MC Tents, why so much $$

[BigDoc]

Originally Posted by pyoungbl

Lots of talk about tents: weight, poles, and cost. With about 40 years of camping experience my biggest bitch with every tent is the cheap pegs that come with the tent. After years of watching those crappy aluminum noodles bend at the hint of hard ground I finally bit the bullet and bought something more substantial. The same (very expensive) set of 8 pegs has served me through about half a dozen tents. In terms of cost per use they are damn near free now. I'll avoid giving a plug for a brand but just say that upgrading the pegs on any tent is a critical step if you want to use the tent over and over. I prefer tubular pegs because they won't nick other stuff that is packed nearby.

Less than $3.00 for quality stakes.


http://www.harborfreight.com/catalog...?q=tent+stakes

[Twohondas]

Originally Posted by DaMonk45

I'm looking for a new set of pegs that others have tried.
I'm getting too old and too broke to keep buying crap that don't work.

Go down to REI and buy the real steal steel pegs ....cheap!

Or even better go to hardware store and get a really big nail with a washer. These really work well especially in sand.

Lightweight AL pegs found in all good backpacking tents are great for backpacking but NOT for old guys setting up at night from a MC ride.

[Okie Preacher]

Originally Posted by DaMonk45

I'm looking for a new set of pegs that others have tried.
I'm getting too old and too broke to keep buying crap that don't work.

http://www.backcountry.com/msr-groundhog-tent-stake-kit You're welcome.

[VFR]

I just saw this thread. The tent the OP was referring to was a Catoma tent. Those are a little unique in that they are "60 Second Tents". The entire tent is self-contained. You just unwrap it, shake it out, and click the poles into place--tent is setup in ~one minute.

Their tents are geared more toward firefighters that have to be able to set up & break down their equipment very quickly. Weight & length is not as much of an issue as it would be for motorcycle campers or backpackers. That said, their tents are longer & heavier than most. Their 2 plus 2 model is a monster for bike camping.

I have a Catoma Falcon, which at the time was the lightest, smallest, & least expensive tent they made. I learned the hard way that when you are camping in a mosquito infested area, you want to be able to set your tent up & be inside it quickly... My friends that I was riding with were both inside their tents laughing like crazy while I was outside unfolding poles & setting my tent up in a hoard of mosquitoes while swearing a blue streak. We camped in a different place every night on the road & that tent paid off big time.

I also have a Nemo Losi 2P tent & a Marmot Limelight 3. I bought those more for use at a destination camping trip where I needed vestibule space for my gear. Both are lightweight tents with short pole sections.

My first motorcycle camping tent was an REI Half Dome bought on eBay for$80. The seller was upgrading to a newer model of the same tent & had taken very good care of this one. I figured I couldn't lose on the deal--used it for years & was hard pressed to find anything better. I replaced it with the Marmot for more floor space & headroom. That REI tent was & still is a great bargain.

Bottom line: Buy the tent that fits what you plan to do with it & that fits your budget. One friend buys Wal Mart tents & has gone through several in a year. He now has Eureka. Bought new aluminum poles to replace the fiberglass ones so it would pack smaller.

There are a ton of threads here on tents along with ten times as many opinions as to what the best one is.....

[OhBoy]

light small cheap $120 factory outlet
llbean
shown here without the fly

[jeepinbanditrider]

I like those kinds of tents though there's no room inside for gear. Does the fly create a "vestibule" out front?


Sent from my iPhone

[mikesova]

I'm a big fan of the Kelty Zenith 2, that I bought at Target for 40 bucks. It was basically the same as another Kelty tent, except it came with fiberglass poles instead of lightweight aluminum.



(not my pic)

[The Letter J]

Originally Posted by mikesova

I'm a big fan of the Kelty Zenith 2, that I bought at Target for 40 bucks. It was basically the same as another Kelty tent, except it came with fiberglass poles instead of lightweight aluminum.



(not my pic)

I was hoping to find that one locally but had no luck. I did buy the kelty salida which is the same thing but with aluminum poles. I believe it was about $150. It met all my criteria for space/easy setup/packed size/single vestibule/and while it wasnt a big factor for me it is fairly lightweight. The packed length is 17" which was the maximum that i could fit in my bag. I've only used it on one trip so far so I can't comment on long term durability yet but I think it was a good buy (so far!)

