Tents and why you purchase them?

[WAYAWAY]

Any pictures of it packed up? Maybe throw in a banana for scale.

Here's a size 9.5 Chuck for scale. The bananas went south for the winter.

 

[Redfish]

I've found if I plan to stay more than a day or two tenting then I want room to move and blow up a mattress. Recently purchased a Crua Core tent. It uses an airframe to stabilize it and is about 8' high in center. I refer to it as my condo. Takes about 15 minutes to set up.
I thought about rooftop tents and decided these seem inconvenient. If I want to have a Basecamp and explore during the day I would have to drop it down everyday. Those of you who have one what is your opinion about that?

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

i use tents for my kids to keep them out of our camper. i generally try to stay in the $20 range. will it keep them warm and dry? i dont know...they're kids

Robot or human?

View attachment 134393

When I was young this would have been a castle to me (the Ozark trail). If my back and legs were in better shape I could be satisfied with this. When I get down that low to the ground I cant get up very easy and crawling around on my knees is impossible for me. :-)

 

[ElGuapoJeep]

I just pulled the trigger on a rooftop tent. I have been wanting one for a few years but before that I talked myself out of it and bought a Marmot which has been great! I highly recommend if you are thinking of going that route. We have been through some rough weather and it has held up with zero problems.

 

[Outdoordog]

I love the looks of rooftop tents. But bringing 3 dogs (45 60 and 90lbs), I wont be able to hoist my dogs up there.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

I did use a small tarp underneath the tent and it helped a bit. I do need to buy a bigger tarp. The mfr is Alps Mountaineering, same style as the Coleman cabin tent. Tent is water proof, but it has a mesh roof so I did get a breeze now and then. No heater, just a sleeping pad and 30 deg bad. I used some Mega Hot Hands in my sleeping bag and wore 32 deg F long Johns which helped a lot. It’s a 4 man tent, and I was alone so I had plenty of room.
I like this tent because the packed length is smaller then the Coleman and the price was great at $120 (cyber Monday deal at REI Outlet). I wanted the gazelle tent but the price and packed size was too much.

I don't have a tent yet. I have been researching for almost a year and about to pull the trigger. I really wanted one made from canvas but I also want at least 10x10 footprint. A canvas tent that large is both to heavy for me and deeper than my pocket book. The Gazelle is looking good but I'm not sure that it is worth what they want presently, a T4 is going for $296 I think. I have found a tent that I think is better because it has straight side walls and $100 cheaper so I'm researching that one presently.

 

[M Rose]

I don't have a tent yet. I have been researching for almost a year and about to pull the trigger. I really wanted one made from canvas but I also want at least 10x10 footprint. A canvas tent that large is both to heavy for me and deeper than my pocket book. The Gazelle is looking good but I'm not sure that it is worth what they want presently, a T4 is going for $296 I think. I have found a tent that I think is better because it has straight side walls and $100 cheaper so I'm researching that one presently.

I might have something that fits your bill... it’s a canvas outfitter tent... its old, but doesn’t leak, and has been well taken care of it’s whole life... I don’t remember the size though.

 

[M Rose]

I collect tents, not on purpose, but it seams my camp keeps evolving each year... this year I’m leaning towards getting a T4 plus, the 74” center height along with the ease of setting it is what has me

 

[M Rose]

I collect tents, not on purpose, but it seams my camp keeps evolving each year... this year I’m leaning towards getting a T4 plus, the 74” center height along with the ease of setting it is what has me

Has any one stored the T4 in a hard Pelican Case ?

 

[Seanm26]

Has any one stored the T4 in a hard Pelican Case ?

That case would cost more than the tent!

 

[Louiston]

I've found if I plan to stay more than a day or two tenting then I want room to move and blow up a mattress. Recently purchased a Crua Core tentView attachment 134436. It uses an airframe to stabilize it and is about 8' high in center. I refer to it as my condo. Takes about 15 minutes to set up.
I thought about rooftop tents and decided these seem inconvenient. If I want to have a Basecamp and explore during the day I would have to drop it down everyday. Those of you who have one what is your opinion about that?

