New tent?

[Rudezuk]

Looking at getting a new tent this year...

I have been using a 7x7 square dome tent from colman (it has seen better days:D)

Im looking to downsize and go lighter. (camping with the buggy this year:D)

Would like a free standing tent with aluminum poles, no stakes required...

for the size i want one that is a large 2 person or a small 3 person tent.

Enough room to throw a couple sleeping bags and a bag of clothes in.

I know there is someone on here who is a back packer that has some good knowledge about different tents.

Im looking at something like one of these, any recommendations?


Eureka Zeus 2 Exo Tent / Eureka Zeus 3 Exo Tent
http://www.campmor.com/images/tents/26360.jpg


http://www.campmor.com/images/tents/28361.jpg

Eureka Apex 3XTA Tent - 2003
http://www.campmor.com/images/tents/28127.jpg

Sierra Designs Orion 3 AST Tent - 2002

http://www.campmor.com/images/tents/22910.jpg

That gives you a good idea of what im looking at.

any help is appreciated.

Im using campmor.com as a guide, if there are other sites available, please let me know:D

[Old Scout]

Those are all two pole tents, and they don't like wind. Look for a three or four pole tent.

[Old Scout]

sierra trading post has a few good deals:
http://www.sierratradingpost.com/eccStoreFront/stp/product_images/88289/F_88289_1.jpg

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/xq/asp/base_no.88289/str_base_no.88109,88260,88282,88283,88284,88287,88 289,88291,88292,88294,88295,88322,88333,88337,8833 9,88340,88413,88418,88419,88421,/header_title./page_name.prod_list_display.asp/search_type.L2%7E322/size1./size2./gender.0/ShowImages.yes/sq.0/cont.1/sqlSearchStr./intPgNo.1/special_type./qx/product.asp


http://www.sierratradingpost.com/xq/asp/base_no.88282/str_base_no.88109,88260,88282,88283,88284,88287,88 289,88291,88292,88294,88295,88322,88333,88337,8833 9,88340,88413,88418,88419,88421,/header_title./page_name.prod_list_display.asp/search_type.L2%7E322/size1./size2./gender.0/ShowImages.yes/sq.0/cont.1/sqlSearchStr./intPgNo.1/special_type./qx/product.asp

[Sundowner]

I used to havea Kelty for hiking that I freaking loved.

the features I prized most highly were that it was all clips, no sleeves to slip the ples through, had an open top with a rain floy cover and all the poles were the same length. the 1st and 3rd sound petty, but they're huge conviences when you're trying to erect the tent in a sudden rain or nighttime with a new moon.

[SanDiegoCJ]

Originally posted by Old Scout
Those are all two pole tents, and they don't like wind. Look for a three or four pole tent.

Yup, OS is right. 2 poles don't cut it in the wind. I have a
Mountain Hardware Trango 2 and it's designed for 75mph
winds and 2' of snow. Very solid tent.

[SanDiegoCJ]

Here's the floorplan.

[SanDiegoCJ]

Mountain Hardware makes a very similiar tent that's just a little
bigger if you want more room. It's the trango 3.1

[SanDiegoCJ]

Here's the floorplan. Trango 3.1

[Rudezuk]

I want to keep the wieght down also...

What about this one?

only weighs 5lbs 13 oz
3 pole
and only 179 from campmor

Sierra Designs Orion AST Tent - 2002
http://www.campmor.com/images/tents/22870.jpg

[Rudezuk]

Originally posted by Old Scout
sierra trading post has a few good deals:
http://www.sierratradingpost.com/eccStoreFront/stp/product_images/88289/F_88289_1.jpg

