View Full Version : help decide with tent
trailtrack21
11-04-2005, 05:00
guys, what brand of tent do you go for and where do you get it from? advatage? disadvantage? thanks!:o
A lot depends on how many $$$$ you want to part with. It's easy to drop $200 +. I went for low price (my primary shelter is a HH) and got a Texsport bivy of ebay for $30, and the weight is less than 3 #. The first one tore, but it was replaced by Texsport.
This is probably not the best made tent, but it keeps me dry. At $30, I can replace it every year.
Best advice is to try on various tents. Go to an outfitter and put everything inside that you want on a wet rainy night. Then see how it fits. Also, try putting it up, and taking it down. And the final factors: weight and cost.
easy decision,get a hammock,more comfortable,plus its easier to find a place to camp:cool: neo
If you want a tent, not a hammock, Henry Shires Tarptents are excellent. Get the sewn-in floor. They are very spacious and quite light in weight.
I've been reading a lot of reviews and had finally narrowed my list down to three tents, finally buying the Eureka Timberline 2.
Its not the lightest tent, but it has great reviews and it was wicked easy to setup.
I kept my eye on eBay for my three and finally saw someone selling a brand new Timberline and I jumped on it. Paid $27 for a $100 tent :D
LIhikers
11-04-2005, 09:13
When it came time for me and my wife to get a new tent we were somewhat limited in choice. Since we often hike with our 80 pound shepherd we wanted a free standing 3 person tent that wasn't too heavy and fit within our budget. We decided on the Sierra Designs Sirrius 3 after considering about 5 or 6 different tents. The 3 person model isn't available in all that many places so I kept my eye on several on-line retailers until I saw it go on sale at one of them. In the end it has turned out to be a good choice and we like the tent. We use the same tent even when we don't bring the dog along and we have so much room it's almost a luxury.
theurbansuburban
11-04-2005, 11:00
I've had a North Face Canyonlands for a couple years now. Used it on some section hikes, and Its better than anything else I've used. I've used the Timberline 2 before and its just a bit too heavy. I like the Canyonlands because its a cross between a bivy and a tent. Its not free standing but theres enough room to sit up and in it, and you don't have to crawl into it like some of the tube bivys. I like this tent alot but once I get the $$$ I'm getting a hammock. I've been in temperatures down into the high 20's but I don't know how it would fair any lower.
I go with a Hennessey Hammock the vast majority of the time, but I'm not really willing to experiment with all of the cold weather modifications like alot of hammock campers are, part of that is that it just doesn't get cold enough here to experiement very often. I use a MSR Zoid 1 when I anticipate it will be colder than I can hammock comfortably. It is not that heavy, vents reasonably well, has a small vestibule that is good for boots, I could fit my pack in it once unloaded, even cooked in it a few times but I was nervious about that.
I saw a few TNF Canyonlands out the year I went, the people who had them really sang their praises, seemed like a really good tent as well.
I was real happy with both in the rain and even a few pretty fierce thunderstorms. The Hammock with snake skins gets BIG points for ease of setup in the rain, the tent wins out easily when temps drop below 50 or so.
i use a HH. weighs more than a tarp, but less than a tent. WAY more comfortable than the ground. easy campsite selection too. if you've got a dog, as someone else mentioned, he can sleep underneath. you can change to just about any size tarp, from small stock one that comes with it, to a 9x9 square, to an 11' hex..
jackiebolen
11-04-2005, 15:38
I use a HH but if I had to pick a tent I think I'd go with the tarptent. Light and lots of ventilation.
I use one of Henry Shires Tarptents, the Squall. I love it. Plenty of room to sit up and all my gear comes in with me. At right around 2 pounds, it's great.