New(b) camper gear critique / suggestions

[Maverick]

Coleman Instant 8 Person tent

Teton Sports Celsius Regular 0 Degree Sleeping bag

I was curious if any of you pro's here have had experience with these items?

[Shadow]

Re: New(b) camper gear critique / suggestions

Sounds good, depending on what temps you are looking at and how many people you have.

[stanleycamps]

Re: New(b) camper gear critique / suggestions

This has got to be the fourth or so time I respond to a question regarding a giant oversized tent. I'll say the same thing I always say, don't use them. Although the Coleman (Montana?) instant tent does have good reviews my issue is with large tents in general. I think they should stay where they belong, the circus. My suggestion, browse through camping equipment and get yourself several 2-3 or 1-2 tents depending on how many people plan to camp. The setup and breakdown is so much simpler and you're not cramming your entire crew into one tent. Just my two cents. Ultimately, get what works best for you.

[Internetpilot]

Re: New(b) camper gear critique / suggestions

I'm not the original poster, but as someone who has only purchased two large tents in the past 6 years of tent camping, my reasons were the following:

1. I'm tall (6'3") and want to at least stand up most of the way in my tents. My back isn't in the greatest shape, so there's no way I can be hunched over all the time I'm in my tent.
2. I started tent camping with two small children (4 & 5 years old). You can't put kids that young in a separate tent. Plus we went camping as father and sons -- if I didn't want to sleep with them when camping, I could just stay home.
3. It takes me literally 15 minutes to set up my 14x10 cabin style tent, including all stakes and guylines. My previous large 12x14 dome took about 20 minutes It's going to take me about that same amount of time for every tent I have to set up, so if I'm setting up three tents instead of one, that's 45 minutes instead of 15. And every tent is different, so you're going to have to remember the subtle differences and strategies of setting up each tent every time.
4. If it rains (I live in Florida so that should be WHEN it rains), we're not all stuck in separate tents -- we can easily all hang around in one big one.
5. My single big tent was $150. Most of the 2 or 3-person small tents I would buy are around $75-100. It's the same, if not more total money, to buy multiple tents.
6. Multiple tents will typically take up more space when stowed and when set up than a single large tent.
7. Tent manufacturers are liars. The most we could fit in my supposed 9-person tent is 4 people...maybe 5 if some are children, but then only if we're all in mummy bags and not air mattresses or cots. I don't even want to think about the true capacity of a tent that's rated for 1-2 people.
8. The larger tents are more likely to have the manufacturers higher end features. I admit it -- I'm a glamper (glamour camper), but most people are, so...

Everyone has different preferences for camping, but I would say that the larger tents definitely have a place in modern family camping.

[immortal_ben]

Re: New(b) camper gear critique / suggestions

I always say use what is appropriate for your trip AND pocketbook. Just make sure you aren't going to have a miserable time with what gear you take.

To the OP, it would seem that you will be car camping, so take along some blankets/air mattress to insulate you from the ground, and also some other blankets in case your bag gets a bit cold.

As far as experience with that exact gear, nope. I am not a fan of Coleman tents but others love theirs. I have yet to see an in-between response regarding Coleman tents, lol. I do not know anything at all about your bag.

[busere]

Re: New(b) camper gear critique / suggestions

Here's a little more to chew on...

It really depends on what your ultimate goal for camping is.

Will you be car camping mostly in the controlled environment of city and state campgrounds?
What seasons will you are camping in? (3 seasons: spring, summer and fall or all four seasons?)
Do you plan on backpacking or any type of trekking?
And, how much are you willing to spend on gear?
How often will you be camping through-out the year?

As you can see, with camping gear there are a lot of things to think about that determines the type of camping gear that you buy.

[Maverick]

Re: New(b) camper gear critique / suggestions

Yes, car camping..as we have young ones and cannot seperate at the time. We were thinking the big one would be better as it gives us plenty of room to move around in, especially the kids..they'll want to move around. Funny comment..circus..lol..we'll that's true our family is a modern day circus..and like one of the posters said..thin a 8 person tent is more like a 4-5 person tent.

[tplife]

Re: New(b) camper gear critique / suggestions

A 6-man tent will be more than large enough and will allow pitching in several different areas of a campsite, which larger tents (bigger than 10X10) won't. I'd only consider Coleman tent products as "disposeable tents" as they typically don't make it through more than a handful of uses - you get what you pay for. If you will buy this quality of gear for budgetary reasons, see if you have a Costco in your vincinity or take a look at Ebay.

[frank6160]

Re: New(b) camper gear critique / suggestions

I've had good luck with other models of ColemanI have 4. Ive gotten many more than a handful of uses out of all My largest is a Red Canyon 8 person. Seven years old and still going. Gets used once to twice a month from March to October for anywhere form 2 nights to 7.

[flatstick96]

Re: New(b) camper gear critique / suggestions

I'll weigh in here, though I'll preface my comments by saying that: a) I don't have as much experience as many on here, and b) the tent I opted for is less expensive (and, arguably, not as good as) what many on here tend to prefer. But it seemed like the best tent available for the somewhat limited budget I had available, so I decided to roll the dice.

Family of four, including two young girls (one just turned 5, and one just turned 7). For the foreseeable future, we'll only be car camping (though I yearn to get back into backpacking, and hopefully will once the girls are older - if and when that happens, I'll purchase the appropriate gear).

After a lot of research, I decided to buy the Kelty Hula House 6 for $200. Besides having a variety of other features that I found desirable, it was exactly the size I wanted. At 110 s.f. (not including vestibule) it's bigger than almost every other 6-person dome tent out there (and in some cases, considerably so), but it's still quite a bit smaller than many other "family" tents (like the above-mentioned Coleman Red Canyon, for example).

We've pitched it once in the back yard, and slept in it for a couple of nights to try it out. Size-wise, I think it's perfect for our family at this moment. When the girls get a little bigger, and if they're still into camping (as I hope they will be), we'll get a 2nd tent for them (probably small 4-man or something), and the wife and I will continue to use this one. The wifey LOVED the extra interior head space created by the "hula hoop" - it's a pretty clever design.

Some photos from when I had it up in the yard:

The tent body itself is mostly mesh:



From the front (no fly) - queen air mattress in the middle, with sleeping bags for the girls on either side:



From the front (with fly) - vestibule open, obviously:



Full fly and vestibule in place (but not guyed-out):

[Internetpilot]

Re: New(b) camper gear critique / suggestions

I've also had great experiences with my two Coleman tents over the past 5 years, and both are still very much in regular seasonal service. I did end up breaking the tension line in one of my poles in my first Coleman (14x12 dome) -- completely my fault, too. I emailed Coleman support just to verify that I was ordering the correct replacement poles, and they responded asking for my physical mailing address so they could send me the poles for free. There was no way I was in their warranty period, and the sent me an entire full set of poles. I own a lot of Coleman gear -- tents, sleeping bags, inflatable beds, lanterns, flashlights, stoves, an oven, and numerous other accessories. I wouldn't consider any of them disposable. In my first-hand experience, you don't have to overpay for your camping gear to get long use/service and excellent customer support with it. I can afford to buy much more expensive equipment, but I simply just haven't needed to do so, at least not for my style of camping (family/car).

[Awtted]

Re: New(b) camper gear critique / suggestions

This is just me but if iI cant carry it with me in or on my rucksack i dont use it. I have a Eureka Timberline II tent and it really adds alot of weight to my already rather heavy Kelty Redcloud pack/rucksack (or whatever you call it).