Another one I looked at is about $40 at wally world or big5 and packs down to 13" in length http://www.stansport.com/index.php/c...00-63-wwd.html

Another one that seemed worth looking at is this http://www.cabelas.com/dome-backpack...er=22549717391 I found the same one a while back on amazon for $69 and it has aluminum poles and packs down to 14".

[Bad Dad]

Tent on the right, Marmot 2 man, double vestibule, double door. $105 on an email deal from sierratradingpost.com . Fast setup, small pack size, I think the poles fold to 15 inch. small enough to pack in my Ventura bag. Spent several hours in an absolutely scary thunderstorm this spring and got some water inside through the screen body from splashing in the puddles and bouncing back up under the fly. 4 yr's old and going strong, Buddy with $40 colemans.......not so successful.

[duck]

Originally Posted by Twohondas

Go down to REI and buy the real steal steel pegs ....cheap!

Or even better go to hardware store and get a really big nail with a washer. These really work well especially in sand.

Lightweight AL pegs found in all good backpacking tents are great for backpacking but NOT for old guys setting up at night from a MC ride.

Your tent snob fu is weak. You should only use TITANIUM tent stakes.

[Jeff B]

Originally Posted by jeepinbanditrider

I like those kinds of tents though there's no room inside for gear. Does the fly create a "vestibule" out front?


Sent from my iPhone

It's true. Once a shelter get's to small there's a lot of surplus room inside. But there is a little, and you can supplement by putting your gear in a large dry bag just outside the zipper w/in arms reach. I have one like this, but a large garbage bag would suffice.



When packing light I have two different bivy bags that I use depending on weather and w/the dry bag combo I do OK. It's a compromise.

I'm not say'n this is the most comfortable way to bivouac, I'm just say'n that it's not as bad as some would think.




I have a UL one person tent close to the size of that LL Bean above. The rain fly usually creates two small vestibules on each side.

[mpatch]

Originally Posted by Jeff B

It's true. Once a shelter get's to small there's a lot of surplus room inside. But there is a little, and you can supplement by putting your gear in a large dry bag just outside the zipper w/in arms reach. I have one like this, but a large garbage bag would suffice.



When packing light I have two different bivy bags that I use depending on weather and w/the dry bag combo I do OK. It's a compromise.

I'm not say'n this is the most comfortable way to bivouac, I'm just say'n that it's not as bad as some would think.




I have a UL one person tent close to the size of that LL Bean above. The rain fly usually creates two small vestibules on each side.

biggest problem with small tents is if you have to hole up for a day or two because of weather or a breakdown

[Ceri JC]

Originally Posted by Jeff B

It's true. Once a shelter get's to small there's a lot of surplus room inside. But there is a little, and you can supplement by putting your gear in a large dry bag just outside the zipper w/in arms reach. I have one like this, but a large garbage bag would suffice.

Yes, that's what I do when I use my Nemo GoGo. Since I switched to Kriega soft luggage (at least, for the short, "lightweight at all costs" sort of trips where I use a bivvy), I haven't even needed to carry separate dry bags to do this; I put kit back into the bags and leave it just outside my tent.

As Jeff says, it's far from the most comfortable/convenient way of camping. It's just that it's not quite as "leave that to the hardcore" as people might imagine.

[SgtDuster]

Tents can easily creep up in size and weight. I heard one guy saying his tent was 14#. Seriously why? Mine weighs four and more importantly packs small.

Maybe because this guy puts more emphasis on comfort? To each his own I guess.

Originally Posted by sailah

And I'm a cook too so when I camp I usually have a full cookset

You see? Someone could argue that you don't need a full cookset when you're camping and ask you "why?"

To each his own gain.

[VStromTom]

Well, yes but 4# is less than 14#, ergo far superior!Plus then you can carry 10# of something else, which again is superior. Funny! Just like the shot a few ago about $40 Colemans. FWIW, my $30 Coleman has never leaked a drop nor had some backsplash water inflitration because the tub doesn't go up far enough on the sidewall mesh.