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True, but what fun is that to pack up in the middle of the night? Plus more durable materials equals a longer life. Please keep in mind that I sold a small hardside pop-up camper so certainly didn't want to scrimp on funds given the influx of dolllars. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by uglymoney
Yeah. Tough tents are good.Quote:
Originally Posted by 3PinGrin
For the record we put several holes punctures in our little 4 man lightweight REI backpacking tent last summer. Dog, two kids, huge wind storms, crazy shit happening in the middle of the night etx. Our Marmot limestone has zero holes same family. It isn't what I would call fragile by any stretch.
I do see your point though. Different strokes.
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Indeed! I enjoyed your pics from the Winds fyi, one of my first backpacking trips in high school many many years ago. Your pictures made me smile, hoping to get back there with my wife someday (who has never been).Quote:
Originally Posted by uglymoney
Also, I was actually about to buy the Limestone based on good reviews before I sold the camper, that pushed me toward the Halo, ha!
Thanks! Magical place man. So easy to get lost and be by yourself on your own lake.Quote:
Originally Posted by 3PinGrin
This summer we have our eyes set on finding a way to get lost for a week in the San Juans assuming it doesn't get too dry down there. Can't wait.
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We have a Eureka standup tent that's at least 30 years old, still water proof and playa dust and wind proof. The thing is heavy and heavy duty. Of course who's to say they make them that well nowadays. No reason not to have a standup tent for car camping.
OK--not really playa dust proof but it didn't fall apart either.
Reviving this as I'm looking for a four person car camping tent, 3 season. Would like to get a king sized air mattress in it at some point. Any recommendations? We live in a state with pretty stable weather so tent height isn't that important.
I went with the REI Kingdom 4. Highly recommend. I can stand up in it. It will fit a king. Easy to pitch. It’s got a “garage” vestibule you can buy to add space.Quote:
Originally Posted by hafjell
TNF Wawona and Big Angie’s Big House are very similar, seem nice. REI Grand Hut is another option.
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Go Coleman and get a 6-8 person tent for under $200.
I have 11 years with mine and still holds up like new.
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But the vestibule is $$$ in the spring when the blackflies are on the 24x7 feed....Quote:
Originally Posted by uglymoney
I totally see the logic in not picking up a bottom-of-the-barrel Ozark Trail tent. It'd be nice to have a tent that lasts more than a season.
Coleman is still my favorite brand, but leaving aside preferences, there are other companies that are worth it with all-season tents, Big Agnes and Kodiak to name a few. You can compare a few options here https://popular.reviews/best-4-season-tent/
I camped with the fam last night in a Big Agnes Big House 6. The temp went down to 40 deg and holy crap was it an icebox in there. On the flip side, I'm sure it'd be awesome on a 65 degree night in the desert. Otherwise the tent worked great. The fly however wouldn't do much to stop rain from coming in the front door.
Just ordered this blackout tent
Not a fan of a partial rain fly though.
https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p...E&gclsrc=aw.ds
I’ve used my 8 person Coleman tent the last 12 years and still works great.
Now with a family I’m tired of the 4:30am wake up from the PNW summer sunrise so will give this a try.
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Tent just arrived. Thing is nice. 12ft by 10ft and pretty dam dark inside which will be nice. Attachment 332462
Pretty easy set up too.
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Those blackout tents are nice. Slept in one that had an "aluminized" outer fabric on a volcano in Indonesia. Kept it like 10-15° cooler inside and damn near didn't wake up until 11am. Dark as shit and noticeably cooler than a regular tent.
I wanted one bad after that, but would almost be too dangerous on those drunk car camping trips. Would probably end up sleeping all day, ha.
Yea. In the PNW the fucking sun rises at like 4:30-5 and car camping with my 5 yr old she is up with the sun, hopefully this buys us another hour of sleep maybe. I’d normally wear an eye mask with my other tent.
Now if i could find a way to shut the Blue Jays up. Usually they are pillaging some idiot car camping neighbor site that left trash out.
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Struggling to see a problem with sleeping off a bender. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Soups
My recent trip to ski Beartooth we brought the old Marmot 8 for just the two of us because my daughter likes to have her own room. Everyday like clockwork I was wide awake at 4:45 am. Go outside take a pee and walk around for a few minutes. Back inside and sleep till 730.Quote:
Originally Posted by AK47bp
Blackout tents look cool if I didn't already have a pile of tents in the basement. Three car camping tents (REI4, marmot8, Eureka3), 3 backpacking tents (Rei4, Walrus2, North Face 2), one 4 seasons North Face I inherited from my sister.