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/xq/asp/base_no.88289/str_base_no.88109,88260,88282,88283,88284,88287,88 289,88291,88292,88294,88295,88322,88333,88337,8833 9,88340,88413,88418,88419,88421,/header_title./page_name.prod_list_display.asp/search_type.L2%7E322/size1./size2./gender.0/ShowImages.yes/sq.0/cont.1/sqlSearchStr./intPgNo.1/special_type./qx/product.asp


http://www.sierratradingpost.com/xq/asp/base_no.88282/str_base_no.88109,88260,88282,88283,88284,88287,88 289,88291,88292,88294,88295,88322,88333,88337,8833 9,88340,88413,88418,88419,88421,/header_title./page_name.prod_list_display.asp/search_type.L2%7E322/size1./size2./gender.0/ShowImages.yes/sq.0/cont.1/sqlSearchStr./intPgNo.1/special_type./qx/product.asp

I do like the second one...


http://www.sierratradingpost.com/eccStoreFront/stp/product_images/88282/M_88282_1.jpg

[Erich In AZ]

Ask MacGyver. The tent he had at TDS was REALLY portable, even with him in it!

:flipoff2: :D :flipoff2:

[SHERPA]

I had a one-pole tent this morning. the wife helped me take it
down though.

--lol...........

[Bobzooki]

I have seven, no, wait a minute, nine , well ten tents, if you count the "Elk Hunting Behemoth".

Everything from a Walrus Sleeve, through a 10 by 20...

Mountain Hardware makes great stuff.
Eureka is good too.
Kelty is good.
North Face - high dollar, but worth it when the shit hits the fan.

Campmore has lots of good tents at good prices.

Like every said above - 4 poles is best for TRUE freestanding, but I've seen EVERY kind blow away if you don't secure it. Be sure to get one with a separate rain fly, that's big enough for the heavy downpours, and think of what it would be like to spend 48 hours in it. Two doors is better than one, and two vestibules really helps you get your wet gear out of your sleeping area, and allows you to cook on the "down wind" side of the tent, no matter which way the wind is blowing.

[Rudezuk]

thanks for the input!:D

[Pavemen]

I have a Eureka 2 man backpacker tent. It is nice, but small. I have found that most "person" ratings are about one person too few. My 2 man, feel slike a single and most 3 mans are about big enough to two people with gear.

I suggest heading up REI and looking at their tents they have set out and then buying from someone else. OR if you are in the Fremont area, hit Tri-City, they seem to always have 20 or more tents setup to look at.

Also, Sears had some tents on sale the other weekend. I almost picked up a 3 room, 8 person tent for $149, regularly $400 or so.

Definately look into something with a vestibule and unless you are into snow camping, a 3 season tent will be lighter and smaller than a 4 season.

[Thejaybird]

Hey The North Face has an outlet store down in Berkely... It's right around the corner from REI on San Pablo. I get all my bling bling North Face junk there.

[Bobzooki]

Hah, funny, I started thinking about those tents I have...

[list=1]
Walrus 1-man "sleeve" - no rain fly, lots of condensation, but only 3 pounds.
Eureka Timberline - my very first tent - 2 man if you're good friends. This one has survived since 1977 and is still servicable.
Kelty Zen - "2-man" three pole? low at the "foot" end, OK, but NOT for long duration stays, or winter.
Eureka Equinox - plenty of room for 2 plus a lot of gear. Heavy, but worth it. Frame is like a 6-legged spider.
North Face Nimbus - 2 man, 2 door, 2 vestibule, 4-season tent. My current most-used tent.
10 by 10 foot car-camping tent (Coleman I think). Nylon, with tubular aluminum poles - just a big dome. Worked great at Moab, and it's 7 feet high inside.
10 by 20 foot car-camping tent. Nylon, with tubular aluminum poles - gonna try this one for Elk Hunting this year.
11 by 21 foot "carport" - heavy steel frame, and easy to rig with a floor, for a great weather-proof Elk Hunting base-camp tent, but the mice get in...
[/list=1]

I've missed at least two or three of my tents here...

[sceep]

not a tent that you are looking for but thought i throw it in since bob got a bit out of whack on the thread already.


