Tents with "livable" vestibules, for Kermit chairs e.t.c. Any ideas?

Ive got too many tents already.. 4 or 5.. but that vestibule is really well designed... too heavy for backpacking use.. but I think i just got the last one at Campor.

http://www.tsugacanopies.com/

It was mentioned a few posts above your own.

You can actually lift both; the vestibule end can be rolled up, which in combination with the open side door, creates a nice draft. The other side, as you mention, can also be rolled up as well, which exposes the foot of the inner tent for increased ventilation, as seen here-

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The Big Agnes Emerald Mountain with optional accessory vestibule falls right into this category. I just put one up for sale in the flea market:

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=789467

http://www.redverz.com/index.html

I just bought the green one today. In the past I used a fairly small back packing tent. However, I'm tired of being cramped, getting dressed lying down, etc.. My old tent was eight pounds and this one is thirteen. As much shit as I pack, I won't notice the difference. I'm excited because I get to break it in tomorrow on a trip to the mountains. I'll try to post some photos when I get back.

Scottie, please do post when you're back, I for one, especially after watching their videos about this tent, am sold. I will be buying one within a week or so, (as have multi-day trip planned for end of june), so would very much like to hear your first-hand experiences.

-- also.. are the pegs sturdy? did u get one, two, or none ground sheets?


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That tent looks nice but Id be worried about the bike falling over -- could wake up abruptly with a big headache.

Bought mine earlier this spring (the yellow one). Love it. Fantastic company with great customer service and care.

Ok, hands up if your bike has fallen over on it's own (not when someone "helps" it !) .....

It amazes me how many people have that concern and the argument against this tent. I understand you don't want to smell the gas, oil, lubricants, etc from the bike parked right next to you... How do you not secure the bike to prevent the fall ? And why wouldn't you lean the bike away from the sleeping section, so when/if it does fall, it falls away....

To me packing and unpacking the bike in a rain under the canopy is a great incentive , and maybe putting the bike there when I'm away from the camp...

Besides, the OP wants to sit in his Kermit in the vestibule, not park his bike there.

And when you have one of these foot extensions , your bike won't fall over..

http://www.altrider.com/altrider-side-stand-foot-for-bmw-r-1200-gs/pcid/333-29

It looks like a great tent and I'm waiting for mine.

Cheers,

Optional Awning Poles.

Due to work and weather this was just a short trip. After a couple of days of using this tent I can absolutely say that I love it. Previously, I used a two person Marmot backpacking style tent. So any comparisons I make will be to that and any faults I list will be nit-picking because its hard to find fault with this tent.

First off, this thing is huge. At 6'4" tall I can easily stand in the garage side and can stand in the sleeping side if I duck my head. In the past, I've had to get dressed lying down. Being able to stand erect inside is a God send. Not only is this tent tall, it has a lot of square footage. I tend to pack heavy and so does my riding buddy. The garage area easily held my Tenere with bags on plus my misc. gear and some of my buddy's gear too. There is a second vestibule on the other side of the living area that I didn't even utilize.

Next, this tent is extremely well built; the diameter of the poles, quality of the materials, stitching, the three sided aluminum pegs, etc.. They all exude quality.

Set up is pretty straight forward. This was the second time I erected and it took about ten minutes. A little longer than my old tent but it also is four times larger. My other tent was completely freestanding. You could erect it and pick it up and move it if you want to reposition it at your campsite. You can't do this with the Redverz. The tent has to be staked for it to be upright. Also it packs larger than my Marmot. It should considering the size difference. To be competely fair for the size difference between the two, the Redverz packs up much more compact. At four or five times larger set up, it packs down to about only 25% larger. Speaking of packing the tents. The Redverz comes with compression straps for the tent before it goes in the bag and another set of compression straps on the generously sized storage bag. My old tent no matter how you folded it or rolled it was nearly impossible to get into its bag. Not so with the Redverz. Getting it into the bag was effortless. Once again, a small thing that makes you think that some one put a lot of effort into designing this tent. Also, if you remove the poles from the storage bag, the tent will fit into a Jesse pannier. I simply put the poles in with my rolled up sleeping pad that I had strapped to the bike.

Another thing I love about this tent is that can be used all four seasons. The living area has three doors. Each door has mosquito netting on them and they also have a second layer of wind blocking material. In warmer weather you can only use the netting and the tent flows air nicely. In colder weather utilize the wind blocking material as well to stop drafts. This is something my old tent could not do.

