View Full Version : Tent Platforms?
In the guidebooks, there are references to tent platforms. Are they made of wood? Dirt? I ask because I have a non-freestanding tent. How would this work? Thanks.
BookBurner
05-03-2005, 15:27
A "tent platform" generally refers to a wooden deck. A "tent pad" generally means a dirt site. I was able to set my Sierra Designs tent up on platforms despite the fact that it was not freestanding. Instead of stakes, I used my bear bag rope and stretched the tent peg loops out to the perimeter of the platform. After one or two tries, I had the method down and could set the tent up almost as taught as if it were on dirt. Where there's a will, there's a way! Don't sweat it, just get creative.
-- BookBurner
www.enlightenedthruhiker.com
In the guidebooks, there are references to tent platforms. Are they made of wood? Dirt? I ask because I have a non-freestanding tent. How would this work? Thanks.
Usually they are wooden platforms. You can put a non-freestanding tent up an one, but it really is a pain in the tuckus. I used a SD Clip Flashlight on my '98 thru, and only once used it on a platform, and even then if it had been a windy night I don't think it would have held up.
NICKTHEGREEK
05-03-2005, 16:13
Use caution if you come upon one after dark. I've run across more than one where some well meaning soul had driven a few nails into the wood here and there and the rusty bent and almost fully exposed nails were just waiting to bite. Almost as bad for sleeping as the 2" deep gravel tent pads in some Virginia state parks or (shudder) shelter floors.
Book Burner pretty much summed it up. I've used a Clip Flashlight and a Nomad Lite sucessfuly on our tent platforms in Mass (they are approx 8ft square). I carry a few eye screws about an inch long and some extra cord so I can place points exactly where I need to tie to. In Mass (and I suspect elsewhere) the platforms are planked, so it's pretty easy to tie off nearly anywhere (a "tautline hitch" is a good knot to know) The nice thing is your tent stays clean and you have a place to sit to take off your boots.
As trail mangagers we like the platforms because they let us locate tentsites in areas that would be untentable (rocks, roots etc) turning a marginal site into a more useful one. At Tom Leonard Shelter, there is a tent platform perched on some rocks with a great view of the valley. It also significantly reduces impacts from heavy use (crushed plants, compacted soils, trees and brush cut, etc.).
Cosmo
aaronthebugbuffet
05-04-2005, 19:58
those wooden tent platforms suck! stay away from them! stealth camp somewhere else and LNT
Lone Wolf
05-04-2005, 20:12
Yeah. What aaron says.
Brushy Sage
05-05-2005, 08:36
[QUOTE=
As trail mangagers we like the platforms because they let us locate tentsites in areas that would be untentable (rocks, roots etc) turning a marginal site into a more useful one. At Tom Leonard Shelter, there is a tent platform perched on some rocks with a great view of the valley. It also significantly reduces impacts from heavy use (crushed plants, compacted soils, trees and brush cut, etc.).
Cosmo[/QUOTE]
Do you know whether they are made with treated wood, which we are now aware might be a health concern?
Suck how?
Cosmo
Like sleeping on shelter floor. Sleep on dirt, then sleep in shelter. A notch above concrete, but still hard. Some dip with a handful of nails etc. My, I seem cranky... What a wicked pretty day! Coffee over.
dougmeredith
05-05-2005, 11:59
Do you know whether they are made with treated wood, which we are now aware might be a health concern?
So don't lick the boards. :)
Doug
icemanat95
05-05-2005, 12:37
So don't lick the boards. :)
Doug
Exactly.
Old style pressure treated lumber COULD have health concerns if you regularly contacted them and then licked your hands or some such nonsense. They do not gass off heavy metals, etc. Furthermore, the outer surface tends to lose the contaminants and you get a hard, fixed skin over the trouble chemicals, as long as the surface is not sanded away or chipped off, you are in minimal peril from even regular contact. Of course a few good coats of varnish or paint, maintained annually or so, all but eliminate ANY threat. The only reason this stuff was withdrawn from the market is fear of litigation from hysterics and ambulance chasers. The replacement materials BTW require much more expensive screws and nails, otherwise the preservatives used corrode the bare or even galvanized steel in very short order.
Most of those concerns are more relevant to children BTW. Adults tend to cope with heavy metal exposure much better than kids and senior citizens. But when in doubt, don't eat off the wood and wash your hands.
We spend billions upon billions of dollars each year trying to eliminate that last 2 percentage points of risk from our lives.
bulldog49
05-05-2005, 12:47
We spend billions upon billions of dollars each year trying to eliminate that last 2 percentage points of risk from our lives.
Very well said iceman.
Brushy Sage
05-05-2005, 15:54
OK, forget that I asked.