Anyone else use a hammock tent? NOT a winter tent.. the air around you is cold as hell. But a damn nice 3 season. weighs in @ 2 lb.10oz. good for a person up to 225 lbs.

worth having if you ever do any remote backpacking (as long as camp is not above treeline) where you would normally carry a bivy.

[RawkRash]

We have a couple of Kelty tents and like them both. The smaller is an old vortex 4 and it has seen lots of Washington rain and has always kept us dry. The other one is Mantra 7 which is HUGE and although I'm not sure about the waterproofness of it, it held up really well in a big Moab sandstorm. There were tents blowing all across the desert at our campground and this tent just stood its ground and took it.

The Vortex comes in smaller sizes as well and Campmor has them for a good price. Kelty also makes one that is the same tent without the full coverage fly. Its fly comes about halfway down the sidewalls and is considerably cheaper.

I just wish that the company wasn't quite so "green". I hate to give them money to send to the Sierra Club. But I do like their products.

[Bobzooki]

Originally posted by sceep
(as long as camp is not above treeline) where you would normally carry a bivy.

They have bigger models of that hammock tent, too.

You put me above timberline, and the choice narrows down to ONE.

North Face VE-25. Period.

[GRMhick]

I have an older off-brand version of that eureka tent. Very well built, and I like it alot, but I perfer my bigger tent for when I am wheeling. Nice 4 man I can almost stand up in.
I guess thats one of the advantages of having my 4 runner.. room for lots of stuff.

Garrett

[Al Kaholick]

Originally posted by sceep
not a tent that you are looking for but thought i throw it in since bob got a bit out of whack on the thread already.


Anyone else use a hammock tent? NOT a winter tent.. the air around you is cold as hell. But a damn nice 3 season. weighs in @ 2 lb.10oz. good for a person up to 225 lbs.

worth having if you ever do any remote backpacking (as long as camp is not above treeline) where you would normally carry a bivy.

I like that, Im gonna have to find one

[Bobzooki]

Originally posted by Al Kaholick


I like that, Im gonna have to find one

Look Here: (http://www.hennessyhammock.com/)

They sell em at REI, but they're the EcoAntiChrist.
EDIT: You can order 'em directly from their web site.

[Al Kaholick]

Originally posted by Bobzooki


Look Here: (http://www.hennessyhammock.com/)

They sell em at REI, but they're the EcoAntiChrist.
EDIT: You can order 'em directly from their web site.

thanks, with rei backing sierra club I refuse to shop there

[KayzFJ40]

I would go with Kelty or The North Face. We have the Kelty Mantra 5 and its really nice. We were in a huge dust/rain/snow storm (with winds of like 40 mph) the first time out with it in March. It was well worth the money, Check out www.cabelas.com We ordered ours from there. I do know, that they make the Kelty Mantra in a 2/3 person. Something like that. They have alot of info. at www.kelty.com Good luck

Kayla

[NastyNate]

I've spent many rainy/windy nights in tents. The two best were a 20 year old A-Frame (couldn't blow it away!) and Cabelas Alaskan Guide Geodesic Dome tent. The Cabelas tent was unbelievable in bad weather. Kinda heavy (8 man) but we fit 4 adults on cots for a week in Tellico.

[Rudezuk]

Originally posted by KayzFJ40
I would go with Kelty or The North Face. We have the Kelty Mantra 5 and its really nice. We were in a huge dust/rain/snow storm (with winds of like 40 mph) the first time out with it in March. It was well worth the money, Check out www.cabelas.com We ordered ours from there. I do know, that they make the Kelty Mantra in a 2/3 person. Something like that. They have alot of info. at www.kelty.com Good luck

Kayla

Cabelas, has some pretty cool stuff on there site:D

[fatkid]

I use a Gortex Bivey sack, pack light freeze at night. I do have a 2 person if I have to stow some gear though. I think a 2 person is right for one person with some gear, and on and on...

[killingthemonkey]

Originally posted by fatkid
I use a Gortex Bivey sack, pack light freeze at night. I do have a 2 person if I have to stow some gear though. I think a 2 person is right for one person with some gear, and on and on...

