Looking for large comfortable tent... and an introduction

[svanarts]

Re: Looking for large comfortable tent... and an introduction

Please make sure your wife doesn't just want a small pop-up. A new wife would cost more than the largest RV.

She definitely doesn't want another popup. A tent is cheaper to store.

[NYCgrrl]

Re: Looking for large comfortable tent... and an introduction

I think you're correct on your setup time assessment and it could even take less time. I know it only takes me about 40 mins to set my gear up now and that's 2 large tents plus.

I understand better your want of the Persian rug, Moroccan tea lights and am simply envious:D.

I use a portable stand for our air mattress so that keeps us off the ground. I do my best sleeping of the year on my camping bed. The stars, smells, lack of light pollution............just wonderful.

Have fun with your vision cause you are on your way.

[svanarts]

Re: Looking for large comfortable tent... and an introduction

Thanks NYCgrrl, I think you get it now.

This is the effect I'm trying to duplicate on the cheap.

[MacGyver]

Re: Looking for large comfortable tent... and an introduction

When I had a cabin tent, I stacked up two air mattresses. Loved the height! But, even if one sprung a leak that I couldn't repair, I was still off the ground.

As far as toting a Persian rug, even if just to set the ambiance, I would look into outdoor rugs with Persian prints. An actual rug would act like a sponge and grab moisture and dirt like crazy. If the rug got wet, it'd be a real pain to roll up and carry. It didn't surprise me, but Google turned up a bunch of companies that make them.

[frank6160]

Re: Looking for large comfortable tent... and an introduction

I use Coleman tents and am happy with the perfomance. I own several. Get a Coleman lantern and a table like TP suggested you won't regret it. As for air mattress I use Coleman also and have never had a problem. I have a couple that are 8 years old and going strong. Once temps start dropping below 40 they can be chilly without a bit of extra insulation between you and them. Good luck and enjoy!

[svanarts]

Re: Looking for large comfortable tent... and an introduction

I'm thinking a queen sized cot and a queen air mattress would be the best bet. That way if we, um, pop the mattress for some reason we still have something to sleep on besides the ground.

I have to admit I like Coleman too but probably more for nostalgia than anything. My Coleman Sundome 4 has been a really trustworthy tent but Burning Man did it in. I will probably always take sacrificial tents when I go there. But the instant up tent won't be going to BM. It will stay in the mild weather of California. I already have a Colman lantern and vintage 1990's two burner propane stove. Now I just need to find a nice metal folding table or two.

I finally found the term I'm looking for for the kind of camping I'll be doing with my wife; glamping. We won't be hunting or fishing, just going on nice romantic getaways in the mini-van.

[tplife]

Re: Looking for large comfortable tent... and an introduction

I'm thinking a queen sized cot and a queen air mattress would be the best bet. That way if we, um, pop the mattress for some reason we still have something to sleep on besides the ground.

I have to admit I like Coleman too but probably more for nostalgia than anything. My Coleman Sundome 4 has been a really trustworthy tent but Burning Man did it in. I will probably always take sacrificial tents when I go there. But the instant up tent won't be going to BM. It will stay in the mild weather of California. I already have a Colman lantern and vintage 1990's two burner propane stove. Now I just need to find a nice metal folding table or two.

I finally found the term I'm looking for for the kind of camping I'll be doing with my wife; glamping. We won't be hunting or fishing, just going on nice romantic getaways in the mini-van.

I think you'll do fine as long as you sleep inside the minivan. If you're in a tent, there's no better way to discover why you should never use an air mattress or cot outside of summer than personal experience. Remember to bring A LOT of extra insulation. Hang onto the tags/packaging from the air mattress, and keep in mind that many stores like WalMart don't allow returns outside of a very narrow window since they want to SELL YOU air mattresses, not explain why you should not buy one if you plan on using them for camping, LOL...

[svanarts]

Re: Looking for large comfortable tent... and an introduction

Deleted. Not a useful comment.

[hwc1954]

Re: Looking for large comfortable tent... and an introduction

svarnarts:

I've been perfectly comfortable on an air mattress (with a sleeping bag on top of it as mattress pad) with temperatures down into the mid-40s. It wouldn't be my choice for extreme winter camping, but air mattresses work great in mild weather.

If you want a really nice topper, Kelty sells a double wide sleeping bag with a skirt that goes around and under the air bed (with a drawstring to cinch it up) to keep everything in place. Sunnysports has it for $89 if I recall:

Any of the rectangular Kelty bags will zip to this thing. So you could get their fleece bag, open it up, and zip it to either half of this thing. Makes for a lot of options.

I just left both layers of this bag under me and used a regular sleeping bag on top. That's effective insulation between you and the air mattress, even on a chilly night.

[svanarts]

Re: Looking for large comfortable tent... and an introduction

That's a pretty cool topper. Since we're only summertime campers that may be all we need for a bag. Usually we zip ours together which is plenty warm with both of us in it. Sometimes too warm. I'll have to keep that Kelty thing in mind though.

This is all to get my wife to enjoy a weekend away, out of doors, but still have a hotel-like experience. This gal's setup is what I'm going for... http://www.anyonecandecorate.blogspo...glamorous.html

[hwc1954]

Re: Looking for large comfortable tent... and an introduction

When I'm car camping, I take a duffel bag with four sleeping bag options, figuring that some combination will cover just about any temperature:

1) Silk weight sleeping bag liner (could be used by itself on a hot night, like a sheet)
2) Fleece sleeping bag (rectangular bag that unzips to a full size blanket)
3) Ultra-light 40 degree down sleeping bag (what I usually use)
4) Heavy 15 degree down sleeping bag.

