Tent "Platforms", "Pads", and Staking on Same

[dperry]

I know that a tent "platform" is a small deck, usually made of wood, which is raised up off the ground, and you set your tent up on it.

On the other hand, judging from the pictures I found in a Google search, a tent "pad" is simply a flat area of the ground which is designated as a campsite and which often (though not always, judging from a couple of the pictures) has been prepared in some way (i.e., gravel spread over the surface, edged with wood bars, etc.)

Is this what other people think of as a "pad"? The reason I ask is because I'm planning reservations at a state park, and I'm just curious as to what to expect.

Also, how does one stake a tent down on a platform? Our tent is technically free standing, but there are a couple of vents that need to be staked to open them fully, and also in a good blow it would probably be good to have extra guy lines. Do you tie the lines to the ends of the wood slats, or do you bring extra long guy lines so the stakes can make it to the ground, or do you weight down the edges of the tent some other way?

[Lone Wolf]

Also, how does one stake a tent down on a platform? Our tent is technically free standing, but there are a couple of vents that need to be staked to open them fully, and also in a good blow it would probably be good to have extra guy lines. Do you tie the lines to the ends of the wood slats, or do you bring extra long guy lines so the stakes can make it to the ground, or do you weight down the edges of the tent some other way?

there's usually eye hooks screwed into all sides of the platform for you to tie off with. bring lots of cord

[TJ aka Teej]

A tent pad is a hardened site, ofttimes raised.
The boards on tent platforms have gaps like a backyard deck, just loop your rope through the gap and around a stick or tent stake.

[Toolshed]

Laurel Highlands??

[rafe]

You can wedge a stick or twig between the boards (on the tent platform) and use it as a stake.... A free-standing tent is a definite plus here.

[KG4FAM]

You can tie the cords around some rocks. This will get the lines out but not as tight as other solutions.

[icemanat95]

There is no such thing as a freestanding tent, they ALL need to be guyed out and staked down or they do not breathe or hold up to wind and weather.

It takes a little inventiveness to make tent platforms work...that and some extra 550 cord in the pack to extend your guypoints.

[Jester2000]

There is no such thing as a freestanding tent. . .

Tell that to my freestanding tent. I mean, yeah, I need to be inside it with my gear for it not to blow away, but it definitely does stand freely.

I was on a platform that was small enough and high enough off the ground that I tied rocks to my guys and hung them off the side. So iceman's absolutely correct about that -- you'll get inventive if you have to, and it'll get done one way or another.

[Toolshed]

There is no such thing as a freestanding tent, they ALL need to be guyed out and staked down or they do not breathe or hold up to wind and weather.

Last I checked, "Freestanding" didn't have anything to do with guying. Simply meant that it would stand up on it's own without being staked down.
Staking and guying out are something else, best left to user discretion.

If I am only setting up my freestanding tent but not the fly on a beautiful calm warm but buggy night, I am not staking it out nor am I guying it out - Yet it is perfectly freestanding.

[Kerosene]

The boards on tent platforms have gaps like a backyard deck, just loop your rope through the gap and around a stick or tent stake.Unfortunately, not all tent platforms have this spacing, which makes it very interesting trying to tie off all the way on the side of a larger platform, especially if some of the eye hooks are missing (I had this lovely experience at Liberty Spring Tentsite).

[rafe]

I haven't seen these platforms except a couple times in the Whites, once in Vermont, and once in MA. Where else are they?

[Jan LiteShoe]

I haven't seen these platforms except a couple times in the Whites, once in Vermont, and once in MA. Where else are they?

Maine has some.
I used the "wedge the sticK" method, worked fine.
:)

[carolina trekker]

I carry a few small eye hooks in my pack in case for them arises on the tent platforms.

[rswanson]

I haven't seen these platforms except a couple times in the Whites, once in Vermont, and once in MA. Where else are they?
At least one shelter in southern PA...The Quarry Gap I think.

[veteran]

Tent pad W/eyehooks. (http://gallery.backcountry.net/albums/NewPicoShelter/aak.sized.jpg)