A rant about gear shopping online....

[4shot]

so this is also a confession. I am looking to get a big, fat, heavy roomy tent that will sleep 4 because I want to go car camping () with the wife and my son and his family. You know...the kind of 'camping" where you can have steaks, cold drinks and ice in a cooler, shower every day, etc. (This is real...there are people who actually do this).

So I am looking for a "car camper" tent. This is where my rant kicks in....in looking at reviews for gear, why do some many people feel obligated to "review" their new gear purchase when they have only set it up in the backyard on a sunny day or, in the case of boots, only worn them once to retrieve the mail, etc., etc. Or how great the back pack felt in the store (without any weight in it). I propose either a moratorium or a law prohibiting any kind of gear reviews until 6 months after the purchase OR 30 days of actual use before submitting a $%#& review. Look pal, we know you liked it in the store or you wouldn't have bought it but how about using the $%*& before telling others how great said piece of gear is. Thanks.

OK, I feel better now. Thanks for letting me vent.

[Mags]

Yeah..in the past few years (3 or so), "un-boxing" reviews are all the rave. People get gear from companies, they write reviews of initial reactions, they get more gear and the cycle builds. Gear is what drives website traffic now-a-days. So it goes...

ps. my wife and I go car camping (shh! ) esp during shoulder seasons. For a place live Hovenweep it is a great way to explore something that is not a backpacking destination. We use a larger tent meant for backpacking. Being meant for three people and with separate vestibules, it is a palace! (At at $110 on clearance a great deal)

I find that tents made for car camping are not very good. Just because you are car camping does not mean you can skimp on a weather proof shelter. Just my .05 worth.

[Wise Old Owl]

Well Bruce - 4shot yea I hear you and you are a guy. It's clearly car camping.. its not about the tent. Clearly you missed the deluge of the Virginia ground floods. Stop worrying about the tent - learn to do dirty steak and spend QUALITY time with the family. No matter what you do you will eventually need to replace the tent - they are all made in China... and who cares? they dont. So if you spend two Benjamins it won't last forever-learn to ruin it & run it under the ground. A crappy tarp under it will help, extend the life. Make sure you drive out to some God forsaken state park and bring plenty of crayons and relatives. That's my take and I have done this for years.

[ocasey3]

http://www.amazon.com/Wenzel-Klondik...enzel+klondike

This is our car camping tent. We love it. We did find out after a torrential rain storm in the Hill Country of Texas that we needed to put some seam sealer where the lighter fabric meets the darker, and around the floor. Only a little bit of water got in though. Lots of room and a floored screen room that is great to sit in when the bugs are bad. I know it's huge, but the space is luxurious. Did II say how much I love this tent

[Wise Old Owl]

Nice one... When I am cycling rail to trail I will pitch that in a car campground and use it for one or two people.. I learned this from my dad... his best advice is in a total downpour - you can sleep on one side and in a camping collapsible chair sit on the other side.. and have room to spare... saving the price of a motel. Never forgot it. Just because it sleeps 8 does not mean one or two can sleep in comfort.

[trailwobbles]

Can't go wrong with a Coleman 6 person dome tent. Runs you anywhere from 100 to 250 bucks depending on what you get. Been using the same one my parents took me out in over 20 years ago. Good n cheap.

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[Odd Man Out]

When I was in 5th grade, my family packed up the station wagon and drove from Washington DC to Disneyland CA, camping all the way in the 1970 equivalent of this:

http://store.eurekatent.com/products...opper_Canyon_4

Think "Summer Vacation" with Chevy Chase, except no one died.

Then when my oldest was in 5th grade we got one of these and drove from MI to Yellowstone.

http://r1.coleman.com/ProductImages/Full/le_500.jpg

But without AC/furnace/fridge. It really is just a 2000 lb tent with beds, stove, awning and storage space.
Have gotten a lot of great use out of it.

No need to apologize for car camping.

[fiddlehead]

Tents and backpacks in general are made for the masses.
Lots of bells and whistles.
The maunfacturers philosphy is that people will use the gear once or twice.
It's not made to last.
You want a bombproof tent? Get a black diamond or Mt Hardware or something that cost $400+.
You want car camping in a 2 room house-tent? Get a Coleman.
You want it to be dry? Get a big blue tarp that you can drape over it when it rains.

