pole tent to a 150 sq ft. monster we use for the family. Alas, now that we purchased a PU, I suspect our tenting days may be over except for Scouting events with my son.

I'm amazed at the improvement in equipment over the years. Absolutely no comparison from the 70's to now. Been in torrential, all night downpours in 50 MPH winds and was as comfortable as the proverbial "snug as a bug in a rug".

[zjrog]

We snagged a SUV tent for really cheap recently.  My wife is anxious for me to get the trailer done, but then plans for its revival got modified.  So we have been out with the tent in the meantime.


DW had such a good time, but we haven't had the chance to go back out again.  We WERE going today, but the weather turned bad on us.  We were packing the Jeep when it cut loose raining.  And rained a good chunk of the rest of the day.  The site we were headed for would have been wet and miserable.  Darnit...

[JimmyGator]

I haven't tent camped since last winter.  Below was early March on the Suwannee River in North Florida:



Below is in the infield @ Daytona Speedway.  I guess this counts as camping 

[TooManyTents]

JimmyGator,
Yep, that counts! 

[Kavoom]

I started in a tent with my family in 1960.  It was canvas, weighed roughly one ton dry.  Wet two.  Dad bought his first pup in 65 and they camped in it until 93 when they got too old to do it anymore.  They sold it to a young family for fifty bucks who use it today.  They did have to recanvas it as the old canvas was mostly silicone. 

I then started tenting again in 76 when I came back from the Marines.  and tented until 2005 when we bought our Flagstaff.  What I loved about tenting was that I had all my stuff in one Rubbermaid Action Packer (except cooler and campstove).  That action packer now is my ultra tool box.  What I liked was that I could pack and go in five minutes.  I didn't have to check the tires and electrical, pack the trailer with all the things I seldom use, make sure the propane is full, the battery charged and so on...  I just grabbed three things a few clothes and was gone.  Prep with a pup is a thing unto itself. 

That was nice.  Our last trip in the tent was to Yellowstone/Grand Tetons in 04.  That was a great trip. 

[TooManyTents]

I still have the wood box I built to fit in the back of the station wagon.  It held the canvas tent (except poles), coleman stove & lantern, 1 gal coleman fuel, pots/pans, dishes, utensils.  We could slide it in the back, throw in the tube of tent poles, cooler, kids, sleeping bags & clothes and were ready to go.

[Grouchyolman]

Enjoy tenting but getting too old hard for me and the DW to get up off the ground even with a 18 inch high air matt. so this is why we went to a pup. Oh we in heaven now.

[Old Granddad]

Although I've kept our canvas Coleman Oasis cabin tent (8X10) for all these nearly 40 years, we seldom use it any more.  We got our first PUP so that we could sleep off the ground (rained out, Noah-style, at West Yellowstone) and cook/eat out of the bugs (yellow-jacketed out of Frog Lake CG, Mt. Hood NF, Oregon).  But if I'm going to stay in one spot for a great length of time, say a couple of weeks or more, I still prefer an elaborate campsite with the tent and with a screen room set up over the table.  The pup, big though it is, can seem confining after a few days.

OGD

[Dave L]

I would like to see a tent forum. I've considered moving up to an RV but can't justify the overhead. Also,
because of the fuel mileage requirements currently on the horizon, tent camping out of your government mandated Prius might be the future.

[tplife]

I would like to see a tent forum. I've considered moving up to an RV but can't justify the overhead. Also,
because of the fuel mileage requirements currently on the horizon, tent camping out of your government mandated Prius might be the future.

You are incorrect.  The Toyota Prius is manufactured in a non-UAW facility.  You will be camping in a Government Motors Volt, so consider campsites located within 20 miles of your home or Approved Charging Station.  Stay tuned for Official Updates!

[Dave L]

I am beginning to think that Tent Camping is becoming the new reality. It looks like the RV industry is headed for another major crash as fuel reserves are manipulated into the position of selling less for more $$$. I was seriously considering a TTT or PUP for my Jeep, but it looks more and more like a Prius and Spring-bar for the immediate future.

[KaukaunaKampers]

Dreaming of taking my family camping in a Pop-up is what led me to this site.  And, while I still dream of a camper, it just won't be in the budget for a few years yet.  My wife, taked me into tent camping for those few years.  I must say, I resisted at first.  My memories of tent camping are filled with rainy nights of digging a trench around the tent, being wet, cold and miserable, or wet, HOT, and miserable.  My wife and I had always talked about camping and now that our kids are just getting to the age where they can eat and go to the bathroom without help, we wanted to get started soon.  I came home one day, and there was our new tent, and $80.00 special from a local department store (it's in our signature.)  I LOVE it.  I still want a pop-up, but I'm having a great time camping in this tent!  It has still rained at least a little on every trip, but we have had no issues with the tent leaking (yet.)  Most importantly, the kids love it, too

[GreatWhiteNorth]

This past May I had the chance to go solo camping, just me and the dog. DW had a wedding to attend. Instead of hauling the trailer out to a nearby crowded campground, I thought I'd just throw the tent and some other stuff into the back of the truck and go out to a remote campground at the end of a bad road that I know and love (the campground, not the road), and just relax. I enjoyed getting back to the basics so much that I'm thinking of making it a yearly thing.

Of course, SWMBO doesn't know yet. 

[ngatel]

Some more pictures. I do this as often as the wife lets me  usually if she isn't in the mood for a PU trip.










An ancient Sierra Designs Super Flash Light




Sierra Designs Clip Flash Light





un-tenting, which happens the most.



And my wife's favorite shelter.