Attachment 332468
Large Decathlon pop up job for car duties here.
Big porch and two sleeping areas. Propper black out tent as well.
Takes about 5 minutes to throw up and peg out.
Takes about 10 to get folded up if you follow the instructions.
In a side by side test it was much quicker up and down than the folks next to us berghaus airbeam job.
Was bought for summer in the Alps and even survived some storms that came in. I was impressed with it.
PS. I can't create new topic, but I need advice.
Looking for small backpack that is for travel first and a camera second. I really like the Peak Design Everyday, but it's just too much for me. Manfrotto has a couple bags that come close, but they just don't look all that sturdy and don't get many high reviews.
My buddy is road tripping from FL to CA and all around CA with a kingdom 6 for just him.
I helped him set it up a few weekends ago. It’s hudge and totally heavy. Comes with shoulder straps on the carrying case. It probably takes up 35l or so stowed. Set up, you can easily stand in it. The shape allows the walls to be rather vertical so increasing useable headroom. At least one of the poles relies on a sleeve sewn to the body (the others are the clip type) which I didn’t like but it looked like it was maybe the best choice for the middle pole. The vestibule sold separately is big enough to park a bike in or sit two people in chairs. Has doors on both sides and caps one end. It’s easy to put the fly on backwards (back to front) so watch that.
The privacy wall goes up pretty easily and either makes a second smaller sleeping area or an extended porch/vestibule. Fly seemed like it was reasonably vented and the tent had a fair amount of mesh body. The large windows on the end aren’t covered much when you don’t have the vestibule so it might be a bit harder to ventilate if it’s raining. OTOH it is reported by my bud as quite water proof and the design would back that up as there are only front and back window/door and the fly is robust and Goes low to the ground. It could be set up by one person but two is better. Two peeps would still take a little while, like I dunno, 7 or 8 minutes and another 4 to 5 with the rather complex vestibule. Definitely a tent I’d practice with first.
Wind with such a tall light tent is a concern for sure but It has multiple extra guy out points. IIRC it has about 16 of them one high and one low per pole. If it were mine I’d get extra stakes and pre rig a few guy lines but whatever. The guy points are there and you will of course have brought extra cordage. Lawson plug.
He’s usually camping with his kid so the space makes sense for the hassle. But it is a handful.
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I’ve posted in this thread previously... but I’ll add to this.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jong Lafitte
I have the Kingdom 4 - so same design just smaller, no “privacy wall” - seems to me like the right buy out the kingdom lineup. Roomy for me, the wife, and the dog. Big enough you could set a small table and chairs up inside to use as a family room to wait out a storm. Tall enough that my 6’2 frame can change standing up. The 6 is crazy big, the 8 is insane. It’s possible to setup the 4 solo, but it’s a major PITA. Two people makes it quick work.
It’s been great in PNW rain. But as JL mentioned, wind is a challenge for this thing. If there is any chance of wind, you have to set it up with the vestibule facing the wind to make it as aerodynamic as possible, then guy it structurally - meaning not just guying the fly out; but under the fly, guying the tent stable by tying to the poles mid height and staking them out. One really bad wind storm bent the poles of my tent, it still works fine, I just have to be conscious of it... I guess that’s the price you pay for having a tent tall enough for me to stand up in....
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What’s the fabric that makes these blackout tents? Hopefully rei makes an aftermarket fly for the kingdom to add that, sounds nice... or maybe you can buy a tarp of it and modify your tent accordingly...
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We are using eureka tent. My wife bought it last summer.
Grabbed an REI Grand Hut 6 the other day. This thing is super nice. Not as big as the Kingdom but tons of room and I can stand up in it. Goes up easily with one person, too.
Can’t speak to how it holds up in the wind, but I doubt it’s much better than the kingdom.
Attachment 334886
How about a simple winter friendly small camper trailer? I'm looking for a trailer with high clearance, is light/sturdy, winter ready, and can sleep at least 2 adults/1 infant comfortably (think 4x4 teardrop). Anyone have a favorite?
< 1000lbs, insulated, 4+ 120V outlets, generator friendly, full galley build out option, headroom, etc. Any tips, recs, etc. are appreciated in advance.