Single, hmm?

[GQtim]

I use either a eureka Combat Tent for a longer stay or with the missus/dog and in very bad weather http://www.gr8gear.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=3407

otherwise i use a "Swag" not sure if you guys have em in the us but they rock.

Mine is a "Bourke and Wills" Coolabah swag which will fit me and the missus aswell.
http://www.outfitters.com.au/html/swags.html

swags are a 2min setup kinda deal, can be stored on the roofrack and the inside will remain dust and moisture free. ive had mine down to -4ish in the victorian high country and was toasty warm.

[Nordic1]

I don't know if they still make it but I use to take an REI Halfdome backpacking... It lasted 8+ years of backpacking and was great

[steveh]

I am seriously considering the Eureka Assault Outfitter 4. It's in the $250-$300 range. Anyone have one?

http://www.eurekacamping.com/assaultoutfitter4.asp

4 Season, and not to small and not too large.

http://www.eurekacamping.com/images/out/assanflg.jpg

http://www.eurekacamping.com/images/out/assalg.jpg

http://www.eurekacamping.com/images/out/Assault4Floor.gif

[ZJim]

I had the Eureka "Apex" mentioned in the first post. Notice I said "had" because I loaned it to someone who obviously thought it was a great tent and never gave it back to me. My fault for not remembering WHO I gave it to though. Anyway, it was a solid tent, good and waterproof, and I backpacked lots of places with it... including a couple of weeks in New Mexico and some hiking on the AT. What I'm using now is a North Face "Rock-22" which is a pretty solid tent but a bit too small unless you're camping with your woman ;)

[Rudezuk]

I saw this post pop up....From way back!!

Well we ended up getting the Mountain Hardwear Hammerhead 3..

http://images.rei.com/media/42770.jpg

It has been an awesome tent over the last few years! we paid right around $300 for it.

http://images.rei.com/media/726960.jpg

One more pic..

http://images.rei.com/media/42821.jpg


Here (http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?productId=47852241&storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&langId=-1) is the details

[Todd W]

I am seriously considering the Eureka Assault Outfitter 4. It's in the $250-$300 range. Anyone have one?


Looks almost identical to the Marine Combat Tent (http://cgi.ebay.com/USMC-MARINE-COMBAT-TENT-EUREKA-2-MAN-TENT-LIKE-NEW_W0QQitemZ6634124326QQihZ012QQcategoryZ36071QQr dZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem) (that one I linked to is an older one). I have the new style and have sold one to a guy here on PBB too.

They work awesome! I've had them in 30+ mph winds on the trail and could not even hear the tent but ppl with us their tent woke me up it was flopping around so damn loud. The tent works awesome! Great tent for the money.

[steveh]

Looks almost identical to the Marine Combat Tent (http://cgi.ebay.com/USMC-MARINE-COMBAT-TENT-EUREKA-2-MAN-TENT-LIKE-NEW_W0QQitemZ6634124326QQihZ012QQcategoryZ36071QQr dZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem) (that one I linked to is an older one). I have the new style and have sold one to a guy here on PBB too.

They work awesome! I've had them in 30+ mph winds on the trail and could not even hear the tent but ppl with us their tent woke me up it was flopping around so damn loud. The tent works awesome! Great tent for the money.

According to Eureka Lit, it is based off of the Military tents. Todd, do you sell tents?

[4in100]

I used to have a Timberline 3 person tent. Sucker could be put up in the dark in about 15 seconds. No poles except for rainfly. Too bad the waterproofing went south and I had it in a monsoon at Tellico.

[Todd W]

According to Eureka Lit, it is based off of the Military tents. Todd, do you sell tents?

I try to get the Eureka Marine Combat tents to sell but haven't been able to get any for a while :( And I don't sell other tents, sorry.