[Kookork]

I don't think OP's intention of this thread is about suggesting some good car camping tent that suits him . It is about the raw unsupported reviews that he has come upon on the internet which is recently a trend. I think some of the videos reviews on YouTube are just a basic act to attract more viewer to their channel even if warrants reviewing some brand new items. Being said I like some of them to see the features of what I am considering buying but won't take everything they say as a fact . They are mostly a free online showroom experience.

[quasarr]

I really like REI's Half Dome tents for car camping. I used the Half Dome 2 for years and it was really a great tent, easy to set up, lasted many trips without leaking, and the large vestibules are great for stashing your shoes. I haven't personally used the 4-person version, but I think you can't go wrong with this series. Not sure about your budget but the price is $289

http://www.rei.com/product/845482/rei-half-dome-4-tent

[Sarcasm the elf]

4shot in regards to your rant I agree 100% this drives me crazy!! It is especially annoying with back yard tent reviews, like you said, I don't care how well someone's new tent handles on a dry day.

With regard to your car camping tent, I have used many Eureka tents over the years and am very satisfied with them. I consider them to be one of the best values on the market.

[squeezebox]

I would like to hear more about car camping stuff. Is there a better web /blog site?
Cots, big tents, big stoves, lanterns, coolers etc

[Drybones]

I wonder some times if folks don't feel obligated to like gear after they've put out the cash to buy it.

[Drybones]

[QUOTE=4shot;1872684]...the kind of 'camping" where you can have steaks, cold drinks and ice in a cooler, shower every day, etc. (This is real...there are people who actually do this).

QUOTE]

Yeah, this kind of camping is pretty nice now and then, a group of us just spent three days on the Etowah River, I took a big rib eye steak in a zip lock with KC marinade and cooked it over an open fire in a wire basket one night...amazing how the taste changes when cooked over a fire, my theory is that the ashes landing on the food adds to the flavor...was nice to have wine to go with it also, fried potatoes with jalopenos and onions was pretty good too.

[trailwobbles]

And.....now I am hungry. Thanks drybones.

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[WingedMonkey]

why do some many people feel obligated to "review" their new gear purchase when they have only set it up in the backyard on a sunny day or, in the case of boots, only worn them once to retrieve the mail, etc., etc.

The same reason that folks who have never visited more than a small piece of the trail want to tell everyone where ALL the best of everything is.

[slbirdnerd]

Can't go wrong with a Coleman 6 person dome tent. Runs you anywhere from 100 to 250 bucks depending on what you get. Been using the same one my parents took me out in over 20 years ago. Good n cheap.

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Same here, big old green and white thing. Worked great for car camping but we're into backpacking now. The Coleman has been set up in the basement for 2 years for sleepovers and my son to play in. Tent has held up great, but now the shock cording is all wiggly from being up so long. Oh well!

[Starchild]

I've found a great car camping tent. Largest screened vestibule that I've seen in a 4 person car camping tent, easy to use screened windows - great ventilation when you want it, easy to set up as I even did that inside the store, very efficient layout for 4 people, no one has to stumble over another, nor sleep in a position where one has to smell the feet of the other all night (unless they want to), I suspect they can get 5 people easy inside, or 'AT shelter style' perhaps 6-8 people in there. Was not that expensive too.

I forgot the name of it, but next time I go back to the store, I'll look again as when I need the 4 person car camping tent, that's the one I will be getting.

[Odd Man Out]

I would like to find a small camping trailer (1000 lbs or less) to replace the full-sized one we used with the family. For car camping they are pretty nice as you can load your gear in there and always have it ready to go. And as I said above, for us it is really just a tent with beds. The stove mounts on the outside under the awning. There is an RV battery that is used just for lights. When you get to a campground, you unhook, pop it up, and you are ready to go. Unfortunately, it is hard to find small simple camping trailers anymore. They just make monsters with lots of bells and whistles.

[myakka_]

4Shot,

I totally agree with your original post. The pre-review is everywhere, not just camping. I went to order some new Martial Arts gear (including a new sword) a while back. And since it had been a while since I was in the industry, I wanted to see what companies I knew were still around, if their product was still as good as I remembered, and who the newcomers were, etc.

I couldn't find 1 review of someone who had handled the products. But the review forums were FULL of kids talking about how great the swords "LOOKED" on the site. I can "look" at a web page as well as anyone. I don't need that kind of help.

This rant really hit home for me. I have had a similar frustration.