User Panel
Posted: 6/14/2017 9:35:22 PM EDT
It's been decided that I'll be going on a group camping trip coming up in the next few weeks, and I find myself tent-less. I do have a cheap two person Ozark that was part of the bug out bag I crafted back in high school as a hedge against a Russian invasion, but my other half isn't impressed with its size, or sweet custom krylon camouflage paint job that I applied to it.
So, I need a tent. Should I just buy another cheap but larger Ozark, or should I buy a decent Marmot or whatever other quality brand? |
|
If you don't have to tote it very far on foot I'd just get a ozark trail or something from Academy sports. They may be heavy but it's not a backpacking tent.
|
|
Eureka seconds
These deals can be hard to pass up. Depending on where you are in PA, you can hop over the border to Conklin where their outlet store is for good pricing as well. |
|
If it's for sporadic use I'd just go with el cheapo.
If you're gonna do a lot of camping, I can't recommend REI brand enough. I've got 2 of theirs (a single and a double, both are AWESOME) |
|
|
If you are car camping : Coleman insta tent. We have a 10 man and love it.
Back packing: tarp tent |
|
I have an Ozark 5-person instant tent that is the easiest damn think I've ever set up.
|
|
|
I like a little room in my tent when I go camping.....
This setup is for three people. Attached File |
|
Where are you camping?
How long will you be camping? Car camping or backpacking? Plan to do it more often? Pic of wife, we have rules... |
|
If you are not going to be camping a whole lot, I would go with a cheap Ozark or Coleman.
My personal suggestion is, if you plan on 2 people sleeping in it, get a 4-6 person tent. the added room is always a nice thing to have. |
|
Whatever you buy... make sure you buy some seam sealer and apply in advance.
|
|
If you plan on using it more than a few times.
I am really happy with my Rei kingdome 6. Basically 2 queen size rooms with a divider, enough room to stand up 6'. It's watertight, and sets up in mins. I can even set it up myself. Link |
|
IMHO, Kelty makes the best tents for the money. I bought 2 of them. I like them better than REI tents.
|
|
Kelty has some nice bargains. Field and Stream has 20% off one item right now and Kelty Circuit tents are on sale. Solid tent for pretty cheap. Those are more for back packing. If you are car camping, get something bigger, something you can get dressed standing up in.
|
|
|
|
Coleman Carlsbad 4 person BLACKOUT tent is what you seek. Blocks out 95% of ambient light or something like that. Sleep in when ya camp. $130 on amazon.
|
|
Quoted:
Eureka seconds These deals can be hard to pass up. Depending on where you are in PA, you can hop over the border to Conklin where their outlet store is for good pricing as well. View Quote |
|
Quoted:
I like a little room in my tent when I go camping..... This setup is for three people. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/20962/Tent-230858.JPG View Quote I've been thinking of upgrading from our 4-person tent to a 6 or 8-person on for long-duration camp outs. What we have is great for long weekends, but a one week stay shows its weaknesses. And a 2-week campout just can't happen for me in that small of a tent. |
|
I just bought an REI Kingdom 4. Easy to set up, has about an 8'+ x 8'+ footprint. I can stand up in it (I'm only 5'11" so thats no big deal) Nice because I can set up a cot in it and not sleep on the ground and I can get dressed in the morning without looking like a monkey fucking a football.
Used it last weekend and the wind came up. I did have to put the 6 guy lines up on the fly to keep it from turning inside out in the wind. The rainfly creates a vestibule on one end (removable) that can be unzipped to access from the outside or open the second door and get at it from the inside. I kept a cooler in there with water and beer in it. It weighs in at about 18 lbs IIRC and comes in a bag with a couple shoulder straps on it. Seems well made for a 3 season tent. For 2 and a little more space I'd look at the Kingdom 6. You could easily set up 2 cots in the Kingdom 4, just wouldn't be a lot of extra room in there - I think you'd have about 3' between the 2 cots. Check out the REI garage sale website. I got mine on their anniversary sale for 20% off so it was under $300. |
|
I got one of the $125 ones at Wally world, threw away all the stakes, and replaced them with good ones. Works great.
|
|
Quoted:
It's been decided that I'll be going on a group camping trip coming up in the next few weeks, and I find myself tent-less. I do have a cheap two person Ozark that was part of the bug out bag I crafted back in high school as a hedge against a Russian invasion, but my other half isn't impressed with its size, or sweet custom krylon camouflage paint job that I applied to it. So, I need a tent. Should I just buy another cheap but larger Ozark, or should I buy a decent Marmot or whatever other quality brand? View Quote |
|
Quoted:
1) Pymatuning State Park here in Western PA 2) Car camping. We will park the truck, set the tent up, and start camping. 3) I always liked camping as a kid, and so did she. I can see this becoming a regular thing for us. That's why I'm considering getting a decent one in the $200-$300 range. 4) http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj249/sprrdhawk44/IMG_0069_1.jpg Bonus: My sweet chair-is-against-the-wall tent, with Gal and Dag http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj249/sprrdhawk44/IMG_2607.jpg View Quote I'd look for a 3-season 4 person tent in whatever price range you want. It may just be you and your, lovely, wife but its nice to have room to move about and store gear in. Look at ease of pitching and breakdown and that all seams are sealed correctly. Even so, wouldn't hurt to seal them yourself before you head out. Also pay really close attention to how the floor is attached. Does it come up some, making kinda a tub, or does the seam run 90-degrees to the wall. I had a cheap one with the latter and it made for a very wet night once. Also make sure it gas good ventilation, not only to keep temps comfortable but to let moisture out. |
|
First let me suggest that if you don't backpack often (judging by you asking for help with this I'm assuming you don't), then a 2 person tent is going to be really tight for 2 people not used to it. When I hike with my brother or my daughter I use a three person tent. Few more ounces, but more room and and it's worth it.
