Recommend me the best Tent...

[threadkiller]

Put the tarp inside the tent and fold the sides up so they make a tub shape. This allows water to pass under the tent and completely prevents any chance of it passing between the tarp and floor of your tent. I've been doing this with my Sierra Designs Ridgeback for 14 years now and have NEVER had it fail.

[VFR]

Originally Posted by Adios Pantalones

Go with the REI Half Dome. Nice, solid, mid range on price. Great Co.

+1 When I was first looking into motorcycle tent camping, I wasn't sure I would like or continue with it. I bought a used Half Dome on eBay that a guy was selling because he got a newer model. After looking at several reviews, i seemed that it was a solid, well designed tent--not to mention several year award winner. Used it for several years until getting a larger tent for more headroom & interior space.

Getting a year-end special or used tent at a bargain price will get you a more upscale tent for the money & if, on the remote chance that you find you don't like camping, you can sell to recover most or all of your money. Can't do that with a Wallyworld special....

My suggestion, for what it's worth--nothing--is to research the heck out of all of the tents suggested so far--in fact, I've done a bit of that & I'm not currently in the market for a new one. That in itself will make you a more informed buyer. Of course this flies in the face of current thinking, where one wants everyone else to do their research for them because they are too busy or too important to bother with such a meaningless task.

The result of reading these threads is that I am thinking of buying a Kelty Grand Mesa 2 when I don't need a new tent & already have four....

[Grinnin]

Originally Posted by VFR

+1 . . . I bought a used Half Dome

. . . if, on the remote chance that you find you don't like camping, you can sell to recover most or all of your money.

When I decided my 1990 REI Half Dome was too worn to continue I bought another tent*. Then ANOTHER tent**.

I sold them here in the flea mkt for about half price and bought an REI Camp Dome.

SOME of the REI domes have a short ridge that allows good cross ventilation and makes getting in and out of the tent easier.

I am not sure that I could have saved myself that trouble. The other tents were lighter and longer inside and packed pretty small; nice tents in a lot of ways. I simply discovered that unrivaled ventilation and ease of entry are important to me. The Camp Dome is about 250 grams heavier than the light tents I tried. I have been using easy-access full-ventilation, self-supporting tents since the late '70s so I'm spoiled.

*Eureka Spitfire 2
**Kelty Salida 2

[Lost Rider]

Big Agnes gets my vote as "best" after having many hundreds of nights in them in adverse conditions. Pick which ever model tickles your fancy, all will have the same high quality design/manufacture, you'll just be paying more for lightweight materials on the UL or SL models. I prefer dual side entrances over a single entrance at the head.
We have a number of BA tents, all of them proven, our camping gear list is on my website in my sig line.

All my BA tents have excellent ventilation, are easy to set up, roomy vestibules, long term proven durability and 100% waterproof without the use of bulky tarps or any kind of waterproof spray.
My current "small" tent that gets the most use, the Copper Spur UL 2 packs smaller than a football when compressed and weighs less the 4 pounds, making it easy to pack. The poles pack down to 16.5" also making them easy to carry on a bike.


Good luck and either way, being in Guatemala you probably will want a freestanding, bathtub style floor and a 100% waterproof out of the box tent with lots of mesh and good ventilation made by a reputable company. Buy the model specific foot print too.


https://www.bigagnes.com/Products/De...perspurul22012

[Boondox]

Originally Posted by Dale950

The Nemo Losi 2 is a nice tent , I own one .

I have the Losi 3P because Barley scratches in his dreams. It also has an optional dog claw liner to protect against punctures on the floor. Very high quality and fast to setup, even in the dark.

[Beard]

i own 3 tents. I've slept in everything from a 2 man $25 to a 1 man $800. And typically you do get what you pay for. But never underestimate the $25 tent.

ive own something like this for say 6 years now, picked it up on sale in the fall for $20
http://www.kmart.com/northwest-terri...4&blockType=G4

buy it, set it up, use $5 of seam sealer on every stitch inside and out. ive slept everywhere in that tent.. full rains all day. a little bit of water here and there managed by a towl.

but the real reason for a $25 tent is traveling. a friend has a wedding in another state. im cheap, ill fly with it in my carry on. poles stakes and all never had an issue. who cares if the airline takes it.. (though i never had an issue) even fly in buy one.. use it for 2 days.. much cheaper than a hotel. again im really cheap.

ive had tents that cost 8x as much, leak like a $20 tent. so what the use?

but for pleasure, local camping. ill always watch the weather and go the next weekend if they are calling for rain.. ive spent too many days sitting in a tent in the pouring rain to know its not to enjoyable. especially with young kids

[max384]

Originally Posted by Mane

I've never camp before but I plan to do so in the future, however a situation has come up and I'll have to camp for one night with my oldest daughter (7 years old) in a few weeks. No bike related at this time...

