Tents and why you purchase them?

[MMc]

What weather do you camp in? Do you different tents for conditions? How often can you get out? I camp year round, all over, mountains, deserts, beaches, cold , hot, rain, wind, clear are all fun for me. I try get out every other month, I am retiredish. I am a ground tent or in my shell kind of guy. I have different tents, 4 season, 3 season, bivy bags and ground cloths that I use. I try take the right tent for where and when I am going. Desert camping, I like a tent without netting and a fly because of blow sand, snow it's a 4 season mountaineering tent. Good weather, I love a ground tarp or a tent with all netting looking up without the fly. I will be climbing into my shell when I miss judge things.

Most of the camping I see is pretty fair weather and the tents (ground and RTT) are 2.5 season tents. What is reason for getting the tent you chose? I see big tents with Jeeps and backpacking tent with full sized trucks. I only trying to understand why you purchased whatever tent you did. Remember the feature that I love, can be the reason you hate it. I don't think there are right or wrong answers to this question.
I don't care what you are using, I hope you are using it.

 

[RoarinRow]

For my family of 5 that includes 3 kids under 10 years old, we only do ground tent camping and only during the Summer. We picked up the Gazelle Tent, which works great for our always on the go family. When I am not with the family, which is rare, then my truck is built for 1-2 person sleeper in the camper shell. Since the camper shell is always on, I/we can pretty much camp anywhere anytime of the year.

Both options work well for us/me.

 

[Smileyshaun]

With the family I use a Colman insta-cabin . Quick to setup and tons of room
Solo I use a hammock tent , great comfort and I sleep amazingly well.
Haven’t done snow in a long time but usually inside the rig . Nice to Just turn the key and have heat in a little while, Although I do need to look into a good two person 4 season tent Because I have some snow shoe camping Planned this year.

 

[Texassailor]

I'm getting older and I absolutely hate tents with segmented poles that must be inserted and manipulated to get the tent to stand. I also like to sleep on my XL cot. So, the Oztent RX-4 suits my needs. It is large enough to fit two cots comfortably. And, with the annex installed (for the winter) I can fit another couple of cots or utility tables and seating. Best of all, the Oztent sets up quickly . . . less than a minute to get it standing. Five minutes to stake it down (including the fly). Another 15-20 minutes if you want to install the annex sides & floor. Staking down the tent in rocky soil (think central Texas) is always fun. Five minutes may become 30 minutes.

The only downside to the Oztent is the cost. All in all, I'm very happy with the Oztent and I cannot forsee purchasing another tent . . . I do, of course, have a nice backpacking tent (Big Agnes Copper Spur 4-person . . . which really means 2-person) for those times a vehicle is not in the mix.

 

[Anak]

We have several, for a variety of conditions.

The Bride is a reluctant camper, and that also means a fair weather camper. I like an old fashioned canvas cabin tent, but we got good and flooded out in that on one (only one I might add) event, and so she will have nothing whatever to do with that tent again. If she is going with us then we are using this 8 person Coleman Montana tent:



I will note that we have kind of worn out this tent over the years. Well, at least the poles. I need to either replace the tent or at least buy some new poles for it.

Since The Bride won't do as much camping as I would like, I have some other tents. It should also be noted that The Bride only goes camping if we take the Suburban. And there are places I want to go where the Suburban probably shouldn't go. So I have the Jeep and the various tents that go along with the Jeep.

If we are planning on fair weather camping I take along this Coleman 5 person tent that I picked up off Craigslist for $40:



I will note that we have nearly worn out this tent too. Its problem is that the poles rub against each other where they cross at the top, especially if we have the fly on. The channel through which the holes pass is worn clean through for several inches. Tent still works though, so we keep on using it.

I did recently find a Paha Que tent on Craigslist that I thought might be a candidate for replacing this 5 person Coleman. Unfortunately, it takes up way too much space. It probably occupies four times the space of this Coleman. On the other hand, it is much better built. I took it along on a truck trip when I thought we might get worse weather than I wanted to deal with in the Coleman tent. That turned out to be a good call:



But that is not the tent I take if we really do expect winter conditions. I have a North Face USMC Arctic tent which is the cat's meow for snow:



That was a danged expensive tent though. And the worst part is that I would like to have two of them. They are designed such that you can connect multiples of them together. In theory I could have one for The Varmints and another for The Bride and I. Except she would never go out camping in such conditions in the first place. So one seems to be enough.

I have some other tents that I have picked up cheap and that The Varmints use for back yard camping. If they kill them there is nothing lost.

I like having options, so I keep an eye out for good used gear on the cheap.