This should be the end-all to any questions about the best car camping setup.
https://shiftpod.com/pub/media/wysiw...pod-2-icon.png
https://shiftpod.com/shiftpod/
we found the burnerQuote:
Originally Posted by splat
I'm thinking of buying a pop-up camper. Talk me out of it. There is a lot to like and a lot not to like about them. Bottom line is whether they really offer anything significant over and above my tent. Sure, I will get a more comfortable bed, and a better night's sleep, a sink and indoor stove/hot plate, but it seems that nice ones go for between $11k-15k. Anyone using one?
You mean like a popup tent trailer, or a truck camper?
Pop up tent trailer. Like a forest river
Had a buddy that bought one, hated it, and sold it all in one season.Quote:
Originally Posted by schindlerpiste
We had two pop-up trailers before moving to a truck camper.
Pros: easy towing, lots of room inside, lots of ventilation, nice to have a sink, fridge, etc. Good place to gather inside in warm buggy or rainy weather.
Cons: 30-45 min setup or breakdown, difficult to access inside when roof down (to store stuff), if it's cold weather these are very difficult to keep heated.
The setup/ breakdown time is what got us away from them. Just too much hassle.
^^ This is fairly close to my experience. We had one for two years after selling our 20 foot class C RV, and used it quite a bit. The heater cranked so it wasn't hard to keep warm. Also had heated mattresses which could only be used if we were plugged in, but they were nice. So easy to tow you hardly know it's back there.
Half hour setup does get old. Honestly the thing that most made me go back to a hardshell was the inability of the tent to keep noise out. Plus if you're camping in sketchy areas the popup offers no real security. Now we have a 20 foot hardside trailer and I like it. Fact about campers though is that no rig is perfect for every situation.
I’ve been going back to more tent camping the last couple of years. Been sleeping in a 20+ yo 3 person Quest.
I’ve got the pad/sleeping bag game pretty dialed. Klymit insulated deluxe pad, lightweight 40 degree bag and a Teton Sports heavy 0 degree bag. I used to bring a queen sized foam topper mattress but the Klymit pad works pretty well. Big bag over the Klymit and small bag for a cover if needed.
My super old Quest tent sets up easy as fuck, I can literally have it up in five minutes. It has four poles that are shock corded to a central hub up top. Easy peasy.
Stashing it is just as easy, it rolls up with fly and poles and only takes minimal fussing to get into the smallish stuff sack.
After 20+ years the thing still functions fine but all of the zippers are problematic now. I’m tempted to take it in to a seamstress and see if they can fix my zippers…
If that plan falls through I’ll be looking for a new tent. The main purpose will be for river trips, something that will set up quick and take down easily. (Will be car camping for the most part with the occasional riverside float in camping.) Height and warmth are very secondary concerns, I climb into it drunk and don’t stand up. Been bringing a Mr. Buddy heater lately for cold trips, fire it up to go to bed and then in the morning. I’m solo so 3-4 person tents leaves me enough room to not burn down the tent with the heater.
I’m looking for something easy to set up, and will last a while. What you got?
Hehe late to the party did you get that zipper fixed?Quote:
Originally Posted by BobMc
Lots of freestanding 3 season 3p and 4p tents out there. I’d prolly rather a lower profile design for ease of setup including less frequent (ideally) need of wind and weather adjustments.
Marmot Tungsten 3p? (The not UL) Comes with footprint useful for rough car camp sites , polyester not as prone to sag in humid River areas, packable enough for a boat, good wind profile, two doors and ok sized vestibules seems like worth a look..
Kelty Discovery?
TNF stormbreak3
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this year i went with the very easy to set up option like splat. packable, not very, but i’m happy
https://gazelletents.com
turns out I'm now in the market for a huge car camping tent.. the three room type I suppose. Those gazelles look nice, but are also all sold out. Hoping to keep it under $400 if possible without buying shit that will fall apart or let water in after a couple nights. Lots of good recommendations earlier in this thread, but most posts are 5+ years old.
Where should I be looking??
Easy to set up tent: get one where the inner and rain fly are connected, do they set up together. This is also have in the rain, as the inner tent never gets wet
I use a tarptent, light and very roomy
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that looks pretty functional. You been in a rainstorm in it yet? That fly looks a little skimpy over the windows, but hard to tell how far it extends horizontally over the windows on the video. Of course, like everything else in any way related to the outdoors, it's sold out now, but maybe for later.Quote:
Originally Posted by shroom
i missed this. first 4 nights were rain filled in the Ho Rain forest, pretty damp spot and it did well. no issues based on design so far. ihad been in a thicker canvas from ARB most nights over the past year and was concerned about stepping down in quality but i have no complaints, worth it if i have the room to haulQuote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Mike