Second, here's my brand recommendations for having to carry it in and out: 1. Kelty 2. REI 3. Marmont if this is going to be a regular thing. I have a 3 person Marmont limelight. Never slept with 3 people in it, two of us is tight enough. |
|
I've had great luck with the Coleman tents. Still using same one for 16 years.
On the other hand, the Ozark I used leaked and just felt cheap. No Ozark tents for me. |
|
Quoted:
Warbonnet Blackbird View Quote WarBonnet link If its a couples thing, to save money you can get two Hennessy Expedition hammocks (they're on sale for $110 shipped with a hex rain fly). Click the "Customized" button, pick your strap length then click "add to cart" to see the discount price. You can't beat this deal for a good hammock. The one catch with a hammock, you HAVE to have some type of insulation under your butt. Most use a under quilt that hangs snugly under the hammock but an insulated sleeping pad will work too. Pads are a little bit of a pain because you can slide off them while sleeping and wake up with a cold butt. Since its summer, you can hold off buying underquilts if the low temps are in the 60's. No more worrying about if the ground is flat AND level. If it rains which way is the water going to run. None of that. Once you sleep in a proper hammock with an underquilt, your never willingly sleep in a tent again. Hennessy Expedition Hammock Link If you HAVE to do the tent thing, MSR Elixir 2p or 3p tent. This is a great tent for the price. Oh yeah, if your girlfriend/wife is over 400lb, your pretty much stuck camping in a tent.. a 4P maybe? |
|
Just buy a cheap tent. If you do 4 season camping, check out the Artice Oven.
|
|
2person tent is tight fit with you, backpack and Dag.
For car camping get a sixer. Not like there's a big weight penalty. A six isn't even that big for 2 people if one of them is a woman. |
|
|
|
Just sleep under a tarp.
JK dont do that. My and 3 buddies went camping once. We pooled our money (we were all poor at the time) and bought 3 cases of beer instead of a tent because we figured we would just sleep under a tarp. Night one went fine. Night two: Giant spiders emerge on top of our tent, staring down at us. Due to my prior experiences with spiders, I could not deal with that (these were big spiders) 2 of the 3 of us do not handle arachnids well so we end up sleeping in my 2 door honda accord. Night three: Torrential downpour. Tarp is destroyed, sleeping bags are soaked. No money for a hotel room, and it is very cold at this point. We all three slept in my car. No blankets. We covered ourselves with clothes that we kept in the car, backpacks, towels, anything. 3 people in that tiny car sucked (especially for the guy in the backseat). We did not huddle together for warmth. It poured the whole night. Overall a fun trip. Just wanted to share that little slice of my life. You all will probably call me a pussy for running from a spider. I am ok with that. Once I saw the one I got all itchy and I know I would not have been able to sleep the whole night. Fuck spiders. Horrible creatures. Except for jumping spiders. |
|
I have a Sierra Designs Alpha tent for car camping. It's probably discontinued, but is pretty bomber for all-season use (and too heavy for solo backpack). I took my 2 sons out in a windy downpour last Friday for their first tent camping, and they had "a perfect sleep" in that little tent. It's a 3 person, but it's a tight 3 and needs creative use of the fly's vestibule for packs & wet shoes.
I don't backpack much, but my go-to for that will be my Hennessy Hyperlite Asym Zip. One night in that was my best camping night's sleep in years, and it even dipped down below freezing. It almost makes me want to go again. |
|
Quoted:
I like a little room in my tent when I go camping..... This setup is for three people. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/20962/Tent-230858.JPG View Quote |
|
Quoted:
Just go balls out. http://pop.h-cdn.co/assets/16/17/980x660/gallery-1461704778-screen-shot-2016-04-26-at-20516-pm.png View Quote |
|
Use "Timbuktu" in a poem...
Me and Tim, hiking we went Came upon a Camping Tent The girls were three and we were two So I bucked one and Tim bucked two |
|
View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
Quoted:
Kifaru Sawtooth https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/53154/IMG-7726-230895.JPG |
|
|
|
I have a Marmot Tungsten 3p and Nemo Galaxi 2p and they're both amazing tents. Super simple to setup. Great quality construction & materials. They are not the lightest but they aren't heavy for their size. I keep the Nemo 2p in my 54l bug out bag. It is easily backpackable and about 5 pounds. Awesome tent for 1 person and all of their gear. It obviously fits two people but with very little gear.
|
|
Quoted:
I like a little room in my tent when I go camping..... This setup is for three people. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/20962/Tent-230858.JPG View Quote |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Kifaru Sawtooth https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/53154/IMG-7726-230895.JPG |
|
|
|
Quoted:
I'm thinking something like this is in my future if I can afford it. http://theraf.org/sites/default/files/images/SL2.jpg View Quote |
|
For a solid, functional car camping tent, look at tents from Kelty, Eureka, REI, etc. tents are a purchase where spending a bit more makes a significant difference in quality. I have a strong preference for tents with a full rain fly and some vestibule space. Smaller tents are easier to handle and are great for one-night trips. If you're planning on any multi-night trips then I would get a bigger tent and the cushiest self-inflating pads you can find.
|
|
I would look at Eureka. www.campmor.com is always having sales on them. Coleman also makes great tents for the money.
|
|
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2024 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.