 

[Billiebob]

I am retired and past tenting but 20 years ago, 40 years ago, it was all about cheap and light. So small too. I'd look at the $400 mountaineering tents then buy a $50 hardware store tent and go mountaineering, year round. Only once did the tent collapse under the snow.

Today I am still budget conscious and camp in a homebuilt teardrop.

 

[Louiston]

What weather do you camp in? Do you different tents for conditions? How often can you get out? I camp year round, all over, mountains, deserts, beaches, cold , hot, rain, wind, clear are all fun for me. I try get out every other month, I am retiredish. I am a ground tent or in my shell kind of guy. I have different tents, 4 season, 3 season, bivy bags and ground cloths that I use. I try take the right tent for where and when I am going. Desert camping, I like a tent without netting and a fly because of blow sand, snow it's a 4 season mountaineering tent. Good weather, I love a ground tarp or a tent with all netting looking up without the fly. I will be climbing into my shell when I miss judge things.

Most of the camping I see is pretty fair weather and the tents (ground and RTT) are 2.5 season tents. What is reason for getting the tent you chose? I see big tents with Jeeps and backpacking tent with full sized trucks. I only trying to understand why you purchased whatever tent you did. Remember the feature that I love, can be the reason you hate it. I don't think there are right or wrong answers to this question.
I don't care what you are using, I hope you are using it.

The Maggiolina hard top RTT's are a true 4 season tent. I use my Maggiolina Extreme in ALL weather conditions, from cold, snowy winter nights .... to Arizona's hot, arid nights.

Maggiolina - Autohome US

www.autohomeus.com

 

[MMc]

The Maggiolina hard top RTT's are a true 4 season tent. I use my Maggiolina Extreme in ALL weather conditions, from cold, snowy winter nights .... to Arizona's hot, arid nights.

Maggiolina - Autohome US

www.autohomeus.com

I agree these are great RTT's, many are not. I looked at them at the Expo and was very impressed. "The price of quality only stings once."

 

[USStrongman]

Being over 50 and my history of beating my body when I was competing... and still weighing 310lbs, RTT's are not in the cards for me. We just recently bought a CORE two room. Its massive. But we are camping outside of Big Bend NP for 6 days. 3 dogs, wife and teen daughter. We need the room. Its overkill, but it will be nice to have too much room in the vast wasteland that that part of the country is. I'll update once we use it for the week.

Otherwise when I go solo, I sleep in my Jeep. Good ari mattress and I just fit. Slept on Beartooth Pass, MT last fall and woke to snow and 14°F. Glad I was in my rig. Roof rack and voxes for everything, awning for morning coffee and daytime sun escape. Added LED lights for night time.

 

[Pretzel]

When we tent we use a Gazelle T4 Plus so far, haven't gotten more than a few uses of it and it's a very nice base camp set up. If it's just me, I'm totally going with my hammock.

 

[grubworm]

been using the cheap walmart tents which are $20-30 and work great. one of them is going on 10 yrs

 

[MMc]

been using the cheap walmart tents which are $20-30 and work great. one of them is going on 10 yrs

What knid of weather

 

[grubworm]

What knid of weather

usually mild weather but we have used them in the low 30s and did ok because we had an air mattress and good sleeping bags and with the rain guard they do ok in a drizzle, but a hard rain would be a problem. if weather is too bad, i wouldnt be camping anyway

 

[Boostpowered]

Ozark trail 6 person tent, chose because it was cheap $35 on sale, i didnt really need a 6 person for 2 people but it cost less than the 2 person i wanted. Not sure how many seasons its rated for but a tarp over it and propane heater fixes the cold and extreme wet. In the heat less clothes more fans. Just get by with what you got, if you need some inspiration look at homeless camp setups they live it every day so they have figured out most of the tricks.

 

[Downs]

I have tents but typically just sleep in the Jeep as a tent.

 

[Rivalicon]

Be very careful what tent you buy. I had an ARB that was awesome but I sold it when I had shoulder surgery and bought a RoofNest. Well the first week I had it was for Expo East 2018 and it leaked. I called them up and they sent me a video on how to repair the tent and gave me some money back for my troubles. Which I felt pretty upset about the whole process because they claim the tent comes with a two year warranty.
After 6 months the stickers pealed off and shortly after that the clear coat is flaking off as well. I hand wash this when I have to and I store it in my garage when not in use on a hoist. The first experience was so bad I really don’t want to deal with all the run around they gave me the first time. I will eventually have to replace this tent and call it a learning experience.
I know there are a few people who have this tent who love them. But if you were in my shoes it would be a different story. It really sucks because I’m always camping and kayaking. I guess I could pay someone to sand it down and give it another clear coat, but then what other surprises this tent is going to give me. I will be following this thread because I really would like to find a RTT that will last for years to come. Anyways I hope this helps someone. Totally disappointed.