I just really really like the Eureka Combat tent and I was getting them new/never used and was able to sell them for $200 but it seems they are getting harder to find as there are even none on ebay right now. I was actually only able to sell one of them as all my buddys bought the others I had :laughing:

If I get anymore I'll let you know.
BTW: I've seen the mil. one for sale on a site somewhere but I think it was $300 or $350 if I find it I'll also let you know because it may be cheaper than the civi model, and the marine model comes with a LOT of goodies.

edit: One thing that's killer about the marine model is that the rainfly (top) is "light" proof... meaing unless you hold a flashlight up to it 1" away no one can shine light on you inside and you can't disturb anyone outside... works good for light sleepers.

-Todd

[Todd W]

Here's a pic of mine (on the right all tight) at Loon Lake campground a year or so ago... The newer style (they now don't use eurka) has tan and CAMO not OD green. So if you are looking for surplus be sure to get camo/tan not green/tan.

I can set up the tent in under 5 minutes... tieing it down of course takes longer dependingon what's around. The mil. lists them as only 3 season but I use it as 4 w/no problems!

http://pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=213740&stc=1&d=1131403874

[steveh]

Here's a pic of mine (on the right all tight) at Loon Lake campground a year or so ago... The newer style (they now don't use eurka) has tan and CAMO not OD green. So if you are looking for surplus be sure to get camo/tan not green/tan.

I can set up the tent in under 5 minutes... tieing it down of course takes longer dependingon what's around. The mil. lists them as only 3 season but I use it as 4 w/no problems!

http://pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=213740&stc=1&d=1131403874

Those are nice. The Assault 4, is a bit larger than the surplus ones. But like you said, you can't go wrong.

I talked to the tent guy at the Wilderness Exchange in Berserkly last Saturday, and he said they Assaults are fawking bulletproof in any conditions. The fly is super duty!

[steveh]

Here's a pic of mine (on the right all tight) at Loon Lake campground a year or so ago... The newer style (they now don't use eurka) has tan and CAMO not OD green. So if you are looking for surplus be sure to get camo/tan not green/tan.

I can set up the tent in under 5 minutes... tieing it down of course takes longer dependingon what's around. The mil. lists them as only 3 season but I use it as 4 w/no problems!

http://pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=213740&stc=1&d=1131403874

Those are nice. The Assault 4, is a bit larger than the surplus ones. But like you =said, you can't go wrong.

I talked to the tent guy at the Wilderness Exchange in Berserkly last Saturday, and he said they Assaults are fawking bulletproof in any conditions. The fly is super duty!

[GQtim]

I have the older style tent, Tan and OD green what is the differnce if any between the two tents, or is it just the Fly that is differnt. if so can you obtain the newer style fly


Cheers
Tim

[fatkid]

I am seriously considering the Eureka Assault Outfitter 4. It's in the $250-$300 range. Anyone have one?

http://www.eurekacamping.com/assaultoutfitter4.asp

4 Season, and not to small and not too large.

http://www.eurekacamping.com/images/out/assanflg.jpg

http://www.eurekacamping.com/images/out/assalg.jpg

http://www.eurekacamping.com/images/out/Assault4Floor.gif

I have one, good piece of gear. I've used it for one season and its solid.Snow, wind, rain, summer temps , and just about everything in between. Easy to set up, not to mention its a similar design to what Eureka made for the Marine Corps.

[fatkid]

My pride and joy...

Northface ECWT

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q166/jerandsar/Northfacecornerflyshot.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q166/jerandsar/Northfacefrontshot.jpg

[steveh]

Thanks Fatty, I'm gonna get the Assault Outfitter 4

[fatkid]

Thanks Fatty, I'm gonna get the Assault Outfitter 4

I would recommend this tent to anyone. It really is a four season, you can tell just by the weight and the 13mm poles. I have slept in mine with four adults but its tight, two people with gear is just right. I also like the fact that the floor of the tent is somewhat square so the space is really usable, especially if you use a large air mattress like my wife some times requires.

Hope this helps...
:)