Picking the right Tent

[G wizz]

DUSTY BOOTS ...

All around Travel Guide / Campground Advisor & Camping Equipment Evaluator.
A true man of many hats ...
You give us readers a lot of advice, pointers and tips here on the forum, Ken, and your expertise is greatly appreciated ...

Thank you ...

G

[jjmoff]

DUSTY BOOTS ...

All around Travel Guide / Campground Evaluator & Camping Equipment advisor.
A true man of many hats ...
You give us readers a lot of advice, pointers and tips here on the forum, Ken, and your expertise is greatly appreciated ...

Thank you ...

G

Was just thinking the same thing. I'd hate to lose you as a resource for this forum, but I'll bet you could get serious money as some sort of professional travel planner. Don't leave this forum though we'd all miss ya. It's embarrassing how much better you know my country than I do!

[Whosoever]

DUSTY BOOTS ...

All around Travel Guide / Campground Evaluator & Camping Equipment advisor.
A true man of many hats ...
You give us readers a lot of advice, pointers and tips here on the forum, Ken, and your expertise is greatly appreciated ...

Thank you ...

G

"here here" (isn't that how the Brits do it?)

[Sugarman]

Don't care for his makeshift groundcloth, even if it does work for him just as that kind of thing seems to work for lots of folks.

I cannot think of any good reason, after spending good money for a quality tent, one would not go ahead and get the footprint that's made for it. Yeah, it seems like a ripoff that they aren't included but apparently that's just the way it is in the industry. I say just suck it up and shell out another 20 or 30 bucks for the proper ground cloth.

When I purchased the tent I also purchased the ground cloth at half price, $26. A 6mil 10'x25' roll of poly cost almost $26.

[quadancer]

I use HF tarps bought when on sale - one for the groundcloth, one for a porch and one for extra vestibule or sun/rain shade.


And sometimes I use a little 2man tent for our gear when 2up:



Shade always wins in summer: why spend a fortune just to block the sun?

[stepbill]

Just found this website from a link posted on the goldwing site. I used to use a Mountain Hardwear "Room with a View". Gave that to my son and I now use the Hilleberg Staika tent. http://us.hilleberg.com/products/bla...ika/Staika.php. It's a tad expensive but you get what you pay for and I believe that this will be my last tent and will be passed down to one of my children. It is extremely fast to put up and take down and if I have to put it up in the rain, the main portion (sleeping area) is enclosed under the outer tent and stays dry. I would rather stay in a tent than a hotel room any day.

[lqqk_out]

Unfortunately, no matter how careful you are in taking care of a tent, if it's been exposed to many sunny days, the material will deteriorate due to the UV exposure, weakening the fabric making it more susceptible to tearing.

...I believe that this will be my last tent and will be passed down to one of my children.

[bodasefus]

I have an Ozark Trails 9x10 instant tent with 6' of headroom, usually camp by myself... I use a double 18" high air bed... At 76,,, I do not want to sacrifice my sleeping comfort... If a camp with a friend,,, also a rider,,, I can have the tent completely set up in 2 minutes... great tent but if you get one,,, make sure you stake down by the front fly... Makes getting in easier and if it rains,,, it will hold the fly so it will not drip inside...

[3SportBiker]

I've collected quite an assortment of tents over the years, including my pride and joy, a 1990 LLBean Wall tent 10' x 12' that is real canvas but has a bathtub floor. Unfortunately, this tent is much too large to moto-camp with. It's car camping (glamping to me) only. I call it the Taj Ma'Tent.

I guess to me, the biggest concerns for a functional moto-camping tent are 1.) Ease of Setup - because after a long day riding, especially if it's foul weather when you get to camp, you just want to get the tent up quickly and settle in. 2.) Big enough so you can hang out for extended periods if you have to because of weather without feeling cramped. 3.) The tent must pack small. Space is at a premium on our bikes, and that's obvious to everyone here. 4.) it has to be supremely rainproof out of the factory. I can't be getting wet on soggy days with a brand new tent.

I have spent mucho donero on tents over the years, including a few high-end Eureka tents. They all have pluses and minuses. The largest surprise I got was a K-Mart (now Sears/K-Mart) tent that I bought on super sale for $19.95 about 8 years ago normally $49.99 which is still very inexpensive for this tent IMO). I posted this earlier today in my "Essentials" camping list. It's a 3 person dome so it has oodles of room for one, or is OK for two. I expected it to last perhaps 1 season. 7 seasons later, it's still going strong and has become my absolute favorite moto-camping tent bar none. Yes, after the first season, I did treat the fabric with water-proof spray, but it never leaked from day one through the first season anyway. I always do this on tents after the first year since I truly USE them over the season. They get a fresh coating of waterproof spray at season start. This tent packs surprisingly small, is easy to set-up and tear down, has a bathtub floor, has foot-locker areas for storing dirty shoes and gear, absolutely does NOT leak even through the hardest rainstorms, and can handle 3 campers in a pinch, so it's plenty big for just going solo to hang out in without getting tent-fever if it rains all day and night and the next day.

The tent is still on sale at Sears/K-Mart for $24.74 and to me is still a stellar deal. I'd personally put it up against my $250.00 plus Eureka tents no problem. For the price, it's absolutely the biggest surprise I have ever had in camping.


Northwest Territory Sierra Dome Tent (3 Person)

LINK: http://www.sears.com/northwest-terri...1&blockType=G1