 

[MMc]

Ozark trail 6 person tent, chose because it was cheap $35 on sale, i didnt really need a 6 person for 2 people but it cost less than the 2 person i wanted. Not sure how many seasons its rated for but a tarp over it and propane heater fixes the cold and extreme wet. In the heat less clothes more fans. Just get by with what you got, if you need some inspiration look at homeless camp setups they live it every day so they have figured out most of the tricks.

View attachment 125069

If you are using a tarp make sure the tarp isn't touching the tent. When it touches the tent you'll get condensation because there isn't any circulation to move the moisture away from the tent. This reason flys are staked out. The homeless are working with what they have not necessarily what is best.

 

[MMc]

Be very careful what tent you buy. I had an ARB that was awesome but I sold it when I had shoulder surgery and bought a RoofNest. Well the first week I had it was for Expo East 2018 and it leaked. I called them up and they sent me a video on how to repair the tent and gave me some money back for my troubles. Which I felt pretty upset about the whole process because they claim the tent comes with a two year warranty.
After 6 months the stickers pealed off and shortly after that the clear coat is flaking off as well. I hand wash this when I have to and I store it in my garage when not in use on a hoist. The first experience was so bad I really don’t want to deal with all the run around they gave me the first time. I will eventually have to replace this tent and call it a learning experience.
I know there are a few people who have this tent who love them. But if you were in my shoes it would be a different story. It really sucks because I’m always camping and kayaking. I guess I could pay someone to sand it down and give it another clear coat, but then what other surprises this tent is going to give me. I will be following this thread because I really would like to find a RTT that will last for years to come. Anyways I hope this helps someone. Totally disappointed. View attachment 125073View attachment 125074View attachment 125075View attachment 125076

This Sucks!!! I would contact them once about it, If they give you the same no-service response, I would post negative reviews everywhere with photos I could. There is no excuse for a bad product or bad customer service.
I like your camp, BTW.

 

[Wanderlost]

We have, and have had, many tents over the last 30+ years. But one has earned a special place in our hearts. It's heavy, difficult to set up, and takes a bunch of lines and stakes. For our longer trips where bulk is held down to a minimum, or trips in the deserts or mountains where the ground is mostly rock or very loose, we use an REI "square dome". It's excellent in heavy rain and has stellar ventilation. For everything else;

 

[Louiston]

Be very careful what tent you buy. I had an ARB that was awesome but I sold it when I had shoulder surgery and bought a RoofNest. Well the first week I had it was for Expo East 2018 and it leaked. I called them up and they sent me a video on how to repair the tent and gave me some money back for my troubles. Which I felt pretty upset about the whole process because they claim the tent comes with a two year warranty.
After 6 months the stickers pealed off and shortly after that the clear coat is flaking off as well. I hand wash this when I have to and I store it in my garage when not in use on a hoist. The first experience was so bad I really don’t want to deal with all the run around they gave me the first time. I will eventually have to replace this tent and call it a learning experience.
I know there are a few people who have this tent who love them. But if you were in my shoes it would be a different story. It really sucks because I’m always camping and kayaking. I guess I could pay someone to sand it down and give it another clear coat, but then what other surprises this tent is going to give me. I will be following this thread because I really would like to find a RTT that will last for years to come. Anyways I hope this helps someone. Totally disappointed. View attachment 125073View attachment 125074View attachment 125075View attachment 125076

Man, I would be livid ............ spending that amount of money and having the problems you are encountering.

You asked for opinions on RTT's, so here is mine ........

I bought the Maggiolina Extreme about 3 years ago. It has never leaked a drop of water and I've been in some heavy rain with it.

The shell is made up of "hand laid" fiberglass (not a chopper gun) and gelcoat .... exactly like a quality boat. I went this route as I live in Arizona and UV is a great concern. A coat or 2 of wax a year and it is still looking like new (or almost).

I also went with the "crank up" type versus the "gas shocks" type as it provides security (hunting rifles and handguns, expensive sleeping bags, and such) for anything left inside the tent when collapsed. A thief can unlatch the 3 latches ......... but without the crank, there is no way to raise the tent.
Even if they broke into the truck and found the crank I really doubt they would know what it is for. With that said, it would surely slow them down quite a bit.

Anyway, the Autohome Maggiolina RTT's have been in use on expeditions worldwide for decades and have proven to be a solid, long lasting design. Autohome is the "Original" , all others being a copy or a rendition of.

On the resale market, Autohome tents command very high resale values ......... even ones that are quite old. They also sell extremely quick. :) There is a reason for that. :)

For whats its worth, my opinion only ....... stay away from a tent made with ABS or Carbon Fiber. Both of those materials do NOT hold up well to UV.

As always, your mileage will vary .....