Not all RTT's are created equal. A hard shell RTT can be deployed and stowed in a matter of seconds up to a few minutes depending on the model/style.

Hard top RTT's are as different as night and day compared to the canvas/nylon fold out models. They SHOULD be considered in a completely different catagory.

 

[Seanm26]

The problem I see with so many RTT's is they stop you from using your roof rack for anything else. Not a big deal in full size rigs where there is a bunch of interior volume. If you are hauling a fmily in a mid-size rig then space while moving is at a premium. I am less worried about set-up time as I am packability.

The Alps Mountaineering Camp Creek 6 would fit longitudinally behind the rear seats in my Montero Sport. I would still have a bunch of room and a full roof to fit everything a family with a 5 year old would need.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

I just pulled the trigger on a rooftop tent. I have been wanting one for a few years but before that I talked myself out of it and bought a Marmot which has been great! I highly recommend if you are thinking of going that route. We have been through some rough weather and it has held up with zero problems. View attachment 134446

Is that the tent in the background. Looks like a nice size.

 

[WAYAWAY]

The problem I see with so many RTT's is they stop you from using your roof rack for anything else. Not a big deal in full size rigs where there is a bunch of interior volume. If you are hauling a fmily in a mid-size rig then space while moving is at a premium. I am less worried about set-up time as I am packability.

The Alps Mountaineering Camp Creek 6 would fit longitudinally behind the rear seats in my Montero Sport. I would still have a bunch of room and a full roof to fit everything a family with a 5 year old would need.

Here are a couple more pix of my Alps..


My son is 5' 10".

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

The problem I see with so many RTT's is they stop you from using your roof rack for anything else. Not a big deal in full size rigs where there is a bunch of interior volume. If you are hauling a fmily in a mid-size rig then space while moving is at a premium. I am less worried about set-up time as I am packability.

The Alps Mountaineering Camp Creek 6 would fit longitudinally behind the rear seats in my Montero Sport. I would still have a bunch of room and a full roof to fit everything a family with a 5 year old would need.

I definitely agree. I notice a lot of people having to pull a small trailer behind because of the lost space on their roof rack. To me a roof rack complicates the idea of camping. When camping the idea is to take as much as you need and as little as possible.

When I had a big family (6 kids) we had to stop going anywhere because of the needs and wants of so many. We began to take two vehicles, a 10 passenger van and my Bronco. It Got too expensive, so we just gradually quit camping altogether ! To make things worse the age difference between the oldest and youngest created other problems. My oldest was 18 when my youngest was born and there was 7 years between #3 and #4 child.

 

[rho]

Ground tends for us! We have a couple north face tends that get used year round in all sorts of conditions. Summer heat, rain, snow, etc. Sometimes. It gets cold sometimes but I'd rather this than a rtt on my jeep.

 

[tjZ06]

Any pictures of it packed up? Maybe throw in a banana for scale.

-TJ

 

[Pretzel]

I collect tents, not on purpose, but it seams my camp keeps evolving each year... this year I’m leaning towards getting a T4 plus, the 74” center height along with the ease of setting it is what has me

I have the T4 Plus (posted earlier in this thread) and since then I've used it a couple times. In the Oregon climate, it's probably awesome, but here in NC, it suffers a bit in the heat/humidity. The mesh is excellent for bugs but doesn't let in much of a breeze. Setup gets easier with a few trips, but I'm not gonna lie, it's kind of a bear to wrangle around. If you don't need to stake it out, it's up in no time but putting it away is another story.

Packed up this thing is something like 5'8" long, I don't even want to know what that pelican case would cost.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Here's a size 9.5 Chuck for scale. The bananas went south for the winter.
View attachment 134435

Sooooo, 3 SHOES is your answer ? LOL

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Ground tends for us! We have a couple north face tends that get used year round in all sorts of conditions. Summer heat, rain, snow, etc. Sometimes. It gets cold sometimes but I'd rather this than a rtt on my jeep.

Is North Face the brand of tent ?