Another small thing I like about this tent is great customer service. After I got it home and did a trial set up I had a question about it. So I called the lady at the dealership who sold it to me. She didn't know the answer but was able to call the owner of the company and inventor of the tent. Try doing that with the tent you bought at Walmart.

The garage area of the tent does not have a floor in it. The idea was that rolling a bike in and out would possibly damage it. I have an old blue tarp that I used as a ground cover for my old tent. I spread the tarp out in the garage area. This wasn't necessary but it was nice to be able to change shoes in the garage without getting my socks dirty. It also minimized the chance of me tracking in dirt to the sleeping side. If the ground has a lot of moisture in it with out a floor there is nothing to keep it from evaporating and then collecting on the ceiling of the garage side. I recommend using a ground cover to minimize this or at least make certain you air out the tent when you get home which you should be doing anyway.

Lastly to those who don't like this tent because they are afraid of the bike falling on them. I have never had a bike fall that I couldn't have prevented in the first place if I had just used my head. Also lean the bike away from the sleeping quarters to be completely safe.

I hope this review was helpful to those considering purchasing one. I know that I love mine and I hope to use it for many years to come.

Mine has. Both on the center stand and the side stand. Raining during the night. ground got soggy and the bike fell over. Another instance, the asphalt got very hot and soft, sidestand sank into the asphalt and the bike fell over.

So, yeah. It's a concern.

I keep a small 4" square piece of aluminum on the bike as a kick stand footprint for such occasions. Also if the bike is parked inside the tent and its starts raining, the ground underneath should stay solid unless its monsoon season.

Xeraux, sorry but it may be the "operator error"..Always pull/push on the bike to see whether the ground may give, if you have reasons to believe it might.
If you don't have the side stand foot extension, buy one ! For an adventure bike it's a great addition. If not that, than carry a plastic side stand puck. You can always find a stone or a branch, or crush an empty soda/beer can...or don't park the bike in the vestibule

Scottie boy, thanks for the review of the tent :)
It's cool that you didn't want to park the bike on the tent pad...

Cheers,

Nice review. I just bought a Marmot 3P from REI because I had some gift cards but am still interested in this tent. Interested to hear future reviews after you continue to use it in the south.

One thing that I wonder is how to dry it out properly. I work at an airport and have access to hangars but I don't see how you could set it up inside to let it dry out either. I can just set up my Marmot and let it sit in the corner for a few days to completely dry out if I need to. Thoughts???

I can be a bit of a gear snop especially when buying for back packing but I've learned that there are times when having to worry about and care for a high$ tent sucks and motorcycle camping is one of those times.

I haven't read the entire thread but recently I've come to the conclusion that when weight isn't a huge concern {when you are not toting it on your back},,, a cheapy tent from Walmart combined with large silnylon tarp maybe the best set-up. Get rid of the Walmart tent's rain fly and and use the tarp. If you buy it large enough there will be plenty of room for a "front porch" to sit and cook under when raining. Since the tent is a cheapy, who cares to carry a ground cloth to protect the floor so that'll be one less thing to have to carry and set-up. If and when you do get a hole in the floor, patch it and if once every couple years, get a new tent at a whoppin 50-75$. To be honest, some of their larger 6-8 man tents really are not all that heavy compared to other tents in that size especially when you chuck the rain fly and use the much lighter yet much larger silnylon tarp. Oh, and since you aren't carrying a ground cloth to protect your high dollar tent floor, you can carry extra mosquito netting and make really good use of that nice large "front porch}. Only hang up for me is the crap fiberglass poles but for the money, I can deal.

Oh, what a great ideas! I would have never thought of doing any of those things had you not suggested them.

Anything else I should know about riding my bike? Maybe I should check the air in my tires every now and then? I'll bet it's a good idea to change the oil in them periodically, too?



It wasn't "operator error".

It would be really hard to set up this tent inside as it needs to be staked. You could possibly use something heavy such as a cinder block at the stake points to keep it stretched out.

This is what I did to air mine out. I have an unfinished basement in my home. In the joists for the floor above, I put in a few nails spread out over six or seven feet. I then hung my tent up from these nails and had a small table fan blowing on it. Worked like a champ.