Camping Needs

[Leeland]

I'm going to need to get some new camping things before this summer including a new tent. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what kind of tent to get?

I own a small grill and a single propane burner. I need some new cooking items. Any suggestions?

[Pauly's Cheese]

I have a Mountain Hardware tent that is VERY durable. It was pricey, but I think dropping some cash on a quality tent is money well spent.

You're gonna find most of your good camping gear advice in the \"Tent City\" forum.

[kgbnfx]

[quote:ea5a7f0290=\"Pauly's Cheese\"]I have a Mountain Hardware tent that is VERY durable. It was pricey, but I think dropping some cash on a quality tent is money well spent.
[/quote:ea5a7f0290]

Take his word for it or you'll end up like me and the wife going through 4 tents in two festies!

[VERNIXX]

I have the SAME Mountain Hardware tent that I did Phish's LEMONWHEEL and Phish's BIG CYPRESS with back in the 90's. It's been to 2 Wakas, too. And been all over the country camping. They are durable!!!!!!!!
Hell, Mountain Hardware make the tents that go up Everest! Sherpas use them...

[bogmonkey]

And hey, I agree with the Mountain Hard Wear tent thing, but sometimes you just can't afford that level of quality. I normally buy Greatland (Target Branded) tens with good results.

The key to \"making do\" with a less-than-NorthFace tent is to bring a very good repair kit, and when setting up the tent SECURE all of the guy lines (even though it may seem redundant)...Hell, if you are near trees or other structures, add a couple guy lines of your own. They add huge stability to the structure. All it takes is ONE big gust of wind to maul a cheap tent, but if you have the thing tied down and anchored, it will withstand the blasts...even with a cheap tent.

Most of my target tents last at least 4-5 seasons of \"hard use\".

Man, I'd love to score me one of those Mountain Hard Ware tents though...

[VERNIXX]

Once, I was up on the north ridge of Emory Peak in the Chisos mountains (Texas/Mexico border) in my Mountain hardware....there were 70mph gusts all night long. My tent held fine.

[KB]

I planned on posting this very topic this week. My tent has been through no less than a dozen festys, and the zippers finally took a dive on us at Mulberry Mountain. Time to replace it.

I'm EXTREMELY picky about the tent I will buy. As a home away from home, it must meet many needs (and be cool taboot). I'm ready to spend SOME money on it, but don't really need an Everest tent, as we don't often do survivalist camping.

I looked at Bass Pro this past weekend, and they had some decent ones. I'm looking for one that has a footprint of 13x13 or less, yet have room for an air mattress and some extra space. It must have a decent interior height, as I want to be able to stand up (or nearly) inside my tent. It's much easier to keep your mattress dry when you don't have to lay on it to take off wet clothes coming in out of the rain.

I will look at the Mountain Hardware stuff, and at the Target branded stuff as well. One of my main concerns is the floor. I've seen the cheap \"blue tarp\" style floors, and I DON'T want one of those. I need to develop a thin kevlar that would work as a floor and double as protection in case degenerate tree-thugger gangs pull a a drive-by on the tent. Can't be too careful....

Thanks for the tips - keep 'em coming. I fully intend on buying the \"perfect\" tent and debuting it at Wakarusa.......

[arwriterrider]

You might want to check out Eureka! brand tents as a alternative to Mountain Hardware. Very rugged and stable in the wind and rain. Mine stood up well in the storm at Mulberry Mountain year before last and has a great vent system for summer camping.

[bogmonkey]

[quote:1db9924e10=\"KB\"]I planned on posting this very topic this week. My tent has been through no less than a dozen festys, and the zippers finally took a dive on us at Mulberry Mountain. Time to replace it.

I'm EXTREMELY picky about the tent I will buy. As a home away from home, it must meet many needs (and be cool taboot). I'm ready to spend SOME money on it, but don't really need an Everest tent, as we don't often do survivalist camping.

I looked at Bass Pro this past weekend, and they had some decent ones. I'm looking for one that has a footprint of 13x13 or less, yet have room for an air mattress and some extra space. It must have a decent interior height, as I want to be able to stand up (or nearly) inside my tent. It's much easier to keep your mattress dry when you don't have to lay on it to take off wet clothes coming in out of the rain.

I will look at the Mountain Hardware stuff, and at the Target branded stuff as well. One of my main concerns is the floor. I've seen the cheap \"blue tarp\" style floors, and I DON'T want one of those. I need to develop a thin kevlar that would work as a floor and double as protection in case degenerate tree-thugger gangs pull a a drive-by on the tent. Can't be too careful....

Thanks for the tips - keep 'em coming. I fully intend on buying the \"perfect\" tent and debuting it at Wakarusa.......[/quote:1db9924e10]

KB beware of the \"Bass Pro\" branded tents...I have had two friends who had such tents have seam-ripping and pole snappage...very low priced, and worth it! I have no prblem with \"off brand\" tents, but these did not even hold up to MILD camp wear-n-tear.

I am assuming you always lay a ground tarp down before putting up the tent, I find a \"ballistic-qual\" tarp from Walmart (usually silver colored) is superb...such a ground cover makes up for any deficiency in tent floor quality when getting a non-Everest tent. Most of the Greatland tents from Target have a very nice grey heavy-duty flooring, never had a problem at all with them.

Also, you'll want to treat the outer walls of any tent with a Prime Grade Wookie repellent. After last year, the word is out on the Jambase forums about Waka being cool again, so you can expect a high concentration of wandering Tree Thuggers. A pine scented repellent reminds wookies of cleanliness and scares them greatly. You can also hang empty shampoo bottles in the trees, as well as \"soap on a ropes\"...if there is a really bad infestation, just put out some signs that say \"Camp Straight Edge\" and that should act as a final word.

[hitman69]

I just purchesed this Airzone tent: http://www.airzonetents.com/airzone2.htm

No poles and supposedly air up very quickly. Regularly $299, i got it for $179. I was gonna buy one last year but the $$$ flow was running low, between squeezing in Waka & Bonnaroo. Thought i'd treat myself this year. I spent $59.95 on one of their air pumps, then read one comes free with purchase! Oh well, nice to have an extra.