If I ever got really cold, i could use both of the down sleeping bags together. But, the other night in the mid 30s, I was comfortable with the 40 degree bag on top of me and the 15 degree bag over my feet (at the ready, but not needed).

I figure that I have the options, so I might as well have them available. They don't do any good at home. In the summer, I wouldn't take the 15 degree bag.

I'm more functional. I've really come to appreciate the benefits of the synthetic tech fabrics for outdoor gear. Not crazy about cotton or flannel for camping or hiking.

[svanarts]

Re: Looking for large comfortable tent... and an introduction

So the big piece of crap Coleman tent showed up Friday and you know what? I like it! :-) It's actually made of thicker material than I was expecting. Had no trouble putting it up. That sucker is pretty heavy though. It wasn't quite as large as I was expecting but really, that's a good thing. I was able to put it up in about 3 minutes by myself and take it down and bag it in about 10 minutes. I could do it quicker if I would cut that white label and let the bag expand but I looked at is as a personal challenge to get it back into the bag it came in. I can see that I'll definately need a good tarp and floor saver with this tent. It doesn't appear to be the same bathtub type material that is on my Coleman Sundome tent. I think it will work for what my wife and I have planned though.

[yogiyoda]

Re: Looking for large comfortable tent... and an introduction

Hello svanarts,

I've had a few Coleman Instant tents. Just sharing my experience if there's anything that might help you. I had a smaller 4-person Coleman "Signature" Instant tent. It came with a vented roof and rainfly. It was a great tent. Withstood days of rain and huge thunder/hail storms. Was the only tent left standing at the campground after one particularly big storm. Bone dry. I didn't treat it with any seam sealer. Only thing I did was use upgraded stakes. It was an incredible value. Got over 90 days camping in it before it started having any issues.

On the other hand, I had a larger 8-person "standard" Coleman Instant without a rainfly. During a very long rain storm it had some slow leaks. The kind that don't pour on you so much as slide down the inside wall and slowly pool water along the edges of the floor. Also, it got a little stuffy all zipped up. I rigged cheap Walmart tarp over the top and opened the top vents. It helped some. Also, if you expect rain. you may want to get some seam sealer. It's cheap and will help prevent those slow leaks.

Oh yeah, if there is any chance of wind you may want to upgrade the stakes. You can get better stakes for a few bucks just about anywhere that sells camping supplies. They really make a difference. Good luck with your adventure. Sounds like fun.

PS. "Princess Sparkle Pony" had me laughing :^)

[svanarts]

Re: Looking for large comfortable tent... and an introduction

Hello svanarts,

I've had a few Coleman Instant tents. Just sharing my experience if there's anything that might help you. I had a smaller 4-person Coleman "Signature" Instant tent. It came with a vented roof and rainfly. It was a great tent. Withstood days of rain and huge thunder/hail storms. Was the only tent left standing at the campground after one particularly big storm. Bone dry. I didn't treat it with any seam sealer. Only thing I did was use upgraded stakes. It was an incredible value. Got over 90 days camping in it before it started having any issues.

On the other hand, I had a larger 8-person "standard" Coleman Instant without a rainfly. During a very long rain storm it had some slow leaks. The kind that don't pour on you so much as slide down the inside wall and slowly pool water along the edges of the floor. Also, it got a little stuffy all zipped up. I rigged cheap Walmart tarp over the top and opened the top vents. It helped some. Also, if you expect rain. you may want to get some seam sealer. It's cheap and will help prevent those slow leaks.

Oh yeah, if there is any chance of wind you may want to upgrade the stakes. You can get better stakes for a few bucks just about anywhere that sells camping supplies. They really make a difference. Good luck with your adventure. Sounds like fun.

PS. "Princess Sparkle Pony" had me laughing :^)

Thanks for the input Yogi! I'm really not too worried about rainstorms. We don't get that much rain here even in the wet season. This won't be my "for real" camping tent. This is only for camping with my wife. I have a much smaller and lighter tent (Coleman Sundome 4) I take for when just me or my son go camping. I might have to replace it, Burning Man really did a number on it. The Sundome did let a little water dribble down during that thunderstorm in Wisconsin. But I think that was because the wind was blowing so hard the tent poles bent and the tent was laying on top of me! The Sundome did fine during the rains storm in Idaho. I seem to need tents that will stand up to high wind more than heavy rain. This big instant tent will need to stand up to neither of those. It will only be fair weather camping.

Glad you got a laugh out of Princess Sparkle Pony. She is such a sparkle pony but I love her!

[yogiyoda]

Re: Looking for large comfortable tent... and an introduction

Haha, well I hope you enjoy your outing.

The Sundome 4 is a pretty decent value for that kind of tent. Nice design, easy zipper usage, pretty rain resistant. But like you said, it's not really sturdy in the wind ...or sturdy period for that matter. If you liked the Sundome 4, you might be happy with the Signature Instant 4. The Coleman Signature Instant Tent 4 with Rainfly is much sturdier but it also has a bigger and heavier pack size. And I think it might be a discounted model so not a lot of stores carrying it. Although I see Campmor has it. The price seems to have gone up though :(