Here's the deal..

Since I'll have to purchase a tent, I would rather purchase the right one than get a cheap one and throw it away soon after.

Since I know near to nothing about camping and related stuff I would like hear some recommendations on which gear (specs, brands, etc) I should look after .

Thanks for your advice...

Regards,
Mane

My advice would be to get a cheap Wallyworld type tent. Camp in it a few nights and take note what YOU do and don't like about it. Then you can use this bit of experience to buy a tent that will suit you. No sense in buying the best money can buy before you know what you're even shopping for. Besides, it's nice to own crap and then upgrade to something nice. If you buy the best right away, you won't know how good you have it.

[Plaka]

Originally Posted by max384

My advice would be to get a cheap Wallyworld type tent. Camp in it a few nights and take note what YOU do and don't like about it. Then you can use this bit of experience to buy a tent that will suit you. No sense in buying the best money can buy before you know what you're even shopping for. Besides, it's nice to own crap and then upgrade to something nice. If you buy the best right away, you won't know how good you have it.

if you buy crap right off you might not go camping again either.

Lot of people in this thread and the other current tent thread are saying some pretty good things about some very cheap tents. if you get into one of those for $70 you can't go wrong. Do a bunch of trips with it before you decide if you want something else.

[PeterW]

Originally Posted by max384

My advice would be to get a cheap Wallyworld type tent. Camp in it a few nights and take note what YOU do and don't like about it. Then you can use this bit of experience to buy a tent that will suit you. No sense in buying the best money can buy before you know what you're even shopping for. Besides, it's nice to own crap and then upgrade to something nice. If you buy the best right away, you won't know how good you have it.

Yeah, my approach as well. None of the cheap tents have let me down, and I made a profit on one $20 cheapo that a girl threw up on in the middle of the night. She was nice enough to come back the next day and give me $50. It went in the campsite bin and I had NO problems tossing it, an $800 tent - well - it would have been nasty.

You won't know what you need in a tent until you've used one, cheaper to waste $20 on the wrong tent than $800.

Personally, I wanted a front shade area and a lot of internal space. Australia, the sun is fierce and I burn like crazy so that's a priority for me. I got what I wanted for $60 on special and spending $20 on a couple of extra poles to hold the front door panel up.

Pete

[advNZer?]

big vestibule is key i reckon.you gotta have somewhere to put all the bike gear and luggage.I concur withthe theory that for tw people a 3 man tent is required.For you and your daughter maybe a two man will be ok,but a two man will be required for a motorcyle camper imho.Ventilation is important otherwise in cooler weather you end up with condensation .A bit of height and width is nice for dressing /undressing

[Dale950]

Been thinking about this tent to be my next .

MSR Hoop , lighweight , 2 vestibules , vertical walls , good headroom , D shaped doors , fair amount of no seeum mesh , quick to put up & not overly expensive .

http://cascadedesigns.com/en/msr/ten...s/hoop/product

[Grinnin]

Originally Posted by advNZer?

big vestibule is key i reckon.you gotta have somewhere to put all the bike gear and luggage.

I leave the luggage on the bike. I bring in sleeping gear and some (but not all) clothes.

[sleazy rider]

Get on your local Craigslist and snag a deal for you and the kid.

I've slept in everything from the $15 one man "biker" tent to a $200 3 man. They all work for the occasional camper. I've only had one leak and there was no way any tent was going to keep that monsoon out. I'm currently using an Alps Mountaineering discontinued tent I grabbed off Amazon for $110 shipped. It's got probably 60 solid days of use on it now in the past two years. Its holding up fine and I'd buy another from them. I'm cheap and can't justify more than a c-note for temporary lodging.

[Mr. Fisherman]

[RangerShawn]

I just wanted to add my $.02. One critical factor for me in a motorcycle tent is how small it gets when packed. My side cases and top pox are about 20" inside, so I like to find a tent with poles shorter than that so it will fit in the boxes. Also i like a tent that doesn't require too many stakes. Some tents say that they are "free-standing" but are really only *semi* free-standing since the vestibule and/or fly must be staked out at various points. look for a tent that doesn't need too many point to be staked out. Two tents I've found that meet these requirements are the Eureka SpitFire 2 and the Eureka Backcountry 2. These tents are quite spacious and easy to pitch.