Shopping for a tent (Poll)

How big is your tent?

  • 1 person

    Votes: 1 1.5%

  • 2 person

    Votes: 23 35.4%

  • 3 person

    Votes: 20 30.8%

  • 4 person

    Votes: 19 29.2%

  • for more than 4 people

    Votes: 2 3.1%
  • Total voters
    65
Afan said:
When I start with something new (cooking, biking, exercising...) I follow the rule to buy something cheap, to see for how long it will keep me preoccupied. When I started to spend some time cooking, I was cooked for over a year in cheap cookware. And, since I still liked it I start buying more expensive, semi-pro cookware, like All-Clad, Griswold, Le Creuset...when started exercising at home I bought $100 Treadmill - and still have it with tons of cobs all over it. When started biking I bought old, cheap, small S40. I fall in love with biking and bought ST1100. I met several people the thought they like riding a motorcycle, they bought new or almost new, expensive bikes - and now selling after only several hundreds miles of riding.

Same idea with the tent. Bought cheap one, Coleman, similar to the one from Walmart. Spent only one night in it and wasn't bad at all. And to point one thing: I bought the tent in WalMart because I forgot my at home. Better WalMart then sleeping on bench! :) I returned the tents and now plan to buy something better, something that should last at least one year. And spend the difference of $60-$80 bucks for floor ground, better stakes, hi-viz rope, camping towels, better gas stove, etc. And, if I still use the tent after year or two I'll invest in something better.
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Afan....you can save a lot of money on some of those items you mentioned.....stakes...Gutter spikes put a 90 on one end.....rope...lots of places have bright colored ropes....ground cloth....TyVac, I once used an old shower curtain, worked great... cheap tarp cut down to size...don't make it larger than floor. If it sticks out past floor water will get between it and floor...towels...take old ones from home. Pick up a cheap hammer too.

The point is, try not to get talked into buying items from a store that you can make or get cheaper at some other place...rummage sales are a great place to pick up stuff for camping at a really cheap price.

When packing up bike, I always weigh everything and place in or on bike in a balanced way. I also make a planograph of where I put things so when it's time to repack it all up, it goes back the same way.

Over time you'll get the hang of it and figure out what you need and don't need/use. It just takes time, but you'll have a blast hanging out with this group of misfits, in the meantime.

John/Sourkraut
 
SourKraut said:
... I once used an old shower curtain, worked great...
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I can imagine my wife's face next morning staring at the tub without curtain! :rofl1:

SourKraut said:
... cheap tarp cut down to size...
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Since already have an old tarp I plan that. ;)

SourKraut said:
...towels...take old ones from home.
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This one I think you're wrong. I bring last time my "regular" towel from home. After first shower it almost never got dry again (it was really hot and I took several showers a day). And it takes space. I saw Bob's camping towel (something like this) I liked it and I planed to buy one, but then I found one in WalMart for $5. It's not See to Summit, of course, but works. I tried twice at home and wasn't bad. And takes 10 times less space.

SourKraut said:
... Pick up a cheap hammer too.
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I'll take Bob's - easier! :D


SourKraut said:
... I also make a planograph of where I put things so when it's time to repack it all up, it goes back the same way. Over time you'll get the hang of it and figure out what you need and don't need/use. It just takes time, but you'll have a blast hanging out with this group of misfits, in the meantime.
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Yes, exactly. I still working on my list. To WiSTOC I'm not gonna take air-mattress with me (so I don't need the air-pump too), I have much smaller gas-cooker and fuel can... But I'll have double number in t-shirts. I'll not take sneakers with me but, since I'm leaving EARLY in the morning maybe I'm gonna need liner for my mesh jacket.
Still working on the "Final version" of the list. ;)
 
Mark said:
You might want to consider a stake hammer/puller it's much lighter than a hammer... I cut mine down, from the end of the handle, to make it smaller. It still works great for both putting in and pulling the tent's stakes.
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Bob, did you hear this? I think you have to change your hammer... :D
 
flyfisher said:
The one thing I need for a decent night's sleep.....the air mattress....can't tolerate hard ground.........ff
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On MnSTOC I brought my air-mattress "just in case" because I brought new self-inflating sleeping pad + my wife's yoga mat/pad, and wasn't bad at all. Eventually get better/thicker mat. It's much lighter than air-mattress and don't need the air-pump.
Maybe I HAD some issues with my sleeping pad, but because my tent was pissing me off so much - the mattress was the last thing to think about... :D
We will see in a couple days. ;)
 
Afan said:
Bob, did you hear this? I think you have to change your hammer... :D
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Nope BTDT, don't care for the plastic hammer. Too easy to break and too light to really drive in those nail/stakes. I'll just keep with my very cheap mini steel hammer that I got at Wally World. It's smaller so takes less space. Don't really care about weight on the bike since I'm not backpacking. I used to use an even cheaper rubber mallet with a hook screwed into the end of the handle (made it myself) to pull out stakes, then found it works fine to use the hammer claw or even a spare stake to pull all the others out, and a steel hammer works better anyway.

Oh, and yes, you can "borrow" it any time if I happen to be there too. :grin:
 
rjs987 said:
Nope BTDT, don't care for the plastic hammer. Too easy to break and too light to really drive in those nail/stakes. I'll just keep with my very cheap mini steel hammer that I got at Wally World. It's smaller so takes less space. Don't really care about weight on the bike since I'm not backpacking. I used to use an even cheaper rubber mallet with a hook screwed into the end of the handle (made it myself) to pull out stakes, then found it works fine to use the hammer claw or even a spare stake to pull all the others out, and a steel hammer works better anyway.
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You see Mark, YOU are the one that should change the hammer, not I/Bob/we!
:D

rjs987 said:
Oh, and yes, you can "borrow" it any time if I happen to be there too. :grin:
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So far - all the time!
:D
 
Afan said:
You see Mark, YOU are the one that should change the hammer, not I/Bob/we!
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Broke one of these... Bob's an animal I tell you!!!
;)

I'll stick with the plastic one... :)
I'll be we all get our tents up...
 
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